A/N:OK. OK. It's finally here! *drumroll* Hope you like :) Thanks for all the comments everyone. I'm dead on my feet, right now so forgive me for not responding to all of you- I just want to say I appreciate all the feedback!
And also a very special thanks to my beta's :) *hugs*
Enjoy.
Chapter 9
Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back
Lois didn't take her eyes off of Shelby for the whole ten minutes he was outside in the backyard sniffing around. Once he'd made sure to re-mark all of his favorite spots he trotted contently to the door and Lois let him in. Shutting the door tightly behind him. She wasn't taking any chances. Lois took a deep breath. Clark was in the living room- and so was the chaise.
She went to the freezer and took out the cheap bottle of sparking grape juice she was chilling and poured two glasses. Her mouth felt dry so she gulped hers down in one swig, and refilled it before she made her way to Clark and the chaise. Shelby, as if sensing her apprehension, followed closely behind.
She found Clark on the other side of the room digging through her limited CD collection by the stereo. All of her good music was still packed away at the farm. She had to remember to drop by and pick it up, one of these days. He was standing there holding up one of her CD's looking as hot and heroic as ever. She'd made her decision, she told him he could have anything he wanted- and she knew what he wanted, even if he didn't know it yet.
"I got us some juice. Music?" She asked hoping her voice sounded even. Clark immediately dropped the CD in his hand, looking guilty.
He turned to her, "no."
It sounded like he was saying 'no' to more than just the music. But Lois continued to smile and watched as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. Had he always been this sexy when he was nervous? Lois would like to think she would have noticed before. Maybe she had on some subconscious level.
Heart pounding madly against her rib cage, Lois strolled over to the stereo and handed Clark his glass, then she picked up the CD he'd dropped, Whitesnake's Greatest Hits, and popped into the tray and pressed play, the sounds of Slow n' Easy filled the room and even though Lois liked the song, she turned it down so that she and Clark could talk. Well, at least she could. He was being rather monosyllabic at the moment.
Realizing she was still in her frumpy yellow parka Lois, as gracefully as the coat allowed, slipped it over her shoulders and through her arms and tossed it over the back of the nearest chair. "Let's sit," she smiled walking all the way back across the room to plant herself on the green chaise.
But her jacket fell from the seat and Clark moved quickly to pick it up. He meant to drape it across the cushion, but when he turned around he saw Lois lounging unassumingly on the cursed green chaise, he froze. He hardly noticed when her jacked slid from his grip. His mind was suddenly bombarded with images of her- Lois smiling up at him- Lois under him- reaching for him- her eyes cloudy- leaning toward him with her flush mouth partially open- He shook his head trying to get rid of the memory.
"Why is that here?" He asked his voice breaking slightly.
"Oh, Chloe said I could have it," Lois replied nonchalantly, hiding a victorious grin by taking a sip from her glass.
"It doesn't really go well with the room," he stated, snobbishly.
Lois frowned. What did he think she was going to do? Have a fit right there and demand he remove it from her sight? If that's what he thought he was dead wrong. "I like it," she replied, "It's different. Now come and sit with me," she patted the seat just like she did that day at Chloe and Oliver's.
Clark took a swig of juice, he was suddenly extremely parched and it felt like the heat had kicked up in the house. "I'll just stand." He replied, but he was unable to stop himself from moving towards her anyway. "This isn't a good idea." He mumbled to himself.
Damn that sweater. The mystery of what Lois was wearing under her coat was revealed, and in that moment Clark wished it had stayed unsolved. It was her soft blue V-neck sweater and she was sitting on the green chaise and her hair was down. She almost never wore her hair down. It was usually in a haphazard ponytail or bun. He loved it when her hair was flowing and messy. And the soft wavy strands spread across her shoulders and back, like a river of shiny chocolate silk. He wanted run his fingers through it. Everything in his mind was telling him to Get out. Run. Now. But he didn't he just kept moving toward her.
Lois took another long drink of juice wishing it were beer instead, but that was dumb. She didn't need alcohol; everything was going to be fine. And this time Oliver and Chloe wouldn't ruin it. Things had heated up for them before on the chaise so why not now? She unbuckled her boots and felt the cushions sag as Clark cautiously sat down beside her. He had strategically placed himself as far from her as he could.
"You know I'm really grateful for what you did tonight, Smallville." She observed him from under her eyelashes. He body was tense, his left foot tapping nervously and he seemed to be frowning grimly at the wall, leaning back on outstretched hands. One of them, Lois noticed was behind her. His blue/green eyes were wary, but also dark; and Lois felt a small spurt of electricity spark in her veins. She liked when his eyes were dark.
After removing her boots and placing them to the side, Lois sat up and scooted nearer to Clark, leaning casually against his arm. "You really are my hero, you know that?"
"I don't fly," he lied.
And Lois smiled. "That's all right. Flying is overrated anyway," she lied back.
Clearing her throat a bit, she maneuvered closer to him, grinning like a Cheshire cat, her pulse going into overdrive.
"You know you're driving me crazy, right?" He admitted.
"Well, I was sort of hoping," She started, trying to sound diplomatic and sultry at the same time. "I've been thinking about this a lot-"
"This is a bad idea," Clark repeated, his face like stone, "you're Lois and I'm Clark-"
"Well now that we've got the introductions out of the way," Lois replied sarcastically reaching for him. He was so quick that Lois didn't even see his hand move, but she felt the delicious heat of his thick calloused fingers as they wrapped around her wrist. Tiny pinpricks of pleasure spread out over the skin of her arms, making her feel warm and safe like when he'd held her hand in the car.
"You like holding my wrist," she observed. He'd done the same thing at the Penthouse, not that Lois minded. In fact Lois didn't mind one little bit. Wrist holding could be extremely fun in the appropriate situation.
"I mean it Lois, this is not-," he swallowed, releasing her and starting again more firmly. "This is not what I want. You're my best friend. I need to keep it that way." Coward, the voice inside his head mocked. What are you afraid of? It's Lois- tell her. Tell. Her. But he ignored it.
If Lois didn't want him so much she would have kicked him out for being such a wimp. She couldn't believe he'd used the 'friend' line on her. What were they, fifteen? "Then why are on this chaise with me?" She countered feeling smug- and horny.
"You're right. It's the chaise," Clark said, looking everywhere but at Lois, "Classical conditioning. It's not me it's the chaise. Let's go somewhere else, how about the porch?"
"It's too cold to go to the porch and I happen to like this chaise," she said, and he finally looked at her. His eyes were dark and hot on hers and Lois felt her throat go dry.
"Me too," he replied, his voice going an octave lower like it had before. And Lois licked her lips and leaned in closer to him. "You know, we can't just keep ignoring it," she said, "this thing between us."
"I should go," he said, with no intention of leaving.
"No you shouldn't," she whispered, her face inches from his, "stay."
Clark dipped his hand into her hair. And Lois closed her eyes because it was real, not a fantasy and it was Clark. It was the latter thought that caused her to hesitate a bit. It was Smallville. Her Smallville. And she was breathless and nervous, but most of all she wanted him-
"I still think this is a bad idea. And I still think I should go. But it's the only thing I've been able to think about lately, so- just this once." And that was even more stupid because Clark was kidding himself. Just once? Ha! If he had her once he'd want her again and again and again- forever and that terrified and warmed him at the same time.
His hand slid to the back of her neck to bring her mouth closer. "Maybe it really was just the alcohol that one New Years." He said, kidding himself, "maybe this will be really horrible and we'll never have to do it again."
And he leaned in closer to her and Lois was vibrating with anticipation and excitement and fear because she was so close to him and she could feel the radiating warmth of his skin against hers and she was amazed at how dark his eyes were- then his lips barely grazed hers- a ghostly touch- almost like he wasn't there. Soft and light, making her stomach clench and her breath hitch, tantalizing her until she wanted to grab him and force his mouth harder on hers.
She fisted her hands in the front of his shirt, pulling him closer. He moved his mouth against hers purposefully, teasingly, igniting the sparks in her veins so that they flared and melted into liquid fire.
She tried to add more pressure, but when she leaned in he pulled away. "Damn. Not horrible," he whispered and she said, "Shut up, Smallville." And he obeyed, kissing her harder this time, his hand holding tightly onto the back of her head, keeping her in place and Lois squeezed her fists harder in his shirt, and pressed against him to make the kiss last longer- forever. He pulled back again and Lois kept leaning forward, she was practically in his lap, trying to find him again, to lure him back in.
"Bad idea," he warned, his voice raw and deep and wonderful and he was looking down at her with lidded stormy eyes.
"Kiss me. Hard." Lois demanded, wrapping her arms around his neck and he drew her tight against him, easing her back so that she lay trapped beneath him in his arms. And she stretched against the lovely length of him, reveling in how solid and anchored his felt.
One of his hands moved to slide up her jean-clad thigh to the hem of her shirt, rough hot hands that made her nervous and feverish at the same time. This was Clark, it seemed dangerous and exciting, but also safe because it was Clark and he was kissing her- long sweet minutes of kissing her- Time dissolved while he kissed her- thrilling her because he wanted her so much and he was so deliciously rough.
She pressed her body up against his and he shuddered, pulling at her hips and licking into her mouth. She felt his tongue touch hers and he pushed her further into the cushions with his hot weight, wedging a knee between her thighs. And Lois dug her fingernails into his back, arching to be closer to him, because she liked the feel of his firmness against hers and she wanted to share his heat.
He was harder than she was used to, more cut, less careful. She tried to match his rhythm as he kissed her and moved against her, but it was confusing because there was so much heat and it was Clark, adamant and hot on top of her, taking her mouth in ways no one had ever taken her body. But still Clark,and that kept getting in the way and making her breathe faster. And she could feel Clark's heart pounding as frantically as hers was.
Then he eased a hand up her side, bunching the thin worn material of her sweater. The heat from his hand scorched her skin. And Lois tensed, this was Clark and he was moving his hand under breast, then over, cradling it and applying pressure. And Lois sighed and shivered because it felt so good and because she was almost positive she could hear the faint chords of Is This Love. Her angels were singing. And she smiled against Clark's mouth, wondering if he heard it too. She wanted to ask him, but she didn't want him to stop kissing her, more. She would ask him later. Much later.
Clark started to tighten his hand on her then stopped. His body rigid and now immobilized, and Lois popped her eyes open, to look at him and saw the darkness in his orbs filter out and she pressed frantically against him trying to get the friction and heat back, she could still hear the music playing, it wasn't too late- she grabbed for him in desperation, but he retreated, pulling away from her to sit up.
"What?" She growled, propping herself up on her elbows glaring at him- then it finally clicked in her brain. It wasn't the angels that had been singing while she kissed Clark- it was her damn cell phone! Lois bit back a groan and glared at her companion. "What do you do, pay people to interrupt us?" She snapped.
He was already off of the chaise, looking down at her helplessly and breathing hard. Lois hit the 'ignore' button on her phone and cursed. She was going to kill her cousin. That was twice Chloe had cock blocked her! Just because she wasn't getting any didn't mean the rest of the world had to suffer!
"It was just Chloe. Come here." She moved toward him, but Clark back-pedaled, almost tripping over Shelby, who lying down on the floor next to them.
"Lois, I have to go," he said.
"No you don't," she countered, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Please don't start." He replied, "that wasn't supposed to happen- I-"
"Un-fucking-believable! You're doing this to me again!" She glowered murderously at him, raising her voice because she felt like it.
"I'm sorry," he said dumbly.
And Lois gaped at him like she was ready to commit a homicide. "No you're not. But you're going to be!" She said slowly, with controlled anger.
"Lois, I- this- I swear it's the chaise!" he pointed an accusing finger and Lois rolled her eyes. Great, he's back to blaming the furniture!
"Do you do this to every woman you date?" She asked, eyes narrowed, hands on her hips, "grope them then blame the nearest inanimate object? You're right you are out of your mind!" She picked up the nearest pillow and flung it at him. It didn't do any damage, but it made her feel better. "Is that why you married Lana? Because some chair forced you into it!"
Clark looked at her bewildered, "Lois, please, look I just can't- it's you-" Lois let out a low warning noise and Clark was glad looks couldn't kill because if they could he'd be dead. Powers or not, he'd be dead.
"I didn't mean it like that, Lois." He backtracked quickly, "I'm just having a really bad day."
"Having a bad day?" Her voice was low and dangerous and her temper flared. "You're having a bad day? The bank turns down my loan, my editor refuses to give me a raise, my dog was kidnapped, I can't find a single goddamed lead on this 'flying man'" her voice rose to a shriek- "And to top it all off my best friend blames the damn furniture every time he touches me! But you're having a bad day! I don't think so!" She threw another pillow at him, aiming for his crotch. He stood there and let it bounce off of him.
He blinked twice letting all the words roll over him. "Wait a minute. The bank turned down your loan?"
"Forget the loan." She inhaled deeply trying to calm down.
"Look, Lois I'm sorry, but this," he waved his hands towards the chaise, "this was a mistake. A big mistake and we'll just pretend it never happened."
"The hell we will!" Lois shot up to face him directly. "Clark Kent, I am calling your bluff! You wanted this just as much as I did-do!"
"Lois-"
"I know you, Clark, and you don't do this. You don't kiss and then back out. I mean I know Alicia said you were a prude, but this is [i]me![/i] And I'm pretty sure you never kissed her like that!" She paused. "Right?"
"No. I never kissed her like that" he'd never kissed anyone like that "And the fact that it's you, makes it harder and- " he broke off. "Alicia called me a prude?"
"It doesn't matter. You don't kiss someone like that and then not follow through!"
"I was going to follow through- I wanted to follow through- but" Clark abruptly stopped talking and stared at her for a moment. What was holding him back? His secret? That might be part of it- however- there was something else- something he couldn't quite put his finger on. She glared up at him flushed with anger and her hair was in disarray- and he wanted to grab her again, except-
"But what?" Lois snapped, interrupting his thoughts.
"But you-" he made an indeterminate hand gesture trying to force the words he needed, "I just can't. I've been thinking about doing it, God knows that's all I've been thinking about and then I look at you and you're Lois. You're not some fantasy, and I-" God he was mucking this up! "And you don't know- and because you don't know it wouldn't be fair or ethical, I'm pretty sure. At least I used to be sure- I mean- I just can't. So we're not going to. Ever. We'll just pretend this didn't happen and we'll go back to the way things were, when you were just Lois and I was just Clark and we were just friends. "
He pushed past her, knowing what he'd just said didn't make an inkling of sense to either of them. His head was spinning- He needed to think- he couldn't think when she was around. Clark grabbed his coat off the tree. Lois was hot on his heels.
"You know you can't just keep erasing time and rewriting history like that. It happened. You kissed me!" She pressed.
He shrugged into his coat and ran nervous finger through his hair. Fingers, Lois thought, that had just been on her. "You groped me!"
"I don't want to talk about it." He reached into his pockets and pulled out his keys.
"We're not doing this again. No more big eyes at me on the chaise!"
"What? So it's my fault now?" She was outraged.
"Yes." His voice was sharp, but Lois didn't scare easily. One of the few perks of growing up with the General; she followed him through the dining room and under the archway to the front door.
"This is your fault. You bring the damn chaise here and pull your hair down and wear that damn blue sweater!" He let out a growl of frustration. "Ever since you found Shelby you've been different and you never used to let your hair down and you've never tried to seduce me on the chaise and I hardly ever thought of you in that way before-mostly."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Lois questioned, flailing her arms exasperatedly. "You've had hot thoughts about me before?"
"Not this much! Just every once in a while," He lied.
"I can't believe your going to leave me like this!"
"Good night, Lois," and after the door slammed shut behind him, Lois yelled, "The hell it was!"
The reporter stalked back into the living room and Shelby sniffed at her feet. She scratched behind his ear, "He's in denial," she told him. "He thinks the only reason he wants me is because of the chaise?" Shelby let out a whine and Lois said, "yeah, I don't buy it either." Lois stomped into the kitchen and pulled the tequila and a shot glass out from under the sink. She was about to down her first round, but Here I go again on my own, started playing over the speaker and Lois cursed, "what are you? The fucking sound track!" She stormed back into the living room and violently punched the stereo off. Then went back to her drink.
After she had calmed down considerably and thrown back a couple more shots, she decided to call Chloe, back. Her cousin was about to get a substantially loud piece of her mind!
As soon as Chloe answered the phone, Lois went off, "I just want you to know that you have the worst timing- Ever! Everything was going great then my phone goes off and Clark tells me he has to go and the only reason he felt me up was because of that damned chaise and-"
"Lois?"
"Oh, and did I mention the fact that I might be losing my house? This sexist bank manager calls me up this morning right in the middle of breakfast and-"
"Lois please-"
Something about the tone of Chloe's voice made Lois halt mid rant.
"Are you OK?" She asked, suddenly.
"No. You can have your nightgown back if you want it."
All of Lois's anger, evaporated- her cousin sounded as depressed as she felt. Plus, now that Lois thought about it, chastising an already hormonal pregnant woman probably wasn't the best idea.
"You too, huh? Was it because of a piece of furniture," the reporter empathized.
"What?" The pregnant blonde's bemused voice made Lois's lips quirk.
"Clark just left. He kissed and groped me then turned me down- blaming the chaise."
"That's-"
"Totally retarded? Yeah, I know."
"I'm sorry if I ruined anything," there was a subtle tremble in Chloe's voice and Lois knew she was close to tears.
"It's all right. You didn't know- it was probably for the best anyway," she lied, then changed the subject. "So what happened with Ollie?"
Chloe took a long shaky breath. She really didn't want to relive it. It had been humiliating and she still felt cold with rejection.
She'd been so excited about the gown. It was sexy, in that subtle kind of way. Not too revealing but still, Chloe had thought looking in the mirror, you could see the dark circles of her nipples and the apex between her thighs. Her stomach was slightly swollen and growing bigger by the week. This was probably her last chance to wear something scandalous for a long, long time.
And if Ollie looked horrified when he saw her in this she was divorcing him and Cat could have him! Doing a quick once over and making sure her hair and make up were in tact, she plastered on a mega watt smile and opened the bathroom door.
"Are you getting dressed already, honey?" Oliver walked through the door then stopped to take her in. She leaned, in what she hoped, looked sexy against the frame.
"What do say about staying in tonight?" She cooed sashaying toward him, swinging her hips, sensuously. And when she reached him she wrapped her arms around his neck and he kissed her hard and fast. Just like he used to, pressing their bodies together and she wanted him so much in that moment she was breathless with it-
Then he pulled away and said "is this because Cat? Is that why you're doing this? I already told you I don't want her." And Chloe went stiff and her heart felt heavy in her chest.
"I'm not doing this because of The Skank-"
"Honey, I already told you- I'll say it ten thousand times if you want me too. But you don't have to do something like this. And we have to go to that dinner tonight, it's important."
"I don't need you to say it ten thousand times! The Skank has nothing to do with this!" Well, if she was honest with herself this may have a little to do with The Skank, but Chloe wasn't going to tell him that!
"Save this for tonight, when we get home-"
Chloe stopped listening because she already knew that he was talking out of his ass. They wouldn't get home till at least midnight and they both had work in the morning and Ollie would stay up for two extra hours going over this file and that file. She wanted to throttle him.
"Just forget it!" She cut him off and stomped back into the bathroom, tears rolling the down her cheeks. He started to apologize, but she slammed the door in his face, hoping it broke his nose.
"Chlo?" Oliver called through the door.
"I'm not going tonight! I'm tired!" And I might kill you!
Now, relaying the story to Lois, Chloe wondered if maybe she had overreacted. No. She hadn't. He was being an obtuse ass. And he needed to stop it!
"I just want-" Chloe tried to explain to her cousin, "I just want to feel that umph one more time before the baby comes. He or She will change everything and I feel like if we don't have this last little bit of excitement we might never get it back. And then when we're old and been married for thirty-five years and the kids are gone he'll tell me he's been having a long time affair with Cat Grant and-"
"Ollie would never have an affair, Chloe! Don't be absurd!"
"I know. I know." But she didn't know. He didn't act the same anymore. He didn't want her. Ever. She just knew that if Ollie continued to ignore the rut there were in, they'd never get out of it and they would resent each other for it and by the time they figured it out it would be too late.
She and Lois said goodbye and Chloe crawled into her side of the bed and snuggled down in to the covers. She rolled over and scooted the edge of the bed, as far away from her husband's side as possible. She'd locked the door and threw his pillow and a blanket into his office- he would've ended up sleeping in there tonight, anyway.
TBC
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A/N: Thoughts?
