Title: "No Costume, No Play"
Author: Pirate Turner
Dedicated To: This is the eighth story in my annual 13 days of Halloween series dededicated with endless love to my wonderful, beloved Jack and our darling children.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Halloween helps Chloe to feel braver than usual as she finally convinces Alek of the fun part of the holiday.
Warnings: Het, Established Pairing
Word Count: 2,019
Date Written: 4-5 October, 2011
Disclaimer: Catwoman and Batman are ﾩ & TM DC comics, not the author. Chloe, Alek, all other recognizable characters mentioned within, and The Nine Lives of Chloe King are ﾩ & TM ABC Family and all other respective owners, also not the author. Everything else is ﾩ & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.

Alek raised his head and smiled as Chloe finally started coming down the stairs. He had been waiting for her for what seemed like hours, and though he'd professed his annoyance at her plans for the evening, there was still nothing he'd rather do than be right there with his beloved Uniter. It was just the idea of a costume party that Alek found absurd. He'd never been the kind of guy to pretend to be anything more or less than exactly what he was, except where covering his Mai identity to protect his people was concerned, but Chloe loved the idea of dressing up and had batted down his every argument against the party and proposal to do something, anything, else.

Alek knew the reality of Halloween. It was a magical holiday, a marking of the turning of the year, but Chloe only saw it as a day for candy and costumes. He had done and said everything he knew to convince her of the truth, but still their ideas for the night remained completely different until he saw her begin to descend her stairs. He looked up and had to remind himself to shut his mouth. His deep, brown eyes stared at her as she slowly started descending, and he knew she was enjoying him watching her from the way she smiled and the glow in her green eyes.

Though he'd never profess to paying attention to comic books, Alek recognized her costume instantly. Black leather clung to her every curve and made his loins burn in need that only she, the woman to whom his heart had and would always belong, could fulfill. He stood and walked over to meet her, almost tripping over the Halloween rug in her kitchen due to his inability to take his eyes off of her breath-taking beauty. She smiled down at him and pressed her painted, red lips together to keep from laughing at his uncharacteristic clumsiness.

"Cat got your tongue?" she purred, and he wanted to yowl with his need for her. She'd always excited him, from the very first time he'd met her, but yet she'd never touched him or made him burn with such great intensity as she was now. Her catlike green eyes shimmered down at him from behind her black mask.

Alek barely saw the whip coming. It snaked around his waist before he could defend himself, and she pulled him to her as she stepped onto the bottom step. "You've been practicing," he remarked with a grin.

She smirked playfully back at him. "It's working, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah!" he breathed and leaned forward, intending to capture her lips with his own.

He was shocked when she pressed a gloved finger to his lips to keep him from kissing her. "Uh uh. No costume, no play."

His mouth really did fall open that time. "But - " he tried to argue, but she shook her head, her long, blonde hair shimmering down her slender shoulders.

"Nope. You're not getting this cat without the right costume tonight."

"But I don't have a costume!" he protested, finally ready to don the first one he could find, even if it was the silliest thing he'd ever done.

She smiled and bobbed her head in knowing satisfaction. "Then it's a good thing I picked you up a matching costume when I bought this one."

He blinked once in surprise. "Batdude?" he questioned with an impish grin.

"Very funny." She smirked. "I know you know who he is."

"I know who you are," he breathed, his eyes once more traveling admiringly up and down her luscious body. "You're the Uniter. You're . . . "

"Not tonight," she interjected.

His smile grew, curving up his entire face and lighting his shimmering, brown eyes. " . . . Catwoman," he finished.

She nodded. "And you had better be Batman if you want this Catwoman," she told him.

He sighed defeatedly, his eyes dropping from hers and his smile fading from his lips, though inside he remained as secretly excited and giddy as a child. "Where do I find the costume?"

"On my bed," she said, releasing him from her toy whip, "and hurry."

His eyebrows arched, and his eyes glimmered mischievously as he again gazed into her beautiful, green orbs. "What if I don't?" he questioned. "What if I'd like you to join me on the bed?"

"Not tonight, but if you act the part right," she told him, grinning invitingly from ear to ear, "you'll definitely get a kiss."

"Can't I get one now?"

She gave him a gentle peck on his cheek. "You want a real kiss, Batboy," she wriggled her nose at him and winked, "go get dressed."

Alek smiled though his eyes gave the projection to her that he had been defeated. "Whatever you say, Catwoman." He barreled up the stairs and came back, only seconds later, dressed in the leather Batman costume that, true to Chloe's word, had awaited him on her bed.

"Now that," Chloe said, standing and walking over to meet him, "is much better."

"Now do I get my kiss?" Alek questioned.

"Maybe." Slipping into her role, Chloe purred as she asked, "Can you catch me?"

He chased her around her couch, but as she went to make another lap around her living room, he instead jumped over her couch, landed before her, grinned teasingly at her startled expression, and promptly wrapped his strong arms gently around her. "I've got you now!" he declared in a voice both stronger and darker than his natural tone. He held her against him as he listened, his lips smiling and brown eyes shining, to the pounding of her heartbeat and his own heart quickening in response.

She, too, heard their heartbeats pounding together as one. Normally, she might have been a little frightened of how things between them could progress, but tonight was different. Halloween was a magical night where one could play any tricks, indulge in any treats they liked, and pretend to be any one beyond themselves they chose without having to worry about repercussions the next day. She was no longer Chloe. Tonight she was Catwoman, and Catwoman dared to do things that Chloe still did not yet feel brave enough to do with the man she loved. Gazing up into his eyes and smiling temptuously herself, Chloe meowed.

Alek's eyebrows rose in surprise at the sultry sound of her meow. Chloe laughed at his surprised expression, but then her laughter died in her throat as quickly as it had begun as he purred deeply and leaned closer in to her. Still feeling braver than usual, and trusting in her beloved Alek, Chloe turned her lips up to meet his. His mouth pressed down onto hers in a touch so gentle and feather light that it was almost reverent. His hands caressed the small of her back, his fingers entangling in the long, golden strands of her hair. As he continued to kiss her, Alek took one more step forward and closed what little distance had remained between them.

His lips curved higher against hers as he heard her heartbeat grow even louder and faster. His tongue flicked out between his lips and tasted her mouth. The young lovers shivered inside as his tongue ran over her lips, and then, ever so slowly, Chloe let her mouth open and thrust her tongue forward to meet his. Alek was ready, and his smooth tongue passionately embraced her far more tentative tongue. He rubbed against her, still purring, and their tongues twisted together, lapping over and underneath each other, until they joined in one smooth, passionate tryst.

Alek's hands ran up and down Chloe's back, stroking her and building the fire inside of her still more. The sensations he was evoking wrapped around her, and the only thing she heard was the pounding of their hearts together and his deep and sensual purr. Never before had she felt as she did now! Fire spread throughout her from his touches to engulf every inch of her body and her very heart and soul. Her heart soared on the proverbial Cloud Nine, and her soul tingled, trembled, shouted with excitement, and begged for more!

He knew where this would take them, and though he wanted to claim his love with all his being, Alek knew she was not yet ready. He forced himself to slow down and kept his hands on her back, rather than going lower. He pulled his arms out from around her as he eased his tongue's wild embrace with hers and slowly moved his hands from her back to cup her beautiful face. His thumbs stroked her soft cheeks, and the simple gesture sent a thousand more delightful tingles shooting like fiery, passionate lightning bolts through them both.

His forehead touched hers. His tongue withdrew from her mouth, and he tried not to hear the whimper that escaped her. He continued to kiss her, his tongue tucked safely back into his own mouth, until Chloe's tongue pressed invitingly against his lips. Knowing he'd lose what little of his self control remained if he allowed their kiss to grow again in the heated passion that fulfilled them both, Alek finally withdrew his mouth and stopped kissing her.

Chloe's eyes searched his, and he saw a hundred emotions flicker in her beautiful, emerald green eyes. She didn't understand why he'd stopped kissing her, but he did. He knew she wasn't ready for what wonderful kiss would eventually bring to them, and though he was and had been since the first moment he'd met her and recognized her as the missing part of his soul and his destined life mate, Alek would not push her. He would carry her the rest of the way into paradise when she was ready, but only when she was ready.

He trembled inside as he tucked a loose strand of her golden hair behind her ear. His fingers hesitated on her soft flesh, and they both continued to tingle inside as he touched her lobe. "I believe," he breathed huskily against her still upturned lips, "that you have a party you want to attend, and if we continue here, you'll certainly be late for that party."

The declaration that they could forget the costume party and continue kissing was on the very tip of Chloe's tongue, but she silenced it just in time. She felt far braver in her Catwoman costume than she normally did, but even so, she knew where kisses like the sizzling, passionate liplock they had just shared would lead them and understood she was not yet ready to face that ultimate passion. She would be one day soon, however, and when she was, there was no one with whom she'd rather share those most intimate moments, or any other intimate moments in the future for that matter, than her beloved Alek.

She blushed, her eyes falling from his for the first time since he'd caught her this magical Halloween evening. "You're right," she said simply. Taking his hand in hers and interlacing their fingers, Chloe raced out the door, pulling him right along with her. He threw his head back and laughed, and his eyes twinkled merrily as he watched his excited, beloved Uniter. Chloe King had finally sold him on the mortal Halloween, and now Alek knew there was no night more magical and no night he'd more look forward to in the future, save the one where they fulfilled their future as destined lovers, than Halloween! "Hey, Chloe?" he called, running beside her.

"Yes?" she asked as she took a turn down an alley, released his hand, and started jumping up the building.

Alek grinned devilishly and scaled the building in three jumps. He leaned down from the roof and offered his hand down to his lady love. "Happy Halloween!"

She grinned from ear to ear and let him pull her up beside him where she belonged. "Happy Halloween!" she returned, and then they raced together to spend the happiest holiday they'd ever known celebrating all night long in each other's loving arms.

The End