Well, here's part 5..FDK greatly appreciated. Thanks again to Labrat, who helped me to, shall we say, in the voice of Emeril Lagasse, "Kick it up a notch!" Ohh, and credit to Dan and Deborah Levine who wrote the HIM episode for the lines I worked in from it. These aren't my characters, no money made here, blah blah blah. Enjoy.
Thanks,
Marcy
Lois settled down underneath the cool satin sheets, waiting for Clark to join her from the bathroom. Her stomach was a ball of nervous, joyful <not joyful> anticipation. With only one of the two bedside lamps illuminating the room, she contemplated the shadows on the ceiling, wondering how she had gotten herself into this situation.
<How does it usually happen, Lois? Maybe it's because of that annoying habit you have of diving in without CHECKING THE WATER LEVEL FIRST!!!> There was clearly a breakdown in communication going on within her psyche, as one part of her ran toward Clark with open arms yelling 'Come to Mama!', while the other part attempted to drag that woman back, begging for some sort of mercy.
Then again, what was the big deal of sleeping in the same bed <and a bed the size of a small Hawaiian island, at that> with her best friend?
<You're telling me, if you had thought Superman would have been sharing a bed with you a week ago, that it would have been no big deal?>
Well, okay, so that would explain some of the flip-flops her stomach was doing. But now was different. Because Superman was Clark. And Clark should be no big deal, ergo Superman should be no big deal. Lois fumbled with that logic in her head for the space of a minute, like an elementary school kid worrying a loose tooth.
She felt fairly certain from her earlier conversation with Clark that she had been on target about Clark's reasons for thus far keeping this secret to himself. And the last thing she needed to be doing was swooning at his feet just as she had Superman's. At least, that would be how it would appear to him. <But it's not! That is just so not fair of him! What did he expect me to do, when he came in all heroic and saving the day all the time? And then telling me I was the 'first reporter he had ever...' what was that line he used...oh yeah....'been interviewed by'.>
She tried to cling with a vengeance to that last angry thought, but the rage she had initially experienced last Thursday just seemed to slip further and further away from her. Try as she might, she couldn't seem to stay as mad as she'd like to. All the joy from the last twenty-four hours just kept mucking it up for her. Resigning herself to her blatant happiness, she focused as best she could on thoughts of the annoying bellboy, hoping to by some degree take the smile on her face down a few notches.
As the door to the bathroom creaked open, Lois stared over at her partner. Well, ogled might be a better description of it. He had changed into a pair of red cotton athletic shorts, and he was still wearing a royal blue muscle tee. <Is he trying to send me signals subliminally or something?> she considered, as her mind fought to stay within the boundaries of courteous admiration of all his...physical attributes. He's just so....so....<Delicious!> The word popped unbidden out of her subconscious.
Clark seemed to be oblivious to all of this, as he looked for all the world like a lamb headed to the slaughterhouse. Lois stifled a giggle, her own awkwardness abating as her confidence soared. Nope, she would never moon over Superman the same way again. She might still be a little starry-eyed from time to time. But the next time she saw him in that costume, she was pretty sure this is what would spring to mind. She couldn't help but sympathize with him, but only a very little bit. <And he says I am competitive! Ha! If he weren't just as bad as I was, he wouldn't be in this predicament!>
Clark trudged over to the far side of the bed, where he had positioned the surveillance equipment against the wall. He lifted his head only momentarily to Lois to give her a limp smile. Then he sank down onto his side of the mattress and switched off the light. Taking off his glasses in the dark and placing them on the nightstand, he reclined back fully onto the bed at last.
“Good night, Lois.” She could barely make out the movement of the silhouette of his face as he turned over on his side to face her. His outline twitched into what she believed to be a grin.
Lois reflected her own smile back to him in the dark. “Good night, Clark.” The weight of her eyelids seemed to draw them shut, and Lois fell asleep.
************
As soon as he had lain down and faced Lois in the bed, all the initial fears welling up inside him had been replaced by boundless joy. He knew Lois well enough to know that this level of trust for Lois was a big deal, and he was determined to prove himself worthy of that blessing.
His heart swelled as he stared at her in the dark, free as he never was at work to just admire her openly. His eyes trailed down from the top of her silky brown hair, down to the graceful curve of her neck and shoulders, to the shape of the curves hidden beneath the satin sheets. He longed with all his heart for the day when it wouldn't be just a scoop that would allow him the luxury of sleeping beside Lois Lane, but perhaps the joy of calling her his wife.
His own breathing began to slow and relax, as his own body's rhythm fell into some sort of tranquil harmony with Lois'. He could tell she had already fallen asleep. He reclined fully on his back, arms behind his head, and closed his eyes. For at least thirty minutes all was peaceful and right with the world.
Until Lois rolled over.
**************
And it was then that his heart became a trip-hammer in his chest, as Lois mumbled incoherently and snuggled into him. Panic overtook him, as he realized his body was reacting naturally to all those curves pressed into his side. He stifled a groan as Lois pressed her body more deeply against him and wound her thigh around his upper leg. Her breath was soft and moist on his chest, and her hand was smoothing the muscles of his stomach. It was the most exquisite torture he had ever known.
His conscience, however, screamed that this was a recipe for disaster. If Lois were to wake up, right now, he would be so dead. If for no other reason than embarrassment, when she realized the effect she was having on his body. He looked down at her but could only see the top of her head.
Lois, for her part, was slowly gaining consciousness. She was having the most wonderful dream about her and Clark making love in the honeymoon suite at the Lexor. It all seemed so real. She could almost hear his heart racing as he kissed her and their bodies moved together. As her respiratory rate increased, so did her awareness of her surroundings. Her hand stilled as she realized the chest underneath her was very real.
Then her eyes shot wide open as she became aware of the reaction Clark was having from her ministrations. She smiled a very wicked grin, as she heard Clark quietly reciting the Declaration of Independence. <This torture thing was kind of fun!>
“Ohh, Clark?” She spoke in a gravelly, sex-kitten voice.
Clark's voice was at least an octave higher than normal, “Yes, Lois?”
“Are you okay? You kind of woke me up with all that talking. What were you saying?” She stifled yet another giggle.
“The Declaration of Independence.”
“And why would you find that interesting at this time of night?”
His breathing accelerated. “Couldn't sleep, you know.”
“Is there something you'd like to tell me, Clark? Because it feels like more than the Declaration of Independence is keeping you up, tonight.” Lois went for her best defensive voice, waiting for his response.
“Uhh, Lo-is... “ His voice hitched as she moved her leg just so. “What I'm trying to say is....I can explain...” Lois listened with glee as his heartbeat accelerated beneath her, and sweat broke out on his forehead.
Lois pulled her head off his chest to look him in the eyes, idly noting he still had no glasses on. Clark seemed unaware of what could have been a grave error on his part.
She pierced him with an unflinching gaze. “Don't you dare!”
***********
Clark's heart sank like the Titanic. He'd blown it. All that fate had required of him was that he lie there and do nothing! And still, he'd failed. Lois had trusted him to be a gentleman, and he had let her down. And with that failure went all his hopes of ever being loved by Lois Lane. Because Lois could never forgive something like this! It was just too big a mistake. <Idiot!> He would be lucky at this point if their friendship was even salvageable.
He was so busy berating himself for his foolish behavior that he almost didn't notice Lois was drawing closer. His eyes locked with hers as he tried to understand the electricity that was still tangible between them.
Then she was kissing him.
His mind struggled only briefly to process the relief washing over him before being overtaken by all the wonderful sensations going on all over his body. He groaned into Lois' mouth, as the kiss deepened. <Thinking was, every once in a while, highly over-rated.>
His arms reached around and embraced her as he hugged her even more tightly against him. A dam within him broke, as weeks of pent-up sexual frustration poured out of him. He kissed her like a man in the desert would drink a cup of cold water—over and over, his lips came down on her, savoring the taste of her skin, straining to be closer as he rolled them over, arranging himself on top of her.
His hands moved of their own volition as he caressed first her arms and then her stomach. He would begin to resurface to collect his thoughts, only to drown again in the pleasure that was Lois, as she would swirl her tongue a certain way or nip at an available earlobe. Kiss after kiss it continued, each one more intense and deeper than the last.
Finally, he dragged his lips away from hers momentarily, stopping to breathe. Lois was winded, and he fought for the control over his body, which was screaming for him to finish what she started.
Pressing his forehead against hers, he rallied all his control as he stopped the movement of his body against her. He was almost afraid to break the mood. But his mind couldn't get a handle on what had just transpired. “I don't suppose you could explain that to me.”
Lois closed her eyes, and looked as though she were trying to catch her breath. In a very small voice, she suggested, “I would if I knew. Maybe, we just admitted we might be a little more than friends?”
Clark's breath hitched again. He had always known Lois had all these defenses around her heart, and yet here she was, in this moment, being the one to actually come out and say the scary words. His heart almost burst inside his chest, he was so happy. Reality hit him pretty quickly, though as he realized he was starting to levitate them off the bed. Hastily, he grounded them once more. Fortunately, Lois hadn't seemed to notice.
“I think that might be it,” he responded, still trying to slow his breathing. All control vanished again, as Lois moved beneath him, and he dipped his head down to reclaim her kiss-swollen lips.
The angelic Clark in his head began shouting <Danger! She doesn't know your little secret!> before what looked like a little Clark devil in speedos promptly tackled the guy and began dragging him off to shove him into some remote, heavily guarded closet in his mind.
Her fingers raked the skin on his back, and he groaned again as his hands moved farther up her chest. <This really needs to stop now, but God help me, I'm not the man to stop it!>
“Lo-iss.” He whispered her name as the kissing continued between them, “as.” Each word was punctuated by kisses. "as...much...fun....as....I....think....this is,.....I think...”
She attempted to finish his thoughts, as their bodies continued to press against one another. “we might be.....rushing....things...a little?” She couldn't help smiling as she raked her teeth along his bottom lip. Lois was moved by his sensitivity, but more moved by what he was doing with his hands at the moment.
<NOOOOOO!> His mind screamed, as the sounds of people entering the offices in the next building filled his ears, even while the sensations Lois was creating flooded his tactile senses. Stilling himself over her, he conceded that it was a good thing as he could most assuredly regret a split second decision over something he wanted to be right for both of them.
Reaching for something flippant to cut through the atmosphere so heady with desire, he smiled at her as he asked, “How about a date next weekend?”
It was obvious Clark was trying to ease the tension between them, the sense that something was about to happen, could still happen that would irrevocably change things between them. In her rational mind, she knew he was right. Going too fast, too soon was not the way she really wanted to start this relationship. Especially when, she reminded herself a little guiltily, he wasn't aware of all the reasons why her interest in him had changed. Looking into his eyes as she calmed her own raging lust, she knew he meant every word.
Lois smiled. “I could probably fit that into my date book, assuming we have the bad guys behind bars before then. You think we can manage it?”
Clark laughed. “Yeah, assuming you're not hanging over a vat of oil or being held hostage.”
Lois playfully swatted his arm, unintentionally moving her body again beneath him. As she noticed again the intensifying passion reflecting off of Clark in waves, she swallowed the lump in her throat. She knew, with the turn of a dime, they could easily be past the point of no return within seconds. And with that realization, she knew she was having the same feelings. Reaching up to touch the lock of hair falling over his forehead, she moved her hand gently over his cheek and lips before gracefully tugging him down for one last whisper of a kiss.
At that moment, the surveillance equipment came to life as voices came over the mike.
Stopping himself again, his eyes closed and he steadied himself. Thankful, only partially, for the rescue from his ferocious libido, he smiled down at her once more. “It sounds like our friends are back.”
Kissing her very briefly, he steeled himself and sat up in the bed. Grabbing his glasses, he turned on the light. Back in reporter mode, he added, “you might want to grab the binoculars.”
Lois shook her mind of its hazy thoughts, then rose as they both went toward the windows to listen and watch. She pointed to the audio dial and said, “Turn that up.”
Lois and Clark listened attentively while a thug who apparently went by the name of Roarke outlined a plan for skewing the results of some sort of tests, and Harrington mentioned initiating some sort of revote. All of it sounded very ominous and foreboding.
When the meeting between the crooks was over, Lois spoke first. “Clark, what would you say if I said that I don't have a clue what they're talking about, but that I think it may be even bigger than I originally thought?”
Clark nodded. “I'd say, I think you're right.”
*****************
After spying on Harrington and Roarke for an hour or more, Lois and Clark had returned to the bed, where they had both slept very soundly the rest of the night, with Lois cuddled on Clark's chest.
While initially there had been some kissing interspersed with sighs and groans, they had both been content to keep things less aggressive than their initial encounter. After cooling her hormones while they watched the bad guys, Lois had been able to see the wisdom in taking things more slowly.
Clark, whose libido was still somewhat in overdrive, <well, being in the same room with Lois Lane could do that to a guy>, did at least have the return of his higher-order brain functions. So he was able to stymie his desires somewhat by reminding himself that Lois was worth waiting for the right moment. And this did not feel like it, even though parts of his anatomy were trying to convince him otherwise.
And so it was, with refreshed bodies and spirits, that they awoke on Tuesday. Lois was the first to come out of her slumber. She had to slap her hand to her mouth when she did, as she realized when she opened her eyes that Clark was floating in his sleep! Once again, she wondered how many other less obvious signs she had received, that she had written off in the past. But as she was still waiting for Clark to reveal his secret, she closed her eyes, and groaned loudly, hoping to wake him enough to bring him back to earth, so to speak.
It took several moments of this dramatic performance before she could sense Clark waking up and desisting with the floating. When she was reasonably certain he had righted himself, she opened her eyes again and returned his smiling gaze. His eyes twinkled at her in such a way that she began to wonder if there was something wrong.
“What is it?” she asked, reaching up to touch her disheveled locks.
“Nothing, “ he stated simply, but the grin just got bigger.
“What?” She probed her teeth, wondering if she had missed some broccoli from the pasta dinner the night before.
“Nothing. Well, it's just that you look...well...amazing first thing in the morning.”
Lois ducked her face demurely. “Thanks. So do you. First thing in the morning, I mean.”
An electricity passed between them as their eyes locked. After the span of a few moments, Clark spoke. “As much as I'm enjoying just lying here staring at you, we should probably order room service, eat, and get ready for work.”
He made no effort to follow through with this plan, however, as he leaned forward and kissed her yet again, dragging his teeth on her bottom lip. The exchange lasted a minute or so, before Lois had to stop and catch her breath.
She closed her eyes in contentment, and purred, “You're pretty good at that.”
“You're not half bad either.”
They enjoyed another moment of solitude before Lois gave in to the inevitable. “All right, I'm getting up now.” She sat up in the bed and swung her legs over to the edge, before looking back at Clark. “ And you are getting us room service.” She winked before grabbing her things and heading for the bathroom.
Clark threw a pillow at her gently, hitting her butt on the way out the door. He yelled, “Why is it that you're always giving the orders, and I'm always the one whose supposed to carry them out?”
She didn't even blink. "Like I've said before, Clark, I like to be on top. " And with a laugh, she ducked into the bathroom, just missing the second pillow missile aimed toward her.
<Women! Earth women!> Clark thought, before rising to carry out orders.
****************
In the conference room of the Daily Planet, later that morning, Lois, Clark, Jimmy, and Cat all sat around trying to make sense of what they knew so far.
Lois focused intently as she spoke, considering the information they had. “Who's Roarke? What system are they talking about? And what test?”
Clark mentioned, “Don't forget the vote.” He contemplated a moment more. “We should probably get our hands on every available record of every vote taken by Harrington's committee for the past...”
Jimmy was on top of things today. “Six months? Already on it.”
Cat spoke next. “Gotta be something big. Congressmen don't sell out for less than big.”
Jimmy added, “ I ran Roarke's name and picture through every database the Planet has access to ... the man's a ghost. And as for Apocalypse Consulting, there are no bank accounts or transactions that I can trace. All we know is they moved into that office five months ago, signed a five year lease, and paid it off in advance.”
Cat was impressed. “Wow, business must be pretty good.”
Lois was just more confused. “But what business?”
At that moment, Perry entered the conference room, dropping a picture of Roarke onto the table.
“Thaddeus Roarke. International arms dealer, electronic weapons system analyst, entrepreneur, and general bad boy. Last known base of operations: Beirut.”
All of the faces in the conference room looked at Perry in awe. Jimmy ventured, “But how...”
“Sources, boys and girls, sources. The life blood of journalism.”
Cat turned the photo over. “People magazine?” She coughed, concealing her amusement. Perry grabbed the photo away, growling under his breath.
Clark tried to fit it all together in his head. “An arms dealer bribing the chairman of the Senate defense committee? Makes sense.”
Perry considered the situation. “Now, folks, we need to think about this. A scoop's a scoop, but if this is a matter of national security, we may have to call in the Federales.”
Lois couldn't mask her disappointment. “Now?”
“No, not yet. Right now we have more questions than answers. So I want some theories.”
Jimmy piped up, “Okay. The Defense Department is about to test some new weapons system, and Roarke wants to know about it...”
Clark followed the progression of the thought. “...so, he bribes Harrington to slip him the information...”
Lois spoke. “But we also know Harrington is afraid of Roarke.”
Clark offered, “Or maybe he's afraid of what Roarke will do with the information.”
After a moment of thoughtful contemplation, Perry went into command mode. “All right, boys and girls, here is what needs to happen next. Cat, I want you to find Harrington and stick to him like glue. Jimmy, next time Roarke shows, I want to know about it." Cat and Jimmy nodded in agreement while Perry added, "Lois and Clark, you two need any help?”
Lois spoke first. “I'm coping, Chief.”
Of course, no one noticed Lois' foot under the table playfully rubbing Clark's shin and edging higher.
Clark narrowed his eyes at her playfully. He smiled as he corrected her. “*We're* coping, Chief.”
Perry watched them, searching for clues to any hidden messages between them. Attempting to send his own message, he fixed them with a steely gaze. “Fine, You've got two more days. Make the most of them.”
**************************************
