What the hell? was the only thought that came to mind when Lex dropped her into place on the wire shelving. She barely realized the metal was cold on the backs of her legs, when Lex's mouth slammed down on her own.
She only had a moment of shock before the molten forceful heat of his mouth on hers sent her senses into overdrive. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she found herself kissing him back with a passion she had forgotten she contained - even when she had dated Jimmy. It had been years since...No. She wouldn't think about that now. She wouldn't fall into the past when the present was so much more shocking.
A part of her knew this was a distraction for the benefit of the security guard, but most of her was falling, lost and shockingly ready for him. She could go back to alternately saving the world and locking horns with him again later. Right now, his mouth slanting against hers was much more important. The angle should have been awkward with her on the edge of the shelf and more boxes above, but Lex gripped her hair to keep her head still. She found herself grateful for that. If she was concussed, she probably wouldn't have been able to respond properly when his tongue pressed against her lips. She opened them, and he swept inside. A low moan sprang up between them, and she wasn't sure if it was him or her or both. She really didn't care. He moved in closer and she felt his cool hands running up her thighs. A shiver raced down her spine as she lifted her legs and wrapped them around his slim waist, drawing him in even closer. She heard someone speaking at them, but neither of them paid the words any mind. Not when he began grinding his hips against hers. Even through both his clothing and hers, the contact felt amazing. He was shockingly hard (how had he gotten so hard so fast?) and the height of the wire shelf placed her just at his hip level. As he pushed his hardened body against her, he was giving her just a taste of the friction she hadn't known she needed until that moment.
"Look, I don't know who you are, but you don't belong here. I need you to break that off and come with me," an angry male voice cut in from just a few feet away.
Lex broke off the kiss and glared over his shoulder at the guard. She felt something very like barely controlled rage vibrating from him as he snapped at the guard. "I have every right to be here. Don't you know who I am? Get the f- out of here. Now."
The guard gasped in shock. It seemed between her arms wrapped around him and the angle of their kiss the guard had missed Lex's trademark bare head. She heard the unfortunate guard gulp. "Mr - Mr Luthor. I-I'm so sorry. I didn't realize it was you. Just...yeah...just...take as long as you need." Then the guard turned around and fled.
When Lex turned his eyes back to her, his expression was complex - a combination of burning, hooded eyes, surprise, and something like...fear?
She wondered at her own expression for just a moment before reality came screaming back. She felt her eyes widen and her mouth drop open in horror at what she had done. She had been climbing all over Lex Luthor! What the hell was wrong with her? Her arms and legs dropped away from Lex like he might burn her.
His expression shuttered instantly. Holding her wide eyes, he very slowly and very deliberately removed his hands from where they were buried under her skirt. Then in the same unhurried way, he stepped back away from her. He offered a hand palm-up to help her hop down from the shelf but she ignored it.
What was it with her and making out in records rooms? With Clark was one thing, but with Lex Luthor?
How could she have let something as...stupid as a kiss with Lex Luthor happen? Well, alright, there had been a time years ago when she had...No! This was not then. But for him to kiss her...alright, fine. She had to admit it was a clever ploy given their circumstances. She had even used it herself. If they had been caught rifling through obscure documents from years ago in the middle of the night, that would definitely put their mission at risk. But a blustering Lex Luther involved in a sordid encounter with a nameless woman? That wouldn't raise any eyebrows. His proclivities were common tabloid fodder.
Admit it, Chloe. You aren't mad he kissed you. You are mad you liked it. That you responded. That you responded A LOT.
But then again...he had too.
She shook her head to clear it. This was much too confusing. After everything they had done to each other over the last few years, there shouldn't be anything left between them except anger and suspicion.
Grabbing her purse from where it had dropped from nerveless fingers to the floor, she started to make her way to the door, but Lex grabbed her arm, holding her back. Fury burst through her, and she snapped, "Get your hands off me!"
Ah, good, there's the anger.
Lex released her instantly with a dark look. "Fine. You didn't seem to mind a moment ago, but fine."
She gave him a withering glare, before she shifted her purse and moved towards the door again.
"You can't go yet," he said flatly, but this time he kept his hands to himself.
"Why not?" she lashed out in response, though she knew the answer even before she finished speaking.
"Because that guard thinks we are in here in flagrante. If you go marching out now, you'll spoil that perfectly good cover I just gave us."
"Fine," she spat out in the same tone he had used. "What do we do now, then?"
He smirked wickedly in response. Actually smirked as if that had a chance of happening again.
She scowled in reply, then marched back and snatched the file of shipping records from the shelf where he had discarded if to make their little "show."
"Well, if we are going to assume these are the unmodified records, then those barrels were sent out to Optimus as contracted, but for some reason they were delivered back to you by a company called Savage Inc. As to why my father didn't flag the change, I don't know."
"Unless he was involved."
Chloe opened her mouth to snap a reply, but stopped. Even she had to admit, it was highly irregular. Instead, she continued outlining the facts. "The good news is that it only looks like a single tainted shipment was taken. All the other records looked to be in perfect order. So if we can track down this one shipment of..." She flipped the manifest page to check the number. "Eight barrels, we should be safe."
"Alright then. We just need to track down this Savage Inc. facility then and check it out." He paused catching her smirk. "What?" Then he smiled too, catching on. "The address is listed on the manifest?"
"Yep, right at the top. So, Lex, how do you feel about visiting scenic Nebraska?"
He smiled widely. It was such an odd and intriguing expression to see on Lex's face, but she felt her own smile appear in response. "I can hardly wait," he said.
Lex wasn't exactly sure what he had been expecting from her when he kissed Chloe. He knew she was smart enough to realize it for the distraction it was, but he certainly hadn't expected her to respond the way she had.
But then he hadn't expected that he would respond the way he had. Every rational thinking part of his brain had just...shut off when his lips meet hers.
How could he possibility have expected that? It had been years since... No. Best not to go there.
She tasted like cinnamon and coffee, and her lips were so soft, he had needed to explore her mouth further. And when he felt her arms wrap around him, he couldn't stop himself from moving in closer. He hadn't thought for even a second past wanting to feel here legs wrap around him too. Sweetly curved legs he had surreptitiously watched years ago when things had been different between them. When she had trusted him with her life. When she had always been in clothes just a bit too short and too tight. Then there she was kissing him and pressing into him, and it all came rushing in. Desire that was sharpened, instead of dulled, by years of undeclared war. Suddenly, his arms were full of her, pressing her body against his...wanting more...
Then it had all come crashing to a sudden halt. Reality snapped back so quickly it nearly left him with whiplash. In the middle of working to prevent a possible disaster, in the middle of saving his company and reputation, he had lost himself with Chloe Sullivan.
Chloe Sullivan of all people!
Self-righteous bitch that she had become, always thinking herself so much better than him. He knew better. She was a meteor mutant like the others and sooner or later she would snap.
And it would be up to him to contain her.
So how has he let himself forget all that even for a moment? Was it because of everything she brought to the surface for him? He rarely had an interaction with her that didn't have them locking horns. But for some reason, he had always liked that. Even when she had been so young, she had seen him for what he was. But she hadn't let that stop her. Her mind and her drive had been the things that mattered, not what stood in her way. He had always admired that about her. It was actually what had brought her to him all those years ago. She needed to be free of his father and so had he. They had needed each other.
But what had happened just now was an entirely different kind of need. A dangerous need.
He couldn't deal with this. Not now.
But that didn't stop him from wanting it now that the fire had been kindled.
