(no subject)
Lois looked vaguely uncomfortable as she peered at Chloe from over her glass of water. “You’d always implied,” she finally remarked reluctantly, “That your feelings for Clark in high school had just been a silly teenage thing.”
Chloe swallowed. Felt just as uncomfortable as Lois looked. It was an awkward conversation to be having over lunch on a Wednesday-an awkward conversation to be having at any time, given the relationships both of them had with Clark. “I know,” Chloe admitted. “Of course, I implied that. I wasn’t going to share this particular experience with just anyone. And, with you, of course . . . it was a little more complicated.”
The fact that Lois was in a committed relationship with the man whom Chloe had just admitted as being the only definitive love of her life was certainly a little bit complicated.
Lois snorted and put down her glass. “Just so I understand you correctly. You were in love with him in the past-and that sort of defined your understanding of love for the rest of your life.” When Chloe nodded, Lois went on, “But you’re not actually still harboring . . .”
“God, no!” Chloe interrupted. “Of course not. I was just trying to explain that-even though I sometimes made it sound casual and insignificant, for my own protection and to smooth things over between us-my feelings for Clark were not just infatuation. I really was in love with him. And I’ve never felt like that since.”
Making a face, Lois murmured, “Not even with Lex, even though you guys have been together for more than a month now.”
Sighing, Chloe felt a familiar heaviness in her gut. “No. I mean, I love him. I really do. But, with Clark, it was different. I just knew I was in love with him. And, I know things change as people get older and one relationship is never just like another, but I simply don’t have that same . . . absolute certainty about my feelings for Lex.”
Lois shook her head and tsked her tongue. “Chloe, you always do this. You’ve done it all your life. Stop worrying about everything so much. While I realize that Clark is a man among men, what you have with Lex is so much . . .”
“I know,” Chloe acknowledged, rubbing her scalp anxiously with her fingertips. “I know. What I have with Lex is better and healthier than what I ever had with Clark. I know the thing with Clark was mostly one-sided. But I was in love with him. I was. I really was.”
Wrinkling her nose, Lois said, “Let me tell you, it’s very weird for me to hear you say how much you loved Clark.” Then, with a quirk of her lips, she went on, “But I think you’re overcomplicating this. You’ve always done that. You did the same thing with Clark.”
Chloe made an outraged noise in her throat.
“What?” Lois asked innocently. “Don’t act all offended. It’s true. I remember the high school years just as well as you did. And your relationship with Clark-every single year, for one reason or another-was a melodramatic, overcomplicated mess. And that's the same thing you're doing now.”
Wrinkling her forehead, Chloe insisted, “The world is complicated. At least, my life has always been. Pretending it’s easy and simple isn’t going to change it. In fact, it might mess things up even more.”
Taking another sip of her water, Lois mumbled over the rim of the glass, “Overcomplicated.”
Chloe began to object again, but then she bit off her words. In a way, Lois was right. Chloe knew it as well as her cousin did. The world-her life-was incredibly complicated, but Chloe was prone to stewing in all of the complexities
“Stop thinking about it so much. You guys are happy together, aren’t you?”
Chloe gave a faint, fond smile as she thought about her odd, but satisfying relationship with Lex over the last five weeks. “Yeah,” she admitted. “We are.”
With a brief look of disgust at Chloe’s sappy expression, Lois pressed on, “So just be happy. Who cares if it feels different than your feelings for Clark? You love Lex. And maybe you’re actually in love with him too.”
Sighing, Chloe closed her eyes for a moment. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe the distinction between love and in love isn’t really all that important. I do love Lex. It’s just a word, after all. I shouldn't obsess about it so much. I love him. I should just tell him so, instead of relying on euphemisms and silent understandings.”
Lois peered at Chloe skeptically as she stuffed a French fry in her mouth. “So why don’t you? Tell him?”
Chloe swallowed hard. Ignored the churning of anxiety in her belly. “I should. I should just do it. Who cares if . . . if it isn’t what I always thought it should be?” Chloe stared down at her burger. Tried to summon up the energy to take another bite.
Lois rolled her eyes. “You won’t. You wouldn’t have brooded about this for months if you were going to change your mind after one conversation.”
With a sheepish smile, Chloe picked up her burger and took a bite. After chewing thoughtfully, she admitted, “No. I won't. At least, not just because I want to get this over with. It just doesn’t feel . . . right to me yet. And Lex deserves more than for me to blurt it out just because I feel like I’m supposed to. If I say it, then I should mean it. For real."
Lois snorted.
Scowling at her cousin, Chloe huffed, “Mock all you want. But I just can’t believe that love is always as simple as the world would want us to think. I know that, looking on this from the outside, it might seem like I'm just being stubborn or stupid. But I’m not. I’m really trying to figure this out in a way that’s fair and honest to both me and Lex.”
Her skeptical expression fading into sympathy, Lois acknowledged, “I know. You’re a better-if more angsty-woman that I am.”
This made Chloe glance up at Lois curiously. “How did you know it was the right time to tell Clark that you love him?”
Lois shifted in her chair uncomfortably for a minute, until she finally confessed, “Uh, I didn’t. I just blurted it out.”
Chloe blinked, absolutely astonished and oddly relieved for some reason. “You mean you didn’t really mean it when you said it? Don’t you love him?”
“Of course, I love him,” Lois replied, almost grumpily. “But, when I first told him I loved him, I . . . I hadn’t really sorted everything out. It was mostly spontaneous. Fortunately, it turned out to be the truth.”
“See,” Chloe said, getting some momentum going now on a topic that had absorbed her for weeks. “I just don’t think love is as simple as everyone pretends. I bet at least half the people who say they love someone for the first time don’t really mean it, or else they really don't know what it means. I’m not just making my confusion up.”
“I know,” Lois agreed. “I’m with you on that. I was actually kind of scared into saying it the first time. Clark said it to me, and then I felt all this overwhelming pressure. Then I heard myself saying it back. Afterwards, I almost had a breakdown, wondering if I’d trapped myself into something I didn’t really want. But it turned out to be true.” She smirked at Chloe. “When he’s not being obnoxious, I say it to Clark now and really mean it.”
Chloe chuckled, appreciative as always of Lois’s sharp humor. “That’s what I want to do. With Lex, I mean. Say it and be sure I really mean it.” After taking another bite of burger, Chloe added, “Did you have those . . . flying feelings with Clark? When you first knew that you loved him?”
Lois made a face. Looked more uncomfortable and reluctant than ever. Until finally she admitted, “Yeah. I did.”
Letting out a defeated sigh, Chloe felt her belly sinking a little. “Oh.”
“But they don’t last forever,” Lois hurried on, obviously understanding Chloe’s reaction for what it was. “I mean, occasionally I still feel them, but that’s not really what love’s all about.”
“I know,” Chloe replied, with a bitter, little smile. “I know they're only a small part of it. But I’ve felt them before myself. And they’re a clear sign that what you’re feeling is in love and not just . . . scotch.”
Lois’s eyebrows shot up. “Huh?”
Almost snickering despite her heavy feelings, Chloe answered, “Nothing. Never mind." There were limits to what she would confide to Lois, and scotch was definitely something over the line. "I know love is more than just those feelings, but what are you supposed to do if you never have them at all?”
This one seemed to stump Lois. Finally, she concluded, “You have other things. Great compatibility, deep emotional connection, hot sex . . .”
Chloe gave Lois an arrogant look of inquiry.
Snorting again, Lois drawled, “Well, I’m just assuming the sex is hot, since you refuse to give me any details about it. Party pooper.” Before Chloe could respond, Lois finished her train of thought. “Your relationship with Lex is far better than a lot of people’s-even those who have lots of those in love feelings.”
“I know,” Chloe murmured, glancing down at her mostly empty plate. “I just want those feelings too. I want to be sure. I want . . . to be in love.”
Lois was staring at her. Chloe could feel it even though her eyes remained focused on her plate. Something in Lois's steady stare made Chloe self-conscious. Very self-conscious. Like she was being intimately exposed.
Until finally Lois pronounced, “I’ve just figured it out!”
Chloe’s eyes shot up. A flare of hope smoldered in her chest. “You have?” She wondered if Lois and her sharp, decisive mind had managed to cut through all the confusion and complexity. In a truly convincing way-not the standard simplistic way.
Lois nodded, looking both surprised and inordinately pleased with herself. “You’re not a realist at all. You’re not a cynic.” She paused a beat. “You’re a romantic! A full-fledged, die-hard, sappy-love-story romantic!”
Chloe gasped, as though she’d been struck. “I am not,” gritted out, feeling like she’d just been slammed by an unmitigated insult.
“You are too,” Lois insisted, something like glee in her voice. “You’re a romantic. You’re still looking for your one-true-forever-eternal love, and so your waiting for the world to offer it to you.”
“I am not,” Chloe argued, in a low, enraged voice. “I know there’s no such thing as soul mates or stupid shit like that. Nothing ever works out like a fairy-tale; I learned long ago that dreams just don’t come true. I accept life for what it is, and try not to whine about it. There's nothing romantic or idealistic about me.”
Lois was almost choking on her amused revelation. “You think that your life can never be a fairy-tale because it's never worked out like that before, but you still believe in the romantic ideals. You’re bitter because it’s never happened to you-but you wouldn’t be bitter if you didn’t believe it could happen at all. That’s what your problem is. You built Clark into the one, true, fairy-tale romance that you tragically lost. And you’re all hung up on it now because Lex doesn’t quite fit on the noble, white steed.”
Chloe almost growled at Lois, irrationally infuriated by all of this. “I don’t want Lex on a fucking, white steed.”
Lois raised her hands up to her face and howled with laughter into her palms. “White’s definitely not Lex’s color,” she wheezed.
“Lois,” Chloe gritted out, focusing for the moment on her irritation rather than the underlying truth she was starting to recognize in Lois’s words. “If you don’t stop mocking me, I’ll . . .”
Lois managed to pull it together. “Seriously, Chloe,” she said hoarsely, her eyes turning unusually sober as her laughter suddenly faded. “Most of the world believes in the same thing."
For some reason, this comment stopped Chloe's annoyance in its tracks. It struck her very powerfully. And changed the mood of the entire conversation.
Lois sighed and concluded, "Which is why we have a world that’s fuck-full of cynics.”
This time, Chloe snorted-momentarily putting aside the new ideas and possibilities that she would have to ponder later. “Universal wisdom,” Chloe murmured dryly, “From the slightly profane mouth of Lois Lane.”
Lois and Chloe shared an ironic smile.
“I’ll admit to being a little screwed up on matters of love,” Chloe said at last. “But I can’t believe I’m the only one. I don’t care what people tell us, being in love just isn’t as simple as black-and-white. You don't always just know it's meant to be.”
“That’s for sure,” Lois muttered.
Something on Lois’s face made Chloe’s heart lurch a little. Very discreetly, she nudged Lois’s foot with her own. “Anything you’d like to share?”
It took a minute for Lois to respond, during which Chloe quietly sipped on her water.
Then finally Lois admitted, “You’re definitely not the only one who’s a little screwed up when it comes to love.” She sighed and shook her head. Looked uncharacteristically vulnerable. “Look at me and Clark. I tell Clark I love him, and I mean it. But sometimes I wonder if I really know him at all. And he tells me he loves me, and I’m sure I’m supposed to believe it-but sometimes I wonder if I really can, when so often it feels like he’s lying to me." She groaned in frustration. "And, to think, I used to laugh when you obsessed about Clark and his secrets.”
Chloe sucked in a harsh breath-never having heard this worry from Lois before. She experienced a feeling a raw empathy for her cousin, knew almost exactly how she felt. Then felt a crushing wave of guilt, because Chloe had known for years what was behind it. “Lois,” she began gently.
Lois gave a dry smile. “No need for a pity party. That’s just the way it goes. No one’s relationship is happily-ever-after, and-if they tell you it is-then they’re lying . . . to either you or to themselves.” Visibly pulling herself back to her normal cheerful sarcasm, she concluded, “Don’t beat yourself up about your issues with Lex. At least you’re honest enough to admit them openly.”
“Yeah,” Chloe said thoughtfully, pondering everything they’d discuss. “I suppose.”
“You’re happy, aren’t you?”
Chloe smiled. “Yeah.” Not perfectly happy, of course, but happier than she’d thought she was allowed to be.
Lois arched an eyebrow. “And Lex is happy?”
“Yeah,” Chloe admitted. “I think he is.”
“And Lizzie is happy?”
"Gabrielle," Chloe corrected automatically. Then she snickered. “Yes, if her endless babbling, giggling, and waving arms are any sign of happiness.”
Lois grinned. “Good. And Clark and I are happy too. I’d say we all are doing pretty well.”
* * *
Chloe had been on her lunch break, and she really should be getting back to work. But her schedule was fairly flexible that afternoon, and she had the overwhelming urge to see Lex after her conversation with Lois.
She’d never just showed up at his office before without planning it beforehand, and it felt a little like she might be intruding on his privacy. But she had a little time and really wanted to see him.
Surely he wouldn’t mind if she just stopped by for a minute to say hi.
Chloe didn’t want to wait until after work to see him.
So she made her way over to LuthorCorp headquarters, was recognized by security as Lex’s girlfriend, and so was allowed to go up to the executive offices on the top floor.
Chloe knew Lex’s receptionist and greeted her with a pleasant smile. “Is he busy?”
The receptionist shook her head. “He’s working in his office at the moment. Should I let him know . . .”
Before the woman could finish her question, Chloe gave a casual wave and strolled through the slick waiting area to the door of Lex’s office, which was opened just a crack.
She felt a little nervous. Hoped Lex wouldn’t mind her just barging into his work. Started to regret the impulse, wondering if he would be annoyed or too busy to waste time with her.
Chloe hated feeling this way. She’d been insecure in high school, but she’d prided herself on getting over that during college. But for some reason this relationship with Lex kept bringing up all kinds of issues she’d thought she’d gotten past.
As she hesitated, she peered through the partially opened doorway and caught a clear view of Lex sitting behind his desk.
He wasn’t at his computer. Instead, he was staring down at something-probably a file or a report-in his lap. His elbow was propped on the armrest of the chair, and he was leaning his head on his hand.
Chloe’s heart clenched a little. He looked burdened, tired, stressed out. But also so professional, so rich, so powerful, so influential.
And she recognized yet again that the self Lex revealed to her and to Gabrielle wasn’t the whole of the man.
Her face softened as she watched him, and the wave of affection she’d felt earlier-prompted by her conversation with Lois-swelled up even more.
She remembered the first time she’d come to his office: to tell him that she was pregnant. And she realized how little she’d known about Lex, about herself, back then.
Distracted by her thoughts, she almost jumped when she noticed that Lex had looked up. That he’d seen her standing in the doorway.
His brows drew together as he straightened in his chair. “Chloe? Is everything all right?”
Chloe came into the office. Shut the door with a click behind her. “Of course. Sorry to bother you. I just . . .”
Lex was still looking confused, and he ran a hand down the front of his jacket, as if he were unconsciously straightening his immaculate shirt and tie. “What is it?”
Swallowing over her silly nerves, Chloe paced across the office until she was leaning against the front of his desk, only a foot or so away from him. “Nothing,” she assured him, “I just wanted to say hi. But maybe I should have called first.”
Something changed on Lex’s face. He gave a faint, half-smile. “You just stopped by to say hi?”
“Yeah,” Chloe admitted sheepishly. “Please tell me if you’re too busy right now. But I was having lunch with Lois, and I was thinking about you, so I just . . .”
Lex’s lips twitched. “Stopped by?”
Chloe broke into a warm grin. “Yeah.”
Lex smiled too-although his was brief and still slightly surprised. “You picked a good time. I don’t have anything scheduled until 1:30.” He glanced at his watch. “Still a half-hour away.”
Relief eased the remaining tension in her chest as she saw that Lex didn’t seem to mind her spontaneous visit. In fact, he seemed to appreciate it.
With as private and driven a man as Lex, it was hard to know when she would accidentally stumble into the barriers he'd built around himself.
“Why were you thinking about me after your lunch with Lois?” Lex asked, leaning back in his fancy office chair and gazing up at her. “You didn’t let Lois talk you into any more ridiculous ideas, did you? I don’t care what she tells you. Your calling Gabrielle pumpkin is not going to give her a body-image problem.”
Chloe chuckled, both at Lex’s slightly suspicious attitude toward Lois and at the memory of Lois’s latest rant about Chloe’s habits with the baby. “No,” she assured Lex. “Nothing like that. I was just . . . thinking about you.”
Her face softened again as she looked down at Lex: handsome, sophisticated, and reserved in his absurdly expensive downtown office.
Only Chloe got to know that just last night Lex had had a long, serious conversation with a seven-month old about the virtues of eating her carrots instead of flinging them at her daddy.
“Oh,” Lex murmured, his expression changing into smug enlightenment as he observed her tender gaze. “You’re feeling sappy, are you?”
Chloe smiled again. Edged a little closer to his chair. “Maybe a little.”
Arching his eyebrows in cool skepticism, he asked dubiously, “You didn’t come here to cuddle, did you?”
She knew he was teasing. Not that she doubted his reluctance to have a cuddling session at the moment, but she knew he was exaggerating his arrogant condescension. Plus, she hoped he would know better than to worry she’d want him to randomly snuggle with her in his office chair in the middle of a workday.
But his response gave her an idea.
He was looking very smug. And far too polished and confident and unflappable. What a perfect opportunity to express her tender feelings for him and . . . flap him at the same time.
Maybe rumple him up a little.
“I didn’t come here to cuddle,” she informed him, rapidly planning out her strategy.
“Good,” Lex said, in ironic relief. “Because, while I’m willing to submit to such sentiment occasionally in the privacy of my own home, I’m not sure I’m up for it right now in my office, just as I’m getting ready to meet with the mayor.”
Chloe snorted and leaned over his chair, bracing herself with her hands on the armrests and licking a line across his lips.
Lex stiffened slightly as her mouth moved against his. “I thought you didn’t come here to cuddle,” he said against her lips, his tone more genuinely questioning this time.
Running her hands up to his shoulders and then down his chest, Chloe stroked the expensive fabric of his suit and the firm planes of his body underneath it. “Cuddling wasn’t exactly what I had in mind,” she murmured huskily, using the textured voice that she knew he always appreciated.
Lex sucked in his breath, obviously following through with the implications. “Chloe?” he breathed, a tangible question in the one word.
She kissed him again-deeply, leisurely. Then she stroked her way down his chest again, this time lowering herself to her knees on the floor in front of his chair.
Fortunately, she was wearing a vintage pants suit today, instead of a skirt, so the move wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable.
Lex’s lower lip dropped open slightly, and his blue-gray eyes glazed over as she caressed her way down his thighs. Then she slid her hands to the inside of his thighs and stroked back up to his groin. “Chloe?” he asked again, his voice thick in a way Chloe recognized very well.
She smiled up at him teasingly, her hands poised on his belt. Her heart was fluttering violently and her breathing had accelerated slightly. Seeing Lex's reaction to her was already turning her on.
The spontaneous visit to his office had been a really good idea.
“Well,” she drawled sensually, hoping she looked relatively sexy and attractive, even though her hair was mussed by the wind and her makeup had worn off since this morning. “It won’t involve any . . . cuddling.”
After she spoke, she waited for a sign of acquiescence from Lex. She was already hot and a little breathless, and she became more so when she saw Lex grip the arms of his chair and look down at her with a heated, possessive gaze. “In that case . . .” he muttered.
Feeling more exhilarated than she would have expected-preparing to go down on her billionaire boyfriend in his office in the middle of the day-Chloe slowly unfastened Lex’s belt. Then slowly undid the top button of his pants. Then slowly pulled down the zipper, making a familiar metallic noise in the thick, sultry silence of the office.
Chloe pushed his legs apart a little more so she could position herself more comfortably between them. Then she pulled back the fabric of his clothes, pushing them down until she’d gained access to his cock.
He was already partially hard, evidently from anticipation alone.
Glancing back up at his face, she almost gasped at the hungry desire in his eyes as he watched her. She was becoming aroused too-a warm pressure developing between her legs.
But this wasn’t about her. It was about Lex. To show him how much he meant to her. And to rumple him up a little.
So she focused away from her own body’s reaction and back to Lex’s tightening body.
She caressed his lower belly, following the caress with a trail of kisses that she pressed into the warm skin there. Then she lifted his semi-erection and brushed her fingers up and down the length of it.
Heard Lex suck in another breath. Heard the sound of a phone ringing somewhere outside his office door.
With a slanting look up at his slightly flushed face, Chloe lowered her head and took his cock in her mouth. Gave it brief, sudden suction.
Lex grunted softly and tightened his hands on the arms of the chair. Then Chloe relaxed her mouth and let his hardening cock slip wetly out of her lips. She paused for a moment, during which Lex shifted restlessly in his chair, before she held him in position with one hand while she licked a line up the underside of his shaft.
Lex took another harsh inhalation of air, and she felt his thighs tense up on either side of her body.
It felt like Chloe was intensely aware of each of his physical responses-no matter how minor or imperceptible. It seemed like she could hear his heart pounding, feel his skin heating up, sense the rush of the blood in his veins.
She felt powerful, felt thrilled, felt a little bit raunchy. And she was almost intoxicated by visceral combination.
Fluttering her tongue over the tip of his cock, she earned another stifled grunt and a small jerk of Lex's pelvis.
She stroked his damp flesh with her fingers and loved how his cock twitched under her touch. Stroked him again. Felt him twitch again.
Shifted on her knees so she could rub her thighs together over the growing ache at her center.
Then, “Chloe,” Lex rasped. “Not that I’m complaining, but I have a meeting in twenty minutes.”
Chloe chuckled irrepressibly, just as slid his still growing erection back into her mouth.
Apparently, the vibrations from her laughter were effective. Lex gritted out, “Fuck,” and his right leg jerked spasmodically.
Chloe wanted to make sure this was good for him, but she also didn’t want to make him late for his meeting with the mayor. So she closed one of her hands around the base of his cock and took the rest of it into her mouth.
As she swirled her tongue and slid her lips slickly up and down his shaft, she made a pleased noise in her throat as she felt him grow, stiffen, harden all the way in her mouth, until he was fully erect.
When he was hard and hot in her mouth, she repositioned herself to get better leverage.
Hollowed out her cheeks and tried to coordinate the suction with the pumping of her hand.
Then moved her second hand from his thigh until she could reach his balls. Squeezed them gently.
Lex made a hissing noise that caused a throb of erotic pleasure in Chloe’s already wet arousal.
She started sucking him steadily, working him over with both her hands and her mouth. But, enthralled by the hissing noise he’d made, she focused her eyes back up on his face.
He hissed again as she watched, and she heard herself moan helplessly, low in her throat, at the sight of him. His face was contorted in pleasure and concentration, and he was baring his teeth, sucking in air with a wet, breathless sound as he visibly suppressed his need to thrust up into her mouth.
“Yes,” he rasped thickly, clenching the fingers of one hand around the armrest and moving the other to the back of her head. He tangled his fingers through her hair, curving them around the line of her skull. Pressed her head toward him gently, guiding her motion with a series of little pushes.
It actually helped her, so she could more clearly find the rhythm he needed. Following his lead, she accelerated the speed of her sucking and the pumping of her hand.
“Fuck,” he gritted out, his whole body beginning to coil up. He tossed his head restlessly and started to buck his pelvis up very slightly, as if he could no longer completely hold himself back.
Chloe had to concentrate on her coordination, but even so she was almost swept away by the pure, visceral power of Lex’s reactions to her. It felt like his whole body was throbbing, like the pulsing pressure in his cock was mirrored in the tightening of his fingers on her scalp, in the jerking of his hips, in the spasming of the muscles she could see in his jaw and his temple.
Someone laughed outside the office, not very far from the door, reminding Chloe exactly where they were.
Lex felt out of control, like he was on the verge of implosion. She moved one of her hands and grabbed his hip to get some sort of stability as she felt his cock starting to reach the back of her throat.
“Chloe,” Lex gasped, sucking in another gulp of air through his clenched teeth. His hand fisted in her hair and his back arched involuntarily against the chair.
Watching him with hot, ravenous eyes as she continued to work him over, Chloe wondered if it was possible for her to come just from this. The pressure at her center was swelling up unbearably. And, if she hadn’t needed to focus so much on what she was doing, she would have brought a hand down between her legs to rub herself off.
But she didn’t. Instead, she intensified her ministrations until Lex’s knuckles whitened on the armrest of the chair. He was making an erratic series of half-pants, half-grunts, and he sounded primal, animalistic, inexpressibly erotic.
His face was so twisted now he appeared to be in agony, and a sheen of sweat had broken out on his face and scalp.
For a moment, Chloe wasn’t sure what to do to push him over the edge. The tension in his body grew tighter and tighter, but couldn’t seem to find its release.
Then she moved her hand from his hip to his leg. Slid it up to the sensitive skin of his inner thigh.
Dug her fingernails hard into his flesh as she hollowed out her cheeks one last time.
Lex came. Released all the pressure in his body in hot waves of spasming energy. He let out an involuntary roar of pleasure that he stifled as best he could. His eyes were opened the whole time-staring down at her-and she saw them blaze with a kind of primitive satisfaction.
His cock throbbed with his climax, and he came into her mouth in short spurts which she swallowed instinctively, trying not to make a face as she did so and trying not to taste it.
She choked a little as she swallowed the last time, causing her to release his cock from her mouth abruptly so she could cough a couple of times.
Unfortunately ending with a bit of a flop what would have been a very good blow job.
She sank onto her knees, clearing her throat and pushing her hair back behind her ears.
Lex had collapsed back in his chair, slouched and limp as he gasped and tried to recover himself. “Okay?” he asked hoarsely.
She nodded. “Yeah. Good. You?” She looked up at him, immediately getting over her small failure as she was washed with a pleased, proud possessiveness at the sight of his sated face and sprawled body.
Lex managed to cock an eyebrow. “A little more than good.”
She grinned up at him, and he grinned down at her. And Chloe felt hot, and aroused, and kind of stupid on the floor of his office. But really, really happy nonetheless.
Finally, she managed to heave herself up to her feet. Glanced at her watch. “Six minutes until the meeting with the mayor,” she remarked, shifting uncomfortably because of the wet pulsing between her thighs.
Lex had been fastening his pants and belt, but at her words he reached an arm out for her. “Maybe that will give me time to take care of you too.”
Chloe eluded his grasp. “Huh uh. Not today. You don’t have time, and you probably should take a minute or two to regroup a little.”
Lex swallowed and frowned at her. “But what about you? You’re turned on. I can tell.”
Brushing a few stands of hair off of her flushed cheeks, Chloe admitted, “Yes. I am. But I’m a big girl. It won’t kill me. And this was supposed to be for you.”
He was still frowning as he stood up. Looked like he was about to object again.
So Chloe added, “You can do me later. Maybe tonight, if we get the chance.”
Letting out a resigned breath, Lex nodded. “Don’t think I’m going to forget.” He gave her a sudden half-smile. “Thanks, by the way.”
Chloe beamed at him. “You’re welcome.” Eying him fondly, she took in his rumpled state: flushed cheeks, half-untucked shirt, wrinkled pants, and slightly askew tie. Chuckling, she reached over and started to push his shirttail back into his trousers. “You’re a mess. Disgraceful. The mayor will be horribly shocked.”
Lex didn’t appear to appreciate her trying to tidy him up, but together they managed to pull his appearance back together-so that he only looked a little less slick than usual, a little more relaxed, and a little bit warmer.
Patting him on the chest as Lex buttoned his suit jacket again, Chloe said, “I better get going. My lunch break has lasted way too long. You remember Gabrielle and I are having dinner with my dad this evening?”
“Yes. I have to work through dinner anyway,” Lex replied, idly pulling a stray thread off of her shoulder. “I’ll try to stop by just before you put Gabrielle to bed though, if that’s all right.”
“Sounds good.” Chloe looked back at the pile of work on Lex’s desk. “Except you shouldn’t work through dinner. Did you eat lunch?”
Lex shook his head. “I didn’t think about it.”
Chloe frowned at him. “That’s stupid. You have to eat something. Why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t have wasted your time just now if you should have been eat-“
“Chloe,” Lex interrupted curtly. “I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I miss lunch all the time.”
She scowled at him. “And I suppose it’s all right for you to miss dinner too? To go a whole day without eating because you’re so damned focused on work?” Lex was glaring at her coldly, but she ignored it-trying to think through the best solution to this problem. She glanced at the closed door of the office. “If I tell your receptionist to order you something to eat, will you eat it after you get done with the mayor?”
“Chloe,” Lex said in frustration. “I told you . . .”
She stuck her chin out stubbornly. “Will you eat it?”
He rolled his eyes. Still looked a little grumpy. “I’ll try to get to it. Now, I’m going to be late . . .”
Crossing her arms on her chest, Chloe blocked the doorway. “Promise me.”
For a moment, Lex looked like he was going to argue some more. Then he obviously decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. “Fine,” he relented. “I promise I’ll eat it. Now will you go?’
Chloe smiled at him agreeably. “Yep. I’m late too. Do you want a sandwich or . . .”
“Chloe!” Lex roared.
Laughing in a rush of affection, Chloe reached up and stroked his scalp tenderly. Kissed his annoyed face. “I’ll see you tonight.”
Lex’s impatience subsided quickly. “You too. Have a good afternoon.” He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and opened the office door to let her out.
Chloe headed immediately for his receptionist’s desk and gave the woman an order for Lex’s lunch from the bistro in the building next door.
As she walked toward the elevator, Chloe realized she was still rather aroused. It was a little uncomfortable. But it wasn’t the main issue on her mind.
She reflected on her conversation with Lois. Then on how she and Lex had parted just now.
Neither one of them had said, “I love you,” to the other.
But it kind of felt like they had.