Oliver expelled a deep sigh as he stopped in front of the mirror wiped the towel across it. Furiously, he rubbed the towel over his hair, sending it into disarray, before tossing it to the side and heading into his room.
He should have known better, really. He shouldn't have convinced himself that just because he'd been gone almost two weeks she would drop everything and come running to him. No matter that he missed her or that he was pretty sure the only entertainment she'd had during his absence was lunch with Lois and her wall of computer screens. His attempt to convince her hadn't been totally pure of course. It had been a while since he had been in a relationship, and even though what he had with Chloe could hardly fall under the definition of what most people considered a relationship, it was the longest he'd had with anyone since Lois. So to say he had gotten a little used to her body being readily available to him was an understatement. Two weeks was a long time to be away.
Of course that wasn't the only reason he wanted to see her, he'd missed her for more then that, but he refused to make her aware of that. Teasing her off and on about how cold her bed probably was without him. Just the physical.
So when he'd taken his seat on the Queen Industries jet and called her, trying to persuade her – without pushing – to be at his place when he got home she had respectfully declined, briefly filling him in on Clark's latest debacle and Lois' face first jump into trouble. He'd offered his help, but she insisted that she had it covered and told him in no uncertain terms that he should get some sleep. It was after eight already in Smallville, she pointed out.
It was almost midnight when he got into Metropolis and took the lift up to the clocktower. Deciding to take her advice he left his luggage sprawled around the living area and headed for a shower, determined not to dwell on the fact that Chloe was redrawing the line between them.
Grabbing a pair of trainer shorts he pulled them over his up legs, settling the elastic just under his hips before making his way to the front of the tower to grab a couple of his bags and shut the lights off.
As he entered the hallway he noticed the flicker of lights in the living room, immediately turning his thoughts to the TV he hadn't turned on. As he exited the hallway he noted the wavy blond hair on the arm of the sofa and recognized the familiar tap of a keyboard. With a sigh of relief, for more than one reason, he walked around the sofa. The light from her laptop illuminated her face with an eery glow, but she smiled up at him, washing away all the negative feelings that her brush off had left behind.
"Hey!" Chloe said cheerfully and closed her laptop before sliding it under the sofa. Pushing herself up into a sitting position and bending legs at the knee she looked up at him. "Surprise?"
"Which I suppose wasn't intentional." But he smirked anyway and leaned down, grasping the back of the sofa in one hand and the edge of the seat cushions in the other, trapping her between his arms and pressing a brief welcoming kiss against her lips. Her small hands grasped his biceps, tugging gently and he followed, sitting down on the edge of the sofa against her hips, hovering over her still.
"One catastrophe avoided, just before the day ended in enough time for whatever new one decides to strike tomorrow," she said and offered him a cheeky grin as she slid a hand up his arm, shoulders and neck to bury in his hair with other intentions in mind.
"Did you turn into a pumpkin?" She snickered at his question and when he looked down to take in her long pajama pants and t-shirt he looked back up at her, one eyebrow cocked in amusement. "You must have, because I don't ever recall seeing you look so..." She raised her eyebrows at him, obviously waiting for his response. "Normal?"
Chloe rolled her eyes. "Thanks."
"Well I mean I've seen you in different stages. Usually dressed to the nines in your business attire that you want to pretend doesn't always tease of something a little less business related." That earned the retraction of her fingers brushing through his hair and instead earned him a rather firm slap on the back.
"I'm not a tease," she said firmly, but there was still amusement in her eyes.
"Yes you are. It's never something so obvious, but it's always there. A little hint of cleavage here, a slit up the thigh there. But trust me, I see it."
"You're insane," she laughed softly and shook her head as she slid his hand back into his hair and combed her fingers through the wet messy spikes at the top.
"I'm not done." He lowered himself, leaning instead on his forearms instead of his hands. "Then at night you were these shorts that are are definitely not a legal length for public and tanktops that leave very little to the imagination.
"Good god Oliver, they're called nipples. I'm not going to wear a bra to sleep in." Even so, she still couldn't help but smile.
"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow. "You mean those perky little things that you can see through a white tank top? Same tank top you had to cross your arms over as Clark super sped in?"
"Pretty sure Clark's already had the occasion to see the full frontal already." A sharp pinch of her nipple caught her off guard and she gasped, chest rising sharply with the intake of breath, pressing her breasts against his chest. Further south her body tensed, need coiling inside of her. Of course she almost didn't need the incentive. Not when he was hovering over her with a cocky smile on his face, hair astray, smelling clean and yet just as masculine, with the smooth, bare expanse of his chest seeming to beg her to run her hands over it. "Okay, sorry, sorry. So where were you going with this?"
At the reminder, Oliver couldn't help but recall that Clark had seen Chloe very much in the nude at the bed and breakfast and then months later the stricken look on Clark's face as he sped into Oliver's apartment to find Chloe organizing stacks of intel. Unfortunately, for Clark that is, she had planned to stay the night. Donning shorts that quite frankly allowed Oliver to get a generous glimpse of her ass cheeks and her underwear too if she didn't keep her legs together or crossed when she sat down. The problem, he had observed from his chair as he watched, was that as she turned around in shock to stop Clark from getting any view of her ass, which to be honest was almost impossible, because Chloe had an ass that even Clark had to notice at some point in his life, her shirt hid nothing and she had to cross her arms rather uncomfortably over her unbound breasts and the hardened peaks of her nipples Oliver had been staring at. After a bit of stuttering on both of Chloe and Clark's parts he had rolled his eyes and stood, ushering Chloe away and sending her on her way to his bedroom.
"You mean before you reminded me of Clark's tendency to have a free peep show?" He cocked an eyebrow, but she only rolled her eyes. His tone was joking, but if he was honest with himself he knew he felt a tinge of jealousy and possessiveness at the thought. He also knew he had to hide it well. If she knew the idea of another man seeing her the way he did brought about his more primal instincts and made him wear his favorite color in a new fashion she would have backed away again, disturbed that he didn't want to share her, that he already considered her his.
"So I've seen what you claim his strictly business attire, which I maintain has other purposes, and these little bitty things you call pajamas which I have a feeling you know you will never actually sleep in and then my favorite...your birthday suit." At his last words he grinned, nudging her nose with his.
"You're a fool," she said, but smirked, hinting that maybe there was something to his words.
"Maybe. But Ms. Sullivan I must admit, I have NEVER seen you in something so determined to make me believe you're not even trying to tease me." She gaped slightly, turning her eyes down to her attire. She wore a slightly snug Met U t-shirt that was too dark to even allow him to see if her breasts were hidden underneath a bra, long flannel pants and socks.
"First of all it was cold," she responded, her tone a little curt. "I was already dressed for bed when I decided to make my way over here. Second," she began, her voice seeming to emphasize the word, "I'm so sorry I failed to turn you on."
He felt her hand withdraw and he grabbed it with a smirk, too pleased with himself at her obvious hurt at the possibility that he didn't want her. It probably wasn't healthy to be excited by that thought, but with Chloe and her lines and no strings approach to their relationship he had to take what he could get. Not even trying to convince her otherwise he laced the fingers of his right hand with her left, pressing it lightly above her head against the arm of the chair and rose up off the sofa, just slightly, so he could turn his lower body towards her, wrap his free arm around her waist, and drag her down the sofa until her head was settled on the seat cushion. Climbing back onto the sofa, this time by pressing one knee between her legs and then the other. She watched him, face almost void of emotion, except for the slightly heated look in her eyes. Even if she was annoyed with him, he knew she still wanted him. At least he knew he still appealed to her even when he was on her shit list.
Once settled between the warmth of her legs he settled his body over hers and slid his arm lower, wrapping it securely around her hips and yanking them up against his own. "I just said you weren't trying to tease me. As for being turned on, Chloe," he pressed his erection hard against her core, relishing in her soft shudder and the way her hips pressed closer, "I can assure you I don't need you to wear anything special. You'll get this reaction regardless."
It was almost a bit too honest, but it had the desired effect. She grasped his neck with her free hand, pulling his head down and kissing him, really kissing him. For the moment he was content staying there, keeping his arm around her, kissing her with the need that had been building over his absence and even the much deeper, hidden, buried longing for more from her, more than she was prepared to give. It made him shudder into her mouth, his heart almost skipped a beat, to be forced once again to remember as he relaxed in her embrace that he had so foolishly allowed himself to be blind and not see it coming, to practically trip, stumble and fall right into love with Chloe Sullivan.
Which was immediately followed by desperation a sense of loss, a loss that he hadn't even incurred yet, because it was inevitable. Either one day she would move on, tired of their games, or she'd see through his teasing, his jokes, his attempts to seduce her and see what he was really doing, what was really going on inside of his head, and then leave. She'd ran so quickly at the sign of a small box wrapped with a bow, he couldn't imagine how quickly she would retreat upon finding out that he had broken all the rules.
So he deepened the kiss with urgent need, released her hand and buried his in her hair, grasping the blond strands desperately and then releasing them to cup the back of her head. She whimpered, pressed her breasts to his chest, rolled her hips against his. At least he had this, her need, even if it wasn't the same as his own.
Chloe wrenched her head away, one hand still buried in his hair, the other one now resting on his shoulder from exploring the soft and hard terrain of his back, feeling every muscle slide beneath his taut skin as he tensed and gently pressed against her.
He breathed heavily against her lips, gently resting his forehead against her own, yet he didn't swoop down for another kiss or move his hands underneath her clothing. She might have taken offense to his lack of response if it wasn't for his insistence that he wanted her. He seemed almost content to look down on her, stare at her, not at all feeling the urge to turn away like she did. The look on his face reminded her of that same fear and confusion she'd felt when she received his text. To deny that there was more going on between them than had been intended would have been immature and foolish. A man didn't look at a woman like that when they only wanted sex. And a woman didn't crawl out of bed in the middle of the night to see a man for reasons that went past just physical need, even though she swore keeping her distance was best to avoid the feelings growing with in her.
It hurt to realize that she was falling, but couldn't admit to it, allow herself to feel it fully. It almost made her choke on a sob to realize that eventually Oliver would want more than her constant brush offs and eventually leave her.
"What is it?" He asked gently, brushing his thumb over cheek.
It was such an intimate and caring gesture that she almost shuddered. So she said it, even though every fiber of her being, a being that had been twisted and reformed from a much more innocent and open hearted girl, told her not to. "I missed you."
He smiled, one corner of his lip turning up in a slight smirk. "Two weeks hard on your libido, Sullivan?"
Taken off guard by his sudden brush off and partially expecting that it would have come at some point she shook her head. "No, I-" There was no use in denying it, so she dropped it. "Never mind." Tightening her hold on the back of his head she pulled it down, kissing him hard, squeezing her eyes shut at the painful feeling of exposing herself briefly only to be shot down.
She kissed him, and for a few brief seconds all he could think about was her, and the body straining against him until he finally realized what had happened. His intention had been to play the part she wanted, no strings, no definitions, nothing but fun. For one brief moment she started to deny it followed by a brief look of hurt on her face as her brow drew together and then she shook it off.
This time it was he who pulled away, pausing for a moment to look at her. Any evidence of what she was going to say already gone. "Don't you think I'd miss my favorite girl?"
She seemed to fight against a smile for a moment before smirking slightly. "The lack of options hardly makes me a favorite."
So it was her turn, her turn to brush off the feelings as he had done only moments ago, but he wasn't going to take the bait, cave to her fears. "Did you ever think that there was a reason you were the only girl in my life?"
She opened her mouth slightly to respond, but she had nothing. For once she was speechless, because the hints had always been there, but he never out right admitted to wanting anything more then fun. And it scared her, because as good as it felt, to know how he felt about her, that he wanted to offer her more, she wasn't sure if she could take it, let him in.
"Stop thinking Chloe," he whispered softly and smiled gently before he pressed his lips against hers again.
So she let go, content at the moment that he wanted her, that one night would pass in his arms and she'd wake to one more morning next to him, even if it wouldn't last, because it couldn't. It couldn't last the way their lives were, not the way she was...barriers protecting her against the world. There was no room for anything more, and no room for love, that she was sure of. As much as she wanted to believe he could love her, she knew it wouldn't be true, it couldn't be, it was impossible.