London
11:16 p.m.
On this special occasion, the sweet evening night air seemed to hold just a touch of extra warmth in it for all of the loving couples around the world. Every pair had their own love story to tell, each unique and different from all the others in their own specific way. Yet, there was one particular couple whose journeys and adventures were always a little more unusual than any others in the universe.
Blessedly uneventful, this Valentine's Day evening had almost been akin to a night out of a storybook fairytale for Kal-El of Krypton and Diana of Themyscira. Their celebration dinner had been filled with a lightness which they were so rarely able to enjoy in their lives. The two of them ate a meal in a restaurant situated on the highest hill in the city, shared intimate secrets which they'd never told another living soul, and slipped away into the sky holding hands as they floated covertly among the clouds.
It had been the kind of evening which completely served to fan the flames of their barely restrained passion and undying love. Kal and Diana had always missed one another terribly when they were apart, often leaving both of them feeling like they hadn't seen each other in weeks when in truth only a few days had passed. Lately, their feelings had once again intensified. The affection between them was growing and deepening exponentially. Neither of them wanted to admit it, but they were getting to the point that they simply couldn't stand to be apart anymore. They were even considering ending their rule of not becoming involved in most of each other's battles, which both of them had known was a separation which never should have existed between them in the first place.
Returning to their home in the city instead of retiring to the fortress for the night had been a monumental mistake, and Kal and Diana both realized it at the instant they neared the door of their London apartment. They had recently started to think of both of their apartments as belonging to both of them, since both places were filled with belongings of the other and they were rarely at one apartment without the other being there anymore. The spiritual warmth and emotional closeness which had been building to a controlled fever pitch all through the evening longed for physical expression. They weren't going to be able to keep their hands off of each other on this Valentine's Day evening, and this was going to be a problem.
Well, every couple has their relationship difficulties. Kal and Diana's were simply more … unique … than most, okay, virtually all, other couples in the world.
Their wonderful Valentine's night problem began as soon as Diana pulled out her key and stepped in front of Kal to unlock the door.
"Home, sweet home," Diana whispered quietly as she looked up into the eyes she adored so dearly, gazing very much the same way she had done on the night of their first kiss.
Unable to resist her allure a moment longer, Kal moved up behind Diana and slipped his massive arms around her to draw her back against him in the precise way he knew that she loved. His massive arms enveloped her lovingly as her left hand held him tighter against her while her right hand extended the door key. Kal leaned down to sweetly nuzzle her neck as he smiled against her skin.
"Princess, sweet Princess, " he whispered huskily into her ear.
Even after all this time, Diana still couldn't believe the way that only this man could make her feel. She was without a doubt the most prominent and prolific female warrior in the universe, leader of the race of the Amazons, and the most notable woman icon in the eyes of the entire world. Yet, this man could make her stomach twist with butterflies when he touched her like this. An almost silly smile spread across her face as she embraced the joy of being with him.
Then, Kal brushed his lips lightly over one of the sweet spots for him they had found on the skin under her ears, and the playful smile immediately slipped from her face, now replaced by a passionate scowl of undeniable desire. At the instant that his lips touched her, she was again as always reminded that for all the length of millennia that she and Kal would exist together in the physical realm of creation, she would never ever get enough of it. They would always come back to this. Her lips fell open as she breathed a deep gasp.
"Prince, sweet Prince," she whispered.
Reaching her right hand up over her shoulder, Diana took hold of the back of Kal's neck to draw him to her for a lovingly searing kiss. Diana often felt that she was not good with words, so she let her actions speak for her. She kissed him passionately, opening her lips and slipping past his own to deepen their embrace, needing him to know just how deeply she felt for him.
Kal responded in kind, pulling her lithe body even more tightly against his muscular frame, eliciting a breathy moan from Diana which was pure music to his ears. Once, in the midst of a heated battle against evil forces, he had foolishly told her that he didn't need her love. Now, in this moment, he wondered how he could possibly have ever thought he could live a single second without her.
The warm tingling Kal sent through her had livened her body and completely disrupted Diana's motor skills, and she now had no hope of getting the key into the door lock. As her flailing hand tried to connect, she missed, and just lightly bumped the edge of the door.
It snapped open instantly with a dull crack, the locking mechanism now shattered and the door frame almost torn completely out of the wall.
Lost in the bliss of pleasuring Diana, Kal wasted no time in taking advantage of the situation. Pushing Diana forward, he slipped them past the broken door and into their apartment. Completely in sync with him, Diana moved backward and laid her back against the door to close it behind them. Turning Kal around in her arms, she let her body float upward to wrap her long legs around Kal's waist while she tangled her slender fingers in his hair to draw him back to her for another blisteringly hot kiss.
As gently as he could manage in his present condition, Kal laid Diana against the door to help close it. He tried to be careful.
The door gave way, leaving a long vertical crack running all the way from top to bottom.
Herein lay the crux of one of their most unique relationship problems.
Ever since his youth, Kal-El of Krypton had spent a lifetime of honing and maintaining a zen like control of his strength, powers and abilities. He had nearly mastered this forced control. Then, Diana had come into his life, and everything had changed for him in the most wonderful way.
Having been raised as a warrior, Diana of Themyscira had long ago resigned herself to celibacy. As she had grown older, it had seemed that there would never be a man in existence strong enough to be with her. Then, she had met Kal-El, and her world had opened up in a way in which she had only ever dreamed. With Kal in her life, she began to imagine being able to experience the joys of romance, intimacy and perhaps even a family someday.
Both of them had only discovered intimacy for the first time with one another, having never even dared to truly touch another person, and as with virtually all couples with new love, they simply couldn't get enough of each other. Although the two of them had been together for a while now, the honeymoon phase of their relationship only seemed to continue to intensify and escalate, and as yet unbeknownst to Kal and Diana, it would do so for all time.
Only with Diana could Kal find the freedom to lower his control and finally be able to truly and completely feel. With each other, they had been able to experience true emotional, physical and spiritual joy. Kal allowed Diana to experience her every fantasy, even her most hidden inner desires. Despite their tremendous virtue, it was understandably hard to restrain themselves when they were together.
They had learned to manage things as best they could when they were at their apartments. They would make love slowly, sweetly and tenderly, only just barely moving their bodies after they were joined. This kept their concussive forces in check, and these times were indeed immensely satisfying, but they were again reminded of the control forced upon them by their abilities. There was only one place in the world where they could be free together.
"Kal," Diana breathed out in a sexy moan as she felt him draw his lips from her own and start to suckle along the side of her neck. "We should … We should have gone … to the fortress."
"I don't think … we're going to make it," he whispered in between kisses, smiling against her skin.
"Shower, Kal," she managed as she felt him slowly robbing her of her power of speech. "Shower."
Still kissing passionately, Kal and Diana began to float through the air, slowly spinning around and around as they hovered a few inches above the floor. They drifted through the rooms until they reached their bedroom. They looked every bit the part of a fairytale couple.
Floating past the bottom of their bed, the two of them quickly made short work of the offensive clothing which dared to try to keep them apart. In a second, his inexpensive suit was left in tatters on the floor with the shreds of her lovely evening gown lying on top of it. Making their way out of the uniforms they always wore underneath, his cape soon lay strewn across the bottom of the bed along with her tiara and lasso while the rest of their attire ended up lining the floor leading to the bathroom.
Once they had made their way inside the shower stall, the lovers weren't even sure which one of them had retained the presence of mind to get the wonderfully hot steamy water going. It paled in comparison to the boiling desire between them. Yet, the lightness of the evening they had been enjoying had left them with a playful tone to their intimacy tonight. They found themselves basking in the simple pleasure of being able to fully touch and be touched, adoring the simple fact that they could experience each other like this.
Then, Kal leaned in and began to kiss and caress the sweet spot on the right side of Diana's neck, and she let her head fall back with a smile of pure ecstasy.
Neither of them could remember much after that.
Oh, they tried to be good. They really did. However, it was Valentine's Day after all.
By the time that they were momentarily sated and Kal lifted Diana up into his arms to carry her out of the shower, a little home remodeling had taken place. As the two of them were still enjoying being starstruck in love, a heady feeling which often overcame them when they were able to spend nights alone with one another, they didn't even really bother to notice the difference at first.
Above all else, Diana had found that she loved Kal's eyes. She felt that she could simply gaze into them forever. Even before they were a couple, Kal had found it difficult to not constantly stare at Diana's beauty, and now that they were together, it was nearly impossible for him. They stared at one another blissfully.
Both of them looked down at the loud cracking sound which resounded as Kal put his foot down outside the shower.
The floor was littered with small shards of glass. Each one of the sliding glass doors on their shower stall had been shattered. Diana remembered when that had happened. When she and Kal had first began their journey of intimacy, they had quickly discovered that the Amazon within her could be very vocal when aroused. As Kal was completely relentless and ruthless in his pleasuring of her, Diana had quickly had to devise some way of maintaining their discretion. Since Kal would make her climax so very often and so incredibly intensely, she had learned to let her screams go upward into a higher vocal range. No one around them would hear her, but Kal could still enjoy the symphony he was creating as the master conductor of her body which he was. However, the elements around them proved not to be immune to her sonics.
The walls were his doing, and Kal knew it. Each one of them now looked like large spider webs, with cracks extending outward in radial patterns. He breathed a sigh. He thought he had mastered control over his body. Yet, he found that when he would push Diana over her peak, her body's response to him would end up sending them both slipping over the edge of the waterfall of ecstasy.
The two of them looked back at each other and smiled. They would definitely have to spend more time at the fortress. Still holding his lady love in his arms, Kal floated up over the ruined floor and headed toward the bedroom.
Laying them down on the bed, Kal held Diana tightly for a few long moments before he forced himself to reach his left arm over to his bedside table.
"Are you going to run a check?" Diana asked, more than a little bothered by the disturbance of their romantic mood, but knowing that it was necessary.
"Yes," Kal answered as he withdrew a small handheld device from where his uniform belt lay on the table. "Cross your fingers."
"Please tell me that we have a little more time," purred Diana, lazily running her fingernails over the skin of his chest. "Just a few more minutes."
"Let's hope so," Kal said as he switched on his device.
Some time ago, Kal had constructed this phone like device to carry with him wherever he went. Its primary function was to act as a planetary monitor, although he also used it to store some of his various journalistic writings, scientific notations and various personal endeavors so he could keep them close.
Using his brilliant mind and the Kryptonian technology at his disposal, Kal had linked the signals from the many covert satellites which various governments denied were orbiting the earth, and used them to create a planetary grid. When activated, he could watch all over the world for major disturbances and upheavals to which he may need to respond. He checked it often.
As Kal switched on his monitoring system, a three dimensional display of the planet immediately appeared near the ceiling above them. There were no bright red markings, which would denote anything vital that the sensors registered.
"It looks like we're all clear," Kal whispered switching off the monitor, the joy in his voice very clear he leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Still, it won't be enough. All the time in the world wouldn't be long enough to enjoy spending with you."
"Ah, my writer and poet," smiled Diana as she looked up into the eyes she adored. "You know, you and I are probably going to live for a very long time."
"Perhaps I was mistaken," he answered quietly, brushing his lips against her again. "I meant all the time in the universe."
Diana kissed him then, softly, sweetly, tenderly, giving him a silent eternal promise to which she could not give voice.
It was just a little too much, and just a little too good. The one kiss turned into a second, then a third, then a tenth. The undying embers of Kal and Diana's flaming passion were always only momentarily sated, and could spark at the slightest moment.
Kal's device hung limply from his hand. Lost in Diana, he had forgotten all about its existence. Inexplicably, it reactivated.
A myriad of three dimensional images suddenly began to quickly flash across the air near the ceiling. As per its programming, the system was making its way to Kal's last saved work. His genius mind could take in the works at this elevated rate of speed, and he enjoyed the short reminders of his projects in progress. The scrolling created a light show above Diana's eyes.
Catching sight of the light sparkling in front of her closed eyes, Diana's love addled mind wistfully drifted to recent similar memories. With his many superb and incredible abilities, she wondered if Kal had somehow whisked them away to the fortress in the blink of an eye, as desperate to continue their night together as was she.
In an instant, Diana compared the types of light. She remembered several mornings waking up with the beautiful crystal clear light of the northern arctic sun beaming down on her. There would be brilliantly sparkling prisms of twilight falling all around her, and it would always take her a long moment to realize that they were pieces of the crystalline ceiling of the fortress dropping into the room every so often. The effect was always breathtakingly lovely, and she adored it dearly.
On nights when they were able to fully express themselves, the fortress bedroom would often be left in shambles. Despite its incredible structure, it was no match for the immense power unleashed by the two uninhibited lovers. In their warm afterglow, Kal would leave the fortress defenses down over the bedroom, just to give her this particular morning wake up call. She would awaken to slip her sheer toga robe over her body, pad her way into his kitchen to make them two cups of tea, and then saunter her way outside to find him sitting on the roof slowly making repairs. They would then share the comforting intimacy of sitting high atop the rest of the world together, enjoying unique moments of love. It was a very good thing that he liked working with his hands, as their love life constantly kept him busy putting things back together.
Here, in their apartment bedroom, the light was different, and it made her finally open her eyes to look up at the ceiling. She caught sight of the written documents, journalistic entries and world news quickly scrolling by, and she immediately recognized them as Kal's work since they were similar to what she'd often seen him toiling away with on his computer. Her eyes had just began to flutter closed again as she started to let herself drift back into Kal's kiss.
Then, a particular image flashed across the ceiling … and everything changed.
In an instant, Diana's eyes widened, and she sat upward from their kiss as her hand snapped outward to take hold of Kal's fingers to stop the scrolling. Her head raised up off his chest, as she was now completely mesmerized by the sight hovering above them. She couldn't tear her eyes away from it.
"Kal?" she asked curiously. "What … What is this?"
Staring at her every movement, Kal had to force his eyes away from once more gazing at his beautiful Diana to look up at the ceiling. He froze. His blood slowed. His heart stopped.
"Kal?" Diana asked again, now fully sitting up, the sight above her having garnered her full undivided attention.
Hovering near the ceiling above them, in magnificent fashion, was the three dimensional image of a ceremonial garment. It was pure crystalline white, adorned with incredibly ornate golden embroidery. The design was Kryptonian in nature, with an added degree of what could only be described as a balance of science and artistry which was near perfection. The lower part of the outfit was a long hanging dress, yet had the classic cape design which flowed downward to trail several feet behind. The sight of it was absolutely breathtaking.
Even the presentation of the image itself was stunning. In his extraterrestrial brilliance, Kal had structured the design to be a combination of a mechanical drawing and an aesthetic exposition. With a flowing smoothness, the image alternated between showing schematic placements and enhancing its creative aspects, one moment being a stationary figure and the next seeming to be in flowing motion with a breeze blowing through it. It was a thing of beauty in every way.
Centered on the bodice of the outfit was the familiar symbol of the House of El, the mighty emblem which the people of Earth had come to recognize as a beacon of hope.
And this was indeed what had snapped Diana to full attention. The top of it was similar to a corset. This garment was designed for a woman.
"Is … Is this for Faora?" she asked. "Perhaps you made this for her when you thought you might be able to convince them to change their conquering ways and join you in trying to help others? Is that what this is?"
"Faora?" Kal repeated with a slight laugh of surprised incredulity. "No, not at all. This isn't for her."
"For Kara?"
"No," Kal answered a little too quickly, realizing too late that he had made another mistake.
His best way out of this may have been to let Diana think that this was indeed for Kara, but now he had to devise something else.
A moment of silence hung heavy between them.
Diana opened her mouth to speak, yet no words uttered from her lips. Ironically, the woman which was known for her propensity for action was stunned into silence.
Kal couldn't believe how bad his luck could be sometimes. Of all the tons of data of journalistic work, scientific sketches, and general thought notes he kept on his pad, it was incomprehensible to him that this specific design would coincidentally show up on this particular night.
Well, he had to tell her something. He surmised that perhaps by telling Diana about its function he may be able to divert her attention away from identifying the person it had been created for. In this would be his greatest mistake. For all of Kal's immense intelligence which he often did not display to the world, this was one instance in which his emotionally charged incorrect decision would play directly into Diana's hands.
"It's … It's a ceremonial armour .. or … outfit," Kal began in a hesitantly quiet voice, looking down at the pad in his hands. "When a Kryptonian woman chooses the man to be her consort for life, she takes upon her breast the crest … of the house which she is joining. She then becomes … The Queen ... of that house for all time. This would be … the dress … used in that ceremony. It's just … something i think about from time to time."
Diana turned to watch Kal as he spoke, noticing that he wasn't looking at her. Her astute mind also took note of the fact that he hadn't directly answered her question. Something was wrong. Whatever this was, it was significant. Diana noticed that as he was talking, he had glanced over to his bedside table where he kept the glasses he had used in his persona as Clark John Kent. She had noticed long ago that he did that often when he was uncomfortable, almost as a kind of mental defensive mechanism. Turning back to stare up at the image, she squinted her eyes as she focused in on it even more intensely than before.
The measurements. They would provide her some insight. The schematic design of the image morphed into view once again, and she squinted.
Diana lost her breath in a silent gasp. Her blood rushed through her veins. Her heart skipped a beat.
They were hers. Precisely. To every exact inch.
Then, almost as if to solidify her revelation, her eyes caught on a particular piece of the bodice which she had somehow previously missed. There it was. Positively plain to see. Diana couldn't imagine how it had escaped her before.
Woven beautifully into the bottom of the El crest, almost as if it had always meant to be intertwined with it, having its side wings raised upward to a perfectly matched angle with the lower part of the lining, was the prolific triple W of her Wonder Woman symbol.
Suddenly, this moment between them was no longer about the sight hovering above them. Diana turned to gaze at the man of her heart. As always, just when she thought that she couldn't possibly love this man any more deeply than she already did, Kal would constantly do things which only made more of her heart leave her to bond with him eternally.
In stark contrast to the warmth flowing through Diana's heart, Kal felt a cold chill run through his own. He had undoubtedly inadvertently pushed his Diana away from him once again. It had taken her long enough to finally tell him that she loved him. He was certain that it would take her even much longer to agree to marry him. Kal thought that if he had just surprised her at the right moment, dropped to one knee and held out his mother's wedding ring to her, that her feelings would break through her warrior surface without her taking time to think about it. He'd hoped that she would burst with joy and pledge herself as his bride for all time.
Now, having seen this, she would hesitate. She might even emotionally withdraw herself more from him. And, she would take months to finally admit her feelings to him. Kal raised a hand to rub his brow in frustration.
Now unable to take her eyes off of the man that owned her mind, soul and spirit, Diana admitted to herself that this situation with Kal's reticence was indeed her fault. With her having been raised to be a warrior, she often left the woman inside the warrior too far behind her. Being deeply in love with the most immaculate man in the universe, she had opened up more than she had ever thought she would to any man, but she knew that she still held far too much back from him.
Even after their first kiss, he'd still had to speak to her in private to convince her to accept his help. When she had been visibly disturbed by the events on Themyscira, he'd had to almost force her to talk to him about what had been troubling her. Even after he had admitted his undying love for her, she had held back from returning his wonderful gift. She had so much more to give, and he deserved her all.
"Kal," whispered Diana, tenderly reaching a hand out to caress the side of his face.
As Kal turned to stare into her eyes, Diana felt a searing heat rising from within her. Only this man had ever made her feel this way. Her eyes narrowed.
Diana mused to herself about their wonderful evening. Often, in their intimacy, Kal was able to get the better of her. He was always so passionate with her, so caring and so loving, that he would ignite her body continuously. From the moment he would enter her, she would start to climax almost constantly, and she would never have dreamed that such a thing was even possible before experiencing his love of her. Oh, she knew that she gave as good as she got, and he had experienced the pleasures of many qmen's dreams and fantasies. Still, he was often the first to recover and regain his senses from their times together, and the Amazon within her felt a little competitive over this.
Tonight was going to be a little different. He was going to get it. Oh yes, he was really going to get it.
Not hesitating a moment longer, Diana pounced on Kal. She threw her body on top of his and kissed him passionately, yearningly, desperately. Still expecting her to draw away from him, Kal was stunned by Diana's tenacity and completely overtaken.
Oh, well, so much for the apartment.
A short time later, their living space had undergone a complete … remodeling.
The only saving grace of Kal and Diana's Valentine's Day passion was that it had burned hotly and been short enough to not destroy the building, level the city, or knock the planet out of orbit.
Sprawled comfortably on Kal's mighty broad chest, Diana lay along his side like a contented lioness. Opening her eyes with a sigh of pure pleasure, she took in their surroundings as she stretched to gather Kal's cape from the foot of the bed and drape it over their waists. She placed her right hand on his chest as she looked around.
The bedroom was completely in shambles. All the Kryptonian technology on the planet would never make this bed frame usable again. Its golden structure had been bent and twisted so badly that it was really only recognizable because it was beneath their mattresses. The mattresses themselves had been destroyed, left with springs poking through the surface all over and some of the fluff which had once been inside them still floating through the air. All of the walls were cracked, dented and peeling, and there wasn't a single piece of furniture still standing or in one piece.
Hopefully, the people of the city would just think that another of the random soft quakes which had been plaguing London every now and then had just passed through. Of course, no one knew that these quakes coincided with the start of their relationship. They should have had dinner at the fortress.
Looking up at Kal, Diana smiled at his exhausted face. He lay completely unconscious with his eyes closed, his mouth fallen open, and her bright tiara hanging loosely from his forehead.
It took Diana a moment to recall how her tiara had gotten there.
She remembered what had happened with her golden lasso, though. In the midst of her heated frenzy, as she had been riding Kal like a bull that had just seen red, she had felt a sudden desperate need to know the truth. She'd longed to hear him tell her every thought of their future that had ever even crossed his mind.
Did he want to marry her? Would he want a family? Were they to spend eternity together?
Some part deep inside Diana had demanded to know the truth. In a flash, without breaking her delicious riding friction, she had snatched up her lasso from the side of the bed and wrapped it around his forearms to fasten him to the bedpost. She had also picked up her tiara and slipped in into her long wavy hair, preparing to fully interrogate him and claim the answers which rightfully belonged to her.
Yet, before she had opened her mouth to speak, she had relented. Whenever Kal chose to tell her of his desires, she wanted to be of his own choice. She would wait for the man of her heart.
She had still made very extremely good use of the lasso, though, to both their mutual pleasure. After she had finished loving his brains out, Diana had laid down on top of him as he had started to drift off to sleep. She had mused to herself that she had probably made him expend almost as much energy as in his last battles with Zod or Doomsday. She now remembered placing a gentle kiss on his cheek, and slipping her tiara onto his forehead, a sign to herself of her job … or her man … well done. She too had drifted off into a light afterglow nap.
Now, waking to once again look around at the room, Diana turned to gaze up at the ceiling.
Amazingly - superwonderously - although the small device had fallen off the bed to end up wherever in the shambles of the room, it had somehow landed in such a way as to once again display the beautiful wedding gown on the ceiling above the bed.
Diana vaguely wondered if perhaps Eros had again intervened in their Valentine's Day, but since she didn't at all sense his presence, she thought that perhaps a higher power may have visited with she and Kal on this wonderful evening.
Still staring up at the beautiful image hovering near the ceiling, her mind mused on a phrase for the occasion, but now in light of the wonderful destiny which lay before the two of them together.
Diana winked up to her wedding dress at the thought.
"My Funny Valentine, My Future Valentine …"
End ...