Chapter 1: Discovery
Lex was in a state of shock.
It didn't happen very often, but once in a great while, when he least expected it, something would happen that rocked him to the core.
Something embarrassing and potentially damaging to his already fragile sanity.
It wasn't a coincidence that he found himself here. He'd come willingly, unable to stop himself from checking in on his oldest and dearest friend after only a few days of silence.
His compulsive nature led him to her doorstep, urging him to use the hidden key he knew so well when his knock went unanswered. And that's what made him enter her apartment without invite. Unable to leave well enough alone and accept that maybe she hadn't felt like returning his calls.
He liked to think knew her better than that. She always called him back. Even in her most furious of moments. She'd at least call him back to yell, lecture or gloat. There was never just silence.
Lex and Chloe had become friendly ages ago, back in the days when they both lived in Smallville. They'd had many falling outs, bickering and harassing each other to the point people thought them to be enemies.
But in the end friendship always prevailed. She was far too stubborn to let his arrogance drive her away and he was far too stubborn to let her prying nature end the only real friend he'd ever had.
No one understood. No one could even begin to fathom what kept them together even as outside sources constantly drove them apart.
Such as her ever-changing friendship with Clark Kent which had put a hole or two in their relationship, and at one point was even the reason he decided to cut all ties with her.
He'd talked himself into believing that leaving her to the monotony of her flannel king would teach her a lesson.
He'd caved after only a day.
He often wondered why she put up with him. She'd spent endless hours ranting at him about his arrogance, his presumption, his penchant for brooding and hiding behind his nature. She supported him at his worst and took him to task at his best, but for some reason she never, ever gave up on him.
At least not seriously and never for very long.
And he found himself wondering more and more often why she even bothered with him.
Not that she was an easy person to be friends with. They'd had many a row over her nosiness, her inability to leave well enough alone, her penchant for questioning him to death on subjects she knew he could never discuss freely.
The difference, however, was that he knew why he put up with her.
He knew every day of his life why he kept her prying, stubborn ass as close to him as possible.
He'd been in love with her for years.
He'd first noticed a shift in his mindset around her sophomore year at Met U, though it took him a few years to fully acknowledge the intensity of his feeling for her.
After months and months of fawning all over Lana Lang the truth had finally become glaringly obvious. Lana represented a fantasy he'd always sought, but Chloe represented a reality he needed to survive.
At first, he'd ignored this revelation. Kept right on courting Lana, pretending to be in love with her even as his imagination bedded a spunky blonde with breasts to die for.
But after a while, the farce had blow up in his face anyway.
Lana had turned up pregnant. She'd told Lex the child was his, and he'd accepted her word as such because at the time he'd really had no reason to doubt her. They'd mostly parted ways by then, but he did his best to support her in any way he could, putting her up in an apartment and taking care of her monetarily if not emotionally.
Lana seemed content with the arrangement, never making any real demands and never once propositioning him for more. Hindsight being what it is, this should've set off alarm bells in his brain, but he'd just been thankful that her demanding nature had been swayed by the trials of pregnancy.
And things had gone well, even with Chloe's constantly reminding him that Lana was a fake who was perfectly capable of whoring herself if she felt an urge. She refused to believe that he'd impregnated Lana and adamantly insisted that he have a paternity test.
But in the end the test was unnecessary and it was Chloe who got the last laugh.
Because the child arrived looking as un-Luthorlike as a child could get, immediately eliminating Lex as the possible sire.
Lana had indeed fooled around with another man. A man who always looked for ways to take a shot at Lex. A man who hated him more than most, though maybe not as much as some.
Pete Ross.
Lex hadn't seen Pete in years, not since he'd moved away from Smallville with his mother years before. He hadn't even thought of him in that time, the boy's actions being of no consequence to him either way.
Until then, of course.
He'd been angry, embarrassed and maybe even a little hurt, though he'd been sure that he hadn't been nearly as upset as everyone thought him to be.
Mostly he'd been – relieved.
But Chloe's snorting and snickering hadn't helped at all. They'd ended up having a terrible fight about it, her snide comments finally cutting him to the point of lashing out at her and once he'd started he'd found it very difficult to stop.
Once his anger had faded, though, he'd been taken aback by the look on her face.
Triumph. Amusement. A little bit of understanding.
She always could play him like a pro. And he always played right into her manipulative hands. Like a naïve pawn in her life's plan.
Things had settled down quickly after dispensing of Lana. Pete took the insipid brunette to Washington and after that Lex and Chloe had fallen into any easy routine of give and take; mostly him taking and her giving.
Not that there wasn't a price to everything she gave him.
She took without asking. Demanding his heart. His sanity. Sometimes driving him to very brink of madness before slowly pulling him back in for more.
He was sure she had no idea what kind of control she had over him.
And that fact only made it all the more painful when their relationship remained platonically intimate.
But it was this that kept her on his mind at the most inopportune moments.
And this that made him seek her out even when she might not want to be found.
He smelled it as soon as he closed the door. His nostrils flared as the familiar, musky scent of her heated flesh permeated his senses. He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes and letting the sweet smell wash over him, his body to tightening reflexively.
He'd know that smell anywhere. He yearned for it. Craved it. Needed it.
He'd smelled it many times before. The first time it had happened by chance, but subsequently each occurrence after that was brought on by manipulation. His very own, unashamed manipulation.
This past year, for Chloe's birthday, he had arranged for her to learn the tango. This, of course, meant she would need a partner, so he very generously offered up his own services as her lead.
He actually hadn't realized at the time the kind of physical predicament this kind of closeness would put him in.
She'd caught on very quickly, picking up the basic steps within the first couple of lessons and before Lex knew what had happened, she was rubbing all over him, her breasts against his chest, her knee on his hip and her hot groin rubbing against the top of his thigh.
By the fifth lesson he'd had to excuse himself to the restroom, appalled with his lack of control as he jerked off with practiced efficiency. Twice.
It wasn't until a few lessons after that that Lex realized he wasn't the only one affected by the sensual rhythm of the tango.
She'd been challenging him with her eyes, even heckled him a little bit as he'd moved her around the floor, demanding that he test the limits of her movement.
And so he had. With great energy and feeling as he channeled all his frustration and passion into that one dance.
By the time he'd stopped – with Chloe bent over his arm, his hand caressing her from collarbone to naval – he'd noticed a serious shift in her body language.
She was no longer fighting him for control she was breathless and pliant in his arms, her eyes soft and dreamy, her lips wet from her tongue. She'd gazed at him through hooded lids, so much longing evident in those gleaming depths that he'd bent his head, intent on laying claim to her lips.
But then, just as he was to make a serious move, she'd smirked, crushing his hopes and making him feel a hundred times the fool for dreaming for one second that she'd been affected in the same way he had.
So he did the only thing he could think of. Followed the path of his hand with his face, just as countless dancers had done in the past, inhaling her scent with his nose pressed between her breasts.
And that's when he smelled her arousal. The heady scent of her musk sending his senses into such an overload he'd almost dropped her.
He hadn't, but it was he who smirked as he straightened, relishing the shakiness of her legs as she stood and thanked him for the dance.
That was their last lesson, but he always managed to engineer a dance out of her every couple of months. And he always pushed the limits of her movement, knowing exactly what worked to turn her on, filing away each revelation with the obsessive care only he was capable of.
Taking another deep breath, Lex opened his eyes, peering around and licking his lips as he slowly made his way further into the apartment. Everything was silent, but there was light spilling out from the living room, a muted glow like that from several televisions.
Lex paused in the hallway, not sure if he should turn and leave before being caught or if he should continue onward and find out what was going on with his friend.
He was slightly concerned that she wouldn't be alone, but knowing Chloe the way he did, he didn't think that was possible. He'd have known if she'd been dating someone and she wasn't the type to pick up a random guy for a quick fuck. And she certainly wouldn't bring a random fuck back to her place.
But that only left one other explanation for the musky scent in the air.
Lex's body tightened even more at the thought.
He stepped closer, walking slowly, listening for any sign that Chloe was actually in the next room. He didn't hear anything at first, but the scent quickly became stronger, the addicting musk of her arousal wrapping around him and luring him closer.
Then he heard it – a broken gasp of frustration.
Lex closed the distance quickly, his eyes scanning the room as it came into view.
There was a television on. Actually there were four. All flat screen monstrosities flashing with various levels of lewdness.
There was a man sprawled on his back, only visible from the hips down, the camera focused on his cock sliding in and out of glistening pussy. The woman rode him fast and hard, obviously adept at the reverse cowgirl as her movements seemed to increase with every downward push.
There was a woman on her hands and knees, another attractive woman railing away at her with a large strap-on. What appeared to be a multi-tasking strap-on if the look of pleasure on the giver's face was any indication.
There was a woman taking it from two men at once. One man had his cock in her pussy and the other had his cock in her ass. And her head was thrown back in ecstasy as both men pumped inside her furiously.
There was an orgy on the fourth screen. Many different men and women giving and taking whatever pleasure they could from anyone or anything they could get it from. Cocks were being sucked, pussies eaten. Any orifice available was filled with something; edible or otherwise.
And all Lex could do was stare. Mouth open, eyes wide, heart pounding in his chest.
"Lex…"
The sound of his name being moaned throatily snapped him out of it. He turned toward the other side of the room, immediately gulping as his eyes fell on Chloe.
She'd obviously been here for a while. The room was cluttered with toys. Vibes, dildos and plugs of various sizes and textures littered the floor around her.
She was sprawled before him, her face blazing with heat, her body gleaming with sweat.
She had her hands at her center, an average size vibrator in her depths, her free hand working her clit in fast circles. Her inner thighs were coated with the wet evidence of her arousal, her nipples erect, her eyes wild with need.
Shaking his head to clear his brain, Lex cleared his throat, moving closer to her until he stood directly in front of her. He kept his eyes focused on her face, ignoring his urge to watch her pleasure herself.
Because she really didn't seem to be having a good time. She looked frantic and frustrated, almost pained in her need for orgasm.
"Chloe," Lex asked huskily. "What's going on?"
She met his gaze, the desperation in her eyes starting to shred the threads of his restraint.
It was her words that did him in.
"Please, Lex," she whimpered, her hips thrashing, her hands working desperately as she chased her release. "Help me."
