xxamlaxx's characterization of Chloe as a strong woman in control of her desires and more than capable of hiding a body is pitch perfect. We can see, right from the getgo, why Davis is so completely smitten.
by xxlamlaxx at her livejournal
1189 words, nc-17, stiletto
“I’m sorry for what I did earlier.” He brushes his thumb across the line of red on her neck, the superficial cut too close to her jugular for comfort. He isn’t sorry and he never will be sorry because it saved Chloe’s life. The world is made of silence and concrete and the smell of copper. Blood gleams wet and red in trails on the floor, shines scarlet on Chloe’s skin as she kneels on her hands and knees beside him, grips an extra sponge between her fingers and scrubs. The crimson washes away in pink rivers of water, foamy soap, white bubbles that pop when she wipes the ground with a towel.
“That looks clean.” Blood has dried on Chloe’s palms, emphasizes the lines of her hands and fingers in ruby. “I’m going to go take a shower; I’ll bring you something to eat when I come back.” Chloe’s footsteps echo off the cold, isolating walls, bounce back and settle into silence as the basement doors close; a sliver of yellow light permeates the blackness of the cellar, shining from beneath the crack in the door. He waits for the light to fade, for the dark outlines of Chloe’s feet to gravitate out of sight, but instead they remain in place. He rests his ear against the cool metal of the door, hears the soft sound of Chloe crying, the thud of her body as it slides to the floor. He listens to her sob, shuddering inhalations, his fingertips flat against painted steel.
Chloe leaves after long moments of crying, of standing motionless, whispering apologies into the darkness. Chloe is as invincible as a sheet of paper in a rainstorm but he’s the only one who knows it. Chloe is supposed to be a foundation and a support beam but cement can crack and crumble just like wood rots and splinters. Expectations, responsibility, and worries are all weights on Chloe’s shoulders that his presence has no doubt only augmented. A myriad of contrite words sit heavily on his tongue and he presses his hands against the basement doors and pushes, steps into the light and freedom.
“Shouldn’t you be in the basement?” Droplets of water trickle from Chloe’s wet hair, land on the cotton of her t-shirt, soak into the material immediately. There are damp, dark spots on her shoulders and brown hair rather than gold. Her green eyes are uncharacteristically miserable; she radiates vulnerability as she runs a brush through her hair.
“I can go back down, if you want.” She looks at him with a modicum of fear blazing in her irises. She looks at him like he’s a monster, like he’ll hunt her down and tear her up and rip bone from flesh and muscle. When their eyes meet he can see it killing the man from earlier, turning a body to ooze, a puddle of blood and skin and tissue; the scene of horror reflecting in her eyes, playing over and over like a broken movie reel.
“No, it’s alright. Are you hungry?” She pads barefoot across the carpet, her long t-shirt stops at her mid-thigh. He tries to focus on the carpet, but his gaze is drawn to the golden, toned flesh on the back of her legs, the taught curve of her calf muscles. “I can cook you something.” Her slender hand closes around the refrigerator door handle; there are clinks of condiment bottles rattling together as she pulls it open. “Um..” She glances at him, a tinge of red rushing to her cheeks. “You might want to go downstairs and put on some clothes.” He realizes for the first time that he’s still naked, that his clothes are lying in scraps of cloth on the basement floor. “I’ll bring you a sandwich. No tomato right?”
“Yeah.” He walks back down into the basement, into the cold and the quiet, finds a pair of boxers in the drawer by his cot. “You could have told me I was naked earlier.” Chloe sets the plate down on the end of his cot, draws her hand back before their fingers can touch.
“You don’t buy something without inspecting the merchandise first.” Chloe is snark and wit and humor but she runs a hand through her damp hair, adjusts the hem of her t-shirt, tugs it down lower on her smooth thighs.
“I’m sorry for what I did earlier.” He brushes his thumb across the line of red on her neck, the superficial cut too close to her jugular for comfort. He isn’t sorry and he never will be sorry because it saved Chloe’s life and as much as he hates what he is, what he becomes, what he will always be; Chloe is alive and there is no good and no evil in a world where he still has Chloe Sullivan. “Please don’t be afraid of me Chloe.” He holds her chin between his thumb and index fingers, gulps down the sadness rising in his esophagus when she turns her head away.
“I’m not afraid.” Her palm glides over the back of his hand, gently eases it away. “Everything is difficult now Davis. I only leave the apartment when I have to, I can’t have anyone over for an extended period of time. I’m lying to Clark…I know this is the only way to protect him, to protect the world but it’s hard.”
“I can go, if you want me to.” He’ll destroy the planet if he leaves, if he goes back out into the city of reprobates and innocents and mendicants, the city that lives and breathes and dies as easily as a human. One night and he can make the streets run silent, cause cars to sit idly on the pavement, cold engines and metal, bodies lying on the streets in heaps, shards of glass and broken concrete on the sidewalk. “Just tell me to leave and I will.”
“I won’t.” She smells like soap, shampoo and sweetness, tastes like water and stale coffee when she leans forward and kisses him. Her lips are silky soft, parting against his, a slick slip of tongue into his mouth. “No.” She shrugs his hands from her shoulders, uncurls his fingers from the collar of her t-shirt, preventing him from pulling it over her head, revealing what he imagines is pale skin and perfect breasts.
“Do you want to do this?” His voice is a strained whisper as she mouths his Adam’s apple, slowly licks a line down his chest, runs her tongue along his pectoral and abdominal muscles.
“I don’t want to do that.” She murmurs into his stomach, words muffled in his abdomen. “But I want you.” And then she sinks down, takes him into warm wetness, takes in the little boy who couldn’t love and the man who can’t help but love. Chloe swallows him hard, swallows him deep, has his heart beating rapidly in his chest and sweat forming on his skin. Her fingers migrate to the base of his cock, stroke and squeeze while she hums around him, draws out ecstasy and relaxation.
“We could make this easier.” He tells her later, as they lie side by side on his cot, his head on her chest, her fingers running through his hair. “We could go somewhere, you and I, away from Clark, away from the temptation.”
“I’m willing to give it a try.”
He tightens his arm around Chloe’s waist, holds onto the only certainty in his life.
“That looks clean.” Blood has dried on Chloe’s palms, emphasizes the lines of her hands and fingers in ruby. “I’m going to go take a shower; I’ll bring you something to eat when I come back.” Chloe’s footsteps echo off the cold, isolating walls, bounce back and settle into silence as the basement doors close; a sliver of yellow light permeates the blackness of the cellar, shining from beneath the crack in the door. He waits for the light to fade, for the dark outlines of Chloe’s feet to gravitate out of sight, but instead they remain in place. He rests his ear against the cool metal of the door, hears the soft sound of Chloe crying, the thud of her body as it slides to the floor. He listens to her sob, shuddering inhalations, his fingertips flat against painted steel.
Chloe leaves after long moments of crying, of standing motionless, whispering apologies into the darkness. Chloe is as invincible as a sheet of paper in a rainstorm but he’s the only one who knows it. Chloe is supposed to be a foundation and a support beam but cement can crack and crumble just like wood rots and splinters. Expectations, responsibility, and worries are all weights on Chloe’s shoulders that his presence has no doubt only augmented. A myriad of contrite words sit heavily on his tongue and he presses his hands against the basement doors and pushes, steps into the light and freedom.
“Shouldn’t you be in the basement?” Droplets of water trickle from Chloe’s wet hair, land on the cotton of her t-shirt, soak into the material immediately. There are damp, dark spots on her shoulders and brown hair rather than gold. Her green eyes are uncharacteristically miserable; she radiates vulnerability as she runs a brush through her hair.
“I can go back down, if you want.” She looks at him with a modicum of fear blazing in her irises. She looks at him like he’s a monster, like he’ll hunt her down and tear her up and rip bone from flesh and muscle. When their eyes meet he can see it killing the man from earlier, turning a body to ooze, a puddle of blood and skin and tissue; the scene of horror reflecting in her eyes, playing over and over like a broken movie reel.
“No, it’s alright. Are you hungry?” She pads barefoot across the carpet, her long t-shirt stops at her mid-thigh. He tries to focus on the carpet, but his gaze is drawn to the golden, toned flesh on the back of her legs, the taught curve of her calf muscles. “I can cook you something.” Her slender hand closes around the refrigerator door handle; there are clinks of condiment bottles rattling together as she pulls it open. “Um..” She glances at him, a tinge of red rushing to her cheeks. “You might want to go downstairs and put on some clothes.” He realizes for the first time that he’s still naked, that his clothes are lying in scraps of cloth on the basement floor. “I’ll bring you a sandwich. No tomato right?”
“Yeah.” He walks back down into the basement, into the cold and the quiet, finds a pair of boxers in the drawer by his cot. “You could have told me I was naked earlier.” Chloe sets the plate down on the end of his cot, draws her hand back before their fingers can touch.
“You don’t buy something without inspecting the merchandise first.” Chloe is snark and wit and humor but she runs a hand through her damp hair, adjusts the hem of her t-shirt, tugs it down lower on her smooth thighs.
“I’m sorry for what I did earlier.” He brushes his thumb across the line of red on her neck, the superficial cut too close to her jugular for comfort. He isn’t sorry and he never will be sorry because it saved Chloe’s life and as much as he hates what he is, what he becomes, what he will always be; Chloe is alive and there is no good and no evil in a world where he still has Chloe Sullivan. “Please don’t be afraid of me Chloe.” He holds her chin between his thumb and index fingers, gulps down the sadness rising in his esophagus when she turns her head away.
“I’m not afraid.” Her palm glides over the back of his hand, gently eases it away. “Everything is difficult now Davis. I only leave the apartment when I have to, I can’t have anyone over for an extended period of time. I’m lying to Clark…I know this is the only way to protect him, to protect the world but it’s hard.”
“I can go, if you want me to.” He’ll destroy the planet if he leaves, if he goes back out into the city of reprobates and innocents and mendicants, the city that lives and breathes and dies as easily as a human. One night and he can make the streets run silent, cause cars to sit idly on the pavement, cold engines and metal, bodies lying on the streets in heaps, shards of glass and broken concrete on the sidewalk. “Just tell me to leave and I will.”
“I won’t.” She smells like soap, shampoo and sweetness, tastes like water and stale coffee when she leans forward and kisses him. Her lips are silky soft, parting against his, a slick slip of tongue into his mouth. “No.” She shrugs his hands from her shoulders, uncurls his fingers from the collar of her t-shirt, preventing him from pulling it over her head, revealing what he imagines is pale skin and perfect breasts.
“Do you want to do this?” His voice is a strained whisper as she mouths his Adam’s apple, slowly licks a line down his chest, runs her tongue along his pectoral and abdominal muscles.
“I don’t want to do that.” She murmurs into his stomach, words muffled in his abdomen. “But I want you.” And then she sinks down, takes him into warm wetness, takes in the little boy who couldn’t love and the man who can’t help but love. Chloe swallows him hard, swallows him deep, has his heart beating rapidly in his chest and sweat forming on his skin. Her fingers migrate to the base of his cock, stroke and squeeze while she hums around him, draws out ecstasy and relaxation.
“We could make this easier.” He tells her later, as they lie side by side on his cot, his head on her chest, her fingers running through his hair. “We could go somewhere, you and I, away from Clark, away from the temptation.”
“I’m willing to give it a try.”
He tightens his arm around Chloe’s waist, holds onto the only certainty in his life.
