Rules of Engagement
Folc4evernaday
Teaser
Previously On Rules of the Game…
Clark ran his hands up and down his fiancée’s bare back, reveling in the feeling of having her in his arms. The pleasurable cries from their most recent lovemaking ran through his mind as he held her. The soap dish in the shower had come loose earlier. He’d have to remember to fix that. After the most recent encounter, the sheets and bedding had ended up on the floor, crumpled in the corner from frantic limbs seeking something to hold onto or kick during that moment of pure ecstasy in one another’s arms.
He stared toward the bed from his vantage point on the ceiling and grinned. She let out a satisfied sigh, running her palm against his chest, “Wow…”
“You can say that again.” He murmured in her ear. His hands moved up and down her bare shoulders as he held her close.
“That’s what that’s supposed to feel like.” She whispered through her euphoric haze.
“What what’s supposed to feel like?” He asked, looking at her curiously, running a hand across her cheek.
“This.” She placed a hand on his chest as she rested her head on his shoulder. “Blissful, uninhibited, mind-blowing...” She let out a heavy sigh, turning to face him. “I’ve never had that before.”
He smiled, stroking her cheek with the back of his palm. “Had what?”
“No regrets. No...fears. Just this.” She smiled, leaning up to kiss him. He smiled against her lips, moving his hands up her back to cup the sides of her face. She broke off the kiss and smiled back at him, love reflecting in her eyes, “I love you, Clark,”
It pained him that she had been hurt like that. His vibrant and tenacious whirlwind of a fiancée had had so many barriers put up to protect herself from reliving that pain again. He made a silent vow to himself never to be the cause of pain for her. “I love you, Lois,” He whispered, leaning in to kiss her. He slowly floated them back down to the floor where the comforter and pillows had been tossed earlier. She sighed happily against him. “Better?”
“Much,” She grinned happily at him. “Perfect.” Her gaze wandered around the room that was scattered with clothing, bedding and everything they’d been so eager to remove hours ago. “God, we made a mess.” She giggled, looking back at him with a blush.
“Yeah, I’m gonna have to fix that soap dish before we check out.” He murmured in her ear. He chuckled when he saw the pink flush across her cheeks.
“Oh, yeah,” Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “I guess we got a little carried away.” She let out a long sigh, “God, why did we wait so long? That first visit here would have been so much less stressful...” She giggled and he tightened his arms around her.
“I did offer to share the bed.” He teased, letting out a mock sigh, “You just weren’t open to that idea.”
“I think we more than made up for that tonight,” She grinned up at him, raising her eyebrow as she looked at him. “Though I don’t think the bed got as much of a workout as the rest of the room.”
He smirked at her, letting out a light chuckle as she reached over to brush a stray curl that had fallen across his forehead out of the way. “I think our patience reached its breaking point. Too many interruptions.”
“And close calls.” She agreed, sighing as he nuzzled her ear.
“And close calls.” He agreed, tugging on her earlobe with his teeth. “And someone being way too handsy under the table this evening.”
“I didn’t hear you complaining.” She whispered, leaning back to allow him better access to her neck as he grazed his teeth against her throat. His hands moved to her sides, and her breathing hiked as she let out a throaty whisper, “God, how do you do that?”
“Do what?” He murmured against her, running his palms up and down the smoothness of her back.
“That.” She breathed heavily, “Know exactly where to...Oh!” She gasped as he rolled them over so he was hovering over her.
“Intuition, books, and a healthy use of super-hearing,” He whispered, accentuating each point with a kiss.
“Super-hearing?” She asked.
“When you’re really enjoying yourself your heart rate picks up,” He murmured, running his hands up and down the sides of her face as he leaned in to capture her lips. “Like this.” He moved his attention to her jaw, brushing his lips against the frame of her face. “And this.” He murmured, massaging his hands over her lower back.
“This.” She gasped in pleasure.
***
Three Weeks Later…Dan Scardino rolled himself across the office floor, keeping his cast in the rolling chair in front of him. Three weeks of nothing but paperwork and typing reports for other assignments the agents in the bureau had been assigned. He was itching to get back out there but after his last case and defiance of a direct order from his supervisor, he’d been put on restrictive duty until his leg healed. “Three more weeks…” He muttered to himself, recalling the six-week window he’d been given by the doctor. Hopefully, everything would have healed correctly so he could get back to doing what he loved. There was nothing like rolling his sleeves up and digging into a complicated case. It was what drove him to do what he did.
“Here.” A folder crossed his desk and he looked up in surprise. “What’s this?”
“Suspicious activity from Fort Truman.” Agent Rogers said with a shrug. “I figured even you could take notes from a Humvee, right?”
“Right,” Dan beamed, feeling the adrenaline pumping through his veins at the new assignment.
“No stunts. You mess that leg up again and you won’t leave that desk till the next budget review.” Rogers warned, sauntering off.
Dan chuckled to himself, looking at the photo in front of him. A middle eastern man with a beard and a profile that was enough to give anyone nightmares stared back at him from the 8x10 glossy photo. Amir Muunour. Suspected leader of terrorist group in Lebanon. Communications regarding a missing shipment of Ticeon.
“Time to get back to it I suppose.” He mumbled to himself, reaching for his crutches.
***
Teaser
Lois let out a long sigh of relief as she kicked her shoes off her feet and padded her way across the living room floor. The silence in her apartment was music to her ears. She and Lucy had helped move her mother into her new townhome yesterday and now she had her apartment back to herself...sort of. She glanced toward the pile of laundry sitting in the corner of the couch and sighed, reaching over to move her sister’s things back into her room. A room in which she thought her sister would never move out of.
‘Well, alone for the moment.’ she thought to herself, dropping the laundry on her sister’s bed and then moving to her bedroom and into the master bathroom to start a warm bath. It had been a long weekend and her muscles were still sore from everything. Clark, Jimmy, and Lucy’s friend Scott had been able to help somewhat but her mother being the perfectionist she was didn’t trust anyone to move her antique furniture which resulted in her and Lucy carrying the brunt of the furniture and heavy pieces.
She reached down to turn the water on, feeling the cold water against her fingertips before shaking it off and waiting for it to warm up. She quickly began shedding her work clothes off on the bathroom floor, feeling the tension from the day disappearing as the steam from the water hitting the porcelain tub began to rise up.
She tossed the last article of clothing to the floor, preparing to step into the tub when a knock came from the otherside of the bedroom door. She groaned, grabbing her towel to cover up and confront the intruder, suspecting it was her sister home early from class.
She jerked the door open and padded her way across the carpet to her bedroom door, “I’m coming!” She hollered, grabbing the knob and turning it with a hard jolt.
The smirk on her fiancé’s face when she jerked the door open caught her by surprise, “I’m guessing that’s a no on dinner?” He asked, his eyes sparkling with amusement as he stepped inside the room, closing the door behind him.
“Sorry,” She gave him a wry expression. “I thought you were Lucy.”
“Ah,” He nodded, allowing his eyes to wander down to where her towel wrapped loosely around her. His gaze shifted toward the bathroom, “I think you’re about to flood the bathroom.”
“Oh!” She ran to the tub, turning the knob to the faucet, shutting it off and reaching in to release some of the water. She sighed, “Just barely,” She threw him a smile from where he was standing in the doorway, watching her with an amused expression.
“Just giving up on the day, huh?” He teased.
“Yep,” She grinned, watching his eyes darken as she allowed the towel to drop to the floor. He let out a tortured moan as she slipped into the bathtub and ran a hand over her bent knees. “Something...wrong?” She asked in an innocent tone.
***
Lucy Lane set her keys down on the coffee table next to the stack of books that she just laid there. Three more weeks until she had a break from class. It had been a torturous year and she’d worked hard to make a comeback after the last semester of dropping out after the incident with Johnny Corbin. For the most part she’d done pretty well with her classes and had even been removed from academic probation.
A loud crash came from her sister’s bedroom and she jumped up in surprise, uncertain what to make of it. “Lois?” She called out, approaching the door cautiously.
***
“Shhh,” Lois giggled as she helped free Clark from the now soaked dress shirt that was clinging to him stubbornly as his hands moved up and down her bare thighs suggestively. “Lucy’ll be home...any….minute.” She reminded him, eying his perfectly sculpted abs as the last button came undone. She hovered over him, allowing her lips to brush against the newly exposed smooth, wet skin.
“You’re the one with the bad balance.” He whispered with a chuckle, floating them up from the floor and into the bedroom.
“I got...distracted.” She ran an index finger down his chest, resting her hand on his belt buckle with a heated glint in her eyes.
“Lois?” the sound of her sister on the other side of the door broke the trance and he let out a muttered groan.
“See?” She whispered in a defeated laugh, resting her head against his chest.
“Shh,” his hand ran up her back, “Maybe if we’re really quiet she’ll go away.”
“Lois?” The knock came on her door again. “Are you okay in there?”
“Not likely,” Lois groaned, sitting up.
“Where are my glasses?” He looked behind him as he floated them back to the floor, allowing her to get up.
“Bathroom.” She said, standing to her feet, grabbing her robe from the door and throwing it on her. Another knock came and she sighed, tightening the sash around her waist. “Yes?” She opened the door a crack, poking her head out to see her sister looking at her with a concerned expression.
“Everything okay in there? I heard a crash.” Lucy said in a carefu, tone.
“Fine.” Lois said a little too quickly. “Everything’s fine. I was just um...moving furniture.”
“Naked?” Lucy looked at her robe where it had started to come undone.
“I don’t judge you and your past times. I’d appreciate the same respect.” Lois said with a straight face, knowing full well how ridiculous she sounded.
“Uh-huh,” Lucy rolled her eyes. “Well, you’ve certainly been moving furniture quite a bit lately, sis.” Before Lois could respond Lucy winked at her, turning back to the living room, “Tell Clark I said to keep it down. I do have finals coming up.”
“I...have no idea what you’re talking about.” Lois lied, unwilling to back down from her story.
“Sure.” Lucy snorted and she continued to ramble on as she walked toward the couch with the shrug of her shoulders. “You know why don’t you two just save yourself the headache and move in together? You’re either over there or he’s over here. Makes more sense than playing hot potato and you over here acting like I don’t know exactly what you’re doing when you want to ‘go to bed early’ or have a ‘late night stake out’ on a story that’s good and dead.” Lucy gave air quotes around the excuses as she laughed. “You’re a terrible liar, sis.”
“Good night, Lucy,” Lois closed the door behind her, shaking her head. Even though her sister had grown up quite a bit in the past year it was still hard to think of her as a young woman capable of putting two and two together when it came to the excuses she and Clark had come up with to spend time together with either her or her mother around over the past few weeks.
She turned around, sighing as two strong arms wrapped around her waist, scooping her up into her fiancé’s arms as his lips captured hers in a warm, fiery kiss. “Oh, yes,” She let out a low moan as her bare back hit the sheets.
***
Two Weeks Later…Dr. Alan Goldman rifled through his patient files until he found the file he was looking for. Today marked the anniversary of Dr. Wilder’s death. It was also the anniversary of Project Valhalla. He’d promised to take the project’s existence to his grave. He’d promised he wouldn’t ruin his friend’s legacy or how his daughter remembered her father. He’d made a lot of promises.
Unfortunately, Dr. Katherine Wilder had discovered Project Valhalla a few weeks ago. No thanks to her mother. She’d shown up at his office asking question after question regarding the project of her late father. He knew it was only a matter of time before she started digging further. He had to put a stop to it. The only way to do that was to own up to what he’d done to three innocent babies twenty-three years ago.
He pulled up the patient information, reading the familiar names before he reached over to make the call he’d been tempted to make for years. Three rings and an answering machine picked up. The young man’s chipper voicemail began to play, “You’ve reached Jimmy Olsen. I can’t get to the phone right now, but if you leave your name and number, I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
***
“I think that’s the last of it,” Clark said, helping Lois fold up the last of the empty boxes that were piled in the corner of their now very crowded one bedroom apartment. After the last few weeks of having her sister interrupt at the worst moments, he and Lois decided moving in together was the right move. Both for their sanity and to protect his secret. Having Lucy accidentally find out about his alter-ego due to her bad timing was a concern they’d both had since her sister’s return to Metropolis and her more recent move to Lois’ apartment.
Lois nodded, setting the folded box with the stack behind her, “Yeah, if we forgot anything I’ll check back with Lucy. Handy having her take over the lease.” She grinned back at him.
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him. “I think this move worked out for everyone.” He leaned in to brush his lips against her cheek.
Her eyes sparkled as she gazed back at him, “Who knows maybe we can get an uninterrupted…”
He let out a long sigh as he ran his hands over the small of her back, leaning in to capture her lips with his. “Shhh, you’re going to jinx it,” His hands slipped to the edge of her blouse as he spoke and she let out a giggle. He grinned against her as he moved his hands up the small of her back. He moved his hands up her ribcage, and he murmured against her lips, “Every time you mention the ‘u-word’ something happens.” His arms tightened around her, and he rested his forehead against hers, “I just want to enjoy this for a bit.” He whispered in her ear.
***
The sign on the office door read, ‘Dr. Alan Goldman’ as the young woman sifted through the papers in her hand. The sound of her mother’s voice interrupted her thoughts, “Any sign of the candidates?”
“I’m looking.” Dr. Katherine Wilder muttered under her breath as she sifted through the filing cabinet for the names she’d found among her father’s secret project, Valhalla.
“Hurry it up. Before someone comes looking for Dr. Goldman.” her mother warned, glancing at the dead body of Dr. Goldman on the ground.
“Found them!” Katherine cheered, holding the two file folders up.
Her mother smiled back at her, “Years of your father’s work.” A look of distaste crossed her face. “It’s about time he paid me back for the debt he collected.”
“If we can make this work, then debt will be the last thing on your mind, mother.” Dr. Katherine Wilder said, gathering the files in her hands and walking toward the door.
***
Amir Muunour looked to his security detail as the glass doors behind them closed. The message he’d received had been most intriguing. If what Dr. Wilder promised turned out to be true then controlling his people in the current uprisal that was coming from the resistance group pushing for democracy would be easily attained. It had taken him years to get to where he was today. He wouldn’t be snuffed out by something as silly as a vote from idealistic fools.
“Mr. Muunour, this way,” He was directed to the dark town car that awaited on the curb with a driver standing by the door, ready to open the door for them as they approached.
“Mr. Muunour, welcome to America,” The driver spoke, and he reached behind him to open the door, jutting his chin out in recognition as a smile spread across his face.
Amir Muunour looked around the dingy streets, unimpressed as he took his seat inside the town car, “Yes, well let’s get on with it. Metropolis General Hospital.”
“Yes, sir,” The driver tucked his brown curly hair behind his ear and moved to the driver’s side of the town car. Out of the corner of his eye, Amir thought he saw a glint from beneath the black suit jacket the driver wore but quickly dismissed it.
The driver smiled back at him as he readjusted his mirror, “Metropolis General Hospital?” He clarified, to confirm the destination.
“Yes, I have some business to take care of.” Amir Muunour said, readjusting his tie as he met the driver’s eyes. There was a glint of something reflected back at him that he couldn’t quite place.
They pulled out onto the road, and Amir cleared his throat, “Mister…?”
“Scardino.” the driver supplied.
“Mr. Scardino, I don’t believe we’ve met before. Usually, Sanjay and Vincent handle my transportation when I’m in town.” He began cautiously.
“Yes, I’m afraid there was an emergency, and neither one of them were available. I have been updated, Mr. Muunour.” Scardino responded.
“What a shame,” He remarked for a moment before continuing, “Well, Mr. Scardino, I don’t normally work with people I don’t know...”
“Oh, trust me, Mr. Muunour, I’ll take good care of you. This visit will be one you won’t ever forget.”
***
TBC...
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