Chapter Nine

"After", Chloe started to shout but then, remembering where she was lowered her voice to a hiss, "After what you did you have no fucking rights!" She injected her tone with enough venom to compensate for the fact that she was forced to reduce her volume but her body strained with the effort of doing so; she really wanted to scream blue murder at him.

"I was your first Chloe", he growled at her, "that gives me some rights whatever happened afterwards". He kept his hold on her; there was no way that he was going to let her get away from him. He would rather have her there before him fighting with him than be without her. He couldn't be without her, not again.

"No it doesn't", she struggled against him, tears stinging her eyes as she thought about her disappointment.

"Yes, it does", he ran his hand up her back trying to stop the shimmer of moisture in her green eyes. He didn't want to upset her, he really didn't. On the contrary, he wanted to kiss those tears away but he just couldn't live without her and this was the only way that he could provoke her into talking to him even if they were fast descending into childishness.

It pained him to think that she had a good point and that he had indeed lost some of his rights, that was one of the reasons why it had taken him so long to come after her. He had tried to do the noble thing and put her out of his mind; to let her get on with her life without him and find someone new, better but it hadn't worked. She was just as miserable without him as he was without her. And so he was here to win those rights back and make her happy. Of course, it seemed like getting her back and making her happy was going to involve making her furious first and he knew that when she was angry she tended to act out. Well he wasn't going to allow that either, she was not going to get hurt because of him ever again.

Chloe gasped as she felt his hot breath on her cheek, somehow that was even more intimate than his hands on her body and made her lose her train of thought. She hated herself for her weakness around him, after what had happened she shouldn't have allowed herself to feel anything other than hatred towards him. She tried to distract herself by looking around the room, anything was better than being reminded of him.

Whilst she had been arguing with Lex she hadn't been aware of her surroundings but now she realised the precariousness of their situation. She looked around to check that no one was observing them, she was not entirely fortunate. Obviously the in/famous Lex Luthor being in attendance and holding a woman close had not gone unnoticed by some women who were shooting her suspicious looks. Chloe grimaced.

Lex noticed the direction of her gaze and smirked. He could feel the effect that he was having on her – even if she tried to hide it - and relished it, he didn't care if anyone else saw them but if it bothered Chloe he would offer her a way out.

"You have two options here Chloe", he whispered in her ear, "either I kiss you senseless right now in front of all of the local town busybodies – most of whom have cameras on their phones – basically ensuring that it will be on papers tomorrow morning and that everyone will know that you are mine". The idea sent a thrill through him.

Suddenly Chloe was glad that his arms were wrapped so tightly around her so that she didn't fall over when her knees buckled. Her bones had turned to jelly, her pupils had dilated and she had to really focus on keeping a firm hold on her anger as she clung to his suit jacket to keep herself fully upright.

Lex smiled at the reaction his words had caused and supported her body against his.

"What's the other option?" She asked, galled that he had made her admit that he was in control and that she did have only two choices, sort of. If the second option was just as bad she would refuse, although she had no idea how her body would take such a refusal it was about ready to give herself to him on any terms.

"Sit down quietly and politely and have a drink with me, as if we were just old friends", he offered her a way out. He had wanted to make the second option something even more outrageous but he knew that if he pushed her too far she would just close off from him completely.

"You don't know what friendship is", she spat back at him. That was good, that had sobered her up a little. Her knees had almost regained some of their strength which would be useful when he pushed her away and stormed out of the room.

His face remained neutral but there was a flash of pain in his eyes which no one other than Chloe would have noticed. She realised that her words had sliced through him and for a moment, one terrible moment, she felt delight. She had managed to hurt him. She felt powerful. Oh God, that was the attitude that had got her in trouble with Lionel when she had wanted to destroy Clark. She was repulsed with herself. The flood of guilt washed over her as she looked up at Lex, she wanted to reach out and comfort him, she hadn't meant to hurt him when she had said it. It had just come out.

Lex could practically read her thoughts and God help him he was going to use them against her. "So the kiss it is then", his head swooped down hoping that she would be too confused by her feelings to react quickly enough, however she did just turn her head in time so that he only caught her cheek.

He tried to keep the disappointment from showing on his face, he knew that he should not have expected it to be that easy. "Or the drink if you would prefer", he added reluctantly.

"I think that I could use a drink", she said as she felt him placing another kiss on her cheek. It was the easiest way to get him to release her, and she really did need a drink.

"Alright", Lex agreed and reluctantly loosened his grip on her enough to pull out a chair for her and to help her – for her legs were still jelly-like – to sit down. He took the seat next to her and wrapped his foot around the leg of hers so that she couldn't pull away from him. He already missed the warmth of her body pressed against him, he certainly wasn't about to allow her to run away.

There were several bottles on the table and Chloe reached across for the scotch, anxious for something to do and poured them both a glass of it. As she did so he got a flash of cleavage which made him glance around and give "sod off" glares to any man who was looking her way.

"The fact that I agreed to have a drink with you does not mean that I want you to scare away potential male company", she informed him icily as she handed him his drink.

Lex appeared unconcerned by this rebuke although inside he was seething at the thought of another man coming near her, even though he knew that there was no chance that she was leaving with anyone but him.

To distract himself from saying something that she might make him regret he took a sip of his drink and pulled a face. "Certainly not the best. I thought that I had trained you better than that. You should know which scotch to consume".

Chloe bristled at this and the fact that he hadn't responded to her earlier jab, she had wanted him to be jealous and declare that she was only leaving with him – even if she didn't want him to think that he had the right to make her decisions for her.

"Fuck you", she responded again. She did know the difference between the two and knew that this wasn't good so there wasn't really anything else that she could say, but she had to say something.

"Fuck again?" He raised an eyebrow. "Either you have a one tracked mind or they didn't teach you many words in that fancy school you went to".

Chloe stared around the bedroom in confusion. Lex had been there that night, he couldn't just have gone. Well, that wasn't true he could very easily just have gone. They hadn't talked about their feelings or anything, he had just said that he had wanted her to have the perfect prom night which he had given her and now he wasn't there. And why shouldn't he be gone, she reasoned. He had known that she was willing to give up her virginity just to get it over with; there was no reason for him to think her anything more than a cheap slut. There was no reason for him to still be there in the morning, she knew his history. She shouldn't have expected anything else.

With tears stinging her eyes and wondering how on earth she was going to call Lois and tell her a) where she was, b) that she needed her to come and get her, and c) bring her something to wear because her own clothes were ripped. It was a good job that Lois had decided not to go to the prom after all, she decided although she could only imagine how much Lois was going to make fun of her when she found out what she had done.

She looked around the room but couldn't see her clothing or her bag; it must be in the sitting room. She pulled back the blankets and tried not to cry as she saw the stain on top of them, then slowly got out of bed. She felt stiff and then, Chloe let out a little whimper of pain.

"Chloe", Lex came bursting through the double doors which led onto the sitting room, "What's the matter?"

"Lex", Chloe gasped as she saw him.

"I'll call you back", he barked into his phone before turning it off and thrusting it into his pocket as he hurried around to her side. He checked her out for any obvious signs of injury. There was still some bloody between her legs but other than that she looked fine so he guessed that it had just been a shock of some type. He tried to joke, "Who else were you expecting

"My lover", she attempted a joke in return but felt herself go a little weak as he grasped her upper arms and looked at her with such obvious concern. He hadn't left her.

"Are you alright?" He asked again.

"Yeah, I'm just being silly. I stood up too quickly and …"

"And you're sore", he supplied for her with a grin. "Come on, get back into bed", he helped her back in and covered her with the covers which was a shame as she was very nice to look at. "You shouldn't have been trying to get up yet anyway, don't you know how morning after prom night is supposed to work?" Without waiting for her to reply, he explained, "You are supposed to lounge around in bed and wait for your breakfast to come to you", he pressed the button on the intercom and informed someone on the other end that she was awake.

Before Chloe had the chance to comment on this, a maid came through with a huge tray of breakfast and freshly brewed coffee and another one followed with linen and a couple of small boxes.

"God that smells good", Chloe moaned as her stomach rumbled causing Lex to laugh as he ordered, "Breakfast on the bed please" and slipped one of the maids a tip for the both of them.

The second maid whipped off the old top coverlet – which was stained - and replaced it with another one in the blink of an eye causing Chloe to wonder if she had ever been a magician's assistant. The other then set out the breakfast as Lex was handed the boxes. Once they had gone Lex moved around to his side of the bed and sat down next to Chloe.

"Here you are", he gave her both boxes, "those pills are the best on the market and shouldn't cause you any harm or sickness, also they can be taken along with these", he pointed to the second box, "Nurofen", Chloe read aloud. "Are you always this thoughtful Lex?"

"No, usually I leave before she wakes up, saves me from having to admit that I don't remember, or never bothered to ask, her name", Lex tried to sound conversational as he said this but watched her intently out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't proud of it but he wanted Chloe to know that this wasn't normal for him, that she wasn't just one of the hundreds of girls he had bedded and then forgotten.

"I'm Chloe", she said holding her hand out for him to shake. She had got his message loud and clear, he wanted to – very gently – inform her that he was an experienced man of the world to whom nights like this meant nothing. She didn't expect anything from him, she knew that it had just been a one night thing and she would show him that she could be grown up and mature too. She would joke about this and act casually and then she would leave. When she next saw him she would be cool, calm and sophisticated … or as cool, calm and sophisticated as she could manage.

"Lex Luthor", he smiled as he took her hand and she felt a shot of electricity go straight through her. This was going to be more difficult that she had thought at first.

Trying to find something to distract herself with, she took her tablets with a swing of coffee and a bite of pain au chocolat. "Um this is good".

"Yeah, it looks it", he took one and ate it; trying to ignore the temptation to lick the spot of chocolate he could see on her lip from her pastry.

"Are you going to work?" Chloe wondered as she looked over at him, he was dressed very nicely in his grey trousers and that soft blue sweater of his that made her want to forget that last night had been a onetime thing.

"No", he smiled – he had been doing that a lot that morning – "this is for when we go out today".

"We are going out today?" Chloe asked in surprise.

"Yes, of course. I am taking you to see your future Universities so that we can have a look around and you can make your decision", Lex looked at her in confusion, he was sure that he had mentioned that to her before, hadn't he?

"Really?" Chloe squeaked, she had never been outside of Kansas before and the idea of going all over the country was really exciting but not so much as the thought of the fact that she was going to get to spend an entire day with Lex. She picked up her coffee cup to stop herself throwing her arms around him.

"Yes, really", he laughed at her obvious enthusiasm. He had never really thought of trips as being much of a treat, they were just par for the cause in his family, but seeing how excited it made Chloe he really wished that he had offered to take her somewhere nice before.

"Um Lex", Chloe asked hesitantly, "how are we going to do that when you cut my dress?"

"I ordered you some new clothes that are in the sitting room and made sure that they put female products and such like in the bathroom", he told her, honestly confused that she thought that he wouldn't have already taken care of everything that she needed.

"Lex you didn't have to …"

"I ripped it off, it's my job to replace it", he said neutrally thinking that this would be better than telling her that he had wanted to.

Although there was nothing particular about his voice, the glint in his eyes told her not to argue with him. "When are we leaving? Do I have time to finish eating before I shower and change?"

"Yeah, of course", he really couldn't work out what was going on in her brain, "but the plane leaves when you are ready and not a moment before so just relax". He was about to point out that there was a Jacuzzi that might help if she was sore but thought that that might test his resolve too much.

Lex's resolve had been tested ruthlessly all that day. He was fairly certain that Chloe hadn't been aware that she was torturing him, she had very little idea of what she could do to him at that point but he had spent the entire day torn between being amazed by her life force and energy, and trying to think of disgusting images so that he wouldn't get too hard when she laughed, or smiled at him, or even winced a little as she sat down reminding him of what he had done to her.

Even now, five years later and surrounded by people she could still make him crazy with lust.

"My schooling was just fine", Chloe replied tersely.

"I know it was ba … Chloe", he tried to assure her that he hadn't actually meant to insult her education – he knew that she was very proud of it, and so she should be, he damned sure was -, he had just been joking.

She seemed to soften for a moment before looking away, pretending to be bored rather than having to look at him and face the truth. Even after everything, he did care about her.

"Looking for your friends?" He said, trying not to sound jealous even though he was.

"Yeah".

"What are you going to tell them when they arrive?" He wondered.

"The truth".

"What is the truth?" Lex wondered.

"That I never stopped being in love with Clark and that now I am back I want to give it another go".