Chapter Three
"Your summerhouse?" she asked.
"The best parties are always private," he told her, a wicked smile lighting up his face.
She returned his smile. "So, have you got any music in here?"
Clark turned the CD player on and watched her as she danced, then beckoned him closer with one finger.
Clark was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth so as soon as he got close, he claimed her lips in a passionate kiss. When he finally pulled away, Chloe was breathing heavily with desire.
"I want you," she said, tearing his shirt open.
Clark was happy to oblige but he was confused.
"You know, I thought it would be much harder to get you into my bed," he purred in her ear.
Chloe put her hands on his shoulders and jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist.
"Who said anything about a bed?" she asked, before she began kissing and biting his neck.
Clark groaned as he backed her into the wall and began to tear at any clothing that was in his way. He entered her roughly and with the minimum of finesse, but neither of them cared.
Chloe continued to bite his neck and she raked her fingers down his back, hard enough to draw blood on a normal person but Clark simply enjoyed the sensation. He would never have pictured his kitten being such a wildcat in bed!
She came with a scream and the look of pure ecstasy on her face was enough to push Clark over the edge too.
Over the rest of the night they made love many times, always somewhere new and often with the chance of being caught. Clark finally got her into his bed but it was nearly three AM by the time Chloe was tired enough to sleep. Clark offered her a ride home since she'd left her car at the school but she said she was happy where she was. Clark was too tired to argue.
III
The next morning he offered her a ride to school but he was slightly surprised when she accepted. Her clothes were all torn but he managed to find her a small pair of jeans that someone had left at the mansion which she coupled with one of his black silk shirts. The shirt drowned her small frame but she rolled the sleeves up and tied it off at the waist. Thankfully her shoes survived last nights antics unscathed.
When his car screeched to a halt in the parking school lot they drew a lot of interested stares. Considering her earlier reluctance to be seen with him, she surprised him again when she leaned over and kissed him deeply. When she pulled away she took his sunglasses off and, with a wicked grin that dared him to do something about it, slipped them on her face.
"Thanks for the ride," she said as she got out of the car and sauntered towards the school.
Among the curious stares Clark noticed that Pete Ross was glaring at him, not that Clark was perturbed by it. In fact he was enjoying this turn of events and with a laugh he sped away from the high school.
III
Pete found Chloe in the Torch office, though she wasn't doing any work.
"Chloe, what the hell was that?" he asked.
"What?" she asked innocently.
"You and Clark. I heard the rumours about you two but I didn't believe it. Chloe Sullivan and Clark Luthor? Nah! The Chloe that I know would never have anything to do with that low life."
"I'm just keeping my options open," Chloe shrugged. "He's fun."
"Chloe!" He sounded frustrated. "Did you forget what they did to my parents?"
"That's ancient history," Chloe waved his concerns away.
Hurt by her words, Pete just stared at her for a while.
"Are you high?" he asked.
"Only on life," she smiled. "You should try it, Pete, I've never felt so free."
"Chloe, there's something wrong with you."
"Pete," she got up from her chair and stood in front of him. She leaned in and whispered seductively. "You need to live a little."
Pete swallowed as he watched her walk away. Something was definitely wrong with Chloe. Usually Pete would run to Chloe with something like this but since she clearly had no interest in what was wrong, he was on his own. He suddenly wished he'd paid more attention when she was investigating the strange phenomena in Smallville. Instead he turned on Chloe's computer in the hope that she had been affected by something that she was already looking into.
III
By lunch time Chloe had had enough of school. She'd found a few cute boys to make-out with but they were all too tentative for her tastes. She had somehow managed to sit through most of her history, class, though she'd finally heckled the teacher once too often and earned herself a visit to the Principles office for her troubles.
On her way there though, she decided that was boring and took her phone out to call Clark. There was another missed call from her father but she dismissed the notification.
"Hey, Clark, you busy?" she asked when he answered.
"I'm in the middle of a math lesson," he said.
"Boring! How about skipping out and doing something fun!"
"Chloe, are you okay?" he asked.
"Why is everyone asking me that? I'm fine. Wonderful in fact," she said. "So, are you interested?"
"I can't, Chloe."
"Please! You're home schooled, of course you can."
Clark was silent for a few moments. "What did you have in mind?"
"I want to try rock climbing," she said.
"Okay, I'll come and join you when I can."
"Great. Meet me at Lone Point, if you can drag yourself away," she hung up.
Clark hung up and frowned.
"Is something wrong?" his teacher, Mrs Styles asked. She was a sweet woman and an excellent teacher, but Clark missed his old tutor, Jenny. Sex-Ed with her had been something to remember!
"A friend of mine is... well she's acting out of character."
"Would you like to go and check on her?"
"My father-"
"I'll tell him we finished early. And really, Clark, it's not like you need my help with Math."
Clark grinned. "Thanks, Mrs S." He kissed her cheek because he knew it made her blush, then headed out.
III
Clark stopped by the school first but Chloe was nowhere to be found. Pete Ross was in the Torch office though, and he had a few things to say.
"What the hell did you do to her?" he asked, pushing Clark aggressively.
"What are you talking about?"
"Chloe! What did you slip her? Ecstasy, speed, crack?"
"Whoa! I haven't done anything to her!" Clark took a deep breath and tried to calm his temper. " In fact... I'm starting to get worried myself."
Pete didn't push him again but his glare didn't lessen either.
"If she's hurt because of something you did..." Pete threatened.
"I haven't done anything."
Pete shook his head in disgust and turned away.
"What's that?" Clark asked as he spotted the articles on Chloe's desk top.
"It's what she was working on last, the accidental deaths of three students-"
"After they visited the Kawatche cave!" Clark could have kicked himself for not making the connection sooner. "Chloe went to check the caves out last night."
"So whatever affected these students could have affected her too," Pete finished. "Where is she now?"
"I don't know," he lied.
"We have to find her before she does something dangerous and gets herself killed."
Pete looked at Clark briefly but decided against working with him so they headed off in different directions.
Clark was faster than his car so he left it in the school parking lot and used his super-speed to get to the cliffs. When he arrived, Chloe was half way down the rock face.
"Hey, Clark! Get down here!" she yelled. "This is such a rush!"
Clark had no intention of climbing down a rock face. What was the point when you could fly?
"Come on, Clark, don't be a chicke-" her shoe slipped and she nearly fell.
"Chloe, come back up here now!"
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Nah, don't wanna," she said with a huge grin as she let go of the rock face and fell backwards.
Clark flew off the cliff top to catch her and then flew them back up to the top.
"Whoa!" she exclaimed as he put her down. "You can fly?"
Clark wasn't happy about having to reveal his powers to her so he didn't answer.
"That was such a rush!" She walked to the edge of the cliff face and looked over the edge.
"Chloe, there's something wrong with you. You need to go to a hospital."
"Where's the fun in that?" she said dismissively. "If I fall again, would you catch me?"
"No."
"Don't be so grumpy," Chloe chastised, then jumped off the edge anyway.
Clark briefly considered letting her hit the ground but... well he'd sort of come to like her and he would miss her if she went splat, so he followed her over the edge again and caught her before she could hit the ground. He hovered in mid air with her in his arms.
"Do you want a real rush?" he asked.
Chloe nodded.
"Hold on tight!"
Clark shot straight up in the air and Chloe screamed with excitement. He flew higher and higher into the atmosphere until Chloe began to look dizzy.
"I don't feel so good," she said, slurring her words slightly.
Clark ignored her until she finally passed out from lack of oxygen, then he took her to the hospital. He explained the situation as best he could and left her there.
He felt a little bad for leaving her there alone but they would call her father. Besides, Clark wasn't really the type to sit around in a waiting room. As he walked back to his car at the school his mind wandered. Now he had a real problem because she knew his secret.
When he was 8 years old he had told someone his secret. The boys mother worked at the mansion and although Lionel frowned on the relationship, they had formed a bond anyway because they were the only two children in the house. Three days after he'd told the boy, both he and his mother died in a hit and run accident and Clark spent six hours with green kryptonite strapped to his chest.
He didn't really want Lionel to kill Chloe so he would just have to impress upon her how important it was that she told no one, not even her father.
III
Chloe looked pale as she lay in her hospital bed but at least she was back to normal.
"How'd they know it was a parasite?" she asked Pete.
"They'd finished the autopsy on the first victim and found the adrenalin levels in his blood were sky high but whatever had caused it was obviously gone. When they tested your blood and found the same thing, they did almost every test they could think of, including X-raying your whole body, which is how they found it."
"I can't believe I had a parasite," Chloe grimaced.
"Yeah, well, as long as you're okay now."He smiled.
"I'm fine, Pete."
"Chloe... we need to talk about you and Clark."
"That's just rumours, Pete, there's nothing going on."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yeah, he's helping me with a story, that's all."
"Is that why you kissed him in front of the whole school?"
"What?" she smiled, "Pete, it's not nice to tease sick people."
"I'm serious, Chloe. You don't remember?"
Chloe shook her head. "I don't remember much at all. I remember I went to check out the caves and then... I woke up here."
"Well, you're probably gonna be getting a lot of odd looks from people for a while."
Just then the door to her hospital room opened and the devil himself walked in, also known as Clark.
"Yeah, well I'd better be going," Pete said, coldly.
"You don't have to go," Chloe said.
"See ya, Chloe."
As Clark looked around the room he saw that her other visitors seemed to have brought flowers or gifts. He realised he should probably have done the same, but it was too late now.
"Chloe, we need to talk," Clark said, closing her hospital door behind Pete.
"That sounds ominous," Chloe sat up straighter.
Clark sat on the edge of her bed and wondered how to begin.
"Okay, let me make this easy on you," Chloe interrupted his thoughts. "Whatever I did, I'm sorry."
"What do you mean?"
"Well apparently I didn't go home so my Dad is mad at me, and Pete says he saw me kiss you so he's mad at me. I don't know what I did to you, but whatever it was, I'm sure I didn't mean it."
"So you have no memory of the last two days."
"Nope, not after the cave. But they told me you brought me in, so thank you. You saved my life."
Clark grinned, both in relief because she didn't know his secret and because this was going to be a lot of fun.
"So you don't remember the hot, passionate sex?" he teased.
"Yeah, right." she dismissed him, laughing.
"I'm serious, Chloe, you told me you wanted me and proceeded to have your wicked way with me quite a few times."
"Don't be ridiculous, Clark."
Clark smirked and opened her bedside cabinet.
"This is the shirt you were wearing when you came in," he said, brandishing his silk shirt. He showed her the pocket which had a discrete Luthor crest sewn in black onto the black fabric.
Chloe looked from the crest to Clark and back again. She lay back and closed her eyes.
"Oh god."
"Don't worry, Chloe, you were very good."
Suddenly closing her eyes wasn't enough and she covered her face with her hands. "Oh god!"
"It's just sex, Chloe, no big deal," he said dismissively thinking she was over reacting. "Unless, oh god, you weren't a virgin, were you?"
"No," she mumbled through her hands.
"Are you sure? Because you're acting like this is a big deal."
Chloe lowered her hands, her anger suddenly overcoming her shame.
"Yes, I'm sure! I lost my V-card last summer while interning in Metropolis. And for your information, this is a big deal, Clark. I don't sleep around, especially not with rich-kid jerks who think they're gods gift and that any woman who doesn't want to sleep with them must be frigid."
"I never said you were frigid," he argued. "And after last night, I never will."
"Just stop, please. Can't you see how mortified I am?"
"Lighten up, Clo. You're making a big deal over nothing."
"Sex might mean nothing to you but it means something to me!"
"You didn't hurt anyone, you didn't cheat, you didn't defraud or con anyone. So you had a one night stand that you now regret. That's not a criminal offence."
Chloe thought about that and calmed down slightly, though she wasn't ready to stop sulking just yet.
"Pete told me that everyone saw us kissing this morning. I'm going to be the talk of school for weeks."
"Really?" Clark laughed at her. "Of all the girls I know, I thought you were the least likely to care about what other people thought of you."
Chloe really wanted to stay mad at him, but he was right, she was getting things out of proportion. And who cares if people saw her making out with Clark Luthor? She wasn't defined by who she kissed. Besides, most of them didn't know the real Clark anyway.
To be fair, Chloe wasn't sure she knew the real Clark, but she was fairly certain that she knew more about him than most people in this town.
"Still friends?" Clark asked.
"As long as you stop with the ribald comments," Chloe agreed with a smile. "So, did you tell your Dad about the takeover?"
"Yeah. I'm going to have to be careful for a while though. Lex is pissed."
"Your Dad didn't send him away like Tess?"
"No," Clark shook his head. "In fact I think he admires him for trying."
"Wow. So does he know that I-"
"No! I managed to convince Dad that I dug that stuff up." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.
Chloe frowned. Was he intending to pay her? Because that was really insulting.
"Here," he handed her a debit card.
"What's that for?"
"Next time you need to bribe someone, withdraw the money from there. That'll create a paper trail that leads back to me and should help keep you safe. Plus, if you need anything else, there's no limit so go wild."
Chloe looked like she was about to protest but Clark put a finger over her lips.
"Don't argue with me. You're doing this for me and I know you and your Dad don't have a lot of money. The least I can do is pay your expenses."
"Do you want receipts?" she joked.
Clark grinned, surprised she'd taken the card so easily.
Chloe smiled back knowing that just because she'd taken the card, didn't mean she would actually use it.
III
As Chloe went into the Beanery she found Clark waiting for her. She sat down opposite him and ordered a mocha late from a passing waiter.
"Can I ask you something?" She asked. When he nodded she continued. "Why are you always early?"
"Does it bother you?" he retorted.
"No, but it is unexpected."
"How so?" he asked, leaning forward.
"Clark, you're a notorious party boy. It's all over the school today that you spent last night drinking and doing god knows what else in Granville."
"Does that bother you?" he asked.
"Why would it bother me?" she laughed. "I mean, sure, the students do seem to take some weird sort of pleasure in keeping me informed of all your antics, like they think I'll be jealous or something, but that's not the point."
"Then what is the point?" he smirked.
"That I'd expect you to still be sleeping it off, not punctual to the point of obsessive compulsive disorder."
"It's one of Lionel's lessons," he explained. "Being the first to arrive gives you a strategic advantage. It allows you to scope out your surroundings and look completely at home when your opponent arrives, putting them at a disadvantage." Clark answered with an amused smile.
"So I'm your opponent?" Chloe frowned.
"Everyone is my opponent," he shrugged then after a few moments, smiled to show he was teasing. "No, it's just a habit now with things that are important."
"Are you saying I'm important?" Chloe asked, only half teasing.
"Well that depends. Are you saying you're things?" he smirked.
Chloe laughed but as Clark held her gaze, suddenly their banter didn't feel so innocent any more. Chloe swallowed, suddenly feeling nervous.
Clark was about to say something when the waiter returned with Chloe's latte. As he removed it from the tray, a patron bumped into him as he passed and the coffee went flying. Chloe gasped and stood up as the hot liquid burned her.
Clark reacted quickly, not by rushing to her aid but by grabbing the waiter by the throat and lifting him off the ground.
"Do you think that's funny?" Clark asked. The waiter wasn't able to respond due to lack of oxygen. "Well, do you?" Clark yelled then tossed him across the coffee shop. Patrons scrambled out of the way but no one made any move to help the man.
"I heard you gossiping about us," he said as he advanced on him. "Wondering what Chloe was doing for me to get my attention." The waiter looked terrified.
"Clark!" Chloe yelled but he ignored her as he grabbed the waiter's shirt and hauled him to his feet.
"Just because I'm rich, do you think that gives you the right to say whatever the hell you want to about my friends?"
He drew his arm back to punch him but Chloe grabbed his fist.
"Clark, Stop it!" She cried and he turned towards her, though he didn't release the waiter. "It was an accident, I'm fine," she assured him.
"Chloe, he hurt you."
Chloe tried to pull his fist down but even with both her hands, she couldn't budge it.
"And last week a wasp stung me, are you going to go postal on him too?"
Clark began to relax and slowly lowered his fist.
"But you... you didn't hear the things he was saying about you, Chloe."
Chloe looked upset and disappointed.
"I don't care what he said, Clark. That doesn't make it okay to hurt him." She turned and walked away, pushing her way through the crowd and doing her best to avoid their curious looks.
Clark considered following her but he knew that he was too riled up to do any good right now. Instead he tightened his grip on the waiter's shirt.
"What's your name?" he asked, his voice low and menacing. "I will find out so you might as well tell me."
"Kevin Sanders."
Clark had little interest in LuthorCorp but Lionel liked him to read over everything that happened at the Smallville Plant as part of his ongoing education. Thanks to his alien memory, Clark wasn't able to forget what he read as most kids were, and right now he was thankful for that fact.
"Your father is Tom Sanders, right?" When Kevin nodded, Clark continued. "Okay, Kevin," Clark let go of his shirt and straightened his collar. "Tell your father he's fired."
He threw a few notes down on the floor to cover the damage and walked away. Unlike with Chloe, the crowd parted for him.
III
Chloe unlocked the Torch office the next morning to find it full of flowers. Arrangements and vases literally covered every surface.
"Whoa!" Pete said as he came to a stop beside her. "Someone likes you."
Chloe couldn't help the smile that spread over her lips.
"Who are they from?" Pete asked.
"I have no idea." Chloe stepped into the office and began to search the flowers for a card. When she found it she tore the small envelope open and read the card. Her smile faltered.
"What is it?"
She showed him the card.
"'I'm sorry'," Pete read. "Who... Wait, are these from Clark?"
Chloe shrugged. "He's the only one who's pissed me off recently. Besides, who else could even afford a gesture like this."
"Chloe..." Pete hesitated, know that she didn't like to be told what to do. "Are you sure you should be hanging around with this guy? He's already trashed your reputation, now he's trashed the coffee shop. People are talking."
Chloe considered arguing with him but she realised she would only be arguing for the sake of it. Thankfully the sofa wasn't adorned with flowers so she sat down on it.
"Pete, I don't know what I'm doing," she admitted. "There's a side of Clark that's... really kind of amazing. I can see what his father is trying to do to him, how he's warping Clark... and I can see how Clark is fighting against it."
Pete sat down next to her.
"Are you sure it's his fathers fault?" he asked kindly. "Cos I've met a lot of jerks who weren't raised by a Luthor."
"You don't know him the way I do," Chloe said, then laughed. "What am I saying, I'm not even sure I know him the way I think I do."
"So you're gonna end the friendship?" he asked hopefully.
She considered the question before answering.
"I don't think so, but I am going to keep it more professional."
"Chloe, I don't pretend to understand the attraction but I won't try and stop you, just... be careful, okay? You could be opening up a real hornets nest if you get in too deep."
"I know." Chloe nodded. "So, wanna help me drop these off at the hospital after school?"
"Sure." Pete smiled.