Music Theory [Smallville Chlex [18+]

Free

Free

        It wasn’t much of a safe house. The witness protection program wanted to place her in Maine but Lex intervened. Using his own funds, he found Chloe a sunny little cottage on an enormously tiny island. The purchase was made and all transactions burned or buried.

        Lex visited very infrequently, stayed less than a day, and only on his way to do business over seas in the direction of the island to keep from being detected. Uncovering secrets intrigued Lex just as much as keeping them. Chloe was his secret to keep. The ocean was the best fence he could think of to protect her.

        Lex traveled to the island by his own sailboat. It took a couple of hours and was noisy upon arrival so he could never surprise her like he secretly wanted to. 

        Chloe was lounging on the beach when he arrived, in one of the many expensive swimsuits he’d gotten for her, and a wide brimmed sunhat. She was tanned and what he could see of her longer blonde hair was shockingly bleached by the sun. She looked healthy. She looked very beautiful.

        “You look so uptight standing there in your suit, Lex,” said Chloe without looking at him. She’d heard him coming for a while, could hear him even through the crashing of the waves. “How come you never come in shorts or something,” she added as she looked up at him. 

        Usually she beamed at him upon arrival and Lex could hardly suppress his disappointment at the lack of it. In order to hide this discontentment, Lex obligingly removed his shoes and his blazer, rolled up his trousers and loosened up his tie. He’s never done this before, and because of that, Lex was rewarded with Chloe’s pretty smile. 

        “You yielded,” Chloe pointed out as he sat next to her on her large orange beach blanket. 

        “Mountains don’t yield,” Lex said defensively but felt his lips fighting to curve into a smile.

        “They do,” Chloe said knowingly and looked back out at the waves. She looked with such yearning that Lex was hesitant to ask her of her discontentment, afraid to hear the answer. 

        He didn’t have to ask. Chloe was forthcoming with her feelings, had only kept one secret her whole life. 

        “I’m impatient,” Chloe announced with a sudden comical frown Lex never saw before. 

        “For what?” Lex asked warily, visibly stiffening beside her.

        “Why do you go so long without visiting me?” Chloe turned to him and demanded with what Lex thought was a teasing tone. 

        “You know why,” Lex replied so simply, it made Chloe cringe with annoyance. She sighed dramatically and turned toward the ocean again, her brows pulled together. He’d made her unhappy. It was then that Lex knew she was never happy, nor has he ever made her so.

        “What do you need?” Lex asked. He would give her anything she would ever need.

        “Want,” Chloe corrected.

        Lex only stared at her dumbfounded. In any ordinary circumstance, Lex could easily decipher Chloe’s speech patterns. This was, however, a special circumstance because Lex applied a little something called wishful thinking and knew he was misinterpreting that single, heavy, and powerful word. 

        “I want to be free,” Chloe clarified in quiet embarrassment. “That sounds so clichéd, I know.” To avoid any possible teasing from Lex, which there would have been none, Chloe stood and dropped her hat on the ground. 

        Her hair was longer than he thought, and fell in stiff salted waves over her sunkissed shoulders. The navy blue bikini she wore had gilded clasps in the front and on her hips. He’d seen her in this state of undress before, but it was different on this trip, it was worse on this trip. His need for her was like a slap in the face and she was so close, close enough to touch.

        “You wouldn’t want to go for a swim would you?” Chloe asked in a clear unattached voice.

        “I just want to enjoy the view,” Lex said with a carnal rumble he did not intend. He cleared his throat as if the cloying sexual longing would dissipate with so simple a solution. 

        Chloe, with her lack of naïveté, not only noticed his feelings, but also took advantage of them in the least subtle ways she could. 

        “Suit yourself,” she replied as she stripped off her dark bikini top and, with a purposefulness, wiggled pleasingly out of her bottoms. 

        Close enough to touch, Lex thought again and nearly choked on an intake of breath as she jogged down to the water’s edge, wind whipping her hair and, without any hesitation, splashed in knee deep and dove. She was under for only two seconds before she emerged with a wild squeal of delight and surprise. 

        Lex found himself standing up, excited hands shaking on the buttons of his shirt, his belt buckle, his boxer briefs. He didn’t feel the hot sand under his metropolitan feet, or the icy cold of the water, he was warmed by Chloe’s smiling face.

        And then he was warmed by her kiss. 

        They stumbled carelessly over the hot sand, landing in a heap on Chloe’s beach blanket, groping each other’s slick ocean skin. No actual sexual intercourse took place, but Chloe came with the shocking brightness behind her eyes and a sudden, very surprised gasp into his ear, as his palm slowed their circular motions on her clit.

        There was salt on her skin, he could taste it as she came down from her orgasm, tasted it on her nipples, her ribs, her hips. He knew, without looking at her, without asking, what it was she wanted. She wanted to go home, not Smallville, but her real home. She wanted to be free from this island.

        And all Lex wanted was to protect her. Keep her away from those that would want to hurt her.

        Refusing to be entangled in her languid warmth, Lex extricated himself from her and walked stiffly back to his boat.

        The next three visits were equally short and strained.

        A year, held on the island, was a year too long. Chloe could walk along the beach and encircle it in four hours, she could jog it in three and a half, but she could not outrun it. The water was a fence, keeping her captive.

        “Today has to be the last day. I want to be free,” Chloe stated plainly. Lex was the only person she ever saw, and it’d been ninety-seven days since his last visit. 

        She’d packed her things every morning, expecting to see Lex, so she was all ready to go on the long quiet boat ride. The wind in her hair was wonderful and the speed was a delight. Time slowed down so much on the island, except when Lex was there. She missed the fast pace of the world.

        When they landed in Metropolis, Lex asked Chloe to live with him. She reluctantly agreed.

Song: Free

Artist: Gavin DeGraw

Album: Free