Hey, everyone! Hope you enjoy this new chapter. Sorry about the wait. I bought the final season of Smallville, so I have been kind of occupied. :)

Chapter 10: Passions

Clark didn't remember being this mad at a criminal since Lex Luther created an island of Kryptonite. Damn this stupid moron for choosing right now to point a gun at a teller and demand all the money!

Superman flew past the police already pulling up to the building and right into the lobby. He spotted the would-be robber, pulled the gun out of his hands, crushed it in his palm, lifted the man, and carried him right out the waiting police.

"Here," he said, tossing the man down on the ground in front of the nearest cop car. He then flew straight up before anyone could talk to him. Sometimes, he hated being Superman. If he was just Clark, he would have just kissed Lois right then and to hell with bank robbers. It's not like the bank wasn't insured.

But he knew he couldn't do that. Superman's job was to protect the city and the world. He just had to find some way to do that without destroying his life as Clark in the process.

SSSS

Well, that was an epic failure, Lois thought. One minute it seemed everything was going her way; the next, Clark was running out of here with another one of his patented excuses. Did she do something wrong?

She analyzed the incident in her mind. Clark definitely returned her feelings. If he didn't, he would have stopped things much earlier. Instead, he had actually moved closer to her. Then why had he pulled away at the last minute? Was he worried about hurting their friendship? Was he just being shy?

She could just ask him out, make it blatant what she wanted, but she didn't know how well old-fashioned Clark would take that. She needed to get him to ask her out, if only to protect his sense of propriety. Obviously, subtlety wasn't working here. It was time to try another tactic.

SSSS

Monday morning, Lois came to work early to catch up on what she had missed during her sick leave. She caught the security guard downstairs staring at her butt as she walked into the lobby. She glared at him and just kept walking. That view was for Clark. At least her jacket covered her up on top.

There was no one else in the bullpen, so she got right to work. After about an hour of catching up on email and looking into the breaking news about Superman's early morning help with a raging wildfire in the Rockies, the regulars started to arrive and she started to get nervous. Every time the elevator doors opened, she found herself looking for Clark. Unfortunately for her nerves, he was late today.

About a quarter after nine, she heard the elevator ding. She glanced up again to see the man she was looking for getting off. He looked good, like "I went a bought a new suit that fits" good. Was he trying to kill her? All she wanted to do right now was rip his clothes off of him, right here in the middle of the office.

He was carrying two coffee cups from her favorite shop, and headed straight towards her. Time to see if she could give as good as she got.

SSSS

"Hey, Lois. I bought you a cup of coffee from that place you like." Clark stopped in time to not run into the desk and carefully set her coffee on it.

"Thanks, Clark," Lois said with a mischievous tone in her voice.

It was then that Clark glanced up from the coffee to see Lois' beautiful pale breasts framed by a rather low-cut ice blue top. He flashed back the last time he had seen so much of them, back at the Fortress, years ago. Was she trying to kill him?

He quickly glanced away, afraid he had stared a little too long.

Perry voice bellowed in their direction. "Kent! Lane! My office, morning meeting, now!"

"Thanks for the coffee," Lois said as she stood up and sauntered into the office. Her tight red pencil skirt did not help calm Clark's desire at all. He couldn't help but stare at her backside as he followed her into Perry's already crowded office.

All the seats were taken, so Clark and Lois were forced to stand in the back of the room. Clark barely heard anything Perry was saying because his eyes kept shifting down toward Lois. From this angle, he could she the edges of her bra. The many times Cat had shown him her ample cleavage, he had hardly noticed; when Lois did it, he felt like a hormonal teenage boy.

SSSS

Lois was not fairing much better. It was taking all her will power to keep an outwardly cool manner. Today would be the day he choose to actually put on something nice. His apparently new business suit framed his shoulders quite well and tapered down beautifully to his trim waist. And all she could think about was taking it off of him.

This was not the plan. The plan had been to make him so desperate for her that he had to take initiative. Instead, she felt her own self control was being stretched wire-thin. She knew she needed to get away from him to cool down, but Perry kept on talking. She tried to listen to what he was saying. All she had to do was not think about Clark.

SSSS

After the meeting, Clark watched Lois hurry toward the break room. He watched the eyes of several other men follow her as well. Clark felt a pang of jealousy. Why did she have to come the Planet dressed like that? Didn't she know what every guy who looked at her was thinking?

Unless she meant for them to think that, or more specifically, for me to think that, he mused. He had to admit to himself, he was guilty of trying the same thing. It wasn't coincidence that he had chosen to wear his only tailored suit today. If Lois really had begun to see him as more than nerdy partner, he didn't want to discourage that.

Still, Lois had taken this game way too far. While he loved this sexy side of her, he wasn't comfortable with everyone else seeing it too.

As Lois came strolling back from the break room, Clark intersected her before she reached her desk. "Hey, Lois, can I see you alone?" He directed her to an empty conference room, shut the door, and drew the shades on the window.

"Lois, we need to talk." Clark felt uncomfortable. "It's about your...outfit."

"What about my outfit?"

"Well...it's not entirely work appropriate."

"Technically, I don't think anything I'm wearing anything different from what Cat wears everyday. You never seem to object to her clothing."

Clark began to get frustrated. "That's because she's not my partner. I don't think you should be walking around the office revealing so much."

He could see Lois get angry. "I really don't see how you being my partner makes my clothes any of your business. I have no obligation to you. You're not my boyfriend."

"Maybe that's the problem!" Clark yelled.

SSSS

Lois and Clark stared at each other, locking eyes.

"What did you say?" she whispered.

Clark grabbed Lois and kissed her. She responded in kind, pressing her body against his, obviously enjoying the feel of his mouth on hers. He picked her up, setting her on top of some cabinets to make up for the height difference. Her hands moved through his hair as they continued to kiss passionately. They snaked down the back of his neck and around the collar of his jacket. She pushed it off and moved to unloosen his tie.

Clark pulled his mouth away from hers. "Lois, this isn't exactly the best place to start taking our clothes off."

Lois looked at him, breathing heavy. "Yeah, I guess not." She laughed deeply. "Who knew Clark Kent could be so forceful?"

"It's not something I let loose very often," he replied, gazing into her eyes.

"You should; it's rather irresistible." She leaned into him, touching her lips softly against his. This kiss was gentle and unhurried. He had one strong arm around her waist as his other hand caressed her face.

They parted again, huge smiles on their faces.

"Lois Lane?"

"Yes, Clark Kent?"

"Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"

"It depends. Is this dinner a date?"

"Yes, I am asking you out on a date."

"Then yes, I would love to go out with you tonight."