HEARTS & SHOWERS (Part 2)

Clark chuckled, the sound burring delightfully against her skin. "Don't knock it, honey," he whispered, nipping lightly at her ear and then forcing another moan from her as he sucked hard at her earlobe.

"But......we *made* love in the shower, Clark. Twice."

"Mmmmmmmm - I remember that," Clark agreed, going back to his teasing of the side of her throat. "And......on the floor......and at the......sink......"

Lois closed her eyes, laying her head back against the wall behind her.

"It's not where," Clark added as he trailed soft, whispering caresses across one wet and naked shoulder. "It's how. That's my fantasy. Do you know how many times I watched you, working at the Planet, and wanted to do this......"

His voice dropped to a low burr that caressed her as easily as his fingers and his lips as he laid his hands at her waist and then shifted them upwards, taking the sodden material of her vest top with them until it was bunched up just below her breasts. "Undress you......strip you......with more than just my eyes. Slowly......so......slowly......carefully......piece by piece......inch by inch......"

Lois moaned softly, deep in her throat. She squirmed a little in his grip and he tightened it, holding her still.

"......until there was nothing but skin......nothing to stop me touching you.........caressing you......feeling every inch of you.........every curve......every......"

Lois hardly heard the words now. They traveled over her body like the soft motions of his fingers against the soft skin stretched taut across her ribs as he set actions to his words; stroking back and forth, caressing her mind, drowning her in the rough desire that surged in her like a restless tide. Her hands, pressed flat against his muscled chest, picked up the heavy hammerbeat of his heart and transferred it to her own until they thudded heavily in tandem, matching pace and rhythm in a rough, thundering jolt.

Her hands slid down, across his shoulders and arms and then found their way to the small of his back where she began to tug firmly at his shirt, gathering it in her hands and yanking it free from where it was tucked into his pants. Pulling it upwards with her hands as she let them drift up along the tautly moving muscles of his back and shoulders, she reveled in finding the damp, smooth skin beneath, stroking her way along every inch of him she could discover.

Clark's hands moved higher, skimming up and onto the full mounds of her breasts, her top moving higher with them. He placed a soft, gentle kiss in the damp hollow between the firm, heavy mounds. He tugged the top forward, down along her arms until it was clear of her.

He took his time, making every motion of his hands count, lingering over the task, and by the time he had drawn the top from her wet skin and dropped it to lay in a heap on the tiles behind them, Lois was almost driven crazy with suspense.

She lay against the support of the tiled wall, her eyes closed, a high flush of color in her cheeks, water spilling over her throat and breasts as they rose and fell choppily, like the soft pants and gasps of breath in her throat.

Clark paused to watch her a moment, enthralled by her, and then took time to explore what he'd just uncovered. His hands moved softly, barely a whisper of a touch, against her skin. Electric flashes traveled up through the pads of his fingertips as he drew them gently across the long bones of her clavicles; down between her breasts, following the rivulets of water which trailed the quick rising slopes of her body and feeling the quiver of that soft flesh beneath their gliding touch as it came to rest against the low dipped edge of her bra.

The pink, lace-trimmed cotton was soaked through, turned near transparent against the skin it sheathed, and it hid nothing from his intense, burning gaze. Her nipples, risen with her excitement to hard, prodding nubs against the material, showed as dark shadows and he couldn't resist dipping his head to enclose one in his mouth, sucking it deep into the moist heat between his teeth through the wet cotton.

He heard Lois give a sharp whine and then her hands were in his hair, clenching tight in wet handfuls. Her lower body arched up against his, her shoulders pressing tight against the cold, slick tile behind her. Another soft sigh escaped her as she felt herself connect with the hard bulge in the front of his pants. She wriggled her hips, trying to press herself tighter still, rubbing up against him as she whimpered her pleasure into the moist and steamy air of the room.

Clark drew back slightly and let his tongue flick against the aroused bud in his mouth. Then, irritated all at once by the cotton barrier and filled with a quick, urgent need to taste her in his mouth, just her and nothing more, he twisted a sharp hand into the material and yanked it clear. Tossing it blindly to join the growing heap of clothing scattered on the tiles, he returned his attentions to the slick flesh of her breast, his suckling fierce and eager and making his wife writhe frantically beneath the motions of his mouth on her skin.

Her hand worked its way feverishly between their bodies and he caught at it without pausing in his pleasuring, guiding it to where his need for her throbbed hard and urgent against her palm. He led her in softly stroking against the thin material of his pants and then let her go obligingly as she tugged her hand free and set to work on the zipper of his fly.

Clark's mouth traveled, crossing to her other breast and working its arousing magic there as his hand lifted to caress the moist weight of the breast he'd just abandoned. The combined touch of his hands and mouth drove Lois to the peak of heat and fire that shimmered just beyond the range of her inner vision. Her hands became rougher with impatience before they managed to work loose his pants. A deep groan of satisfaction escaped her lips as she let her hand delve eagerly into the gap and beneath the band of his briefs to enclose the wonderfully thick and pulsing length of his arousal.

Clark groaned too and barely managed to prevent himself from biting down hard on the nipple in his mouth as he felt her fingers wrap around his erection.

"Oh......god......Lois......"

He lifted his head, his eyes dilated and glowing with desire. He broke her grip on him as he shifted away from her breasts, letting himself slip down the tautly held length of her body and onto his knees. His mouth searched out a route down across her stomach, where the firm muscles beneath their sheath of soft skin quivered and clenched beneath his lips. He paused momentarily to let his tongue delve deeply into the hollow of her navel and then moved on as she gasped out a soft breath, her hands moving restlessly against his hair.

Clark moved his hands to the zipper of her skirt and maneuvered it downwards. He pulled the skirt in the same direction a moment after, hooking his fingers into the waistband and the line of sheer taupe pantyhose beneath, working both slowly and relentlessly down across her silken thighs, his gaze intent on each new inch of her uncovered, until, finally, they landed in a soggy heap at her feet. His hands enclosed her ankles, spread themselves to caress the curves of her calves and then splayed themselves against her thighs and onward to cup at the firm curves of her bottom.

Lois sighed, a wavering sough of air as his hands caressed her.

Clark shifted again, letting one hand take her weight as he lifted her gently an inch or so, enough to enable him to take hold of the abandoned clothes with his free hand and drop them carelessly over the side of the tub, where they joined their companions. He made short work of removing her shoes and let them follow. Then he let her down again, his hands returning to their soft stroking of her inner thighs.

Reflexively, under the encouragement of that steady caress, her legs parted and his hands pushed her a little wider still, bracing her gently. He set his lips lightly against the hollow at the side of her left knee and then burrowed his way into the soft flesh of her thigh. He heard her moan as his mouth tasted her through the cotton barrier at the juncture between them. He teased her a little, letting his tongue probe her through the cotton; trail lingeringly over the heated, swollen lips at the deep cleft beneath; pause to press small whorls and ripples of pleasure against the sensitive nub among her soft folds. The scents of her were intoxicating. Then, reluctantly withdrawing, breathing slightly harder now, he hooked the fingers of one hand into the edge of the panties and pulled them to one side to enable him to taste her completely.

Lois jerked in his hands as he drove his tongue like a spear into her damp, hot core and her whimpers became the frantic, breathless cries of encouragement and pleasure that he'd become used to hearing from her. That he'd become eager to hear. Sounds of delight and desire that he just couldn't seem to get enough of. He probed deeper, tasting her slick folds.

Lois was clutching at his shoulders now for balance, her fingers kneading at his sodden shirt in rhythm with his strokes within her. He felt her shudder convulsively. He switched his attentions to darting the tip of his tongue over the sensitive little nub within her folds, swollen with her arousal. He slipped a finger inside her, then two and stroked her again, reveling in the feel of the muscles surrounding him, clenching and rippling, pulling him in deeper as she came, her hips working restlessly and urgently against his invading touch and her soft, gasping cries echoing in the bathroom's damp air.

When she was fully spent, he withdrew his fingers gently and placed a small kiss high up on the inside of her thigh before he eased the crotch of her panties back into place and then removed them gently. He cupped a hand lightly against the mound of her sex as he rose to his feet, feeling her heat against his palm. He turned his hand and a small spasm of aftershock ran through her with his touch as he rubbed the backs of his knuckles gently back and forth between her legs. She lifted her arms, wrapping them around his neck and meeting his lips as he gathered her close with one arm entwined around her waist and bent his head to kiss her.

A sudden, heavy thump from downstairs froze them both in place. Clark lifted his head as Lois looked at him in query. He placed a light finger against the moist heat of her lips. He turned his head slightly, glancing downwards as the thud came again.

"It's just the kitchen window," he advised, letting her go. "We must have forgotten to close it. Stay here. I'll go latch it."

Still, he lingered a moment, tracing the bow of her lips with that finger and then leaning in to press his lips lightly to hers, before he was gone.

Lois shivered a little as he stepped out of the tub, feeling the cool chill of the surrounding air as his body left hers alone. Halfway across the bathroom's tiled floor, Clark paused and then bent quickly to yank off shoes and socks as he began to squelch in them. Uncomfortable in his sodden shirt, he quickly unbuttoned it too and dropped it to join the growing heap of wet clothing. Wearing only his pants, he disappeared into the bedroom. Lois closed her eyes, tilting back her head to let the stream of now pleasant, cooling water cascade over her face.

Considering how thoroughly and expertly she'd just been pleasured, and just how hot her husband's hands and mouth had made her, Lois was surprised she didn't produce clouds of steam when the water hit her skin. She giggled under her breath and gave herself over to enjoying her unexpected shower. She wished she had some of that lavender soap that Martha had given her. The thought reminded her of her ally in adventure, out on the terrace, and she smiled, letting her hands drift across her full curves, the swell of her belly and over her hips and then down into the tangled nest of dark curls between her thighs. A fresh jolt of arousal speared through her as she gently brushed against the still swollen, still roused core of her womanhood and she shifted her hand clear with a sigh, straightening to push her hands up along the line of her throat and up into her hair.

Coming back into the bathroom, Clark stopped dead at the erotic sight of her, naked and glistening, her hands entangled in her hair as she pulled its heavy, waterlogged weight away from her face. The pose arched her back deeply, stretched her arms taut, pushing her breasts, still flushed with a deep rose tinge from their earlier stimulation, up and out into deliciously ripe and heavy curves. Clark's eyes watched the water trail its way down across those perfect, pink globes and the dark aureoles surrounding the hardened nubs at their tips; trail small streams and gullies across her stomach and glisten like teardrops in the dark curls between her legs. Unconsciously, he licked at suddenly dry lips.

Instinctively aware of his gaze all at once, Lois had opened her eyes and was watching him with a small smile from out of a heavy lidded and smoky gaze that promised him the world. Or her. The two were indistinguishable in his mind. She was everything of the world to him. And all he desired in it.

"Hey, lover," his wife said throatily. She drew her hands down across the full mounds of her breasts in a seductive glide, her eyes fixed on him all the while, and then let them drift firmly across the taut, firm plane of her stomach and onto her thighs. "See anything worth having?"

A low rumble from deep in her husband's chest was her only reply as he yanked hard at his pants, tugging them from him in a hasty fumble. Lois laughed, low in her throat, a wicked, salacious purr, as he briefly got himself entangled in his haste, before he was able to kick himself free. Lois let herself drop to her knees, propping her hands against the rim of the tub, water cascading across her shoulders and back as she watched him with appreciative eyes. Dropping the sodden pants and his briefs to the tiles, he grinned at her, triumphant, as he strode back for the bath.

Lois watched his approach, breath catching hard in her throat as her eyes feasted on the lean, firmly sculpted body, the tight, rock-hard muscles clenched across his flat belly, and ran down into the thick mat of coarse curls that surrounded the already rigid, thrusting length of his arousal. He was beautiful. Magnificent. As her eyes continued to devour him, a thought struck her suddenly. It caught her unawares and surprised her into a fit of giggles.

Clark's forward march faltered. He stopped, glanced down at himself and then came back to her face, a quirk of a smile twitching at his lips as he regarded her quizzically. "What?"

Lois shook her head. It occurred to her, through her helpless giggling, that in similar circumstances, with any other man, she would undoubtedly now be facing a wounded male ego and an angry, hurt and completely deflated lover. Clark wasn't deflated, she thought admiringly, giving him another glance. Not at all. Her awe-struck admiration of him deepened at this evidence of his total confidence in her love for him, and his complete lack of ego in the bedroom at all. Or anywhere else for that matter.

He was still watching her, smiling broadly now, curious to share the joke, and she shook her head, waving a hand in the vague direction of the hard, aroused member spearing the air between them.

"N-nothing," she hitched out between laughter and then, getting herself a little under control, "It's just......it just occurred to me that I've never seen......it......" she grinned, "him......um......you know......" she faltered for a moment, looking slightly discomfited, and then blurted, "limp."

"Limp?" Clark glanced down again and then raised his head. "You mean ---- ?"

Lois shook hers, solemnly. "Uh-uh. Not ever."

"Well," he thought about it, frowning slightly. "You must have. I mean," he blushed slightly, "I know......'he's been pretty......rampant these past two weeks, but he's not been......" he made an indeterminate gesture in the direction of his groin, "twenty four hours a day! Trust me. What about......well, you've caught me in the shower a couple of times......even when we weren't making love."

"Um......nope. He was pretty much up and at 'em then too." She regarded him with mischievous eyes. "Which only goes to prove what *you* think about in the shower."

"I think about you in the shower," he said, grinning back at her. He grimaced. "In fact, I think about you a lot. *Have* been thinking about you a lot. Even more than usual these past couple of weeks. And most *especially* since you showed me just what I've been missing all these years. Which probably explains -- " he gestured that hand ruefully again, brushing along the length of the air just a few inches above his obvious and burgeoning arousal.

"Um......" Lois agreed, tugging her lower lip between her teeth as she stifled another surge of giggles. "So......" She leaned against the edge of the bathtub on folded arms, cradled her chin in one palm and eyed him inquisitively. "Just what *does* it take to make you......ahem - less developed?"

"Well......I don't really know. These past two weeks......I guess......three or four times seems to do it. He doesn't really seem to wear himself out till then."

Lois' teasing expression froze. "Three or......four......" Her face matched the impressed tone in her voice all at once. She straightened. "Are you saying that you have to.........make love with me......at *least* four times before you're......satisfied?"

"Seems like it." He grinned slowly at her. "I guess, by that point, I've - " he glanced downward, "*We've* pretty much worn you out, huh? Which explains why you've never noticed - "

"Worn me *out*?" Lois interrupted indignantly and, as he eyed her, carefully innocent, "You have *never* worn me out, Clark Kent! I can keep up with you, any time you like. Just you try me!"

"Oh, believe me, I intend to," Clark told her with another cat got the canary grin. "Any time," he added smoothly. "Also, anywhere......anyplace ......anyhow......"

Lois blinked and then flushed prettily as she looked disconcerted. He chuckled softly. She looked away, fiddled at her wet hair and then looked back at him, with a small smile. "Four times, huh?" she said, sounding slightly awed now and then, her expression changing abruptly to one of anxiety, "Does that mean if we don't make love all those times you don't......I mean you aren't -- "

Clark frowned and then, as his puzzled expression cleared. "Oh, hey, no!" he denied, correctly assessing her concerns after a moment of thinking about it. "I always enjoy being with you, Lois. You know that. I always enjoy what we're doing. Every time. You make me happy, honey. Course you do. It doesn't matter if we make love once or......or a dozen times! It's just that he.........um......" He scratched his index finger against his temple, a gesture she recognized as a modest dismissal of something he knew made him different from other men and yet was out of his control and therefore really unworthy of comment. He shrugged. "......keeps some in reserve, I guess. Well......just like you."

"Me?" She looked startled by the comparison.

"Well, sure. If we make love once, and you, you know......" he fumbled for a moment and then burgeoned on, quickly, "......you're satisfied, aren't you?"

A soft smile spread its way across Lois' lips, almost all on its own, and an answering glow lightened in her eyes with it. "Sure......every time."

"Well then. But......even though you *are*......satisfied......if - when - we give it another try, you've still got the energy......the......*desire*......to do that, haven't you?"

She grinned at him. "Every time."

"Well, there you go. It's the same thing. He......just likes to be ready for you, that's all. In case you get......" he cleared his throat a little, "......frisky......again."

"Frisky! Hey, wait a minute - "

Clark chuckled at this predictable response to his teasing and then hitched a brow at her. "You *don't* get frisky?"

"I am not a cat, Clark Kent! And, besides, I seem to remember you getting plenty 'frisky' yourself!" She frowned. "So, what happens if we don't make love three or four times," she asked, somewhat curiously. "I mean, you know, sometimes we haven't. If I'm asleep or......whatever......if I can't......accommodate him......do you......uh, does he......"

"Oh, I just try and think cool thoughts. Mostly, I think about Perry."

Lois blinked. "Huh?"

"Yeah, you know - that time he wore that Madame Bolovski costume. That's a real turnoff. Or, I fake a big emergency or wait till you're asleep and go visit Alaska. Or - "

"Clark?"

"Yeah?"

"I think you answered that question enough."

"Oh."

"You really think about Perry?" Lois added, after a moment's silence.

He grinned. "No, not really."

"Oh. Good."

"Um......" Clark paused and then gave her a suddenly pitiful look. "Lois?"

"Hmmmmm?"

"I'd really *like* to......get limp." He raised a brow at her, questioningly and she laughed.

"Come to Mama, baby," she crooned, stretching out her arms.

He grinned and moved the few yards between them. He let himself fall to his knees, his eyes looking deep into hers for an instant before he dipped his head and took her lips with his own.

Maintaining his hold, deepening his kiss, he pulled them both to their feet. He slipped his hands down the sides of her throat and onto her shoulders, where they kneaded briefly at the damp, smooth satin of her skin before dropping further to encircle her upper arms and tug her up hard against his chest. He reclaimed her lips, and lifted gently into the air, clearing the edge of the tub and then settling again once they were both inside and under the shower's warm spray.

Lois gasped as she felt the water wash over her and let her head fall back, closing her eyes as she let it stream over her face. Clark took advantage of the exposed length of her throat, placing his lips just beneath her upraised chin and gliding them down until they reached the hollow below.

His hands settled on her waist, spanning it and he raised her from her feet until her breasts were level with his face. He suckled on them lazily, alternating his attentions, as Lois wriggled and squirmed in his grip, gasping out small, mewling cries.

His body pushed her deeper against the wall, grinding her gently between his muscular length and the chill of the tiles. His hands slid up along the curves of her body and enclosed her wrists, then moved in a slow, tantalizing glide along her arms, lifting them as they went. He pushed them up over her head, until they were stretched above her, pinned by one large hand wrapped around her wrists, holding her in place as she submitted passively to this capture.

Lois moved her head, letting it drop to one side to give him greater access to the long, pale swan's curve of her throat. He kissed his way along her neck and shoulders and then came back to lap at the water streaming down across her throat and onto her breasts. Questing his way along her body, delighting in the way that her 'enforced' pose displayed her for him, stretching her, lengthening her body, pushing out every curve she possessed into tempting arcs and intriguing, mysterious hollows, which begged for exploration by warm hands and curious lips. A provocative, utterly feminine pose that had intrigued lovers and husbands throughout time.

His hot gaze traveled hungrily across those enticingly displayed curves and then rose swiftly to her face, to where her eyes were closed, her cheeks flushed with the rosy hue of desire, her lips trembling and slightly parted, moist and swollen from his earlier caresses, her breath shivering in her breast and pulsing at her throat and panting softly from between that sweet, red bow as she anticipated more of his touch on her.

Clark growled softly and pressed himself firmly up against her, his free hand, which had dropped possessively onto her breast as he'd devoured her with his eyes, molding the smooth, wet and glistening flesh between his fingers before they moved upward to join the hand which held her pinned. Stretched with her, their bodies matching touch to touch at a hundred different points of contact, his new position melded him to her as though they were one. His lips held mere inches from hers, close enough that their breath mingled in soft, rapid pants. The barreled ridge of muscle across his chest pushed her breasts tight against him, his hips jammed deep into the cradle of hers between her slightly parted thighs. He rubbed tantalizing jolts of pleasure through her as he slid the length of his body across hers, bracing himself with his feet against the far edge of the tub behind them - a move which angled him down deeply onto her.

Lois cried out, a soft, broken sound in the quiet air as she felt herself assaulted by the pleasurable sensations of having him move against her, firmly and rhythmically, until it seemed that there was no inch of her body that was free of the electric heat of his sensual motions against her.

She slid one leg up against the outside of his thigh, whimpering as she caressed the firm, roughly flexing muscles, damp skin moving slickly against damp skin, and then shifted, managing somehow to ease the leg between his instead and bringing it up until her knee nudged deep into his groin. She stroked back and forth between his legs from knee to belly and back, hearing his deep, appreciative groan against her ear as he continued to explore her with his mouth. Then, as the pressure against his throbbing shaft became unbearable, sweetening in the tight, throbbing bands of steel wrapped around his groin almost to the point of pain, he reached down with one hand to push her knee aside, spreading her again slightly to allow him to press back between her thighs.

Clark let go her wrists in favor of running his hands over her breasts, her flanks and hips, curving them across the slightly rounded swell of her stomach as she dropped her arms around his neck and gave herself over to the pleasure of being caressed by him. Clark turned his head, setting his lips lightly to the sensitive patch of skin at the inside of her elbow and then ran them up her arm to her shoulder as he continued to use his hands on her, heating her, teasing her, driving her into a frenzy of squirming and writhing against him, yet never drifting down to where she wanted him to be.

His lips trailed fire across the line of her throat, lapping at the drops of moisture resting like dew on her skin. Impatient now, Lois drew up her legs, wrapping them around his waist, rubbing herself up against the thick shaft pressed against her stomach, bracing herself tight against the wall behind her to push up with her hips and stroke deeply against the length of his erection.

A deep moan of arousal was her reward. "Oh......god......I want --- "

" -- to be inside you -- "

" - you inside me -- "

" -- so bad -- "

Their words overlapped in almost identical groans of frustration and need and Clark grinned as she giggled against his cheek.

He slid the palm of one hand down in a lazy glide across her stomach, feeling the delightful quiver of her muscles follow his path and then dipped down further to wrap his fingers around his throbbing, impatient arousal. Then, he paused.

Tense with anticipation, expecting to feel him fill her, Lois' eyes fluttered open again as he shifted, pulling back a little and releasing his hold on his aroused shaft to put his hands at her waist and lift her clear of where she was wrapped around him. She made no protest, acquiescing to him easily and only curious, as she let her legs drop. When she was standing on her own again, he put his hands against her shoulders and turned her gently until she was facing the wall. He kissed her against the side of her neck and set his lips to the sensitive hollow of her shoulder.

Lois felt a quiver of breathless anticipation roll through her as she became aware of his intentions and then, placing one hand against the small of her back and taking hold of his impatiently surging arousal again, he guided it into her smoothly. He heard her gasp softly as its questing tip entered her blindly and felt another soft shudder shiver in the soft, warm flesh that enclosed itself around his throbbing shaft as he slid smoothly forward and let it bury itself deeper within her velvet folds.

He paused, his breathing shallow and rapid with excitement now as he withdrew again until only the tip of him lay within her. He moved his hand in small circles, letting his shaft graze the swollen, heated outer lips of her vulva, making her whimper with pleasure and with frustration both. Lois laid her hands flat against the wall in front of her, gaining leverage to push back against him, forcing him inside her another inch or two. But the hand pressing at her back prevented her from gaining more ground.

And then, suddenly, it was gone. His hands shifted to her hips, pulling her back against him in the same moment that she drove happily backwards and with a groan that mingled with her high cry of pleasure, he allowed himself to be sheathed within her, let himself glide forward until their bodies melded and he filled her depths to the full.

He moved her steadily back and forth on the swollen, eager length of his shaft, using his grip on her hips to control the smooth rocking motions of their bodies for a time. Then, as excitement mounted in them and their movements became slightly more frenzied, he wrapped his arms tight around her waist, pinning her tightly against the point where they were joined.

Lois writhed frantically against the driving thrusts of him within her. As always, the experience was completely different, this position allowing him to enter her more deeply than he usually did, the blunt head of his erection bumping up against and rubbing heat into the wall of her cervix with each tight forward thrust until it almost drove her insane with pleasure.

Clark laid his forehead to the nape of her neck, his breath washing hot against the blades of her shoulders as he found his own pleasure in her depths.

Lois moaned as he kept her in place by one arm wrapped around her and let his free hand drift up to cup at her breast, pleasuring it with rough, rolling motions against his palm. His hips moved sweetly against her small circular gyrations, slow and steady and languid, hardly moving at all, as they let themselves drift into a rhythm that spilled its heat through them like a softly rolling wave, tumbling over and over, rushing upward and upon them, sweeping them into its warm, wet embrace and drowning them in its pleasurable heat.

Clark closed his eyes, feeling his groin tighten with a familiar, delicious pleasure as he thrust steadily back and forth between her thighs. Their orgasm came over them in gradual waves, slow and easy. Not a rushing peak into something wild and untamed, but a slow rise towards a series of slow shudders for Lois and a long, lengthy and liquid release for Clark as he poured himself into her. Spent, he let his cheek rest against his wife's damp shoulder, breathing hard as a long, low sigh of utter contentment escaped him. After a moment, he shifted a little to lay his lips in a soft caress to the side of her neck, damp with water from the shower and the heat of their exertions and heard her make a small sound of pleasure.

He lost himself in the moment, enjoying the lazy feel of himself still sheathed deep within her, spent and satisfied, the walls of her inner muscles clenching and squeezing softly still around him, milking him gently. Then he moved, just enough to float them away from the wall and into air. He felt her clench reflexively tight around him as he adjusted their position until they were horizontal, ensuring he didn't slip from within her. He pushed the switch against the wall, cutting off the shower in mid stream and then let them drift downward, until he felt the warmth of the small amount of water which had collected in the bottom of the tub caress his naked back and buttocks.

Settling himself fully into the bathtub he relaxed. He laid his head back against the rim, enjoying the weight of Lois against his chest and stomach. His arm still lay lazily around her waist, his hand still held the tempting weight of her breast, molded against his palm. He let his fingers take in the stiffened bud of her nipple, tugging at it lightly.

Lois laid her head back against his shoulder with a low sigh, wiggling slightly as she made herself more comfortable. A move which nudged the firm globes of her buttocks into his groin and tantalized the length of his shaft, still rooted deep within her. She hooked her ankles over his and, intrigued by the view of her body stretched out along his as he peered over her shoulder, he let the arm around her waist shift, his hand gliding over the smooth skin of her belly and down to skim across her wet curls. He cupped the hand between her thighs and squeezed gently. Lois moaned lightly and turned her head to receive his kiss before nestling her cheek against the side of his throat.

As the pungent, musky scent of spent arousal permeated the moist, muggy air of the bathroom, sprawled easily against her husband's muscular thighs, Lois shifted, staring up at the lazy swirls of steam that rose toward the ceiling above her. She sighed, easing herself back tighter against his chest, feeling his hand move in slow, languid circles over her breast and across her ribs as he bent his head to kiss at the dip of her shoulder. She closed her eyes.

"You know what?"

"What?"

"I think the plumbing works just fine."

Clark chuckled and pressed down deeper against the cleft of her sex, briefly letting one long finger glide into her moist heat before withdrawing. His hips nudged upward slightly, reminding her that he was still held deep within her.

"I think everything works......just fine......" he agreed, nuzzling at her ear a little and then kissing her against her cheek.

He lifted his head to watch as he smoothed a palm across the roughened nub of her breast, his eyes darkening as he felt the twitch of her skin beneath his. God, she was so beautiful. So perfect. He could never get enough of her. Not if he was with her a thousand years.

A thousand years......

A rough chill skittered its way down through his spine.

Like a goose, walking over his grave.

Lois squirmed a little in his lap and, realizing that she was becoming uncomfortable, he aided her in easing around, letting himself slip smoothly from her and rearranging her until she was snuggled snugly up against his chest, half draped across him in the narrow confines of the tub. She hooked one leg casually across his as she ran a soft finger in circles across his chest and then let her hand fall to rest, almost possessively, atop the newly stiffened length of his shaft.

Clark's hand rested itself lightly against her hair. After a moment, Lois looked up into his face, sensing that he'd withdrawn from her slightly.

"Penny for them?" she asked softly, noting the faraway cast that had overtaken his features.

He smiled at her, somewhat wanly. "Not worth it."

"Well, then I'll take them for free. Clark?" she said, as he stayed silent, his hand continuing its soft glide through her hair.

Clark shook his head a little. He hadn't meant to let his thoughts overwhelm him and he certainly hadn't intended that she should pick up on the sudden darkening of his mood. They had settled this, earlier, and he had taken pains to reassure her. He wasn't about to undo all of his hard work and have her fretting again on what couldn't be changed by either of them.

He started a little as Lois hitched herself a touch higher against his chest, her hand resting lightly at his cheek as she set herself doggedly to warring against the familiar, stubborn cast that had taken hold of his face. "Clark? I'm not made of glass. You don't have to protect me all the time. No secrets. Remember? We promised. If there's something bothering you, I want to know about it. We can sort it out, together. If you just let me in."

Clark looked down into his wife's concerned brown eyes and sighed. "It's nothing. Really." Lois arched a brow at him and he sighed again. "It was just......I was thinking," he said softly, so low she had to strain to hear the words. "I was thinking about what my life would be like without you. What I would do if you weren't here with me."

Troubled now, Lois turned a little in his arms, her hands resting on his shoulders to view him more closely.

"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere," she said. Her eyes searched his. "What brought that on?"

"Nothing, I guess." He shrugged. "Well......I guess......everything that's happened to us these past few days. The way you were obsessing over what Doctor Klein told you. About my metabolism." His gaze traveled back from where he'd taken himself - into some far distant, bleak future - and focused on her all at once. "It wasn't true. What you said."

"About?" she said gently.

"About us having a wonderful life......and me having another when you were......" he didn't finish and she saw a flicker of pain cross his face before he shook his head, reached to tug her against his shoulder and bury his face against her neck, as though needing the reassurance of holding her in his arms.

"How could I?" he whispered against her hair. "How could I go on without you, Lois? No one else could ever come close to comparing to you. The thought of losing you......it scares me so bad, I can't even think about it. Living on without you......"

His grip tightened again, almost becoming painful; but not as painful as the tug against her heart.

"......it'd be like living without air. I told Zara you were my heart. And I meant it. No man can live without a heart, Lois. How could I live without you here?" He pulled her hand to rest against his chest. "Inside me?"

"Oh, Clark!" She twisted out of his grip, kneeling between his thighs as she put her hands up to frame his face. She was crying, he saw to his dismay, tears rolling down her cheeks and glistening in the mournful pools of her deep, dark eyes. He lifted her hands away, held them firm as he kissed each palm fiercely and then put his hand against the nape of her neck to draw her lips against his own.

"Honey, it'll be okay," he gave her all the assurance he could offer. He brushed at her cheek. "You know, we've beaten tougher odds than this. We can find a way to beat this too."

But she shook her head. "I didn't think......how this affects you! I was just so......" her face twisted with self-loathing and guilt and a deep, welling hurt, as she sobbed, "When Klein told me......I just kept thinking about me. I never thought about how it would be so much worse for you. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! How could I - ?"

"Sweetheart," he drew her against his shoulder, enclosing her in his warm embrace as she wept fitfully against his skin. "It will be okay," he murmured a reiteration, nuzzling his lips up against her hair as he comforted her and his tone left no room for fate to gainsay him in that.

They had gone through so much together, faced so many obstacles to their love. Fate had been cruel and yet had blessed them with so much, had tried to keep them apart and yet given them both what they had longed for for so long. And, now that he had what he had always wanted, now that he was joined irrevocably to this woman, fragile and human and vulnerable, in his arms, nothing was going to come between them. Nothing was going to separate them again. He vowed that silently as he murmured soothingly against his wife's ear and stroked his hands in comforting circles against her skin, screaming out a silent challenge to whatever fate might throw against them.

"I won't let you go, baby," he whispered. "I won't ever let you go. Not if I live ten years or a thousand."

She lifted her head, her eyes gazing deep into his own. "Oh, Clark......" she said, softly. She looked as though she might cry again.

He smiled and then grew solemn again as he looked down and reached to lift one of her hands in his. He entwined his fingers in hers and raised their joined hands into the air between them, where she could see clearly the soft, butter glow of gold.

"A neverending circle," he said, tracing a finger across her wedding band. "Eternity. When I put this ring on your finger, I didn't promise anything less than that."

Lois dropped her eyes to the gold band gracing her finger and then looked back to hold his warm, mocha gaze with her own. "Eternity," she echoed and her voice filled the air between them with the weight of a solemn oath. Just as his had.

Clark drew her close, setting their hands against his chest, pinned between their bodies; their fingers entwining tight around gold and the bond of their hearts and he felt suddenly, curiously free of the doubts that had plagued him, knowing somehow that it *would* come out right for them. That neither of them would have to face life without the other again.

He nuzzled closer against the warm body held against him and felt her snuggle into his grasp. And as he lay there, holding on tight to the one person in the world who made his life a human experience, who gave him a sense of identity like none he'd ever known before and who he loved with a strength of will and passion beyond time and life and even death itself, he realized just what it was that was giving him that sure sense of trust in the future and faith in their ability to survive it.

He blinked.

"I can feel it changing. Inside me," he said quietly, a touch of wonder in his voice, and Lois drew back, puzzled.

"Changing?" Her eyes were a little afraid. "What's changing? Clark?" She let her gaze take in all of him, as though looking for something visible that might give her a clue to what he meant. "Did that machine do something to you after all? Something more than Klein -- "

"No......" He laughed suddenly, delighted, and then put a reassuring hand to her cheek as she looked back at him, troubled and confused. "No, it's me. It's me, Lois. I'm the one who's doing it."

She shook her head slowly. "I don't - "

"I know. I know......it's okay. It's okay, honey." He held her tightly by the arms and she stilled, sensing the importance of what was driving him suddenly, intent on him as he went on, eyes shining into hers.

"Lois, you know how easy it is for me to adjust my metabolism. I do it every day. My body's invulnerable. But my will's stronger even than that. Think about it! If I can change the responses of my body to external stimuli just by thinking about it, by imposing my will on its biological matrix, if I can reduce the sum total of everything that I am to its component atoms, then why can't I work on something more fundamental than that? Why can't I change the pulse of life itself? Change the flow of it as it passes through me?" His grip tightened convulsively as his voice dropped to a hush. "Slow it down......stop the clock ticking......"

Lois frowned and then, uncertainly, as her eyes widened a touch, "Are you saying - ?"

"I'm *saying*, eternity lasts as long as the heart beats. We're going to have that eternity, Lois. Together. You and me. I can make that choice for us. And I have. I won't lose you. Besides," he lightened his tone a little, seeing how disconcerted his words were making her, as she realized the enormity of the sacrifice he was proposing to make for her, "H.G. Wells said we founded a dynasty together. Together, Lois. He didn't say anything about me going it alone."

"But - no." She straightened sharply, shaking her head. "No, I won't let you do it. Clark, you can't, you just can't - "

"Already done," he said. He took a deep breath, his eyes lit up from within, so bright, so excited, that he began to scare Lois badly. "It's......so amazing, Lois. I wish you could feel it. It's like......like electricity......I can actually see the flow......if I think on it real hard......like fireflies......" his voice had turned dreamy, inward focused and Lois put up a quick hand to his cheek.

"Clark - "

"I did it," he said.

"Well......undo it!" Lois demanded, waving a sharp hand over his torso with the command and, ignoring him as he blinked, looking a little disorientated and startled by that, her eyes flashing fierce fire at him, overtaken only by her tone, "Stop it! I won't let you sacrifice yourself for me, Clark Kent. I won't let you shorten your life for me! Do you understand? I won't have it!"

"Hey, whose body are we talking about here?" Clark said, unfazed by her objections. "Besides, I don't think it is a sacrifice. It's just an......adjustment." He smiled as he brushed the back of his hand against her cheekbone. "It's the one, last way I have to get into sync with you, match myself to your rhythms." He dropped the hand, let it caress her breast lightly. "Everything else is taken care of."

Lois stared at him. "Clark, Metropolis needs you too. The rest of the world needs you. You can't just abandon them. You can't - "

He interrupted this new objection by shifting to gather her against his chest, wrapping her tight. He laid his chin against her hair. "The world can look out for itself. Besides, they'll do okay. We're going to grow old together, Lois," he told her firmly. "We're going to have a long and happy life and live to a ripe old age." He smiled slightly. "We're going to have a whole tribe of little superheroes who can take over the mantle, follow in Dad's footsteps......" the smile widened to a grin. "And Mom's. And all of them will be as beautiful and talented as she is and - "

" - as handsome and sweet and generous as their father," Lois finished, unable to prevent her own smile. She let it fade as she looked into his eyes, solemn and tender. "And how will *they* do without you? When I'm gone?"

She put a quick finger to his lips as he made to answer and she noted, with a small satisfaction which broke her heart even as it felt so right to her, that his eyes held just a touch of reservation now, just a hint of uncertainty, where there had been none previously. "They *will* need you. You know they will. I want you to stop what you're doing, Clark. I want you to let our lives unfold as they will. Just as the cards fall." A small flicker of a smile traced her lips. "Even if you are lousy at poker."

"Lois - "

"Please." She pressed tighter against his mouth. "Please, Clark. Let it go. All you've ever wanted, all your life, was to be normal. Just a regular guy. With a wife and family. A career. Give yourself that. Give *me* that. Please......"

He looked back at her for a long moment, lips tightening stubbornly beneath the touch of her fingers and then he sighed. "Okay," he said and then, with a hint of that stubbornness intact still, "I still think it was a pretty neat idea though."

Lois didn't deign to venture an opinion on that. She watched him intently, as though expecting something spectacular to happen. After a moment, she raised a brow. "Well?"

"What?"

"Go ahead. Do it."

"I did do it."

"Clark - "

"Lo-is. What did you expect? Fireworks? It's done. Okay? I swear," he held up a solemn hand with the oath. "On the life of our first born. Everything back to normal. Just a regular Joe." He grinned.

She gave him a suspicious glance, then softened. "Well......okay. And you won't think of doing it again......right? Not ever. No matter what."

"I promise."

"On the life of our second born?" she suggested, somewhat mischievously and he rolled his eyes.

"I wouldn't go with that as a long term criteria, Lois," he told her dryly. "Unless you want to go for a *very* big brood of little Kents, we could run out of future kids to swear by before we run out of promises you want me to make."

Lois chuckled softly. She relaxed against him, crisis over. "So......" she said thoughtfully after a moment as she let her finger trail his shoulder idly. "You want a brood of kids then? And all of them with superpowers. A gaggle of Supermen and Ultrawomen." She grinned. "Can Metropolis cope?"

He nodded, pleased with the bright vision of the future they'd just built between them. Then, he sobered. "Well......" he reconsidered. "So long as none of them inherit their Mom's babble gene, we should be okay."

"Babble - !"

He began laughing helplessly as his lithe, athletic little wife pounced on him, incensed; laughter which choked in his throat as she retaliated with a wicked and completely undeserved sneak attack on one of his few ticklish spots, recently discovered and mercilessly exploited at all and every opportunity since it had been.

Laughing uncontrollably now and defenseless against her, he wrestled with her until he had her subdued, panting and pinned tight against his chest, and then kissed her until she gave up the fight and melted into his arms. She always did that rather well, he thought, with a small grin. Though she always bitterly complained against it as a battle tactic.

She'd begun to shiver, he noticed. The water was beginning to develop a decidedly cool taint. Clark gathered her up in his arms and stood, letting himself float slightly as he left the bath. Setting her on her feet on the tiled floor, he put a soft hand beneath her chin and lifted it until he could smile into her eyes.

"Close your eyes."

She looked at him questioningly, but did as he suggested. She quivered, reflexively, as she felt a warm breeze envelop her, starting at her feet and moving inch by slow inch up along her body, growing warmer as it went. In a matter of moments she was dry, only her hair slightly damp. Clark, she recalled with an inner smile, maintained stoutly that superheated breath would play havoc with her hair if used on it too harshly. He always left it slightly damp, maintaining its natural oils.

She opened her eyes and caught him in the middle of a blurring spin. When he came to a halt, he too was mostly dry. And dressed in dry clothes.

"Showoff," she told him and then relented when he handed her her own clothes, still warm from the effects of his heat vision. She dressed quickly, brushing back her hair from her cheek as she stepped into her skirt, drawing it up around her waist with an enticing little wiggle of her hips that set her husband's heart to racing before she finished zipping it. Clark stepped around behind her, his fingers moving across her back like a caress as he buttoned up her vest top. His hands settled warmly against her shoulders as he finished the last of them, and she felt him nuzzle at the nape of her neck.

"I guess we should get those keys back to the realtor," he said. "It's getting late."

Lois turned to hitch her arms around his neck, looking up at him with lips thrust out into a faint pout. "Oh, he can wait," she said decisively, conveniently forgetting her earlier insistence that they should be careful of their time. "We can post them through the door of his office, later. Or leave them till the morning. We're not finished checking things out yet."

He frowned. "Well, I don't think there's much more to see, honey," he said doubtfully. He lifted his head to look around the room, which had begun to darken with the onset of dusk. "Unless you want to start measuring. We could do that now, I guess, if you really - "

"Mmmmm-hmmmmm." She nodded an interruption. "That's what I want. Measuring......checking things for size......" She bumped her hip against his a little and then winked as he looked startled.

She gave him one of her looks. The one that always made him instantly suspicious and didn't help settle his nerves any now.

"How many rooms *are* there in this house anyway?"

"Well, you've seen *all* the rooms, Lois."

"Yes, but how many are there?"

"Well, not counting closets, there's the living room, the kitchen......I suppose you could count the bathroom in here as a room on its own...... Then, there's the - " he gave up his thoughtful count abruptly as he got wind of the reason behind her query.

"And we've got a closet downstairs to explore too," she added, stepping back, taking his hand and pulling him with her into the bedroom. "And there are those kitchen cabinets and the windowledges. You know, I don't think we really gave them as thorough a test as we need to. Maybe we should just double check. Just to be on the safe side."

"The cabinets? The windowledges?"

"Well, after all, sweetheart," she swayed close, coming up on her toes to plant a quick kiss against his lips at the same time as she drew a soft hand firmly across the front of his pants. "A certain someone still needs the chance to get......limp." She grinned at him and whispered against his ear, "Two down......at least two to go."

And then she was gone, leaving him standing, slightly open-mouthed and glaze eyed, in her wake.

He blinked, looking slightly flustered now. "But......honey - " he trailed off as he realized he was on his own. He heard her scamper down the stairs, heading for the kitchen. "Wait a minute! Lois? You're not thinking - ? Not in *every* room?! Lois? Honey?"

His only answer was his wife's retreating giggle.

Fini. (c) LabRat - September 1998.

With thanks to Ladybiker - who proofs faster than a speeding bullet and produces less casualties.