Golden Dayzs - 12 Dayzs of Christmas #6 by Menolly   Lois snapped back to the present, cursing mildly as she realised she'd spilt ground coffee all over the kitchen worktop counter. She wiped it up, added water to the percolator, and set it on the hob. Picking up the menu again, Lois leant back against the counter and ran her gaze down the list again, memories flickering through her mind as she re-read, then flooding back to a cold day in Oxford, England, when she reached the next flavour ...   Lois and Clark left New College, walking through into the cobbles of Queens Lane, slippery with the snow that had fallen earlier that day. "That was pretty interesting" said Clark, steering them to the pavement at the side of the road where he thought Lois might find it a little easier to walk in the heeled shoes she wore. "I thought so" agreed Lois "especially the sessions talking with other journalists - discussing other styles and approaches. Not that I don't think ours is the best" she smiled, abandoning any pretense at modesty "but it was interesting, there was someone therefrom the Independent - the English paper - who was talking about the difficulty of trying to remain politically unbiased. She said they usually failed. How about you? What did your group talk about?" "Mmm" said Clark "use of the Internet to publish - there were journalists from the Daily Telegraph here in England, and from the.. I think it was called the Jornal de Noticias, in Portugal. Both papers publish a daily edition on the Internet, so we discussed that. I thought I'd mention the idea to Perry when we get back ...apparently it doesn't involve too much more work, since we already compose and submit copy on computers, and it could keep Jimmy out of mischief ..." His voice trailed off as he stopped, looking up at the small bridge overhead, connecting the buildings on each side of the road. Lois stopped when she realised he had, and looked at the bridge as well. "Looks like the Bridge of Sighs in Venice" she remarked. "That's what it's called ... for that reason." said Clark, taking Lois' hands and drawing her to him. He lowered his head and kissed her. Lois moved into the embrace, sliding her arms around him as she opened her mouth to deepen the kiss, feeling the warmth of his mouth on hers. They kissed for a little while as they explored the feel of each other, then broke apart, holding hands as Lois resting her head against Clark's shoulder. "What was that for?" she asked, half-teasing. "It seemed appropriate," smiled Clark "the characters in that book I was reading yesterday evening kissed here after she accepted his proposal, which was also here. I can't exactly propose to you here... well, I could, but it would be a bit redundant" he said, rubbing his thumb over the wedding ring on her left hand, "so ...." his voice trailed off, unable to explain precisely why it had seemed appropriate. It just had. Lois smiled, reached up and briefly kissed him in appreciation and understanding. They resumed walking, turning left alongside the Bodleian Library and across the square surrounding the Radcliffe Camera, heading towards a small alley that ran down the back of Brasenose College. The square was covered in a light dusting of snow, the brilliant white highlighting the architectural detailing on the buildings around, the sandstone showing gold in the pale winter afternoon sunlight. Lois looked at the students in the Radcliffe as they passed, heads bent over books, scribbling, or simply staring into space in search of some inspiration. "I'm not sure I could go back to that again" she said, absently. Clark followed her gaze. "I sometimes wonder whether what we do is really any different" he said. "Collating information to produce a story, following leads, checking sources. The main difference I suppose is that the story starts outside the newsroom ... it's not suggested to us. Not always. And our deadline is usually tighter -although, again, not always. They won't have more than a week at the most to write that essay, which will have to be considerably longer than anything we write." Lois turned her attention away from the library. "I suppose so" she agreed "but still, we do get to leave the newsroom most of the time... it's not all books." "No," said Clark with a grin "sometimes it seems to be all telephone calls, which leave us holding for hours." Lois laughed in agreement, and they headed down the alley, Clark's arm around Lois to ensure she didn't stumble on the cobbles. As they left the alley, Clark led Lois across the road and into an indoor market, small wooden shops under an ornate glasshouse roof. They wound their way between the shops selling all manner of goods - coffee, jeans, fruit and vegetables, butchers with whole boar and deer hanging outside, a florists. "Where are we going, by the way?" asked Lois, once she'd realised that Clark wasn't simply meandering, but apparently had some destination in mind. "You'll see" he smiled, as they found themselves in a newer section, an overhead sign announcing it as the Golden Cross, and emerged again into the winter sunlight. They passed under a small arch and into Cornmarket, a busy shopping street. Lois looked around and suddenly realised why Clark had led them here. "A Fudge Castle ice cream cafe?" she asked "I didn't even know they had any abroad!" "One or two" smiled Clark "there's another one in London, in Covent Garden. I thought we could visit that one as well, since the area is good for Christmas shopping ... and we do still need to get some things" he said as they walked across the road, narrowly avoiding the buses that swarmed along it, and into the cafe. They shed their coats as they sat down, unwrapping the scarves they wore. Lois pulled off her gloves and looked at the menu. "It's even the same ..." she said, "and I doubt I'll be able to makeup my mind any better now than I can in Metropolis" she smiled as she watched Clark cleaning his glasses, which had misted a little with the shock of the warm air in the cafe after the crisp cold outside. He looked up and smiling a little wryly, remembering the last time they'd been to the Fudge Castle. If he remembered correctly, it had taken her almost half an hour to decide. "Well, just so we can get to that concert we decided to go to, shall I decide? We could share something" suggested Clark. Lois looked back at the menu, indecision written all over her face as she chewed her lower lip, then looked back at Clark. She smiled as she realised his eyes were fastened on her mouth, watching her teeth biting into her lip, and deliberately ran the tip of her tongue over her lip, smoothing the marks of her teeth. Clark shivered a little, his eyes warming, and Lois smiled, still a little surprised at the reaction she could bring from him. Actually, she thought, she shouldn't be surprised. Heaven alone knew he could do the same to her with nothing more than a look. "Ok. You decide" she said, folding the menu and replacing it at the edge of the table, against the mirror on the wall next to them. Clark dragged his attention back to the menu, looked down it for a moment, then grinned, closing the menu. "What have you chosen?" asked Lois. "You'll see" he smiled. Lois looked as though she wanted to tease his choice from him, but at that moment the waitress came to take their order. "We'll have a double scoop of the Metropolis Super Fudge Chunk" said Clark "Coffee?" he asked Lois. She nodded. "And two coffees - one decaf, one regular, please". The waitress wrote down the order and moved away. "Metropolis Super Fudge Chunk?" asked Lois "I don't think I've had that before." "I didn't think you had. It seemed suitable ... a little ironic, I guess, that we'd have it for the first time in England rather than in Metropolis. Anyway, it's got chocolate in it, so I thought it'd keep you happy" smiled Clark. Lois smiled back at him, having long since given up reacting to any teasing about her chocolate addiction. Her _mild_ chocolate addiction, she stressed to herself, smiling a little more as she wondered whether she really thought she could kid herself. Clark reached for her hand, holding it on the table, his thumb stroking her palm a little as they talked, discussing the conference, until the waitress returned with their coffee and the ice-cream. Moving the ice-cream to the centre of the table, between them, Clark picked up the spoon. "Oh. I forgot to ask for a second spoon, I'll just go ..." Lois stopped him. "It's ok, we'll share" she said. Clark wondered whether that was a particularly good idea, given the distance from the hotel they had reservations in, but then decided he'd live with the consequences, and dipped the spoon in the ice cream. He held it out to Lois, who simply ate the ice cream. Clark looked a little startled, having expected her to tease him at least slightly, and Lois smiled at him, a mischievous look in her eyes. Ahh, he thought, this _is_ trouble. I'm not sure quite what she's up to, but this is trouble. He took a scoop of the ice cream for himself, then another for Lois, who lingered a little longer over the ice cream than she had done before. Now it starts, he thought, sipping at his coffee as he continued to feed spoonfuls of the ice cream to Lois, who spent a little more time taking the ice cream from the spoon with each mouthful, all the time watching for his reaction. He tried to hold a neutral expression, but was well aware that he was failing as her smile, and the warmth in her eyes, increased. Clark had realised long ago that they each found arousing the other to be at least as erotic as being aroused by the other and, as they finished the ice cream, gave up trying to hide his arousal from her, the expression in his eyes widening hers. They paid and left the cafe, the concert forgotten, walking rapidly back through the darkening streets, down Broad Street, past the Sheldonian Theatre and into Holywell Street, turning down past Mansfield College to where they'd parked the Audi they'd rented for the couple of days holiday they were now taking following the end of the conference. They had put their bags into the car that morning, before the last sessions of the conference began, and Lois was profoundly grateful that she didn't have to try to pack now. Clark opened the car with the remote locking as they approached, and opened the passenger door for Lois, then moved round to take the driver's seat. Lois barely had time to buckle her seatbelt as Clark pulled the car out of the parking space, tyres squealing slightly in protest at the speed he picked up. Nudging a little over the speed limit they drove out of Oxford, Clark's expression slightly grim with concentration as he negotiated the city, avoiding seemingly suicidal pedestrians and cyclists in the narrow streets. Fairly quickly they were heading west along the A40, the headlights of the car picking out the ghostly shapes of the trees lining the road, darkness beyond them. Lois glanced at Clark, who had relaxed as they left Oxford for the more open road, the heat showing again in his eyes as the concentration faded. She put her hand on his thigh, brushing her thumb along the inner seam of his trousers. "Lois ... are you trying to get us killed?" hissed Clark, gritting his teeth as her hand moved a little further up, only making worse the pressure of the fabric of his trousers against him. He took a hand from the wheel and covered her hand, moving it down and anchoring it a little above his knee. "Whose idea was it to book a hotel this faraway anyway?" he grumbled, his voice belying the words, slightly amused at his own predicament. At that moment the 20 miles or so to be covered before they reached the hotel seemed more like a thousand. "Yours" laughed Lois. "Next time we go somewhere with a Fudge Castle remind me of this, so I can remember to book something a little closer!" said Clark, humour returning to his voice as he forced himself to calm down. Lois kept her hand at his knee, deciding that there were some limits to how far she could push him, particularly as they were already exceeding the speed limit by more than 10 miles an hour. As his heart rate slowed, Clark put his arm around Lois, inwardly grateful that they'd opted for a car with automatic transmission. She leant her head on his shoulder, relaxing against him. The car covered the distance rapidly, although neither of them felt it was quite rapidly enough, and Lois tried to distract herself by watching the signs flashing past, looking for an indication that they were nearing their destination, and trying to remember the directions she'd looked up earlier. "Ok, that's it" she said "Burford .. turn right here, it's not far from here." Clark drove the car down a steep hill into the Cotswold village, the stone cottages illuminated by the yellow street lights as they passed through the main, the only, street, and over a small bridge beyond the houses. "Turn right again here" said Lois, as they approached a small junction. They drove along an unlit, narrow road, the ground rising in banks on either side, for a couple more miles until they reached a small village, centered on a large triangular green, the church at one side, houses on the other two sides. "Shipton under Wychwood" said Lois, reading the sign they passed as they entered the village. "This is it, where's the ...there it is." She gestured to the left, and Clark steered the car into a narrow drive between two houses, parking in a gravel car park behind them. They got out of the car, Clark took their bags from the boot, and remote locked the car as they walked through a wooden arch into a courtyard covered in flagstones, small plants growing through the cracks in the paving and a small pond in the middle with reeds poking through the ice that covered it. Clark took Lois' hand as he held their bags over his shoulder, the flagstones a little slippery. They walked down a couple of steps, and entered the hotel through a heavy wooden door, which creaked a little as Lois pushed it open. Inside they found themselves in a large panelled hall, reaching the height of the building to the roof, the black beams exposed, and a roaring fire in the grate. A faded tapestry hung on the chimney breast and dark green leather chairs and sofas were scattered around the room. In the centre of the right wall a wooden staircase led up from the hall, branching in the middle to lead to two doors set high in the walls. A tall blond man, in a blue blazer and dark trousers, approached. "Mr & Mrs Kent?" he asked. "Yes" answered Lois. "How did you know?" "We weren't expecting anyone else tonight, and we're a little hard to find by accident," her replied, smiling "you can call it an educated guess. Welcome to the Shaven Crown." He took them through the brief check-in procedure, and handed them a large key. "If you turn left on the staircase, you'll find the room in the corridor on your right at the top" he said, "and dinner is served from 7 o'clock onwards, until about 9 o'clock. Just come down whenever you feel like it." "Thank you" said Clark, as they headed for the stairs, his hand once again in Lois', tracing small circles on the back of her hand which she could feeling rippling through her. They found the room, and Lois unlocked the door, fumbling slightly with the key as she felt Clark's impatience, and her own. She pushed the door open and they almost tumbled through it. Clark dropped the bags on the floor and turned to kiss Lois with an urgency built up through the seemingly endless drive, pushing her against the door as he took the key from her hand and turned it in the lock, still kissing her. The door locked, he rested his hands on either side of Lois' shoulders, pinning her between himself and the door, and deepened the kiss, his tongue thrusting into her mouth, tasting the chocolate of the ice cream still flavouring her. Lois returned the kiss with fervour, sucking on his tongue none to gently, pushing against it with her own as her hands wandered over his jacket, pushing it off his shoulders and then skimming down his chest to pull his shirt out of his trousers. She tugged a little at his tie, and pulled it loose, then unbuttoned his shirt to run her hands over him, feeling the warmth of his skin hot against her cold hands. Somewhere at the back of her mind she noted that at times like this Clark's imperviousness to cold was a distinct advantage ... he didn't yell at the touch of her icy fingers. In fact, right now, he barely seemed to notice them. Clark pulled away a little from the door and pushed his jacket and shirt away from his arms, letting them drop to the floor, as he rapidly unbuttoned Lois' coat, unwinding her scarf from her neck, and drew her into the room, undressing her as he did so, dropping her coat and jacket in a pile on a nearby chair, then tugging her sweater over her head. Once free of her sweater, Lois moved her hands to the waistband of Clark's trousers, tugging them open, as she kicked off her shoes. "Careful" he winced as she opened his trousers with more enthusiasm than finesse "I'm not completely impervious ..." His words trailed off as Lois wrapped her fingers around his erection as she freed him from the pressure he'd been under since before they'd left the ice cream parlour. He closed his eyes, tipping his head back as she stroked downwards, and then knelt in front of him to take him in her mouth, sucking at him. She nipped gently at him, running her tongue along the ridge on the underside. Clark clenched his hands as he tried to hold out, trying to move to pull her up from him, but Lois simply sucked a little harder. He lost the fight for control, his hand moving to the back of Lois' head, encouraging her to suck harder at him, and rapidly exploded into the damp warmth of her mouth. "Witch ..." he said, his voice still thick with the arousal she'd created, as he relaxed a little and pulled her to her feet to kiss her. Lois smiled "Well, it looked like you weren't going to cope for very much longer anyway ... this way we can take things a little slower" she said, her voice rising as Clark flicked open the clasp of her bra and lowered his head to her collarbone, placing open-mouthed damp kisses on her skin as he worked his way down over the curves of her breast, blowing gently on the hard nub of her nipple, smiling against her skin at the shiver that ran through her as he did so, then closing his mouth over the nub, tugging at it lightly with his teeth, then soothing with his tongue. He kept up a fast rhythm, first nipping then soothing, as he pushed her skirt up and sliding his hand between her legs then under her panties. He slid his fingers into her, first one then a second as he realised she was close to climax, damp and open to his touch. Lois gasped at his touch as he stroked her, and her hands tightened their grasp on his shoulders. Clark smiled at her reaction as he trailed small kisses across her breasts, leaving her nipple damp and taut, to lavish the same attention on the other. All the while his fingers slid in and out of Lois, exploring with a gentle pressure, as he let his hand rub between her legs, his palm brushing against her. Lois clung to him for support, breathing hard and fast as her heart raced, the tight arousal spreading from Clark's fingers and mouth on her and quickly taking over her. She cried his name, her voice tight as she lost herself in the sensations he created. "Better?" asked Clark, teasing her mouth with his tongue, as she slumped against him. "Mmm ..." she said. "Well, it looked like you weren't going to cope for very much longer anyway ... this way we can take things a little slower" he quoted back at her, smiling as she laughed a little shakily, hearing her own words repeated back to her. Clark unzipped her skirt to let it fall to the floor, then finished his own undressing. He picked Lois up in his arms and lay her on the bed, sitting beside her, and trailed his fingers over her skin to gently trace the soft flush covering her. He slid his hand to the garter belt she still wore and unclipped it, pushing the stockings held up by the belt down her legs, and over her feet, dropping them to one side of the bed. Lois lay a hand on his leg, gently tracing patterns on his inner thigh, her eyes closed. She moved her hand a little higher, then suddenly opened her eyes to look at him, a little startled. "Again?" she asked "already?" Clark smiled at her. "Not again, more like still," he said, as she stroked the rigid length of his erection, "you worked up something of a storm this evening." Lois laughed softly, her fingers curling around him. Clark slid his fingers through the curls at the top of her legs, caressing her again as his fingers dipped into her damp softness. Lois arched towards him, pressing against his hand. "Looks like I'm not the only one ..." said Clark, quiet amusement and arousal in his voice as he lowered his head to kiss her mouth briefly, then laid a path of kisses down her neck, between her breasts and over her stomach, and replaced his fingers with his mouth, his tongue pushing gently into her. Lois moaned softly, her fingers stroking over him, and she raised herself, leaning on one elbow as she bent her head to him again, her mouth following the lead of his, licking at him, sucking gently on the tip of his erection as he moved his fingers back into her, kissing lightly at the folds of skin parted by his fingers, then closing over the hard nub hidden there. Lois pushed forwards with her hips, against him, and ran her fingers down the length of him, kissing the curls at the base, circling him with kisses. Clark slid further onto the bed, lying next to her as he pushed her legs a little further apart, his tongue pressing back into her. He slid a hand down between their bodies to caress her, his fingers feathering in slow inches over her skin, cupping a breast and rubbing his thumb over the nipple before moving back over her ribcage. Lois protested inarticulately, her mouth otherwise occupied, and placed a hand over his, pulling his hand back to her breast. Clark complied, then shuddered as she nipped at him. He sucked at her a little, his tongue pushing into her against the pressure of his mouth, and Lois opened her mouth in a silent cry, arching against him before returning her mouth to him, sliding him into her mouth as far as possible. Clark felt himself swell further against her mouth and lifted himself from her, sitting up to curl his hand round her head. Lois looked up at him, her eyes glittering with excitement. He lay back out on the bed, his arms holding her to him as they kissed, tasting themselves in each other then moved over her, kneeling between her legs and leant forwards, bracing himself on his hands as he stretched over her, kissing her again as she wrapped her legs around him, pulling him down towards her. He lowered himself into her, his tongue sliding into her mouth as he gently nudged at her, his erection damp from her mouth sliding smoothly into her dampness. He pushed slowly and steadily as Lois lifted her hips a little towards him to allow him to slide fully into her. As his thighs pressed against her legs, his erection buried inside her, held closely by muscles rippling around him, urging him towards a completion he was trying to hold back from, he held still, savouring the feel of her, his face tucked against her shoulder. Lois held still also, all but her hands, which smoothed over his back, tracing his spine, as she felt herself adjusting to the hard warmth inside her. The rippling and clenching of her muscles around him increased as they held still together, Lois unable to control her increasing arousal at the feel of him over and inside her, the scent of his warm skin exciting her further. She began to move her hips against him in small circles, pushing herself along the length of him. Clark held still for only a moment longer before thrusting against her, pulling almost out of her before sliding back in. He thrust against her again, increasing the pace. Lois clutched his back, involuntarily scraping her fingernails over his skin. "Harder ... please ..." she moaned, pushing her head back against the pillow, "please ... please ..." she continued, her voice growing softer and thicker, her head moving restlessly against the pillow. Clark increased the pressure against her, thrusting harder and faster into her, her soft requests half-heard, the sound alone pulling a response from him. Lois arched against him again, pushing up, and he nuzzled her neck roughly, kissing and sucking softly at the skin, as he met her arch with a final hard thrust that had her writhing wildly under him, gasping his name as she closed hard around him in a violent clench that tipped him into a sweet oblivion, pressed hard into her. Lois felt him flood heatedly into her, the spreading warmth completing her own release. Clark slumped to his elbows, lying against Lois, hearing her heartrate slow from a wild rapidity as his own thudded against his chest. "I love you" they murmured into each other mouths, kissing, smiling at the coincidence of words. Lois clenched teasingly around Clark, buried inside her, and looked at him in mild astonishment as she felt him respond. "Wow ...." she whispered.   Memories fading out as she poured herself some coffee, Lois smiled. She vaguely recalled them managing to make it into dinner shortly before nine that evening, but she didn't remember either of them getting much sleep. She wandered back out through the main room to sit in the morning sunlight on the terrace, looking back at the menu.   Author's note: the book Clark refers to is 'Gaudy Night' by Dorothy L. Sayers. All places mentioned exist, you can consider this amini-tour of Oxford and a small part of the surrounding area if you like! The only exception is the Fudge Castle cafe ... the Haagen Dazs cafe which inspired it has been relocated to George Street, opposite the Old Orleans Restaurant Back to Dayzs #5 or forward to Dayzs #7 Uploaded: 9 February 1997 Written: December 1995 See index page for disclaimer and copyright acknowledgements. This story, however, is my copyright and is not to be distributed without my permission.