Chapter 16

When Diana landed outside of LexCorp in Metropolis, she realized to her chagrin that it was only mid-afternoon on a weekday. Aside from a few sporadic texts to each other throughout the day, she and Lex had been in the habit of limiting their contact during work hours since he was invariably tied up in meetings and pitches and business calls. Not that Diana wasn't often unavailable, too, when she was training or out on missions, so they saved most of their communication for the evenings.

But here she was just showing up to his office unannounced and uninvited, and she felt bad to disturb him. Diana supposed that she could go to the park or wander around Metropolis, but she had forgotten her wallet in her hurry to leave the Watchtower. Since she rarely went down to Earth when she wasn't on League business, Diana wasn't in the habit of carrying anything with her except her phone.

And, it was a little chilly with an autumn nip in the air. Diana wore her skimpy armored uniform to fight or perform rescue work no matter what the weather was, since she inevitably worked up a hearty sweat and appreciated staying cool, but today she hadn't brought a jacket or thought to change on her way down to Earth due to her anger and distress over Shayera and Bruce. So, she supposed that visiting Lex was her best option.

Diana sighed and pulled out her phone as she pushed open the doors to the sleek and gleaming LexCorp skyscraper. The airy, tall-ceilinged lobby was walled with windows (made of bullet-proof glass, no doubt, Diana thought to herself with an inner smile) and the spacious interior was dotted with black leather armchairs and sofas arranged in small groups around the open floor plan. The huge chrome reception desk that boasted no less than five employees sparkled in front of the bank of elevators and Diana felt the staff's eyes on her as she walked in.

I'm at LexCorp, can I come up? Diana texted Lex quickly, nervously chewing on her lip as she hoped that she wasn't interrupting something terribly important. It was only a second before her phone buzzed back his reply.

Of course, I'm calling Ebony at the front desk right now. Indeed, a phone was ringing before Diana even finished reading Lex's text. She smiled and walked over to the desk where the polished receptionist was murmuring into the phone.

"Ms. Prince?" Ebony said with a big smile as she finished the call. "Mr. Luthor asked me to send you right up," she said, walking Diana to the farthest elevator on the right.

"Thank you," Diana said gratefully as the receptionist swiped a keycard in the elevator's slot.

"This elevator goes directly to Mr. Luthor's floor," Ebony said by way of explanation. "Enjoy your day," she added as the elevator arrived and the doors opened.

"Thank you," Diana said again, sighing with relief when she was alone at last. She belatedly wondered how much of a mess she looked, given that she had been sobbing her eyes out in the cornfields a little while ago before flying all the way to Metropolis from the Watchtower's remote beaming site.

As the elevator flew up eighty stories, Diana tried to peer at her reflection in the shiny metal doors and to run her fingers through her hair. Not that Lex would mind, but she hated for his colleagues to see her all teary-eyed and bedraggled. Diana's mother had always taught her that as a princess, she was a reflection of not only her mother, the queen, but of the Amazons as a whole, and that a well-groomed appearance was a mark of respect to those whom she represented. And now that she was with Lex, and visiting his own company where his employees would see her, Diana felt embarrassed to not look her best.

Oh, well, she sighed to herself. Too late now. The doors opened with a whoosh and Diana almost forgot about her unease because Lex was standing there waiting for her with a big smile on his face and so much warmth in his eyes that Diana couldn't help but feel better and start to smile back at him.

"Diana," he said with pleasure as he held his arms out and she gratefully melted into them. "This is a lovely surprise," he said before kissing her in a way that made Diana almost forget exactly why she'd been so troubled a short hour earlier.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your day," Diana said apologetically when she and Lex finally, reluctantly broke off their kiss, although he continued to caress her hips with his hands as she spoke. "I didn't think," she said, looking up at him. "I just beamed down to Earth without any money and then I flew over here, and…" she trailed off, looking distressed.

"You are never an interruption," Lex said to her firmly, gripping her waist for emphasis. His eyes were soft but a little concerned as he took note of Diana's recent tears and her dismal gaze which was usually so bright and happy. He hesitated. "Batman called me," he murmured in a hushed voice, even though the hallway was empty and the secretary in his private office suite was enclosed behind a glass wall with the door shut.

"Oh, no!" Diana said, startled. "What did he say?" she asked him anxiously, pulling back from Lex's chest where she had been cuddled. Lex tightened his hold on her, though, to halt her retreat.

"He said you were hurt and angry about Shayera dating him," Lex said quietly. "Because she's your friend," he clarified. "Not because you were jealous," he added, but even though he didn't make it a question, he still looked at Diana for confirmation.

"That's about the gist of it," Diana sighed, sniffing a little bit. Lex pulled her into a tighter hug for a minute and Diana gratefully rested in his arms, remembering once again how much better the world seemed when Lex was holding her. How could one man - or any man, really - ease her worries so much, the Amazon wondered? It was a mystery, but one that Diana didn't mind being wrapped up in.

"I want to hear all about it," Lex said into her hair as he nuzzled her, "but I'm afraid I do need to finish a meeting first."

"Oh, I did interrupt you," Diana said in dismay, turning her face to look at him, but the protective gleam in Lex's eyes arrested her.

"Diana, you are always my priority," Lex said to her in his fully serious, don't-fuck-with-me-I'm-Lex-Luthor voice as he gazed at her possessively. "I always want you to reach out to me when you need me. Nothing is as important as you." Diana blushed a little bit.

"This is silly, though," she murmured. "I'm just upset."

"Your emotions are as important to me as saving the world is to you," Lex told her, and even though he still spoke in a strong voice, the twinkle in his eyes softened his delivery. "Promise me you'll always call me," he said, raising a hand up to cup her cheek, and Diana heard the more vulnerable pleading tone that was hidden underneath his command.

"I will," she said softly, feeling the knots in her stomach begin to relax under Lex's loving concern. "Thank you," she added, leaning in to kiss him again and feeling filled with gratitude and joy that she mattered so much to somebody. Lex smiled at her when they finally broke apart.

"You're welcome to come to the rest of the meeting with me," he told her as he gently interlaced his hand in hers. "Or, you can wait in my office until I finish. It's up to you," he said, not able to resist bending down to kiss her bare shoulder, which made her giggle.

"You've never seen me in the armor before, huh," Diana teased him flirtatiously.

"Not since we've been dating," Lex murmured with a heated look. "It's most appealing." Diana's eyes started to sparkle and the hole in Lex's heart that had ripped open when he saw Diana come out of the elevator looking so woebegone slowly began to recede back into fullness.

"I'd love to come to your meeting," she told him, swinging their hands a little bit. "I won't be in the way? Wait - don't tell me," she laughed a little bit as Lex opened his mouth to speak with an affronted look on his face. "I'm never in the way?" she confirmed with him and he pecked her lips.

"You're a fast learner, Wonder Woman," he said.

"I love you, Lex," Diana told him happily.

"I love you, too, Diana," he said back, lifting their hands up to his lips so he could kiss the back of hers.

"What kind of meeting is it?" Diana asked him curiously as he walked her down the hall.

"I told you I started acquiring struggling green energy companies?" Lex reminded her and Diana nodded. Part of Lex's makeover plans for LexCorp were to combat global warming by starting to quietly buy up the best green tech on the market that was currently too expensive for the average consumer or business to implement due to its limited production and demand.

When Lex shut down his weapons factories, he'd have the space and employees to start mass-producing the green solutions and, since he had so much sway in both the corporate and political worlds, he'd soon have a near monopoly on the affordable side of the market and the power and means to forcefeed his LexCorp resources to the masses, a plan which pleased him greatly.

He'd become even richer and soon be the most powerful man on the planet, all while being hailed as Earth's Savior, a title which he now coveted, since World's Greatest Super-Villain was off the table. And best of all, Diana was thrilled with his efforts to support a cause dear to her heart. Lex was starting by tackling the manufacturing side of the problem, but he had no doubt that within five years - ten at the most - he'd have single-handedly reversed the effects of global warming. It was good to be Lex Luthor, he thought with satisfaction, and even better to be Lex Luthor with his dearest Diana at his side.

"This is part of the green plan, but it doesn't look that way, yet," he said to her. "I'm trying to acquire the DeLorean vehicle company," Lex told her as they approached the large conference room at the end of the hall.

"I'm not familiar with them," Diana said and Lex smiled.

"We'll have to watch Back to the Future," he told her as he opened the door for her. "Oh, and remind me to tell you later how I bought Detroit this morning," he whispered in her ear with a wink to her surprised face.

"Ladies, gentlemen, thank you for allowing me the brief break," Lex said grandly as they entered the room.

Some corporate executives wearing suits in different shades of black and gray who were milling around the oblong brushed steel table with cups of coffee in their hands turned to look at the couple with surprise. Humans wore such depressing colors most of the time, Diana thought for the thousandth time as they stared at her and she tried to politely return their gawks.

Of course, Lex wore mostly black, too, but he looked so good in it that Diana didn't mind. It sort of fit his personality as a villain, or former villain, anyway. But when she was faced with an entire room of people wearing nothing but black, Diana had the unfortunate sense that she was at a human funeral. And, her brightly colored uniform stood out garishly against the dark cloud of business suits and made her feel even more awkward.

Oh, well, Diana thought again with a little sigh.

"This is Diana Prince, Wonder Woman," Lex said to the room with ease, as if her being there was nothing out of the ordinary, and then he took her around to each person individually to introduce them by name. And Diana couldn't help but smile at the happy glow in her heart as she noted once again Lex's thoughtful way of treating people. He really was so kind, she thought to herself, and so considerate to remember every single person's name even though he'd probably met them all today for the first time. She squeezed his fingers a little tighter as he led her to the head of the table.

A single chair was there, but Lex slid it over slightly and held it out for her before pulling an empty chair around for him to sit in next to her. He nodded at the head of the DeLorean company who was ready to reconvene the meeting, and the business started up again. Lex continued to take notes with his left hand, but he snuck his right hand over to hold Diana's underneath the table.

Diana listened curiously as it became apparent that DeLorean was a long-defunct American car company that had gone bankrupt in the early eighties, although it appeared that they still operated a few stores for sales of used cars, parts, and repairs. And, it seemed that the DeLorean executives were more than eager to sell and perhaps a little stunned at Lex's interest. They tried to mask it, but Diana could see their nerves as they made their sales pitch and answered Lex's many questions.

And Diana couldn't deny that she was getting more than a little turned on by Lex's business acumen. He had such a sharp mind, and asked such thoughtful questions, and he looked damn sexy while doing it, with his power wafting off of him like cologne. She found herself crossing her legs and growing warmer as the meeting progressed. Which Lex may have noticed, although he gave nothing away except for stroking her hand under the table a little more sensually with his thumb. Diana was biting her lip by the time that Lex stood to end the meeting.

"Thank you all for coming out today," he said graciously. "I'll go over your numbers and have an offer to you tomorrow," he said, which prompted tentatively hopeful looks from the sellers as they shook hands with him and said good-bye to Diana. Lex and Diana followed them out of the room and walked them down to the elevator, still hand in hand, but as soon as the elevator doors shut, Lex was tugging Diana into his office suite.

"Tess, this is Diana Prince," he said to his secretary, who was smiling up at them. "Diana, meet Eve Teschmacher, my organizational guru."

"It's such a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Prince," Eve said enthusiastically as she stood up and came around the desk to shake Diana's hand.

"Oh, please, call me Diana," the Amazon said warmly, noting the genuine friendliness in Eve's eyes despite her rather sexy attire, which Diana couldn't deny had set little alarm bells off in her mind at first glance. "And should I call you Eve, then? Or Tess?" Eve giggled.

"Oh, Mr. Luthor calls me Tess for short, but you can call me either. He used to call me Ms. Teschmacher but that was such a mouthful for him to be calling out every other minute when he needed something," she said and Lex chuckled.

"Yes, I do put dear Tess through the wringer some days," he said apologetically.

"But he pays me well for my trouble," Tess said, looking at him as fondly as a mother hen might look at her chick. "And, he introduced me to my husband," she said, looking back to Diana. "Dr. Axel Granite. He works for Lex, too."

"Oh, how nice," Diana said, secretly feeling greatly relieved. Not that Tess looked like she had the hots for Diana's man, but the situation with Bruce and Shayera was making Diana feel uncomfortably insecure and Tess got to spend most of every day interacting with Lex and dressed like a pin-up girl, to boot. While Diana had barely been in Lex's life for a week.

"I'm so happy that Mr. Luthor is dating you," Tess said as she beamed at the two of them. "He deserves someone nice in his life." An overwhelming affection for Tess suddenly flooded Diana's heart and she moved forward and pulled the startled secretary into a hug.

"Oh!" Tess said, laughing a little bit. "What was that for?" Diana was about to speak truthfully, but she caught herself, remembering that the world at large only thought of Lex as a businessman. His nefarious dealings were no secret to the Justice League, but to the average person? Diana wasn't sure exactly how evil her Lex typically came off to the masses.

"It makes me happy that you care so much for Lex and that you're being so welcoming to me," Diana ended up saying tactfully. "He's lucky to have you," she added sincerely.

"Oh, Ms. Pr - Diana," Tess managed to get out. "That's so kind of you to say," she said, dabbing some tears away. "Bless your heart," she said as she moved back to her desk. Lex smiled.

"Tess, hold my calls until further notice, all right?"

"Yes, sir, Mr. Luthor," his still smiling secretary answered. Lex led Diana into his office and shut the door behind them.

Diana was intending to say something nice about Tess but Lex had her pushed up against the door and his tongue in her mouth with his hands all over her before she could get a word out.

Hera! was the only thought that Diana could manage as her brain fuzzed out and her body took over, because Lex had made out with her before, but nothing like this, with his whole body pinning her tight and his hands sliding over her breasts and stomach and tangled in her hair and skimming her bare shoulders and arms before sliding down to her equally bare thighs.

Diana barely registered her arms clinging to Lex's neck as she lost herself in a pink cloud of heat and desire and craving as Lex's hard cock ground into her and made her pussy drip while he fucked her mouth with his tongue. She couldn't feel his hands through the armor on her chest, but knowing they were there caressing her curves made her hotter than she could have imagined.

A moan slipped out of her mouth and Diana jerked her lips away from Lex's in panic.

"What's wrong, baby?" he asked her, sliding his mouth down to her bare neck instead which he started paying equal attention to.

"Tess!" Diana whispered urgently. "She'll hear!" Lex chuckled darkly without letting up his kisses as he found Diana's jugular and began to lick and suck at it gently.

"My office is soundproofed," he murmured against her throat, moving his hands up to stroke Diana's shoulders in an attempt to calm her nerves. "Don't hold back." Diana laughed a little bit in relief but she gently palmed Lex's face with her hands and pulled his mouth away from its diligent ministrations so she could look him in the eyes.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked him softly. "You said you wanted to wait."

"I changed my mind," Lex said huskily. His eyes were burning into hers with heat and passion but Diana bit her lip, worried.

"What if you regret it?" she asked him. "I'd hate that," she said, rubbing her thumbs over his cheekbones. Lex groaned. "You never told me why you wanted to wait until New Year's in the first place," Diana pointed out reasonably. "And I don't mind either way. But I'm nervous to go ahead without knowing if you really changed your mind or if you're only turned on by me in my uniform."

Lex sighed heavily and pressed their foreheads together.

"Not just you in your uniform," he said. "You eating me up in that meeting." And Diana giggled.

"You were so sexy being all powerful and commanding like that," she said. "I couldn't help it."

"Mm-hm," Lex murmured, brushing his lips against her cheek before dropping them to press a kiss to the corner of her mouth. Diana sighed too and held his waist lightly.

"We should at least talk first," she said, prompting more groans from Lex. "I can always stay over tonight," she said, looking up at him lovingly. Lex sighed again with resignation.

"Do you realize that I have never before in my life waited to have sex with a woman when we both wanted to?" he said in a somewhat mystified but self-deprecating tone as he slowly stepped back and rubbed his hands over his bald head. "I am a fucking mess around you, Diana," he said a little shakily, half-turning away from her.

"Is that bad?" Diana asked him with some concern. Lex let out a nervous laugh.

"I don't know," he said. "My cock thinks so," he smiled ruefully. "My head might agree. My heart… well. I didn't think I had one until you danced with me," he said, looking back at her with a surprising amount of vulnerability in his eyes.

"Oh, Lex," Diana breathed, coming forward automatically to hug him before quickly reconsidering and settling for rubbing his back lightly instead. He reached out and gripped her hand tightly in his.

"Let's talk," he said.