Here we go
. Thanks to Kathy!
Tomorrow's post... earlier than this
.
Last time:
"Have any of your other relationships lasted?"
"Only one has to," he told her softly, his fingers brushing her hair away from her face. "Only one relationship has to last a lifetime. Like my parent. Like your parents. Like our grandparents. That'll be us."
"How can you be so sure?"
"I just am." He kissed her forehead and then her nose.
She shifted, turning so that her hands were on his chest as he finally kissed her.
Thoroughly.
Like she was meant to be kissed.
Like she was meant to be kissed by *him*.
And for the second time in his life, he wanted to just lose control.
*~*8*~*Lois kissed him back. Long and intense.
Loving.
She was falling in love with him and she was quite certain he was falling in love with her as well.
Rational thought fled as he held her close to his very bare chest, kissing her as though his life depended on it.
And she was kissing him back much the same way.
She heard a door slam – somewhere far away – and knew it ought to mean something.
"That's the last of the system specs."
Clark stilled with his head buried in her neck. He kissed her collarbone softly one more time before moving away from her. "I think they're back," he said, resting his forehead against hers.
"I'll have the information on the testing for you tomorrow. Dates, procedures, the whole thing."
By the time Harrington finished speaking, they'd moved to the window. Lois watched through the binoculars as Clark made sure the video camera was pointed the right direction. He turned the speaker down slightly.
"Good," Roarke said. "What about a new vote?"
Harrington threw up his hands. "I can't initiate a re-vote until after the test results are analyzed and the plan rejected. Hopefully..."
"'Hopefully' isn't good enough," Roarke told him forcefully. "That's why I bought insurance - *you*."
"You don't own me, Roarke."
Lois felt Clark tense as Roarke shoved Harrington against the wall.
Roarke's voice was cold as ice. "I own you, lock, stock and re-election fund, Mr. Chairman. Never forget that."
Harrington looked shaky as Roarke moved away from him. "I only meant that... Are you sure you can pull this off?"
"I guarantee it."
Harrington grew even more nervous. "Because if you don't... What happens to me?"
Roarke gave a laugh Lois thought only existed in bad made for TV movies. "Pray you never find out." He and the other companion laughed as Harrington scampered away like a scared rabbit.
"Lois, what would you say if I said I don't have a clue what they're talking about, but that whatever it is, it's bigger than any of us thought – even Perry?"
Lois looked at him, her eyes wide and a bit scared she was sure. "I'd say... you're absolutely right."
They watched as Roarke and the other man left the office.
"I think they're gone for the night," Clark said, watching the dead bolt on the door click into place.
"I think so, too." She turned around, heading back into the room.
"Tired?" he asked as she yawned.
Lois nodded. "I don't know why. All I did was sleep all day."
"You're still tired," he said practically. "You didn't sleep for like forty-eight or more hours after being chased through the woods, twice, and fighting off an insane army colonel. Of course you're still tired." He moved in front of her, wrapping his arms around her before kissing her softly.
She rested her head against him and tried not to relive yet another unforgettable kiss. "I don't want to go to sleep."
"I know."
"Will you stay with me for a while?" she asked nervously. "Just sit with me until I go to sleep?"
"Of course." He chuckled before scooping her into his arms.
She squealed slightly. "Clark, what're you doing?"
"It *is* our wedding night, right?"
She laughed. "I guess."
"So I'm carrying my bride to bed."
He set her down next to the large circular bed. The covers were still thrown back from their earlier attempt to hide the surveillance equipment.
"Thanks."
"Let me go make sure everything is set in the other room and I'll be right back."
She nodded and slid under the covers, reveling in the feeling of the satin sheets on the skin of her legs. She suddenly wished that she was really on her honeymoon so that she could sleep in fewer clothes, but she quickly pushed the thought aside.
"All done," Clark said, moving back into the room. "Do you mind if I take a pillow with me to the other room?"
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked, propping herself up on one elbow.
"Why?"
"To sleep in the living room. We're supposed to be undercover as honeymooners after all."
He sighed. "You're probably right. Do you mind if I stay in here?"
She shook her head. "No. And I'm sure I'll sleep better if you do."
Clark slipped under the covers on the other side, rolling to look at her.
"Superman scares the nightmares away," she said quietly.
He grinned. "I don't think I want the rest of the world knowing that's one of my powers. Bed could get awfully crowded." His look turned serious. "I know we haven't known each other very long but the connection I feel with you..."
'In the absence of the house of Ra, you have my blessing.'
Jor-El's voice reverberated through her head and she wondered again what it meant exactly. What if there was someone else out there? What if his Kryptonian wife had ended up somewhere else – on another Earth-like planet that had much better technology and one day she'd come looking for him?
"Clark..." She laid her head back down on the pillow and looked at him. "Do you think about your birth parents much?"
He shrugged. "Sometimes."
"Did you hear what your father said when we saw him?"
"He said a bunch of things."
"About the birth wife." She rolled so she could stare at the ceiling instead of him.
"I heard it, but I have no idea what he was talking about. I mean, surely if there was another Kryptonian on Earth, he or she would have found Superman by now."
"That was my thought."
He reached out to take her hand. "Does that scare you? That some Kryptonian woman is going to show up and try to take me away from you?"
She shrugged. "The thought crossed my mind."
He moved closer towards her until he could brush a soft kiss across her lips. "No one is going to take me from you. Lex Luthor has a better chance of waking up from his vegetative state than of some alien girl has of getting her hands on me." He kissed her again, lightly. "And that's all the kissing you're going to get from me tonight."
She rolled so she could see him better. "Clark, do me a favor?"
"Anything."
"Never mention Lex's name while we're in bed together."
Clark chuckled. "Deal."
*****
TBC
