Almost all of the people who were invited to the birthday party arrived early, everyone was obviously curious to get a glimpse inside the infamous Luthor mansion. There had never been a party there and indeed it was very unusual for the Luthors to mix with the more common folk. Lionel had made it clear that he looked down on the salt of the earth types who Smallville was generally populated with.

The evening was warm and the air filled with the scent of Jasmine which grew in profusion around the south side of the castle. It reminded Lex of Lana, who always seemed to smell faintly of the sweet scent.

Their intimacy had left Lex hungry for more, but he knew he'd gone far enough with Lana for one day. He had no wish to spook her.

He was curious about what her reaction would be once they met to go downstairs together.

He found her at the top of the stairs, nervously fingering the short skirt of her dress. She looked up at him as he approached, her gaze falling slightly short of meeting his. Lex smiled at her and, without speaking, offered her his arm. Lana accepted it, hesitating only for a moment before placing her hand on his shirt sleeve.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Not really." She replied, a hint of humor in her voice.

Lex admired the gleam of the ruby choker around her throat. It complemented her colouring to perfection.

Their outfits were perfectly matched, looking for all the world like a clear, dark night sky, splattered with a myriad of stars. This was because Lex was dressed in a silk shirt in darkest indigo and a pair of black trousers. Lana was a vision in her silver spangled dress, now wearing a pair of black peep toe stilettos. Her face was a little flushed as she met his eyes warily. His entire body clenched down hard as she bit her lower lip in a charming display of nerves.

"We're like the night sky." Lex commented, as they walked slowly down the three flights of stairs towards the distant chatter of many voices.

Lana frowned a little, not understanding. Lex smiled and gestured to their clothing. She returned his smile. "I like that description." She murmured.

Lex folded his free hand over hers, where it lay on his arm. A shock of electricity shot through both of their bodies and their eyes flew to stare at one another in shock. It was far more marked than ever before. It was as if the more contact they had with each other, the more intense their chemistry.

"This dynamic of ours just got a whole lot more interesting than it already was." Lex said with a small smirk.

Lana flushed becomingly before her chin rose defiantly. "I for one, was already riveted."

Lex stopped her on the second floor landing, his gaze searching hers with bone jarring intensity. "And you think I'm not?"

She swallowed nervously, clearly unused to such direct conversation. Lex didn't treat her as if she were a child, despite his early demands for her obedience. Lana wasn't sure what to say. She was so out of her depth with Lex; he was a man and she'd only ever messed around with boys.

"Tell me." He insisted.

"I'm not sure how you feel, not really….because after you touch me - you always act as though nothing has happened….it confuses me."

Lex sighed deeply. "I'm trying to go slowly with you, Lana. I don't want to frighten you or ruin what we have... I'm sorry if my behaviour confuses you."

Lana smiled, a slow, lovely expression of relief. "So you do want me?"

Her innocence shone like a beacon and Lex hated that part of himself which longed to corrupt it.

Lex moved infintisimally closer, breathing her in. His voice was very low, so quiet in fact that Lana had to lean in to catch his words. "I want you more than I've ever wanted anyone."

She swayed towards him, the magnetic force between them reeling her in. Her heart was as light as butterflies on a spring day.

Lex wanted her.

A sound of footsteps on the stairs above had them hurrying down to their waiting guests without finishing their weighty conversion. But neither of them felt particularly sad about that because they were laughing as they reached the bottom. Feeling like naughty children, Lex and Lana straightened themselves immediately and assumed their most mature and sedate poses. Their eyes were sparking, because despite being interrupted, they'd heard what was important.

…

Lex introduced Lana to a multitude of people, their faces blurring into a thing called many. For the most part, Lana stayed with Lex or not far from him. She had invited some of her own friends from school as well as most of Smallville's population.

"Lana, let me introduce you to the Kents. My father told me that Jonathan saved my life as a child, after the meteor shower." Lex said. It was the seven hundredth introduction of the evening.

Lana smiled politely and greeted them all. There were three of them, Jonathan, Martha and their son Clark.

Clark was handsome in that down home, farm boy kind of way which Lana had to admit she'd have been interested in a few months ago, before Lex Luthor had entered her life.

She noticed his eager, fascinated expression as he gazed at her and sighed internally. She was bored and a little amused.

Lana spoke to her school friends for a while, they were dying with envy.

"You live here, with Lex Luthor?" Marrianne Logan exclaimed. "Does he buy you things?" Her eyes were glued onto the necklace Lana wore.

"This? No, it belongs to Lex, I'm just wearing it."

Sarah Dash, one of Lana's oldest frenemies, raised a brow as she surveyed her couture gown. "That is definitely new! I saw it last week in Runway."

"Lex did buy me a few clothes." Lana smiled serenely, her gaze searching for and finding Lex across the room.

"I say you're the luckiest girl in the world! I wish my parents would ditch me with a handsome billionaire as my guardian." Marrianne said, following Lana's gaze.

Sarah did too, until all three girls were staring at Lex.

"I never realised that a man could still be so handsome without hair." Sarah mused.

Lana blinked at her, it wasn't too long ago that she'd thought the same thing and yet now, the fact that Lex was bald didn't cross her mind. It was innately a part of him.

Dinner was served promptly and it went smoothly. The cake was huge and covered in red and white frosting.

Lex stood beside her, not close enough to touch but there nonetheless as everyone sang happy birthday to her.

Lana definitely hadn't arranged for them to sing to her like she was five! She blushed and looked around for the culprit.

She didn't have to look far. Lex grinned, something he rarely did, which was a dead giveaway.

"How could you!" She hissed beneath her breath.

"Don't lie, you love it." Lex told her. "Cut your cake, birthday girl, you're officially an adult now."

Lana laughed and cut her cake, and then the staff cut the rest and distributed it to all of the guests.

There was even fireworks which lit the darkness spectacularly.

Lana stood on the battlements with Lex on one of the uppermost turrets. It was dark there. In the lull between displays, Lana went up to him and kissed him on the cheek. She was going to go for a more intimate kiss but there were people all around them and it was too risky.

"Thank you." She whispered beside his ear.

Lex glanced at her and smirked. "I'm glad you like it."

Lana smiled at him widely. "It's perfect."

….

"Did you enjoy your party?" Lex asked as they walked back upstairs after it was all over at 2.20am the next morning.

Lana moaned in mock tiredness. "It was great, but now I'm officially all partied out."

They reached the library and Lex poured himself a healthy amount of bourbon into a cut crystal tumbler. "Do you want a drink?" He asked her.

"Yes please," she said, sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace and kicking off her stilettos. "Red wine, if you have it."

Lex poured a glass for her and handed it over with a lingering glance. Always appreciative of beauty, he found himself marvelling at Lana's perfection countless times during the course of a day.

Right now, the lights were low and the multi coloured glass lamp on the sideboard threw her wide hazel eyes into prominence, their sparkling depths below dark winged brows caused his heart to miss a beat. Heart palpitations brought on by a beautiful girl hadn't happened to him in so long it made him pause for a moment in shock. In fact now that he considered it, he realised that he'd never had this reaction to any woman.

Lana eyed him curiously, taking the proffered glass. "Lex? Are you okay?"

He drew in a deep breath and nodded. "Just fine." He lied.

Lex sat beside her and took a deep swallow of his drink.

Lana was stroking the choker around her neck absentmindedly as she stared at him.

"Time to take it off?" He asked, reaching for the key in his pocket.

"No." She said quickly as she shook her head. "I adore it. Do I have to take it off?"

Lex smirked at her even as his heart reacted wildly to the knowledge that she wished to keep the necklace on. Even though she didn't know what it symbolised, it made him happy.

"That one is very heavy and valuable, so perhaps you could keep it for special occasions." Lex suggested.

Lana took a sip of her wine and eyed him over the rim.

"Could you make me another one? Perhaps you could use that other necklace you gave me…and have it reset?"

Lex was stunned. "You want me to make you a cheaper version of this one to wear every day?"

Lana nodded eagerly. "I was thinking about it and I love how it feels to wear this.." she gestured to the choker. "It might sound really stupid, but it feels like I belong to you with this on." She blushed and dropped her eyes from his.

Lex stared at her, his heart leaping like a crazy thing in his chest. "And that's something you like?" He sounded genuinely surprised.

"Yes." Lana admitted sounding incredibly unsure of herself. "I was worried that you'd think I'm being silly or you'd get worried that I'm obsessed with you or something…and I'm not. But I do like feeling that I belong here - with you."

Lex resisted the urge to crush her to him and kiss her senseless. He merely reached out and touched her face, cheekbone to chin, in bone melting, lingering caress. Lana's eyes slid shut at his touch, her lush lips parting a little. It was almost too much, every touch between them napalm. It made Lana wonder what would happen if they were truly intimate and that thought caused her blush to intensify.

"I want you to feel that way." He admitted, baring far more of himself than he ever had before, to anyone, with those simple words.

Lana's eyes opened slowly, long thick eyelashes parting to reveal dialted pupils.

"If you bring me your necklace I'll have it reset for you. Do you want it to have a key?"

"It must have a key." She replied at once, her voice unsteady.

Lex paused, his fingers lingering on the small curve below her lips. "Do you want me to keep it?"

Lana was terrified of revealing the secret longings of her heart and yet determined to share them with Lex. Her lips trembled visibly and she drew in a deep steadying breath.

"Yes, always." Her words were almost a whisper.

Lex didn't know what to say. He was blown away by Lana's intuitive knowledge of what that choker represented and her willingness to wear it. She was even asking for a replica to be made so that she could wear it everyday. Lana was so fucking perfect, Lex was half convinced she'd been created to be his.

The desire to possess this woman had now become a necessity, like air or water. Lex knew that he would do anything to keep her.

Fuck Lionel and Nell - they couldn't have her.

"Lana, do you know what you're asking?" He had to ask, to finally know exactly how she thought of him.

"All I know is that since we met I've thought of little else but you. When you touch me, it's everything. I want to be yours…"

Lex slowly placed his glass on the nearby table and extracted Lana's glass from her hands too.

His gaze fixed on hers mercilessly as he leaned in to claim her lips. Lana responded by sliding her arm around his neck and kissing him back with every move he'd ever used on her. She was a quick study, it seemed and Lex groaned in appreciation.

He framed her face with both his hands, his thumbs lingering at the corners of her lips as he slowly drove his tongue into her mouth. He used a slow, gentle pressure to open her lips fully while he drank his fill of her delectable sweetness.

Lana whimpered and complied. Her entire body was on fire for this man. She pulled him closer, using his shirt, her fingers exploring the skin of his neck and scalp. Their kisses were all consuming, drugging, and lethal.

Lex was all too aware that they were completely alone. The staff had long since gone to bed. When Lana had been entrusted into Lionel's care there had been no need for any additional chaperones in the house. But because Lex had chosen not to inform Nell of the changes in circumstances due to his father's accident, nothing had been altered to protect the naive, sheltered young woman who was now in his arms.

TBC…