This is probably one of the waffiest parts of the story. The next part is still waffy, but this is the peak for this part of the story and we begin to slide back down the hill from here.
I hope you enjoy!
Table of Contents From Part 11:
She reached up and covered her mouth as a yawn escaped her lips.
She smiled apologetically at him and he brushed his hand across her cheek softly, sweeping her hair away from her face. “You should go up to my bedroom and get some sleep. I can stay up for a while and keep an eye on the storm, see if it gets any worse.”
“No,” she protested, “I told you I wasn’t going to take your bed.” Just the thought of sleeping in his bed sent a rush of flutters through her stomach. Definitely not a good idea – she’d never get to sleep. Even as tired as she was, her mind was still reeling with thoughts of his lips and hands...
Clark sighed. “All right, then let’s go sit on the couch together. We can watch TV until we can’t keep our eyes open.”
“Okay.” Lois wasn’t sure that was better, but she didn’t argue. Clark lifted her down from the counter and she followed him back to the couch, sitting down next to him. The same watch box was still on the screen, apparently there hadn’t been any new developments, and the same talk show was still on – a comedian was attempting to juggle various items.
After a bit, Lois began to relax. She felt a comfortableness with Clark that she had never known before and she eased over closer to him. She could feel the warmth of his body and she snuggled against him. He lifted his arm and slid it around her shoulders allowing her to lay her head against his chest. She smiled when she felt the vibrations of his laughter at what he was watching on TV.
Lois yawned again. Her eyelids were so heavy that she swore they felt like they weighed five pounds each. She wouldn’t be able to keep them open much longer.
Clark looked down at her, watching her as she lost the battle with sleep. Waiting until she was completely gone, he then scooped her up in his arms. He winced with pain as he stood up with her, his abdominal muscles pulling against his wound. He kept forgetting that there were some things he had trouble doing. Clark set his jaw against the pain and carried her towards the stairs. He might not be ‘super’, but he wasn’t a weakling either. He would fight this in whatever way he could.
**********
PART TWELVE
**********
Lois wasn’t sure what exactly woke her up, but when she opened her eyes she was surprised to see how light it was in the room.
The room.
She was in Clark’s bedroom, in his bed. Lois didn’t remember coming up here and going to bed. In fact, she remembered protesting when Clark offered to let her sleep in his bed. Had he carried her up here after she fell asleep? She scrunched up her face and frowned. Shame on him. He shouldn’t be carrying her like that; he could hurt himself. But... the thought of being carried to bed... by Clark...
Her mind wandered back to the kiss they had shared last night and it sent a shiver of excitement through her. He had kissed her. That had to be a good sign, an indication that they were moving past everything that had happened. Didn’t it?
She sighed happily and snuggled down under the warm blanket a little further, not quite ready to get up yet. She wondered what time it was? Feeling for her right wrist, she realized that she hadn’t taken her watch off. She glanced at the time – eight forty-three! How in heaven’s name had she slept that long? She never slept past six-thirty at home. But in all fairness she hadn’t been sleeping at home the past few nights... at least, not her home.
Lois kicked the sheets and blanket off, scrambling to get out of bed. She wasn’t sure what it was about staying here, but she had slept in the last time she was here as well – she had ‘snoozed’ her little travel alarm clock at least three times before she had finally gotten up. Martha and Jonathan were going to think she was a lazy bum! She listened for any noises or voices in the house but didn’t hear any. Was Clark already up too? Was he feeling any better today?
Dr. Klein’s words rang through her head about Superman needing sunlight to recuperate. She hadn’t passed that information on to Clark yet, and she needed to. But how? How did she tell him without upsetting him? Especially now that they were getting along so much better.
Her mind wandered and she found herself daydreaming again about the kiss they had shared last night. The gentleness of his hands as they explored her back, the way he had lifted her up to sit her on the counter. She could still feel his lips where they had pressed against her. Lois opened her eyes, not realizing she had closed them, and felt a rush of warmth flow through her.
She didn’t want to ruin things.
If she said anything to Clark about what Klein had said, he would know that she had been to see him again. That could lead into a discussion about the hair. Lois fidgeted, shifting her weight from one foot to the other on the cool hardwood floor. She went to her one piece of luggage and bent down, hunting through it for a pair of socks.
Maybe she didn’t have to actually *tell* him just yet. After all, she was here where she could keep an eye on him, she reasoned as she leaned against the bed and pulled on her socks. She could get him out in the sun today and keep him out in it as much as possible. She bent over again and grabbed a fresh pair of jeans and a shirt out of her suitcase and threw them on.
That’s just what she intended to do.
Her hiking boots were downstairs where she had left them last night when she and Clark had come in wet and muddy. Before Lois headed off in search of her boots, she bent down to zip up her suitcase. The garment bag inside it caught her attention.
Smiling as she thought about what the bag contained, she bent down and retrieved it. She unzipped it far enough to check the contents, making sure the item hadn’t been wrinkled too badly. It looked like it had traveled fairly well. She was sure Martha would loan her an ironing board and iron if she needed one. Right now she wasn’t even sure if she’d get a chance to wear it or not.
She hung the bag up in Clark’s closet and then made her way downstairs to retrieve her boots. Her first estimation had been right – she was alone in the house. Everyone else had probably been up for a while by the looks of things. She knew from her first trip to Kansas that Martha normally fixed a big breakfast, but Lois couldn’t even smell a *hint* of anything coming from the kitchen. They had long since finished.
After grabbing her boots by the front door, she carried them over to a chair so she could put them on. She was just about to sit down when the front door opened. Martha came walking in. She had her hair tucked behind her ears with a wide-brimmed straw hat on her head and dark cotton gloves on her hands that were caked with dirt.
Martha smiled warmly at her. “Good morning, Lois. Did you sleep well last night?”
“Yes, apparently better than I thought I would,” Lois replied with a sigh as she slipped into her boots and began lacing them up. “I can’t believe I slept in so late! What happened with the storm? I’m assuming since no one woke me up that it just blew on through.”
Martha nodded. “Yes. It’s still a little cloudy out, but I think the rain is done. There was a little damage to a few of our trees from some strong wind bursts but a tornado never actually formed.” She slipped out of her gloves and pulled her hat off her head. “Our neighbor, Wayne Irig, said that the Bradford Pear tree in his front yard was blown completely over. But those trees are known for being a little weak. Otherwise everything is fine.”
“Good. That was a little more excitement than I wanted last night.” Lois tightened the bows in her shoestrings and frowned. “But I hate that I woke Clark up for nothing.”
“Oh, don’t be silly. A tornado watch is nothing to sneeze at,” Martha assured her.
Lois glanced out the front window. “Speaking of Clark, where is he?”
Martha grinned. “He was feeling so much better today that he offered to go feed the chickens for me. I think you have a healing effect on him.”
Lois blushed. “I don’t know about that.” She furrowed her eyebrows. “Chickens? I didn’t know you had chickens. I thought this was just an agricultural crop farm.” Clark had mentioned them ‘getting up before the chickens’, but she had thought that was just a saying.
“It is, but we keep a few chickens around for the fresh eggs. They’re so much better than what you can get at the store. And when Clark was younger he always enjoyed the baby chicks we’d have each spring.” Her grin widened into a broad smile. “In fact, I imagine that’s why he’s still out in the barn. We just had some babies hatch a few days ago.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, you ought to go out and see them. Baby chicks are just adorable. They’re out in the barn,” Martha pointed in the general direction. “Did you want something to eat first?”
“Oh, no, thank you. I don’t usually eat breakfast.”
Martha made a face of disapproval. “Yes, I seem to remember that now. Well I’ll be sure you make up for it at lunch. Be careful walking out to the barn. The ground is pretty saturated from the rain last night and can be a little tricky to walk on.”
“Thanks.”
***********
Lois pulled the door open to the barn. “Clark? Are you in here?”
“Back here,” came his reply.
Lois stepped carefully across the hay-covered floor and around a few bales towards his voice. She found him in the back corner of the barn holding a fluffy, yellow chick.
“Oh, it’s so cute,” she said, smiling at the fuzzy little thing that was peeping in Clark’s hands.
“Do you want to hold it?” he asked, holding his hands out to her.
Lois eyed the tiny animal cautiously. “Oh, um, I don’t know. It won’t bite will it?”
Clark smiled. “Chickens don’t have teeth. They don’t bite; they peck.” Lois rolled her eyes at him and Clark’s smile widened. “But, no, it won’t peck you. It’s just a baby.”
She held out her hands and he deposited the soft little bundle into them. The baby chick tilted its head and seemed to look up at her. “Peep,” it chirped. Lois laughed. She hadn’t had much experience around baby animals, but she was enjoying holding this one.
“I think it likes you,” Clark said, his smile widening. “It better be careful or I might get jealous.”
Lois grinned at him and patted the little chick before handing it back to Clark. “Your mom said you were feeling even better this morning.”
“I am.” He put the chick down and slid his arms around her waist. “I’m glad you came.”
Lois felt a pleasant flutter in her stomach. “Me too.” She patted his broad chest with one hand. “So, do you think you might feel up to a trip to town later? Be honest. I won’t be disappointed if you’re not.”
Clark gave her a little squeeze. “I’ll always be honest with you, Lois. From now on. There won’t be any more secrets, I promise.”
Lois swallowed, her conscience berating her for the secret she was keeping from him about Dr. Klein and the hair sample she had given him. She knew she needed to tell Clark what she had done, but not right now.
Right now, Clark just needed to get better. He needed to spend time in the sun and time with her. He seemed so relaxed and she was enjoying this so much. She didn’t want to ruin it by telling him something that would upset him. She would tell him, eventually, when the time was right.
“But to answer your question,” Clark continued, “yes, I’d like to go out.”
Her stomach fluttered again at the words ‘go out’ and once more she felt like a lovestruck teenager. It made her break out into a goofy grin. “Did you just say ‘go out’?”
Clark’s face reddened. “Yeah, I guess I did. Well what would you call it when two consenting adults go to dinner together?”
“Sounds suspiciously like a date,” she teased.
“Does that bother you?” he asked, a little uneasy. The last thing he wanted to do was lose their newfound comfortableness with each other by moving too fast. A kiss – even like the one from last night – was different than a date. A date meant commitment, at least on some level.
“Not at all,” she assured him. “I just hope your parents don’t plan to chaperone. I was kind of hoping to spend some time alone with you.” Her eyes twinkled and she rubbed her hand up his chest slowly. “So, is there anywhere in this town that a girl could get a good slice of pizza?”
“Pizza?”
“Yeah,” she smiled, “I wasn’t sure if Smallville had any fancy restaurants and somehow I think pizza and beer would be more fun anyway.”
He smiled at her and felt a warm rush of pleasure and comfort at the thought of spending more time with her. “I think I know just the place.”
“Good.” Lois stepped back from him and looked around. “Well, I guess I should let you get back to work. I’m gonna go back to the house and give Perry a call, see how things are going back home.”
Clark reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her back to him. He brushed a tantalizingly brief kiss to her lips that held the promise of more but then released her. “Okay, I’ll see you later.”
The butterflies promptly left her stomach and were replaced by an even stronger sensation – desire. How could she have ever thought she didn’t have *those* kinds of feelings for Clark?
She made her way unsteadily back to the house in a daze. When she finally made it to the front porch, she looked up at the door and couldn’t quite remember how she had gotten there.
**********
Lois followed closely behind Clark as they made their way through a patch of trees on a small dirt path. Her lunch was sitting a little heavy on her stomach and she was beginning to wish she had opted to take a nap instead of tromping off into the wilderness to some unknown location. But Clark had insisted she would enjoy it, and since she was trying to keep him outside in the sun as much as she could...
“Where are we going again?” she asked, squinting through the trees up ahead for a glimpse of their destination.
“We’re almost there,” Clark answered her, remaining ambiguous about where they were going.
Lois sighed and then grunted when she stumbled over a rock. She scowled down at the rock, about to kick it, when Clark’s hand came out offering to help her. Feeling slightly miffed about the whole situation, she waved it away. “I’m fine.”
“I know you are. It’s the rock I’m worried about.”
He turned his face away so she couldn’t tell if he was smiling or not, but she didn’t need to see his face for confirmation. She could hear it in his voice. “Hmph,” she muttered.
“It’s just up here a little further, I promise.”
“You said that three rocks ago,” she complained. She had thought her hiking boots would be just the thing for tromping through the woods. Apparently, though, it helps if you’re used to walking in the big, clunky things, and she wasn’t. She was used to wearing stylish but practical pumps and heels, which were nothing at all like these things. And even if she had worn these in the city more often, there was a big difference in walking around in them on pavement than out here on uneven, rocky ground.
Lois muttered another few choice words about spraining her ankle or breaking her neck, when the trees opened up to uncover their treasure.
It was a pond. But not just any pond.
There was another smaller pond not too far from the barn. It was the one that Clark had fought with Trask in. But it wasn’t anything like this pond.
Lois had seen pictures of ponds that were covered in green, mucky scum, or ponds that were only a couple of feet deep and served as more of a watering hole for cows than anything. This pond was big – had to be at least a hundred feet across to the other side and even wider from end to end. And the water was clean and clear. There was a little wooden pier that went out a few feet and it had a small metal flat-bottom boat tied to it.
“It’s beautiful, Clark. Is this where you would go fishing with your dad?”
Clark raised an eyebrow at her. “Yeah, it is. What made you ask that?”
“Oh, I had just noticed the picture above your headboard - you and your dad standing together with your fishing poles. You looked so cute.” She glanced out at the pond again and another question came to mind. “Did you ever go swimming here when you were younger?”
He smiled. “Yeah, I still do.”
“Really?” Lois grinned mischievously at him. “Did you ever go skinny-dipping?”
“Uh, yeah.”
Lois had only asked to try and make him blush. She hadn’t actually expected him to say yes. She felt her mouth fall open. “You did?” she exclaimed. “By yourself? Or with someone else?”
At first, Clark couldn’t believe how audacious she was being, but then he reminded himself that this was Lois, after all. He cleared his throat before answering, “Both.” He had tried not to blush but he didn’t think he was very successful.
Lois’s eyes grew wider. “With a girl?” she asked incredulously.
Clark nodded, feeling himself start to squirm. Of course with a girl. He wouldn’t go skinny-dipping with one of his boyhood friends – they always at least left their underwear on.
“Who?” she demanded curiously.
“You really want to know?” he asked, hoping she would say no.
“Yes.”
He blew out a breath of air. “My girlfriend in high school. She was...”
“You had a girlfriend?” Lois could have slapped herself the minute the words came out. Of course he’d had girlfriends. What a stupid question to ask. She’d seen how great he looked in just a towel and he had played football in high school. He had probably dated a cheerleader. “I mean, of course you had a girlfriend,” she stammered. “What was her name?”
Clark’s hesitation melted away in the face of her attack on his experience with women or lack thereof and he decided to tell all. “Lana Lang. She was a varsity cheerleader,” he broke off when he saw Lois smirk. “And she was captain of the debate team,” he added, noting with satisfaction the surprised look on her face. “Anyway, we were seniors and we were going to be enrolling in different colleges. We were miserable because we knew we wouldn’t see much of each other. Lana was going to USC and I was going to Kansas State.” His face got a far away look as he remembered. “We came out here after graduation one night to lie under the stars. We talked about our futures and what we hoped to accomplish. We made out on a blanket on the soft grass and we... skinny-dipped a little.”
Lois’s face had long since passed red and she looked away shyly. “Whatever happened to you two?”
He shrugged. “We went to college. Last I heard, Lana had decided she wanted to go on to grad school. And I decided that I wanted to travel the world. I lost track of her after that. I tried to call her a few times but... People sometimes just move on. That’s it, end of story.” Clark walked out onto the pier and Lois followed him. “It’s a little too cold for a swim. Do you want to go for a ride around the pond?” He pointed at the boat.
She looked down at the boat about six feet below them in the water. “I don’t see a ladder. How do I get down there?” There was a rope, tying the boat to the dock, but she wasn’t sure she trusted in her ability to climb down it into the boat.
“I’ll lower you down. But first let me check it out and make sure no snakes have hitched a ride and decided to nest in it.” Clark climbed down into the boat and lifted the lifejackets up, looking underneath them. After he was sure it was safe, he climbed back up onto the pier. “Ready?”
Lois honestly was a little apprehensive about the whole boat ride thing. What if it leaked? “Umm...”
“What? Don’t tell me you’re scared,” he taunted her.
She frowned at him. “No. I am not scared,” she said adamantly. “What do I do?”
He grinned in satisfaction. “I want you to sit on the edge of the pier, right above the boat, and raise your hands over your head.” She complied and he continued, “Okay, I’m going to hold your hands,” he explained, reaching out to grab her hands, “And I want you to scoot forward off the pier. When you feel steady in the boat let me know and I’ll let go. Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall.”
But Lois was a little worried. He didn’t have the strength that he normally had, what if he was expecting too much of himself? And then there was his wound. Was it good to put that much strain on it? “Maybe I should just try climbing down there on my own,” she suggested. “I don’t want you to re-injure yourself.”
“Lois, I’m fine. I carried you to bed last night, remember? Trust me.”
She didn’t exactly remember – she had been asleep, after all. But she could hear a pleading tone in his voice that was asking her to believe in him like she did Superman, and she wasn’t about to disappoint him – even if it meant she would end up soaking wet. Lois took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m ready.” She started scooting her way forward, off the pier. To her delight, when her butt left the surface of the boards, she found herself easily suspended in the air by Clark’s arms that were now gently lowering her down into the boat.
“Okay, I’m good,” she told him once she had her footing. She sat down on the seat as quickly as possible so she didn’t rock the boat. Clark untied the boat and then lowered himself down. He sat in the seat opposite of her and grabbed the oars out of the bottom of the boat. He secured them in their cradles and then took a couple of experimental strokes with them, working the boat away from the pier.
Lois glanced down at her hands, noticing that her knuckles were white from where she was griping her seat.
Clark obviously noticed as well. “Don’t worry, flat-bottomed boats aren’t easy to tip over. You’ll be fine.”
Lois forced herself to let go and relax. Clark seemed to know what he was doing. He had probably done this lots of times – he wouldn’t dump her out of the boat.
She hoped.
She glanced down at the reflection of the clouds in the water. It was too bad that it wasn’t sunnier today. But some sun was better than no sun. She could see why Clark had wanted to come to Smallville to recuperate. His parents’ farm was such a peaceful, relaxing place. And yet, surely as Superman he had seen some pretty spectacular places. “So, you said you planned to travel the world,” she prompted, deciding to continue their previous conversation, “Did you?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I backpacked through Europe, learning several languages and some interesting skills along the way.”
“Like ballroom dancing?” she asked, seeming to recall him saying something about that once. Had it been at the White Orchid Ball?
Clark smiled. “No. I learned how to dance from a...”
“Nigerian Princess,” Lois finished for him, remembering his words from that night. “So you’ve been to Africa, too?”
“Uh-huh.”
Lois couldn’t believe how flippantly she had blown him off back when she first met him. Clark had been a worldly man even before he became Superman. She paused for a minute in her thoughts. When had he become Superman? When had he come to Earth? If Martha and Jonathan were his parents...? “Clark? How long have you lived here? Not just this farm, but *here*? I remember that picture of you with your dad when you were little. Did you come here as a small child?”
Clark looked a little uncomfortable with the question. “I was sent here as a baby. My homeworld was dying and my Kryptonian parents sent me here to save me.”
“Do you remember them?”
“No. Not really.” Clark let out a soft sigh. “Do you remember the *globe*? Superman’s globe?”
Lois’s eyes lit up. “Oh, Clark! That was yours all along!”
“Yeah. It told me some about my life before, about my parents.” Clark got a far off look in his eyes. “It was nice to know that they loved me and hadn’t abandoned me, but my parents here will always be my family. The only parents I’ve ever known.” He smiled softly at her. “I still have the globe. I can show it to you sometime, if you want.”
“I’d like that,” she told him, returning his smile. Clark turned their boat a little and began rowing in a different direction. Lois dazedly watched him for a little while before finally breaking the silence again. “So, where else?” she asked, genuinely curious. And then a thought came to her. “No, let me guess – China.”
“Why would you guess China?” he asked, taking a break from rowing and just letting them float gently across the water.
She shrugged. “Well, I remember you reading me that Chinese fortune cookie and...” she broke off giving him a funny look. “Wait a minute. Was that food really from China?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. She remembered how authentic it had seemed.
Clark was grinning like the cat that ate the canary. “Yes, it was. And yes, I did make a brief stop through in China. I was on my way to Borneo to work as a journalist for the Borneo Gazette.”
“Borneo?” Lois searched her brain for the location but came up empty-handed.
“It’s an island off the coast of South East Asia,” Clark supplied. “I actually gave Perry a copy of one of the articles I wrote while I was there. He didn’t seem all that impressed.” Clark started rowing again since their boat had drifted to a stop.
Ah, yes. Lois remembered that day. When she had gone back into Perry’s office to argue with him some more about Samuel Platt and the messenger, he had been mumbled something about ‘amateur writers peddling puff pieces from the Borneo Gazette - this is the Daily Planet for crying out loud.’
Lois smiled. He had misjudged Clark almost as badly as she had. Fortunately, Perry was better at admitting mistakes. “What was the article about?”
Clark muttered something indistinct.
“Excuse me?” Lois asked. “I didn’t catch that.”
He sighed. “The mating rituals of the knob-tailed gecko,” he repeated just a smidgen louder.
Lois couldn’t stop herself and she giggled. In fact, it must have struck her funny bone because she couldn’t seem to stop.
Clark looked annoyed. “They were believed to be an endangered species on the island and I... oh good grief, would you please quit laughing?”
Lois tried but instead ended up laughing all over again. It felt so good to laugh.
“If you don’t stop that,” he warned, trying to keep from laughing himself, “I’ll dump you out of this boat.”
“You’d dump... yourself out... too,” she managed between laughs.
“It would be more than worth it.” He gave the boat an experimental shake.
Lois grabbed hold of the sides of the boat, her laughter abruptly ceasing. “No! No, okay. Okay, I’ll stop.”
The playful look on Clark’s face did nothing to help her situation, though, and she bit her bottom lip to try to keep from laughing. “Pfft,” she finally sputtered out and began laughing again.
Clark reached down into the pond and scooped up some water with his hand and flung it on her. “I warned you,” he proclaimed.
“Ohhhh,” she gasped. It was warm outside but it was spring and the water was still cold. It wasn’t freezing, but it was plenty cold. “I’m gonna get you for that!” She reached into the water and got a handful herself and tossed it at him.
He yelped and leaned forward, reaching out for her. “You are in so much trouble.”
“Eeek!” she hollered, giggling again. “You wouldn’t dare,” she said, trying to scramble away from him.
Their motions were swaying the boat dangerously and before Lois knew what had happened, Clark had fallen into the water. She began howling with triumphant laughter... that is, until Clark grabbed the edge of the boat and dumped her into the water with him.
When she came up from the water, she gasped for air. Her teeth were chattering and she was fairly certain that her lips had instantly turned blue. But she didn’t have time to contemplate it because Clark was swimming towards her.
She kicked a splash of water at him and began swimming for the shoreline as fast as her arms and legs would move.
Clark swam as quickly as his aching side would allow him, determined not to let it spoil his fun. He *had* to catch her before she reached the shore. It was all he could do to just keep breathing and not burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of their situation.
Lois managed to get close enough to shore that she could touch bottom and she began to slog through the water like a person walking in slow motion, trying to make her way out. She could hear Clark splashing behind her. She risked a look back at him and squeaked when she realized how close he was. He had chosen to continue swimming instead of trying to trudge along the soft pond bed and he was catching her.
She picked up the pace and was mere feet from the shore when Clark dove under the water and caught hold of her ankle. It caused her to become unbalanced and she fell backwards. Clark came up from the water and caught her in his arms, then took her further out into the water. “Stop! Let me go!” she pleaded, holding back another laugh.
Clark was enjoying this way too much and realized that Lois was probably going to kill him when it was all over. But for now, he was going to have his fun.
“Do you give up?” he asked.
“Never!” she assured him and began trying to wriggle free of his arms. He reached into the water going after her stomach and began to tickle her.
“Ahhh!” she screamed in protest and then began laughing hysterically. “No...! Don’t...! Please... I’m begging you,” she said between fits of giggles.
“Do you give?” Clark managed to ask again in between laughs of his own. He had no idea Lois was this ticklish.
“Yes! YES! You win! I give!”
When their laughs subsided she tried to squirm away again, but Clark held her tightly in his arms. Realizing he wasn’t going to let her go, she quit fighting and turned to look at him. The adoration in his eyes was unmistakable and it made her swallow reflexively. Their bodies bobbed softly in the water for a few seconds as they looked at one another.
“Lois...” Clark’s voice had dropped a few timbres and it sent a shiver through her. She turned in his arms and wrapped her legs around him, causing Clark to close his eyes and take a couple of short breaths.
Was she trying to torture him? He could feel her hands as they left his shoulders and wrapped themselves around his neck.
Lois couldn’t believe she was being so bold, but god, he looked so good. His t-shirt was clinging to his body where it came out of the water. She could see every line of muscular definition in his shoulders and arms... and the upper part of his chest. Here was the strongest man in the world, and she was at his mercy. Lois took in a shuddery breath. Maybe it was time to turn the tables a little. She leaned in close to his face, her lips dangerously close to his. Her breath stilled when Clark’s eyes darkened. She felt a heat building inside her, despite the cold water.
“Clark, I...” The rest of her words were lost as his lips captured hers. Clark couldn’t resist her any longer and didn’t want to. He had hardly slept last night thinking about and reliving their kiss from the kitchen – wanting nothing more than to experience it again. The way her body yielded and responded to his. The soft suppleness of her lips and sweet flavor of her. It had been like the first taste of a drug and it had addicted him instantly. He needed more.
Lois lost herself to his touch. Her world had narrowed to this man, this moment. His kisses were soft and sure at first, his lips merely touching and caressing hers. But with each silky conquest, his attentions became more urgent. She ran her fingers up his neck and tangled them into his wet curls as she took his bottom lip into her mouth. His fingers played up and down her back as his mouth made its own explorations, his tongue gently slipping inside her mouth to lightly tease hers.
“Lois... god...” He broke from the kiss, panting slightly. “You don’t know how many nights...” Another kiss. “...I’ve dreamed of this.” He slid one hand from behind her back and up to cup her face, drawing her in for an even deeper exploration. The feeling was sensory overload combined with the exhilaration of the cold water and Lois started to shiver.
She didn’t want the moment to end, but she didn’t want them to die from catching pneumonia either. “What...” she managed between his attentions on her. “Slow death... by hypothermia?”
Clark pulled back from her lips and looked questioningly at her. It was only then that he felt her trembling in his arms and realized how cold the water felt. Their swim and subsequent horseplay had warmed them but now the cold was beginning to take hold again.
Lois kissed him again, a brief but delicious touch to his lips. “Clark, this is wonderful, really. But could we maybe do this somewhere slightly less wet and a little more warm?” She smiled alluringly.
He nodded, releasing her back into the water. “Let me go grab the boat and get it secured and then we can head back to the house... and get you warmed up.”
**********
To Be Continued...
