A/N: Glad to hear everyone is enjoying it. Little more action in this one.
I'm upping the rating, as a precaution, due to where this story will
probably end up. :)
~*~*~*~*~
Lex smiled at Chloe's answer. "Well, I'm glad you came back." He said. He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, before letting his hand drop. Chloe sighed a little at the loss of contact, a fact that was not lost on Lex.
"Now what?" Chloe asked. "While I know that some women might leap at the chance to be handcuffed to Lex Luthor, I am not one... so how do we get out of this mess?"
"In the long term, find out who wants me out of the running for awhile, and take him out first." Lex said. "In the short term, we might want to find a way to get away from the wall."
Chloe nodded agreement, and turned her attention to the pipe that they were attached to. It was sunk into the ground and went about half way up the wall, to a joint that directed the pipe into the wall. Chloe studied the joint where the pipe turned.
"This pipe looks pretty old." She said. "I bet I could pull it out!" Standing in an attempt to see better, Chloe pulled Lex's arm along with her. "Oops, sorry." She grinned. "Guess I'm not used to handcuffs!"
"Mmm." Lex said. "Are implying that I am?"
Chloe blinked, cleared her throat and turned her attention to the pipe, trying to keep her mind from playing out all the scenarios that may have resulted in Lex having experience with handcuffs.
The pipe was indeed old and unused. There were flakes of rust around the joint where water may have, at one point leaked out. Chloe shook the pipe, and bits of rust flakes fell away. She grabbed it with both hands, and yanked on the pipe. It rattled but didn't budge.
"Will you stand up?" She demanded of Lex. "I need more leverage." She shook her wrist, and pulled on Lex's arm.
Lex obligingly got to his feet, and observed what Chloe was trying to do. With his free arm, he grabbed the pipe, and jerked on it. It was shaky, and Lex was surprised to see that they still had a fighting chance of breaking free.
"In unison." Chloe said. "On three."
Chloe grabbed the pipe with both hands, and Lex held on with his cuffed hand, finding no room for both arms to reach the pipe.
"Okay, one...two...three..." They jerked the pipe, and it scraped away from the joint. Elated that she was managing a second escape, Chloe lifted her wrist and found that while the pipe was free from the joint, there wasn't enough space to get the handcuff chain through.
"Do you think we can bend it?" Chloe asked, eyeing the pipe dubiously.
Lex smiled. "I'm sure I can manage this."
Chloe looked at him. "All by your macho self?" she demanded.
Lex met her gaze and allowed his lips to curl a little. "Just watch me." Managing to suppress a grin, and telling himself his actions were solely in the spirit of escape, he put his other arm around Chloe, effectively encircling her in his arms. His eyes closed momentarily, as he absorbed the feel of her body against his.
"Lex, what're you doing?" Chloe asked, embarrassed to hear her voice emerge a little higher then normal. Not that she wasn't reveling in the feel of Lex's arms around her, but she didn't want him to know that.
"Leverage." Was Lex's answer, before he took a good hold on the pipe, and pulled with all his strength. He widened the gap momentarily, long enough for the chain to slip through the gap, before Lex lost his grip on the pipe. His momentum threw him backward, dragging Chloe with him.
It happened so fast that Chloe barely had time to gasp before she found herself lying on her back, on top of Lex, in a dark room, with his arm around her. She didn't speak. She felt her body warm at the contact of his chest against her back, his legs against hers. His arm around her waist seemed hot, and she couldn't formulate a decent scathing remark, so she kept quiet.
Underneath Chloe, Lex smiled. It hadn't gone as planned, but on the whole, Lex wasn't altogether unhappy with the results. He lay under her, enjoying the feel of her on top of him, trying not to let his mind wander to X-rated thoughts, as he waited for her to make the first move.
Chloe cleared her throat. "Well, uh, good job." She managed. "Now what."
Lex was intrigued to note that Chloe hadn't made a move to get off of him. "Well, I'd say we could try the cellar door." He paused. "You'll have to get off me first." He pointed out.
Realizing that she had obviously been lying there too long, Chloe scrambled to get up. Lex's hands on her waist pushed her to her feet. Chloe brushed real and imaginary dust off of her clothes as Lex got up. She studiously avoided eye contact, which made Lex smile before leading the way back into the darkness.
They reached the cellar door, and Lex was surprised to find that it hadn't been boarded up. Suspicious of anything that was too easy, Lex motioned for Chloe to keep her head down, as he ventured up the steps.
The light was fading, and Lex could see that the sun was almost down. He peered over the edge of the depression that held the stairs, and stopped. He had made one slight miscalculation, and it looked to be a fairly significant one.
Chloe, who had not waited until Lex sounded the all clear, poked her head out beside his and gasped. The sight of the sun setting over the ocean was both beautiful and frightening.
"Where are we?" Whispered Chloe. She had been expecting to the see the somewhat familiar grounds of the Luthor estate, not the ocean and a sprawling vineyard marching along beside it.
Opposite the vineyards, was an enormous mansion that rivaled Luthor Manor. The lights were burning in one of the bottom windows but otherwise the entire building was dark.
"I wonder if we won't find our answers there." Lex said, motioning towards the single lit window.
"You're not seriously going in there?" Chloe demanded. "We need to find the police!"
Lex regarded her calmly. "Yes..." His tone, as it trailed off, did not sound like the police were his first priority.
Chloe caught the tone of voice. "Listen! Since I'm *handcuffed* to you, I have a say, and *I* sure don't want to go in there!"
"What happened to the intrepid reporter we all know and love?" Lex asked sarcastically.
"She got kidnapped!" Chloe responded sharply.
Lex just regarded her with a small smile for her caustic answer while he tried to formulate his next move.
His next move was preempted by shouting in the cellar. Chloe jumped as she heard the men yelling. Lex grabbed her hand, to avert hurting her with the cuffs as he dragged her along, and made for the relative cover of the vineyards, about a hundred yards off.
Chloe hiked up her skirt to enable her to run faster, and kept pace with Lex all the way to the vineyard. They ducked behind a bush, and crouched down, watching the opening to the cellar.
One head and then two popped up. Chloe figured by their body types that they were the henchmen and not the leader. One of the men, headed back down into the cellar and the other started sweeping the grounds with a flashlight.
"I guess my little fact finding mission will wait for later." Lex muttered, as he quietly moved deeper into the vineyard, pulling Chloe with him.
Lex kept a close watch on their tail, as he led them deeper into the vineyard. He knew he was at a disadvantage, not knowing the lay of the land, but he was bound and determined not to be caught again. At least until he got Chloe to safety. He decided to cut over towards the ocean, simply because it afforded more light to see by, as the vines wouldn't obscure what little sun was still left.
Chloe followed Lex without question, feeling far too out of her depth to make any judgement call other then to get away from the intruders. The one question nagging her mind was their location. They had obviously been unconscious for longer then she thought because the men had had occasion to move them at the very least 1500 miles away.
"Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore!" Chloe muttered to herself.
Lex glanced back at Chloe. She looked a little strained but was holding up. She was a remarkable girl, and he wondered why he hadn't invested more time in getting to know her.
"I'll get you back to Kansas yet." He said with a half smile.
"You better." She responded, surprising herself with her complete faith in him. "Where do you think we are though?" She asked.
"West Coast. I'd say probably Oregon."
Chloe was surprised. "How do you know? I figured that was a rhetorical question for the time being."
Lex smiled, realizing she was more out of it then she knew, if her detail oriented reporting skills hadn't been applied to the situation. "As far as the West Coast goes..." He trailed off and pointed at the now sinking sun. "As for Oregon. It's not as warm as it would be in California, the vegetation suggests that it's regularly this cool, and the last time I had a background check done, I turned up coastal property owned by one of Winston's subsidiaries."
Chloe looked up at the mention of Winston. "He was the man you were talking with on the phone." She pointed out.
Lex glanced at her. "I thought you'd been there long enough to over hear something. I'm just surprised you haven't quizzed me sooner."
"I was a little busy." Chloe pointed out. "Anyway, if you think it's him, how do you suppose he got his goons there so fast after you hung up?"
Lex shrugged. "I assume he had every intention of badgering me to start with. The phone call was likely meant as an intimidation tactic."
"Oh. What do you suppose they were planning if we hadn't gotten away?" Chloe asked.
"What makes you think we're away yet?" Lex asked, deftly steering the conversation away from business deals. Chloe noticed, but chose not to push the issue.
"Well, I don't see anyone behind us... do you?" She asked.
Lex shook his head, but the mention of a tail made him wary again. He stopped, and crouched down, pulled Chloe onto the ground beside him.
"What?" Chloe whispered, suddenly feeling panicked.
"Just a feeling." Lex whispered back, before pressing a finger to Chloe's lips to stop her for asking another question. He allowed his thumb to trace her bottom lip, before pulling his hand away, and focusing on the ground that lay behind them.
Chloe's lip felt heated, and she pressed her hand to her mouth, enjoying the sensation. She felt awkward, and on uneasy ground with Lex at times. He could seem cold and calculating on minute and then warm and charming the next. And then he'd do something like touching her lips, and the look in his eyes would just about take Chloe's breath away, before his eyes would change to 'normal', and she would wonder if she hadn't imagined it.
After some time went by, and the sun had fully set, Lex pulled Chloe to her feet again. He leaned down and put his mouth next to her ear.
"I think they're out there, but they've turned their flashlights off." Lex breathed into Chloe's ear. She shivered wonderfully, and felt Lex's mouth curve in a smile against her ear. "We're going to move. Be quiet, and stay close." Lex turned, and began working his way through the vines and trellises, closer to the ocean, and further away from the unknown assailants.
TBC...
~*~*~*~*~
Lex smiled at Chloe's answer. "Well, I'm glad you came back." He said. He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, before letting his hand drop. Chloe sighed a little at the loss of contact, a fact that was not lost on Lex.
"Now what?" Chloe asked. "While I know that some women might leap at the chance to be handcuffed to Lex Luthor, I am not one... so how do we get out of this mess?"
"In the long term, find out who wants me out of the running for awhile, and take him out first." Lex said. "In the short term, we might want to find a way to get away from the wall."
Chloe nodded agreement, and turned her attention to the pipe that they were attached to. It was sunk into the ground and went about half way up the wall, to a joint that directed the pipe into the wall. Chloe studied the joint where the pipe turned.
"This pipe looks pretty old." She said. "I bet I could pull it out!" Standing in an attempt to see better, Chloe pulled Lex's arm along with her. "Oops, sorry." She grinned. "Guess I'm not used to handcuffs!"
"Mmm." Lex said. "Are implying that I am?"
Chloe blinked, cleared her throat and turned her attention to the pipe, trying to keep her mind from playing out all the scenarios that may have resulted in Lex having experience with handcuffs.
The pipe was indeed old and unused. There were flakes of rust around the joint where water may have, at one point leaked out. Chloe shook the pipe, and bits of rust flakes fell away. She grabbed it with both hands, and yanked on the pipe. It rattled but didn't budge.
"Will you stand up?" She demanded of Lex. "I need more leverage." She shook her wrist, and pulled on Lex's arm.
Lex obligingly got to his feet, and observed what Chloe was trying to do. With his free arm, he grabbed the pipe, and jerked on it. It was shaky, and Lex was surprised to see that they still had a fighting chance of breaking free.
"In unison." Chloe said. "On three."
Chloe grabbed the pipe with both hands, and Lex held on with his cuffed hand, finding no room for both arms to reach the pipe.
"Okay, one...two...three..." They jerked the pipe, and it scraped away from the joint. Elated that she was managing a second escape, Chloe lifted her wrist and found that while the pipe was free from the joint, there wasn't enough space to get the handcuff chain through.
"Do you think we can bend it?" Chloe asked, eyeing the pipe dubiously.
Lex smiled. "I'm sure I can manage this."
Chloe looked at him. "All by your macho self?" she demanded.
Lex met her gaze and allowed his lips to curl a little. "Just watch me." Managing to suppress a grin, and telling himself his actions were solely in the spirit of escape, he put his other arm around Chloe, effectively encircling her in his arms. His eyes closed momentarily, as he absorbed the feel of her body against his.
"Lex, what're you doing?" Chloe asked, embarrassed to hear her voice emerge a little higher then normal. Not that she wasn't reveling in the feel of Lex's arms around her, but she didn't want him to know that.
"Leverage." Was Lex's answer, before he took a good hold on the pipe, and pulled with all his strength. He widened the gap momentarily, long enough for the chain to slip through the gap, before Lex lost his grip on the pipe. His momentum threw him backward, dragging Chloe with him.
It happened so fast that Chloe barely had time to gasp before she found herself lying on her back, on top of Lex, in a dark room, with his arm around her. She didn't speak. She felt her body warm at the contact of his chest against her back, his legs against hers. His arm around her waist seemed hot, and she couldn't formulate a decent scathing remark, so she kept quiet.
Underneath Chloe, Lex smiled. It hadn't gone as planned, but on the whole, Lex wasn't altogether unhappy with the results. He lay under her, enjoying the feel of her on top of him, trying not to let his mind wander to X-rated thoughts, as he waited for her to make the first move.
Chloe cleared her throat. "Well, uh, good job." She managed. "Now what."
Lex was intrigued to note that Chloe hadn't made a move to get off of him. "Well, I'd say we could try the cellar door." He paused. "You'll have to get off me first." He pointed out.
Realizing that she had obviously been lying there too long, Chloe scrambled to get up. Lex's hands on her waist pushed her to her feet. Chloe brushed real and imaginary dust off of her clothes as Lex got up. She studiously avoided eye contact, which made Lex smile before leading the way back into the darkness.
They reached the cellar door, and Lex was surprised to find that it hadn't been boarded up. Suspicious of anything that was too easy, Lex motioned for Chloe to keep her head down, as he ventured up the steps.
The light was fading, and Lex could see that the sun was almost down. He peered over the edge of the depression that held the stairs, and stopped. He had made one slight miscalculation, and it looked to be a fairly significant one.
Chloe, who had not waited until Lex sounded the all clear, poked her head out beside his and gasped. The sight of the sun setting over the ocean was both beautiful and frightening.
"Where are we?" Whispered Chloe. She had been expecting to the see the somewhat familiar grounds of the Luthor estate, not the ocean and a sprawling vineyard marching along beside it.
Opposite the vineyards, was an enormous mansion that rivaled Luthor Manor. The lights were burning in one of the bottom windows but otherwise the entire building was dark.
"I wonder if we won't find our answers there." Lex said, motioning towards the single lit window.
"You're not seriously going in there?" Chloe demanded. "We need to find the police!"
Lex regarded her calmly. "Yes..." His tone, as it trailed off, did not sound like the police were his first priority.
Chloe caught the tone of voice. "Listen! Since I'm *handcuffed* to you, I have a say, and *I* sure don't want to go in there!"
"What happened to the intrepid reporter we all know and love?" Lex asked sarcastically.
"She got kidnapped!" Chloe responded sharply.
Lex just regarded her with a small smile for her caustic answer while he tried to formulate his next move.
His next move was preempted by shouting in the cellar. Chloe jumped as she heard the men yelling. Lex grabbed her hand, to avert hurting her with the cuffs as he dragged her along, and made for the relative cover of the vineyards, about a hundred yards off.
Chloe hiked up her skirt to enable her to run faster, and kept pace with Lex all the way to the vineyard. They ducked behind a bush, and crouched down, watching the opening to the cellar.
One head and then two popped up. Chloe figured by their body types that they were the henchmen and not the leader. One of the men, headed back down into the cellar and the other started sweeping the grounds with a flashlight.
"I guess my little fact finding mission will wait for later." Lex muttered, as he quietly moved deeper into the vineyard, pulling Chloe with him.
Lex kept a close watch on their tail, as he led them deeper into the vineyard. He knew he was at a disadvantage, not knowing the lay of the land, but he was bound and determined not to be caught again. At least until he got Chloe to safety. He decided to cut over towards the ocean, simply because it afforded more light to see by, as the vines wouldn't obscure what little sun was still left.
Chloe followed Lex without question, feeling far too out of her depth to make any judgement call other then to get away from the intruders. The one question nagging her mind was their location. They had obviously been unconscious for longer then she thought because the men had had occasion to move them at the very least 1500 miles away.
"Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore!" Chloe muttered to herself.
Lex glanced back at Chloe. She looked a little strained but was holding up. She was a remarkable girl, and he wondered why he hadn't invested more time in getting to know her.
"I'll get you back to Kansas yet." He said with a half smile.
"You better." She responded, surprising herself with her complete faith in him. "Where do you think we are though?" She asked.
"West Coast. I'd say probably Oregon."
Chloe was surprised. "How do you know? I figured that was a rhetorical question for the time being."
Lex smiled, realizing she was more out of it then she knew, if her detail oriented reporting skills hadn't been applied to the situation. "As far as the West Coast goes..." He trailed off and pointed at the now sinking sun. "As for Oregon. It's not as warm as it would be in California, the vegetation suggests that it's regularly this cool, and the last time I had a background check done, I turned up coastal property owned by one of Winston's subsidiaries."
Chloe looked up at the mention of Winston. "He was the man you were talking with on the phone." She pointed out.
Lex glanced at her. "I thought you'd been there long enough to over hear something. I'm just surprised you haven't quizzed me sooner."
"I was a little busy." Chloe pointed out. "Anyway, if you think it's him, how do you suppose he got his goons there so fast after you hung up?"
Lex shrugged. "I assume he had every intention of badgering me to start with. The phone call was likely meant as an intimidation tactic."
"Oh. What do you suppose they were planning if we hadn't gotten away?" Chloe asked.
"What makes you think we're away yet?" Lex asked, deftly steering the conversation away from business deals. Chloe noticed, but chose not to push the issue.
"Well, I don't see anyone behind us... do you?" She asked.
Lex shook his head, but the mention of a tail made him wary again. He stopped, and crouched down, pulled Chloe onto the ground beside him.
"What?" Chloe whispered, suddenly feeling panicked.
"Just a feeling." Lex whispered back, before pressing a finger to Chloe's lips to stop her for asking another question. He allowed his thumb to trace her bottom lip, before pulling his hand away, and focusing on the ground that lay behind them.
Chloe's lip felt heated, and she pressed her hand to her mouth, enjoying the sensation. She felt awkward, and on uneasy ground with Lex at times. He could seem cold and calculating on minute and then warm and charming the next. And then he'd do something like touching her lips, and the look in his eyes would just about take Chloe's breath away, before his eyes would change to 'normal', and she would wonder if she hadn't imagined it.
After some time went by, and the sun had fully set, Lex pulled Chloe to her feet again. He leaned down and put his mouth next to her ear.
"I think they're out there, but they've turned their flashlights off." Lex breathed into Chloe's ear. She shivered wonderfully, and felt Lex's mouth curve in a smile against her ear. "We're going to move. Be quiet, and stay close." Lex turned, and began working his way through the vines and trellises, closer to the ocean, and further away from the unknown assailants.
TBC...
