PREVIOUSLY...
“Lane, if we’re going to get out of here, we need to go now,” Clark hissed.
“But... why are you doing this?”
“You want to talk about my motives now?”
“Seems as good a time as any.”
“Trust me, there are a lot better times than this.” When she didn’t respond, he let out a breath. “You are the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met. Okay, fine. I’m not going to sit by and watch them kill an innocent woman.” He stood up, offering her his hand. “Coming?” he asked.
She stared him for a moment before slipping her hand into his.**
AND NOW...
* * * * * * * * *
Chapter Thirty-Nine
* * * * * * * * *
“I remember,” Lois said, taking over the story.
**“Where are we?” Lois asked as Kent lowered them to the ground.
“Cuba.” He carefully set her down on the sandy beach.
“What are we doing here?” She looked around, taking in the soft sand, the waves sweeping gently onto the shore and the warm moist air around her. It was so peaceful here.
“Cuba doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the United States. I called ahead and arranged for us to stay in a small cottage on the beach. Some friends I met during my travels own it. It is very private. No one will know that we’re here. It’s got a great little...”
“Wait.” She grabbed Kent’s arm, pulling him to a stop. “So we’re... what? Running away?” In spite of her efforts to sound accusatory, she knew the question came out as... merely curious.
“Well, not exactly. I mean, I can work anywhere in the world and fly back here at nights to make sure you have everything you need.”
She hesitated for a moment. Wasn’t that the exact definition of ‘running away?’ Still, maybe running away made sense. After all, here she could just... sleep. She closed her eyes. No. No. She couldn’t do that. If she did, it wouldn’t matter if they strapped her to the electric chair or not - she’d already be dead. So no matter how tired she was, she had to keep fighting. She had to... “I have to go back.”
“Back?”
“To Metropolis.”
“Are you crazy? When they discover you’re missing, they will tear the city apart looking for you.”
“I’m not running away, Kent. I let you break me out of prison because I couldn’t prove my innocence from inside, but I’m not running away.” Even if every fiber in her being wished she could do exactly that. But run away from what? The law? Her feelings? Her life? Kent?
“Lane, they’re planning to kill you,” Kent said intensely, grabbing her arms so that he could look directly into her eyes. She got the impression that he was sorely tempted to shake some sense into her.
Maybe she should let him. She gave herself a shake. No. “People have tried to kill me before,” she said, jerking her arms out of his. Turning and using her best Mad Dog Lane imitation, she stomped away from him - or at least stomped as effectively as she could in the sand.
“Where are you going?” he called after her.
“To find the nearest airport!”
“Wait!” he exclaimed as he shifted into superspeed, appearing in front of her less than a second later.
She ran into his chest and he reached out to steady her. As soon as she had regained her balance, she jerked away from him.
“Okay. Okay,” he said, holding out his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I’ll fly you back in the morning...” Her resulting look had him rushing to continue. “This is as good a place as any to hide out for the night.”
“And you’ll take me back first thing in the morning,” she clarified.
“First thing in the morning,” he promised.**
* * * * * * * * *
**Kent was right about one thing. The place was quaint. White stone walls kept the worst of the heat out. The large ceiling fan turning slowly over their heads did the rest. A couple large, overstuffed chairs made up the small living room. On a circular table in what had been set up to be the kitchen area of the same room, someone had placed large quantities of fruits, cheeses and breads... As well as a liberal supply of rum.
“A Cuban specialty,” Kent said, pointing to the rum. “Supposedly the best in the world.”
“All we need is some Cuban cigars and the picture would be perfect.”
Kent laughed, and for the first time since he’d returned from New Krypton... or more accurately since she’d learned he was married, Lois actually felt something. Not that she wanted to, of course. But his laugh... it was impossible not to be affected by that sound.
“I’ll take you to Havana sometime,” Kent continued. “Seeing little old ladies sitting on street corners, smoking massive cigars is quite entertaining. Together with the buildings constructed in the heyday before Castro took over, the place is really remarkable. It even has its original cobblestone streets.
“Did you know that Hemingway is something of a cultural icon in Cuba?,” he quickly continued. “It is said that he and Castro were good friends. You can still visit the building he used to stay in. It’s this massive pink building with white trim. You can’t miss it.”
Lois narrowed her eyes as she continued to listen to him expound on the virtues of Cuba, telling her about all its wonders and charm. He was obviously nervous. Obviously trying to cover it by rambling on about something neither had a whole lot of interest in at the moment.
“And the people...” Kent continued. “Dirt poor, but incredibly friendly - especially the children. I always try to carry candy for the children.”
“So how is it that you were able to come here? You’re an American. Or... well, sort of.”
“Well, it helps when you can just drop in.” He pointed to the air above his head.
Lois nodded, turning to take in the rest of the cottage - and swallowed, suddenly understanding why he was nervous. “So where are you planning to sleep?” she asked, staring at the solitary bed she could see through an open archway. She just wished the question hadn’t come out quite so breathless. After all, she couldn’t do this again. And if that was why Kent had chosen this place...
Even though she wasn’t looking at him, she could hear him swallow. Hard. “I’ll be fine,” he said.
She turned towards him, raising her eyebrows.
“I can sleep anywhere,” Kent said, suddenly jumping up as if taking a seat, the only thing under him air. Then he dramatically stretched and leaned back, floating.
“Your life is so strange,” she said. Even though she’d been in his arms in flight only this evening, the sight had the power to take her breath away.
“And getting stranger by the minute,” he agreed.
She ignored the sensations running through her body at the remarkable sight. Sensations that told her things she’d rather not know. Sensations that told her that, regardless of how much their constant hit-and-run encounters were slowly killing her inside, standing here right now, she was sorely tempted to do it all over again. Ignoring those sensations, Lois picked up an apple and took a bite. “Mmmm,” she moaned.
Kent suddenly lost a few feet.
She turned to look at him. “Having a problem keeping altitude there, Kent?”
“What? No!” he said.
A small grin quirked at the corner of her mouth. She still had it. The grin faded. But... did she still want to have it?
“Look, I think I’m going to take a brief walk,” he said, getting his feet under him as he again landed on the floor. “I’ll just let you...” He gestured to the bed.
She nodded thoughtfully as she watched him go. What was it with her? She knew he was the reason she’d been feeling so dead inside these past few weeks. And yet here she was once again, standing on the precipice, sorely tempted to jump off the cliff without a parachute.
With a sigh, she wandered over to the bed as she finished eating her apple. Running a hand over the beautiful, hand-crafted comforter, suddenly a very different image flooded through her mind. A grimy motel with a large double bed, a thread-bare blanket thrown over top. Naked, studying sheaves of paper, Kent in bed beside her. And feeling far more content than she did in this tropical paradise.
“Being a hard-bitten newswoman is sure more fun than it use to be,” she said to herself.
Now where had that thought come from?**
“Anyway, after I finished my apple, I had a shower and crawled into bed - wondering the whole time where you had gone.”
“I was waiting outside until you were asleep. I wasn’t sure I trusted myself to stay too close.”
Lois gently stroked his cheek. “Anyway, the next thing I knew...”
**Lois jerked awake, looking up to see a man floating above her. The scream that escaped her lips was entirely involuntarily. Coming abruptly awake, he fell - on top of her.
“What are you doing?” she gasped, fighting to get out from under him.
“I fell. It was an accident,” he said, struggling to get off of her.
“Falling from floating! It’s not possible.”
“Oh, I guess you’re better at it than I am.”
She paused, his words finally penetrating her brain. “Okay. Okay,” she said, reaching out to touch his arms. “Let’s just... calm down.” She took a deep breath, trying to do exactly that. “I’m sorry. I overreacted.”
He smiled. “I guess that’s understandable. It’s not everyday you wake up to discover a man floating over your bed.”
“True,” she said, meeting his smile. Whether it was the intimacy of the moment or the lateness of the hour... or whether it was her desperate need to feel alive again - regardless of the consequences - she found herself reaching for him in the darkness.
He moved in sync with her, leaning closer to touch his lips to hers. It was both incredibly sweet and incredibly painful feeling his lips moving softly against hers once again. Touching. Exploring. Feel...
Abruptly, he pulled back. “I’m sorry,” he said, and in less than a second, he was standing on the far side of the room.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for, Kent. I wanted it, too.”
“That’s not what I meant... Do you remember when you said you couldn’t do this anymore?”
She nodded. She definitely remembered that. After all, wasn’t that exactly what she’d been thinking earlier?
“Well, I can’t do this anymore, either,” Kent admitted. “It’s tearing me apart. Here... In this room... We...” He took a deep breath before trying again. “If we...” He gestured to the bed. “What happens tomorrow? What happens when we get back to Metropolis?”
He didn’t need to say more. She understood - only too well. And she agreed. If they did this again, it still wouldn’t change things between them tomorrow. They’d been through it once too often for either have any illusions on that point. And she couldn’t go through it again either. So why did she suddenly feel as if something in her had died all over again? “I’m sorry,” she whispered, even as tears began to accumulate in the corners of her eyes.
He rushed back to the bed, sitting down next to her and picking up hands. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. Just promise me... After we go back to Metropolis... After we get the charges against you dropped... Promise me you’ll go out on a date with me.”
“I’m not sure...”
“We don’t have to be confined to Metropolis. If you don’t want to handle questions about our relationship... We don’t have to tell anyone. We can go anywhere in the world for dinner or a movie or just to walk on a beach. Just take some time to get to know me - and let me get to know you. Please... say you’ll go out with me.”
She stared into his eyes for a long moment, seeing nothing but naked sincerity there. And maybe he was right. This dead feeling inside her... She couldn’t keep living like this. And since he was the only one who seemed to have the power to make her feel alive... Maybe she had to see where this might really go - not by sleeping with him, but by spending time with him, getting to know him. At the very least, it couldn’t be any worse than it was right now. “I’ll go out with you,” she finally whispered.
As if he had been holding his breath, waiting for her response, his breath left him in a rush. “You will?” He sounded as if he hardly dared believe he’d heard her right.
“You’re right. It’s far past time that we at least got to know each other.” She suddenly hesitated. “Just...”
“What?”
“No more...” She gestured to the bed. “At least until we figure out what’s going on with us out of the bedroom.” She held her breath as she waited for his reply. So much depended on it. After all, if this was just some ploy to establish some sort of long term sexual relationship with her, she’d rather know now. On the other hand, if he was sincere about really taking the time to get to know her...
“Done,” he said softy. “Now if you don’t mind, I think there’s a spot on the beach that’s calling my name.” He rose from the side of the bed.
“Wait! You don’t have to...”
He smiled. “Yes, I do.” He opened the cabin’s door. “Goodnight, Lane.”
She leaned back into the pillow as she watched him leave. She wasn’t entirely sure if this was a good development or a bad one, but she could hardly believe how much she was suddenly looking forward to their first date. It was the first thing she’d actually been looking forward to in quite some time.**
Clark unexpectedly laughed.
“What?”
“I was just remembering when I came over for that first date - after we got the murder charges against you dropped.”
When Lois crinkled her eyebrows, Clark continued.
**Clark was more nervous than he had been when he’d gone on his first date as a teenager. He must have gone through at least a dozen changes of clothing - trying to find the perfect suit. Too much was riding on this date to leave anything to chance.
He knocked on Lane’s door, his mind already rehearsing what he was going to say when she opened it. And then, there she stood, looking absolutely stunning in that black dress. The natural flush in her cheeks when she saw him more beautiful than anything the most expensive makeup could produce. Her scent was heavenly and he immediately knew that she’d brought out the expensive perfume for the occasion.
And suddenly, all rational thought fled his mind and he just stood there like a teenage boy, mouth hanging open, gawking at the most heavenly creature he’d ever seen.
“Hi,” she said shyly, ducking her head and pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
All of Clark’s protective instincts suddenly came to life. She looked so vulnerable standing there. He wanted to defend her against all the bad things that happened in the world.
“Why don’t you come in?” Lane said, stepping back into the house.
Clark stepped forward, not entirely certain his feet were touching the floor, until he was finally inside her apartment. He closed the door behind him. “You look...” He swept an arm towards her, his voice trailing off when he was unable to find the words to express exactly how beautiful she was. A sunset. A mountain top. A star-filled night. None of them did her justice.
“Thanks,” she said, obviously understanding his admiration from the expression on his face since he still hadn’t found the appropriate words. “You don’t look too bad yourself.” She snuck another peek at him from through her eyelashes.
“So should we...” He gestured to the door.
“Uhh... yeah. I... Oh, wait.”
“What?”
She shifted slightly, looking embarrassed.
“What?” he asked again, much softer this time.
“I just...” She left him standing just inside the door and went into her room. When she returned, she was holding a piece of paper. She handed it to Clark.
He looked down at the paper and suddenly a grin was pulling at the corners of his mouth. He looked back at her. “Rules for Dating?” he asked.
She shrugged sheepishly. “Well, I have rules for work, so I just thought... I guess I just want us to be clear about things up front. And you might have other rules so...”
“Okay,” Clark said, looking back at the paper. “No sex. Okay, well we agreed on that earlier so... Besides, you’re right. I mean, I don’t think either of us have any doubt that we’re compatible in...” He gestured to the door to her room. “And that’s not why I want to go out with you so... okay. Rule number two. Discretion.” He looked up at her.
“It’s just... Oh god, how do I say this without sounding horrible?” She let out a breath. “I just don’t think we should tell anyone yet. About us.” She reached out, touching his arm. “It’s not that I’m ashamed to be seen with you or anything. It’s really not. I just don’t want to take on my mother or Perry or anyone else until... Well, until I know if there’s a reason.” She looked at him intently. “Do you understand?”
He nodded slowly. Given everything, he couldn’t say he blamed her for that. She certainly had more than enough reason to be cautious. Besides, this benefitted him, too. “Actually, I think that makes sense. At least for now. After all, if everyone knew, I’m sure you’d be getting grief from a lot of people - considering everything. And right now, I’d rather have you focused on getting to know me. So fine... discretion.”
“That means we don’t tell anyone. Not our colleagues, our best friend, our family, or even our dogs.”
“We don’t have any dogs.”
“You know what I mean.”
He nodded before looking back at the paper. “No talking about work.” He looked up at her. “But that cuts out a big part of our lives.”
“I don’t mean past stories or problems with colleagues or stuff like that. I mean current investigations. If at some point we do go public, I want to be able to tell Perry that I didn’t do anything to compromise the Planet’s ability to snag exclusives.”
“Fair enough.” He folded the paper in half. “So is that it?”
“Do you have any you want to add?”
A grin spread across Clark’s face. “Just one. And it had to do with your no sex rule.”
She looked confused so he continued.
“You’ve just got to stop looking so beautiful,” he said. “I mean...” He gestured towards her.
“Oh, do you want me to change?” she asked, turning as if she would go to her room.
“No!” Clark said immediately, grabbing her arm. There was no way he intended to let her change a thing about her appearance tonight. “There’s no point really. I mean, I’d think you were beautiful if you were wearing a potato sack.”
The most gorgeous smile Clark had ever seen suddenly appeared on her face and his knees felt as if they would give out beneath him. He had never seen her smile like that. It seemed to light up her face and make her eyes dance. And he knew in that instant that he was indeed the luckiest man alive simply because that smile was directed at him.
“Got ya,” she said cheekily, turning and sashaying away from him to get her jacket, an extra little wiggle in her hips.
Clark rolled his eyes. Just like he had been joking, so had she. Only... she was right. She’d recognized his joke. He hadn’t recognized hers. Score one for Lois Lane.**
“That was a great date,” Lois said dreamily. “I mean it wasn’t the wildest or the most exciting - or well, if you don’t count the moonlight flight across the Atlantic or having dinner in Paris or the midnight stroll along the Seine River. But mostly it just seemed to... work. I don’t think there was one moment of that date when I would have been anywhere else. But what I remember most is when you walked me to the door of my apartment at the end of the date.”
**Lois couldn’t believe how much faster her heart was beating the closer she got to her apartment. It had been a perfect evening. For the first time in a long time, she actually felt alive, as if life was just bursting with possibilities. And it was all him.
She’d never realized exactly how engaging Kent could be. They’d talked about everything, conversation flowing from topic to topic with ease. Sometimes their views on topics would coincide, sometimes they disagreed. But even when they disagreed, there was no hostility. The debate, though lively, was always respectful. She’d enjoyed hearing his perspective. And she knew he’d respected hers.
After supper they’d gone for a walk, hand in hand, along the Seine River. She wasn’t sure that she’d ever had a more romantic moment. And then, she’d cuddled safely in his arms as they’d flown, surrounded by nothing but the stars, both in the sky and reflecting off the ocean, back to Metropolis. It had been incredibly intimate. She’d lost count of the number of times she’d had to fight off the urge to plant light kisses along the base of his neck as she’d snuggled against him.
But now as the evening came to a close - and they were coming to the door to her apartment - she didn’t want their time together to end. In fact, she was seriously wondering if rule number one was about to be broken. She had mixed feelings about that.
Sleeping with Kent, although wonderful, had taken so much out of her over the years. But would this be different? After all, they were in a ‘relationship’ now - no matter how tenuous. Would that make this time different? She just wasn’t sure. Still...
“Do you want to come in?” Lois asked, her voice slightly breathless.
His expression softened. “You know I want to,” Kent whispered sending a chill down her spine to curl her toes. “But I’m not going to. I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”
She felt both disappointment and relief. He was right. If they walked into her apartment right now, there was no way he’d be leaving again before the sun rose tomorrow morning.
His hand slipped beneath her hair to cup her cheek. He gave his head a slight shake, as if trying to believe that this was real. She knew how he felt. Her hand came up to cover his.
“Goodnight, Lane,” he whispered before leaning in to brush his lips lightly across hers.
A small moan escaped from the back her throat when he finally pulled away.
As if that noise had called him back, he kissed her one final time before allowing his hand to fall from her face. He seemed to have to force himself to take a step back. “I had a really good time tonight,” he said.
“I did, too.”
“Will you go out with me again?” The words seemed to burst out of him.
She blushed, ducking her head slightly. “I’d love to,” she whispered, looking up at him through her eyelashes.
The smile that spread across his face reached in and touched her heart.
“Goodnight,” he said, walking backwards down the hallway as if unwilling to take his eyes off her one moment before he had to.
She waited until he was gone before opening the door to her apartment. “Wow,” she breathed when she finally got the door closed behind her.**
“When I think of the various dates we had after that,” Clark said. “There’s one date that really stands out in my mind.”
“Let me guess. The one where you told me to bring my swimsuit?”
Clark nodded.
**When Kent had told her to bring her swimsuit, she hadn’t been expecting anything like this. It gave the word ‘picnic’ a whole new meaning. A fresh seafood buffet in front of an open fire followed by a swim off a deserted beach somewhere in the South Pacific.
They’d relaxed on the beach and wrestled in the waves. And now... God, she felt as if she was living the famous scene in From Here To Eternity - necking on the beach while the waves crashed gently around them. There had been no plan to recreate that scene; it had just sort of... happened. That was one of the reasons Lois was finding it so extremely erotic. Well, that and having his body pressed against hers, his lips and tongue probing her mouth, his hands....
Suddenly, Kent pulled back, breathing heavily as he looked into her eyes. She knew that look. He was quickly losing control.
“I think...” she said.
“Yeah,” he responded, closing his eyes as he leaned in to rest his forehead against hers.
A rush of tenderness flooded through her. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close for a moment before squirming to get out from under him. He’d been strong last time - saying goodnight to her at the door of her apartment. She knew he needed her to be strong now.
She sat up as the waves lapped across her legs while he stayed down for a moment more. She reached over, gently rubbing his back while he struggled for control. Finally, he rolled onto his side, whispering a single word - a word she’d become very well acquainted with since starting to date Kent.
“Wow.”**
“As I recall, rule number one was the hardest one to keep,” Lois said.
“With an emphasis on hard.”
Lois swatted him and he chuckled in response.
“But as I recall, we had a little problem with discretion, too.”
“I remember,” Lois said before proceeding to tell what she recalled.
**Lois got up from her desk and stretched. It was already well past seven, and still no word from Grant Gendell about the proposed interview. Well, no point in waiting here all night - especially since she was supposed to meet Kent at seven thirty.
With that thought, her mind immediately left the reclusive billionaire and settled firmly on Kent. The last few weeks had been... she hardly had words to describe it. Perfect was probably the closest she could come. They just seemed to... click. Okay, so there were still things in the past, things that had happened between them, that made her cautious. But that seemed to have no effect on how she felt about him.
She’d known she was in love with him for a long time. But things were different now. Now... she was free to reveal in those feelings. And it was wonderful. She was alive again. In fact, she wasn’t entirely certain she’d ever been this alive before.
And something else had changed, too. Regardless of what she’d told Max Deter, she’d discovered that the right man could get her out of the newsroom at a reasonable hour.
Smiling and grabbing her jacket, she trotted up the ramp to the elevator. A minute or so later, she was exiting the building.
She screeched when someone grabbed her from behind, pulling her into the alley. She spun in her attacker’s arms, swinging out with her fist. Before it could connect, his hand came up and stopped it.
“You scared the hell out of me!” she exclaimed when she recognized her attacker.
“I have a feeling it’d take a lot more than that to scare you,” Kent said with a laugh before lowering her mouth to hers.
“Mmmm,” she moaned, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving herself over to the kiss.
Suddenly he pulled back, shocking her with his quick movements.
“Lois!”
She spun around at the sound of her name being called. Oh, god. Claude. “This isn’t what it looks like,” she said.**
TO BE CONTINUED...
