Fic: Kingdom Come - 1/1 - Willow/Lex
Title: Kingdom Come
Theme: Willow/Smallville
Prompt: #043. Castle
Rating: FR15
Pairing: Willow/Lex
Summary: Future fic.
Spoilers: None
Word Count: 4121
Disclaimers: I don’t own anything to do with ‘Smallville’ or ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’. I have adapted to this knowledge and dealt with it.
The car pulled up outside a huge set of gates and Willow felt her jaw drop. She leaned forwards, straining against the seatbelt holding her in place and peered out of the tinted windscreen.
Moving slowly, reluctantly taking her eyes off of the building before her, the redhead looked at her boyfriend of just over a month. He was smirking at her, clearly amused by her reaction.
“Are you sure we don’t have the wrong address?” she queried.
“Honestly Willow, don’t you think I think I know where my own home is?” he chuckled, blue eyes sparkling unashamedly.
Willow gestured wildly in the direction of the building standing at the bottom of the drive. It dominated the grounds in which it was situated.
“That is not a home, Lex. It’s a museum or a government building or…”
“A house,” he interrupted.
“A castle,” she countered.
He rolled his eyes at her even as the gates in front of them slowly opened. From a small hut-like building a man in a guard’s uniform grinned at them. “Afternoon Mr Luthor,” he called.
Lex nodded in his direction but other than that made no other sign that he had acknowledged the man. The car crept forwards and the gates closed behind them.
“I’ll admit it’s a little larger than the average home but it is still a house.”
Willow settled back into her seat. ‘A little larger than the average’! Talk about the understatement of the century. She didn’t care what he said it was a castle. The problem with castles were Willow was concerned was that they had unfortunate associations with bad guys.
Feeling a little uncomfortable she asked, “And you live here?”
“When I’m in Smallville.”
“Oh.”
Tearing her eyes away from her boyfriend’s profile Willow turned to look at the grounds through which they passed. There was no other way to describe them but ‘big’ - perhaps even ‘enormous’. She wasn’t stupid; she’d known even before they met for the first time that Lex Luthor wasn’t the sort of man to live in an ordinary house but she certainly hadn’t expected some sort of ancient country pile.
It made her nervous.
They’d met by accident - literally. Willow had been driving through Los Angeles on her way to visit Spike when, out of the blue, another car had collided with hers. The impact had sent them both spinning across the road and they had narrowly avoided several more vehicles before eventually grinding to a halt. When Willow had eventually managed to extract herself from behind a crumpled door it had been in time to see the man sat next to her now climbing out from behind the wheel of a ruined sports car; a bloody cut across his brow. She’d been so concerned about the all blood that it had taken her several minutes to realise that the man was Lex Luthor, businessman and billionaire.
It was a story that made Lex smile whenever he told it; the punch line always being that he had never known a woman so desperate to meet him that she was willing to risk life and limb before.
Willow generally rolled her eyes at that.
She didn’t feel like rolling her eyes now - she was afraid that if she did so then she would miss an errant peacock strutting across the road in front of them or something like it.
There wasn’t a peacock but there was a lush rolling green lawn, interrupted occasionally by carefully shaped topiary. Willow even spied a gardener holding a pair of huge clippers.
She blinked and quickly looked away, not wanting to be caught gawking. If there were maids then Willow knew she was just going to die of embarrassment - there would be no way to stop it happening because there was no way that she would be able to stop herself from staring whenever they were in the same room.
She didn’t even know how you were supposed to act around maids.
The car had stopped and Lex had already opened his door. Half in and half out of the car he looked back over his shoulder at her. “Don’t look so nervous.”
“I’m not,” she protested. At the unconvinced expression that spread onto his features she added, “Honest!”
Lex shook his head. “It’s only a house.”
Willow met his eyes and nodded slowly. “I know.”
Feeling foolish she opened her door and quickly climbed out, reaching behind her seat and dragging out her bag at the same time. Setting her shoulders in what she hoped was a determined stance Willow marched around to the trunk of the car only to be stopped by the sound of Lex’s voice.
“Don’t worry about the luggage - someone will collect it for us.”
“Oh, of course,” she said, stepping quickly away from the car and towards him.
Once more smiling at her Lex held out a hand in her direction. Sheepishly Willow took it and fell into step beside him, walking up a set of impressive stone steps and through the great wooden doors at the top.
“Greetings Mr Luthor,” a deep voice said the moment they stepped through the door. Willow spun in its direction and found herself looking at a middle-aged man who for all the world looked like a butler. “And you must be Miss Rosenberg,” he added with a large smile.
He is a butler, Willow realised abruptly as she watched Lex hand his coat over to the man. Lex actually has a butler.
A hand being placed at the base of her back made Willow jump and she realised she had been staring again. She looked up into Lex’s friendly grey-blue eyes.
“Maybe we should get something to eat?” he suggested.
Willow recognised an escape route when she saw one. She nodded quickly. “Good idea.”
“I’ll telephone the kitchen, sir,” the butler said. “Do you have anything in mind or should I tell chef to prepare something?”
“Tell him to make whatever is easiest,” Lex said. He said it in such an offhand sort of way that Willow couldn’t help but gawp at him too. Back in Los Angeles he’d been living in a hotel room so she’d not thought it out of the ordinary in the least that whenever they ate together they were served food rather than making it.
“So… A chef, huh?” she said lightly as she could manage to as the butler disappeared.
“Yes. He’s called Franz in case you’re wondering.”
Willow opened her mouth to say that she hadn’t been wondering and then realised that it was actually a lie. She had been wondering - just like she had been curious about everything else ever since they had pulled up outside the gates.
“We’ll eat in my study,” Lex said. “It’s where I spend most of my time when I’m at home.”
The room to which he led her was not what Willow would have called a study. It looked like the sort of place where only a very small amount of studying would actually ever go on. Yes there was a large desk but it hardly dominated the large room. Instead there was a comfortable looking seated around in front of a huge fireplace, a pool table and a staircase leading to... a small library the redhead discovered as she stepped further into the room and look skywards.
In was a nice room though; warm and comforting with a huge stained glass window that made everything bright and colourful. In a way it reminded her of the library back in high school - except newer and considerably more expensive.
And with less chance of a vampire hiding in the stacks waiting to attack when you were least expecting it.
A hand reached out, taking the bag from her shoulder and dropping it onto one of the dark leather couches. Leaning close to her ear Lex said, “Relax.”
She shot him what she hoped was a confident smile.
He was right of course. It was silly to be intimidated by a house - even if it was really a castle. It wasn’t like Lex had taken her home to meet his family or anything. After all, he wasn’t exactly on the best of terms with his father and the elusive mystery brother had remained, well, elusive. He’d just wanted to show her Smallvile - his home.
Dawn had giggled when Willow had told them where she would be headed on her weekend break. She thought it was terribly impressive that the redhead was dating the notorious billionaire. Buffy had just smiled knowingly. They’d both made more than enough jokes about weddings - jokes that generally made Xander splutter.
Willow hadn’t found them very funny. Everything was far too new to be thinking about marriage; she’d only known Lex a little over a month after all and despite his history of impulsive decisions in relationships she doubted that he would be proposing any time soon - if ever. The thought that Lex might overhear one of her friend’s joking was mortifying.
The hand returned to her shoulder, rubbing it gently and loosening some of the tension swelling there. A second later the hand was replaced by lips and Willow felt an entirely different part of her melting.
He was impossibly good at knowing exactly what to do and when to do it. It seemed that he was rarely capable of touching her without causing certain parts of her to react.
She leaned back against him, revelling in the feeling of his lips on her bare flesh and the hard lines of his body against hers. Lex’s arms went around her waist, hugging her, and Willow covered his hands with her own. They felt strangely delicate despite their size; something which Willow supposed came from fact he had probably been having manicures since the age of four.
“I thought we were going to have something to eat,” she said, her voice coming out breathy and excited.
“Hmm,” he murmured, eyes closed and face buried in her shoulder. He didn’t appear to want to move in the slightest. Normally Willow would not have been bothered by the fact. Normally though they would not have been in danger of being interrupted by a servant.
Although there had been that one time with a maid at the hotel but that hardly counted… they’d forgotten to hang the ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door.
Willow flushed at the memory; at the time she’d been certain that before the day was out the entire hotel would know what the woman had seen. She’d wondered how she would ever have been able to show her face downstairs again without dying of embarrassment. It would be a thousand times worse if they were caught here, at Lex’s house. There would be no running away; no certain knowledge that eventually they could check out and leave the embarrassment behind.
His hands were wandering; sliding over her stomach and travelling to places that made her breath hitch again. Ever so tenderly he cupped her breast through her shit and squeezed - just enough to make the first thrilling burn.
“Over three hours on a plane - nearly two in a car - that’s far too long to go without touching you,” he said.
“Now that’s not entirely true,” Willow told him. “I seem to remember plenty of touching when the flight attendant wasn’t looking.”
“I hardly think placing a hand on you knee counts.”
“That’s the point - it didn’t stay on my knee.”
“You liked it,” Lex chuckled. “I know you did.”
Willow squirmed against him. “Not the point.”
“Definitely the point.” He pulled her even closer to him, making Willow blush even brighter as he did so. There could be absolutely no disguising exactly what Lex’s point was.
There was a knock on the door and Willow sprang away from her boyfriend, her hands quickly going to her shirt to pull it straight. As the door opened Lex turned away from it, hiding his body’s reaction as he did so. It left Willow to greet the person who came into the room - a nervous looking maid pushing a trolley laden with food.
“Er… just over there would be great,” Willow said, gesturing towards the seating area.
The woman shot her an enquiring look, obviously curious about the new woman in her boss’s life. Or, Willow decided, assessing the competition considering the dismissive way in which she pursed her lips and looked away from the redhead. It was not a new reaction; she’d seen it on the faces of at least two dozen different women since it had become known that she’d become the new woman in Lex’s life.
“Aren’t you done yet?” Lex asked. His voice was cool, clearly showing his displeasure. Willow glanced back at him and found he was directing a pointed gaze at the woman.
“Yes sir,” she said swiftly and then quickly exited the room.
“Lex!” Willow exclaimed in astonishment. “I think you scared the pants off her!”
“I seriously doubt it. The staff here tend to be made of sterner stuff - they’ve been dealing with my father for years after all.” He said it with the same dry wit that Willow had come to expect from him. It made her smile.
“Let’s see what the goodies the lacky brought,” she said moving over towards the couch.
“Lacky?” Lex queried.
She looked back at him over her shoulder. “Well that’s what they are, isn’t it?”
“No. Yes. I mean, no, they’re not. They’re employees.”
Willow’s grin widened. It was very rare that she got to see Lex flustered - indecisive even. Normally it was her who ended up struggling for words. Lex looked mildly displeased at her amusement.
She flopped down onto the couch and patted the leather next to her. “Tell me about Smallville,” she said reaching for the trolley. There was a pair of covered plates on it and underneath a selection of drinks. She knew from the past few weeks experience that they were a selection of things that Lex liked.
He settled on the couch next to her, taking one of the plates as he did so. He looked oddly awkward doing so - as if it was just the tiniest bit too informal for him. To Willow it was endearing.
“I’ve told you about Smallville,” he said while lifting the lid on the plate on his lap. He revealed a deliciously thick sandwich underneath and Willow’s stomach rumbled.
This was easier, she decided. When it was just the two of them alone in a room - no matter how fancy the room might be - it was simpler because he was just Lex.
Her Lex and nobody else’s.
She shifted a little closer to him on the couch; making sure their bodies were just touching as she did so.
“Not really,” she protested. “You didn’t tell me about this place after all.”
Lex frowned. “This place… it isn’t Smallville.” At the confused expression that spread onto her features he continued, “It shouldn’t even be here. My father had it shipped from somewhere or other… he always told me it was from some ancestral estate in Scotland but I’ve always seriously doubted whether that was indeed the truth.”
Willow blinked at the statement, vaguely frightened at the idea of how much money it must have cost to have the great building she was now seated in moved from one country to another. Hell it would have cost more money than she would ever earn to move it from one town to another.
“I sometimes think he shouldn’t have done it,” Lex continued. “Smallville would have been just fine if we - my family that is - had never come here.”
“I doubt other people would see it that way,” she said reassuringly.
Lex cast a dubious expression in her direction, clearly not believing her. It made Willow wonder whether there were further things he hadn’t told her about Luthors and their connection to Smallville. She had already decided though that there were a large number of things about Lex that it was too early in their relationship to ask about. Just like the way she knew it was far too soon to tell him about Sunnydale and the Hellmouth and more than anything else herself. She really hadn’t been able to figure out enough about him yet to tell whether it was the type of revelation that he’d take well.
But then again, Willow reminded herself, you can’t even figure out what it is you like about him anyway. The only thing she had been able to figure out was that she did like him.
She liked him a lot. A whole lot if she was completely honest.
Leaning forwards she put her plate down on the coffee table and brushed off her hands. “Forget about the house for a while,” she said sitting back once more. “Tell me about the people. You mentioned a few when we were in L.A. When am I going to get to meet them?”
Once again Lex looked a little uncomfortable.
“They’re good people,” he said. “Mostly. You get the odd bad apple though.”
“Just like anywhere,” Willow confirmed. She wrinkled her nose. “And since you hear enough about bad people whenever you turn on the TV then tell me about the good ones.”
The corner of his mouth quirked up. Clearly she had amused him; something that made Willow smile. Sometimes Lex was far too serious for his own good. She’d noticed that the first time that he’d caught a stranger questioning her about her relationship with him.
Although, Willow surmised, if she had spent the last few years having the press pick over every single aspect of her life then she would have been a little wary of answering questions too. He hadn’t been to know that it was actually only Xander.
He appeared contemplative. “Well there’s Lana,” he said thoughtfully.
Willow carefully schooled her features to remain pleasant. She would not be concerned that the first person he had mentioned was another woman. Being jealous was silly; there had been a fifty-fifty chance that it would be a woman after all.
“We’re in business together,” he added and Willow relaxed somewhat. ‘In business’ could translate to ‘old enough to be my mother’ after all.
“I’m an investor in the coffee house she runs.”
Something clicked in Willow’s mind. Coffee house… now when had she heard him mentioned that before? Oh, when he had talked about some kid he had befriended called Clark and Clark’s off-and-on again girlfriend.
“I think you’d like it there actually. There’s a very friendly atmosphere and usually it’s quite easy to spend time there without anyone trying too hard to get my attention.”
“It sounds nice,” she replied honestly.
“We could go later - this evening perhaps. If I know anything at all about him then Clark should be there. I’d like you to meet him.”
Willow relaxed. It had always been mildly disconcerting for her that he had managed to meet and get to know each of her friends since they had met but she had never met any of his.
“And of course where Clark is Chloe is sure to follow,” Lex said. “Though why is beyond me.”
Raising a surprised eyebrow Willow said, “Oh? Why’s that?”
Without looking at her, without realising that there might be some additional impact to his words, Lex answered, “She could do better than him - much, much better. She’s smart, funny, pretty, energetic…”
Willow’s eyebrows rose even higher.
“…And besides, Clark’s so besotted with Lana that I doubt he’s ever going to wake up and take notice.” He glanced ever so briefly at her out of the corner of his eyes. “You’ll like her. You’re very alike in some ways.”
Not too alike hopefully, Willow thought. She suddenly found herself faced with the idea that perhaps she had come all the way to Smallville only to realise that perhaps she was simply some replacement for some girl he couldn’t have.
Quickly she shook the thought loose. Lex really didn’t seem like the type of man who would do such a thing. As a man he was far too in control; she doubted he ever really did anything without thinking about it. Even his more impulsive actions had an air of development about them - not that that was a bad thing. Willow rather liked the fact that he was so easily in control or every situation.
“You’ve got that look again,” Lex told her.
Willow’s eye widened. Her mouth opened slightly as if she was about to say something only for her to stop and lick her lips.
“You’re not still thinking about the house are you?” he queried disbelievingly.
“No, of course not. I’ve managed to get my head around that. Well, almost anyway.”
The expression on his face clearly told Willow that he was expecting some kind of answer from her. It was just a shame she didn’t really have one for him right at that moment.
Instead she settled for a dismissive wave of her hand and stood up, turned and walking towards the window. It was a little too much like running away but it was all she could think to do. With any luck Lex would either miss the fact or he would realise she didn’t want to follow up that particular line of conversation any longer. She seriously doubted the first would happen so she clung fiercely onto the hope that the second would.
“So where does the boundary end?” she asked peering out the window. It wasn’t exactly the neatest way in which to change the subject to it would probably work.
“Just at the other side of those trees,” Lex said. He had appeared silently at her side; startling even Willow’s finely tuned senses. “There used to be a farmhouse there but my father had it seized and torn down.”
Willow frowned slightly. “Seized? A farmhouse?”
“I believe a family called the Milligans owned it. Yet another reason why my family isn’t much loved around here - since dear old Dad decided to move out here he has systematically bought up huge tracks of land whether it was for sale or not.”
She looked at him in surprise. His voice had been clipped, almost bitter.
“He did it so gradually that at first people didn’t realise. When they did realise he told them that he was simply bringing prosperity to the town and showed them the plans for the plant. What did failed to mention was that a lot of the employees would be brought in from out of town and not hired from the local populace. They were understandably irritated.”
This really is a castle, Willow realised, and not solely because it happened to look like one. Like some old feudal family the Luthor’s seemed to own everything that went on in the town, controlling it from their impregnable estate.
And Lex, she thought, is the rebellious son wishing he was just one of the common people.
She turned and wrapped her arms around his waist in a languid, almost casual movement. It felt almost too good to be close to him again.
There was a part of her that desperately wanted to tell him that none of it was his fault but she knew it was pointless - not because he wouldn’t believe her but because knowing Lex he probably already knew it wasn’t his fault. Guilt of a different sort would still prey on his mind all the same. He was just the sort of man who would beat himself up because of something his family had done. No doubt he had already spent a great deal of time and money trying to put everything right again.
She’d seen it in Los Angeles; in the way in which a tough businessman could change into a philanthropist in the blink of an eye.
It pained her to think that he clearly still didn’t think he had done enough.
He brought his hands up and gently stoked her lower back. The gesture seemed half-hearted though and Willow wondered whether he was distracted.
“Let’s not go out tonight,” she said softly. “We had a long trip - you said it yourself - and I kind of like the idea of an early night. There’ll be time for sightseeing tomorrow.” Tilting her head back and meeting his eyes she added, “Besides, I can sort of guess that showing me around this place in going to take some time.”
“We can leave that until tomorrow as well if you’re really tired.”
Willow flushed a little. Going up on her toes she brushed her lips gently against his. “I’m not that tired,” she told him.
END
Theme: Willow/Smallville
Prompt: #043. Castle
Rating: FR15
Pairing: Willow/Lex
Summary: Future fic.
Spoilers: None
Word Count: 4121
Disclaimers: I don’t own anything to do with ‘Smallville’ or ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’. I have adapted to this knowledge and dealt with it.
The car pulled up outside a huge set of gates and Willow felt her jaw drop. She leaned forwards, straining against the seatbelt holding her in place and peered out of the tinted windscreen.
Moving slowly, reluctantly taking her eyes off of the building before her, the redhead looked at her boyfriend of just over a month. He was smirking at her, clearly amused by her reaction.
“Are you sure we don’t have the wrong address?” she queried.
“Honestly Willow, don’t you think I think I know where my own home is?” he chuckled, blue eyes sparkling unashamedly.
Willow gestured wildly in the direction of the building standing at the bottom of the drive. It dominated the grounds in which it was situated.
“That is not a home, Lex. It’s a museum or a government building or…”
“A house,” he interrupted.
“A castle,” she countered.
He rolled his eyes at her even as the gates in front of them slowly opened. From a small hut-like building a man in a guard’s uniform grinned at them. “Afternoon Mr Luthor,” he called.
Lex nodded in his direction but other than that made no other sign that he had acknowledged the man. The car crept forwards and the gates closed behind them.
“I’ll admit it’s a little larger than the average home but it is still a house.”
Willow settled back into her seat. ‘A little larger than the average’! Talk about the understatement of the century. She didn’t care what he said it was a castle. The problem with castles were Willow was concerned was that they had unfortunate associations with bad guys.
Feeling a little uncomfortable she asked, “And you live here?”
“When I’m in Smallville.”
“Oh.”
Tearing her eyes away from her boyfriend’s profile Willow turned to look at the grounds through which they passed. There was no other way to describe them but ‘big’ - perhaps even ‘enormous’. She wasn’t stupid; she’d known even before they met for the first time that Lex Luthor wasn’t the sort of man to live in an ordinary house but she certainly hadn’t expected some sort of ancient country pile.
It made her nervous.
They’d met by accident - literally. Willow had been driving through Los Angeles on her way to visit Spike when, out of the blue, another car had collided with hers. The impact had sent them both spinning across the road and they had narrowly avoided several more vehicles before eventually grinding to a halt. When Willow had eventually managed to extract herself from behind a crumpled door it had been in time to see the man sat next to her now climbing out from behind the wheel of a ruined sports car; a bloody cut across his brow. She’d been so concerned about the all blood that it had taken her several minutes to realise that the man was Lex Luthor, businessman and billionaire.
It was a story that made Lex smile whenever he told it; the punch line always being that he had never known a woman so desperate to meet him that she was willing to risk life and limb before.
Willow generally rolled her eyes at that.
She didn’t feel like rolling her eyes now - she was afraid that if she did so then she would miss an errant peacock strutting across the road in front of them or something like it.
There wasn’t a peacock but there was a lush rolling green lawn, interrupted occasionally by carefully shaped topiary. Willow even spied a gardener holding a pair of huge clippers.
She blinked and quickly looked away, not wanting to be caught gawking. If there were maids then Willow knew she was just going to die of embarrassment - there would be no way to stop it happening because there was no way that she would be able to stop herself from staring whenever they were in the same room.
She didn’t even know how you were supposed to act around maids.
The car had stopped and Lex had already opened his door. Half in and half out of the car he looked back over his shoulder at her. “Don’t look so nervous.”
“I’m not,” she protested. At the unconvinced expression that spread onto his features she added, “Honest!”
Lex shook his head. “It’s only a house.”
Willow met his eyes and nodded slowly. “I know.”
Feeling foolish she opened her door and quickly climbed out, reaching behind her seat and dragging out her bag at the same time. Setting her shoulders in what she hoped was a determined stance Willow marched around to the trunk of the car only to be stopped by the sound of Lex’s voice.
“Don’t worry about the luggage - someone will collect it for us.”
“Oh, of course,” she said, stepping quickly away from the car and towards him.
Once more smiling at her Lex held out a hand in her direction. Sheepishly Willow took it and fell into step beside him, walking up a set of impressive stone steps and through the great wooden doors at the top.
“Greetings Mr Luthor,” a deep voice said the moment they stepped through the door. Willow spun in its direction and found herself looking at a middle-aged man who for all the world looked like a butler. “And you must be Miss Rosenberg,” he added with a large smile.
He is a butler, Willow realised abruptly as she watched Lex hand his coat over to the man. Lex actually has a butler.
A hand being placed at the base of her back made Willow jump and she realised she had been staring again. She looked up into Lex’s friendly grey-blue eyes.
“Maybe we should get something to eat?” he suggested.
Willow recognised an escape route when she saw one. She nodded quickly. “Good idea.”
“I’ll telephone the kitchen, sir,” the butler said. “Do you have anything in mind or should I tell chef to prepare something?”
“Tell him to make whatever is easiest,” Lex said. He said it in such an offhand sort of way that Willow couldn’t help but gawp at him too. Back in Los Angeles he’d been living in a hotel room so she’d not thought it out of the ordinary in the least that whenever they ate together they were served food rather than making it.
“So… A chef, huh?” she said lightly as she could manage to as the butler disappeared.
“Yes. He’s called Franz in case you’re wondering.”
Willow opened her mouth to say that she hadn’t been wondering and then realised that it was actually a lie. She had been wondering - just like she had been curious about everything else ever since they had pulled up outside the gates.
“We’ll eat in my study,” Lex said. “It’s where I spend most of my time when I’m at home.”
The room to which he led her was not what Willow would have called a study. It looked like the sort of place where only a very small amount of studying would actually ever go on. Yes there was a large desk but it hardly dominated the large room. Instead there was a comfortable looking seated around in front of a huge fireplace, a pool table and a staircase leading to... a small library the redhead discovered as she stepped further into the room and look skywards.
In was a nice room though; warm and comforting with a huge stained glass window that made everything bright and colourful. In a way it reminded her of the library back in high school - except newer and considerably more expensive.
And with less chance of a vampire hiding in the stacks waiting to attack when you were least expecting it.
A hand reached out, taking the bag from her shoulder and dropping it onto one of the dark leather couches. Leaning close to her ear Lex said, “Relax.”
She shot him what she hoped was a confident smile.
He was right of course. It was silly to be intimidated by a house - even if it was really a castle. It wasn’t like Lex had taken her home to meet his family or anything. After all, he wasn’t exactly on the best of terms with his father and the elusive mystery brother had remained, well, elusive. He’d just wanted to show her Smallvile - his home.
Dawn had giggled when Willow had told them where she would be headed on her weekend break. She thought it was terribly impressive that the redhead was dating the notorious billionaire. Buffy had just smiled knowingly. They’d both made more than enough jokes about weddings - jokes that generally made Xander splutter.
Willow hadn’t found them very funny. Everything was far too new to be thinking about marriage; she’d only known Lex a little over a month after all and despite his history of impulsive decisions in relationships she doubted that he would be proposing any time soon - if ever. The thought that Lex might overhear one of her friend’s joking was mortifying.
The hand returned to her shoulder, rubbing it gently and loosening some of the tension swelling there. A second later the hand was replaced by lips and Willow felt an entirely different part of her melting.
He was impossibly good at knowing exactly what to do and when to do it. It seemed that he was rarely capable of touching her without causing certain parts of her to react.
She leaned back against him, revelling in the feeling of his lips on her bare flesh and the hard lines of his body against hers. Lex’s arms went around her waist, hugging her, and Willow covered his hands with her own. They felt strangely delicate despite their size; something which Willow supposed came from fact he had probably been having manicures since the age of four.
“I thought we were going to have something to eat,” she said, her voice coming out breathy and excited.
“Hmm,” he murmured, eyes closed and face buried in her shoulder. He didn’t appear to want to move in the slightest. Normally Willow would not have been bothered by the fact. Normally though they would not have been in danger of being interrupted by a servant.
Although there had been that one time with a maid at the hotel but that hardly counted… they’d forgotten to hang the ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door.
Willow flushed at the memory; at the time she’d been certain that before the day was out the entire hotel would know what the woman had seen. She’d wondered how she would ever have been able to show her face downstairs again without dying of embarrassment. It would be a thousand times worse if they were caught here, at Lex’s house. There would be no running away; no certain knowledge that eventually they could check out and leave the embarrassment behind.
His hands were wandering; sliding over her stomach and travelling to places that made her breath hitch again. Ever so tenderly he cupped her breast through her shit and squeezed - just enough to make the first thrilling burn.
“Over three hours on a plane - nearly two in a car - that’s far too long to go without touching you,” he said.
“Now that’s not entirely true,” Willow told him. “I seem to remember plenty of touching when the flight attendant wasn’t looking.”
“I hardly think placing a hand on you knee counts.”
“That’s the point - it didn’t stay on my knee.”
“You liked it,” Lex chuckled. “I know you did.”
Willow squirmed against him. “Not the point.”
“Definitely the point.” He pulled her even closer to him, making Willow blush even brighter as he did so. There could be absolutely no disguising exactly what Lex’s point was.
There was a knock on the door and Willow sprang away from her boyfriend, her hands quickly going to her shirt to pull it straight. As the door opened Lex turned away from it, hiding his body’s reaction as he did so. It left Willow to greet the person who came into the room - a nervous looking maid pushing a trolley laden with food.
“Er… just over there would be great,” Willow said, gesturing towards the seating area.
The woman shot her an enquiring look, obviously curious about the new woman in her boss’s life. Or, Willow decided, assessing the competition considering the dismissive way in which she pursed her lips and looked away from the redhead. It was not a new reaction; she’d seen it on the faces of at least two dozen different women since it had become known that she’d become the new woman in Lex’s life.
“Aren’t you done yet?” Lex asked. His voice was cool, clearly showing his displeasure. Willow glanced back at him and found he was directing a pointed gaze at the woman.
“Yes sir,” she said swiftly and then quickly exited the room.
“Lex!” Willow exclaimed in astonishment. “I think you scared the pants off her!”
“I seriously doubt it. The staff here tend to be made of sterner stuff - they’ve been dealing with my father for years after all.” He said it with the same dry wit that Willow had come to expect from him. It made her smile.
“Let’s see what the goodies the lacky brought,” she said moving over towards the couch.
“Lacky?” Lex queried.
She looked back at him over her shoulder. “Well that’s what they are, isn’t it?”
“No. Yes. I mean, no, they’re not. They’re employees.”
Willow’s grin widened. It was very rare that she got to see Lex flustered - indecisive even. Normally it was her who ended up struggling for words. Lex looked mildly displeased at her amusement.
She flopped down onto the couch and patted the leather next to her. “Tell me about Smallville,” she said reaching for the trolley. There was a pair of covered plates on it and underneath a selection of drinks. She knew from the past few weeks experience that they were a selection of things that Lex liked.
He settled on the couch next to her, taking one of the plates as he did so. He looked oddly awkward doing so - as if it was just the tiniest bit too informal for him. To Willow it was endearing.
“I’ve told you about Smallville,” he said while lifting the lid on the plate on his lap. He revealed a deliciously thick sandwich underneath and Willow’s stomach rumbled.
This was easier, she decided. When it was just the two of them alone in a room - no matter how fancy the room might be - it was simpler because he was just Lex.
Her Lex and nobody else’s.
She shifted a little closer to him on the couch; making sure their bodies were just touching as she did so.
“Not really,” she protested. “You didn’t tell me about this place after all.”
Lex frowned. “This place… it isn’t Smallville.” At the confused expression that spread onto her features he continued, “It shouldn’t even be here. My father had it shipped from somewhere or other… he always told me it was from some ancestral estate in Scotland but I’ve always seriously doubted whether that was indeed the truth.”
Willow blinked at the statement, vaguely frightened at the idea of how much money it must have cost to have the great building she was now seated in moved from one country to another. Hell it would have cost more money than she would ever earn to move it from one town to another.
“I sometimes think he shouldn’t have done it,” Lex continued. “Smallville would have been just fine if we - my family that is - had never come here.”
“I doubt other people would see it that way,” she said reassuringly.
Lex cast a dubious expression in her direction, clearly not believing her. It made Willow wonder whether there were further things he hadn’t told her about Luthors and their connection to Smallville. She had already decided though that there were a large number of things about Lex that it was too early in their relationship to ask about. Just like the way she knew it was far too soon to tell him about Sunnydale and the Hellmouth and more than anything else herself. She really hadn’t been able to figure out enough about him yet to tell whether it was the type of revelation that he’d take well.
But then again, Willow reminded herself, you can’t even figure out what it is you like about him anyway. The only thing she had been able to figure out was that she did like him.
She liked him a lot. A whole lot if she was completely honest.
Leaning forwards she put her plate down on the coffee table and brushed off her hands. “Forget about the house for a while,” she said sitting back once more. “Tell me about the people. You mentioned a few when we were in L.A. When am I going to get to meet them?”
Once again Lex looked a little uncomfortable.
“They’re good people,” he said. “Mostly. You get the odd bad apple though.”
“Just like anywhere,” Willow confirmed. She wrinkled her nose. “And since you hear enough about bad people whenever you turn on the TV then tell me about the good ones.”
The corner of his mouth quirked up. Clearly she had amused him; something that made Willow smile. Sometimes Lex was far too serious for his own good. She’d noticed that the first time that he’d caught a stranger questioning her about her relationship with him.
Although, Willow surmised, if she had spent the last few years having the press pick over every single aspect of her life then she would have been a little wary of answering questions too. He hadn’t been to know that it was actually only Xander.
He appeared contemplative. “Well there’s Lana,” he said thoughtfully.
Willow carefully schooled her features to remain pleasant. She would not be concerned that the first person he had mentioned was another woman. Being jealous was silly; there had been a fifty-fifty chance that it would be a woman after all.
“We’re in business together,” he added and Willow relaxed somewhat. ‘In business’ could translate to ‘old enough to be my mother’ after all.
“I’m an investor in the coffee house she runs.”
Something clicked in Willow’s mind. Coffee house… now when had she heard him mentioned that before? Oh, when he had talked about some kid he had befriended called Clark and Clark’s off-and-on again girlfriend.
“I think you’d like it there actually. There’s a very friendly atmosphere and usually it’s quite easy to spend time there without anyone trying too hard to get my attention.”
“It sounds nice,” she replied honestly.
“We could go later - this evening perhaps. If I know anything at all about him then Clark should be there. I’d like you to meet him.”
Willow relaxed. It had always been mildly disconcerting for her that he had managed to meet and get to know each of her friends since they had met but she had never met any of his.
“And of course where Clark is Chloe is sure to follow,” Lex said. “Though why is beyond me.”
Raising a surprised eyebrow Willow said, “Oh? Why’s that?”
Without looking at her, without realising that there might be some additional impact to his words, Lex answered, “She could do better than him - much, much better. She’s smart, funny, pretty, energetic…”
Willow’s eyebrows rose even higher.
“…And besides, Clark’s so besotted with Lana that I doubt he’s ever going to wake up and take notice.” He glanced ever so briefly at her out of the corner of his eyes. “You’ll like her. You’re very alike in some ways.”
Not too alike hopefully, Willow thought. She suddenly found herself faced with the idea that perhaps she had come all the way to Smallville only to realise that perhaps she was simply some replacement for some girl he couldn’t have.
Quickly she shook the thought loose. Lex really didn’t seem like the type of man who would do such a thing. As a man he was far too in control; she doubted he ever really did anything without thinking about it. Even his more impulsive actions had an air of development about them - not that that was a bad thing. Willow rather liked the fact that he was so easily in control or every situation.
“You’ve got that look again,” Lex told her.
Willow’s eye widened. Her mouth opened slightly as if she was about to say something only for her to stop and lick her lips.
“You’re not still thinking about the house are you?” he queried disbelievingly.
“No, of course not. I’ve managed to get my head around that. Well, almost anyway.”
The expression on his face clearly told Willow that he was expecting some kind of answer from her. It was just a shame she didn’t really have one for him right at that moment.
Instead she settled for a dismissive wave of her hand and stood up, turned and walking towards the window. It was a little too much like running away but it was all she could think to do. With any luck Lex would either miss the fact or he would realise she didn’t want to follow up that particular line of conversation any longer. She seriously doubted the first would happen so she clung fiercely onto the hope that the second would.
“So where does the boundary end?” she asked peering out the window. It wasn’t exactly the neatest way in which to change the subject to it would probably work.
“Just at the other side of those trees,” Lex said. He had appeared silently at her side; startling even Willow’s finely tuned senses. “There used to be a farmhouse there but my father had it seized and torn down.”
Willow frowned slightly. “Seized? A farmhouse?”
“I believe a family called the Milligans owned it. Yet another reason why my family isn’t much loved around here - since dear old Dad decided to move out here he has systematically bought up huge tracks of land whether it was for sale or not.”
She looked at him in surprise. His voice had been clipped, almost bitter.
“He did it so gradually that at first people didn’t realise. When they did realise he told them that he was simply bringing prosperity to the town and showed them the plans for the plant. What did failed to mention was that a lot of the employees would be brought in from out of town and not hired from the local populace. They were understandably irritated.”
This really is a castle, Willow realised, and not solely because it happened to look like one. Like some old feudal family the Luthor’s seemed to own everything that went on in the town, controlling it from their impregnable estate.
And Lex, she thought, is the rebellious son wishing he was just one of the common people.
She turned and wrapped her arms around his waist in a languid, almost casual movement. It felt almost too good to be close to him again.
There was a part of her that desperately wanted to tell him that none of it was his fault but she knew it was pointless - not because he wouldn’t believe her but because knowing Lex he probably already knew it wasn’t his fault. Guilt of a different sort would still prey on his mind all the same. He was just the sort of man who would beat himself up because of something his family had done. No doubt he had already spent a great deal of time and money trying to put everything right again.
She’d seen it in Los Angeles; in the way in which a tough businessman could change into a philanthropist in the blink of an eye.
It pained her to think that he clearly still didn’t think he had done enough.
He brought his hands up and gently stoked her lower back. The gesture seemed half-hearted though and Willow wondered whether he was distracted.
“Let’s not go out tonight,” she said softly. “We had a long trip - you said it yourself - and I kind of like the idea of an early night. There’ll be time for sightseeing tomorrow.” Tilting her head back and meeting his eyes she added, “Besides, I can sort of guess that showing me around this place in going to take some time.”
“We can leave that until tomorrow as well if you’re really tired.”
Willow flushed a little. Going up on her toes she brushed her lips gently against his. “I’m not that tired,” she told him.
END