A SMALL DEATH

CHAPTER TWO

They faced each other in her chamber. The lamps had been put out. Only a fire burned in the grate, casting a reddish-gold glow around the room. Diana's heart raced like a hunted doe's when his fingers undid the fastenings and helped her lift the gown over her head. She stood in a thin shift before him, her skin goose-pimpling when his hands ran up her arms and he bent to kiss her neck and shoulders. Diana's own hand went to tug at his outer robe and tunic and he helped her take them off. His shirt was next and it fell to the floor.

She was pulled into Kal's broad, muscular chest and his mouth plundered hers once more. His fingers reached down and lifted the back of her shift. They traveled up her thighs, cupped her from behind and pulled her against him. Diana gasped as she felt a rigidness press onto her abdomen. His potency and desire could be felt in that one action and she found she was shaking with need and anticipation.

Somehow he had managed to maneuver her so that she was lying against the warm furs. He was totally nude now and she stared in amazement at his male beauty as he laid alongside her. He lifted the shift over her head and flung it aside. He paused to look at her; it gave him as much pleasure as to touch her. She was as flawless as she was exquisite. Perfect hourglass proportions. There was little doubt that the Gods had fashioned her with their own hands. She was lithe and strong yet retained her femininity, from her high rounded breasts to her tapered waist, gently flaring hips and long toned legs. Everything about her was firm but so smooth, like silk. She was a goddess come to earth, and for so long he had placed this woman on a pedestal. Revered her. Believing himself unworthy of her. Him, the most powerful man on planet Earth. He had never allowed himself to spend too much time in her company to get to see beyond the facade of Wonder Woman, his colleague or Diana, Amazon Princess, the diplomat. One thousand years, however, had changed that.

Now he knew the sound of her heart beat. Her laughter; it was like a clear, silver bell. Her smell, when she curled up asleep against him, exhausted after a battle; it used to amaze him in all that mud and blood she smelled of orchids and fire. Her touch when she cleansed his wounds or attended to him the many times he got injured. Her no nonsense approach to a problem and the exhilaration at times it felt just to argue with her,to see her eyes flash. He used to think she never looked more beautiful than when she was angry. He was wrong.

Lying there, her body contrasting against the dark furs, eyes dark with desire, skin tingling with need, pulses fluttering, at her most vulnerable, she was even more magnificent. At first he had wondered if he would have remembered how to hold,much less make love to a woman and this wasn't just any woman. This was his best friend, the keeper of his conscience,his inspiration, a mirror of truth. He laid alongside her and pulled her into his arms. She felt so right against him and seemed to meld into the contours of his body.

His super senses was being assailed by everything about her. It was as heady as being drunk on wine.

"Kal, you are...my first..."she whispered, feeling a need to explain. But Kal knew that.

He smiled and said,"Well,you are my first in one thousand years,Princess..."

Diana's lips turned up. Only he had this ability to ease all her anxieties with his words and smile.

He bent to place his lips in that hollow of her neck where a pulse throbbed under her smooth skin. Diana tilted her head back and closed her eyes as she felt his lips trail slowly downwards.

His lips were soft yet firm enough to create ripples of sensation and send shivers along her spine. She wanted to watch, to see what he was doing but her body seemed only able to lay helpless, and arch or writhe with every kiss, every caress. Her breasts, as far as she was concerned, were two lumps that seemed more often than not in her way. She remembered growing up, wondering why women needed breasts at all. Now feeling them being kneaded by his large hands, feeling his lips closing around them, Diana suddenly had a new revelation. Sharp electric shocks seemed to shoot through her body and she clutched at his hair as her back arched.

She gasped, "Kal, please..."

He looked up at her ragged plea. "Yes...?"

"Tell me what to do. I don't..."

He kissed her once more. Hard and demanding, leaving her dazed and breathless. He said, against her ear, "Trust me, that's all."

Diana watched him moved down, slowly, across her rib cage, the dip of her stomach and abdomen, her hips and the tops of her thighs. She felt his hands brushing her knees apart and then warm breath on the smooth skin of her inner thighs. Diana's body jumped when she felt his lips touch her in a place her sisters had told her no man ever had a right to even see or violate. Her fingers grabbed the edges of her pillow and she was whimpering, and arching. Her body was reaching for something and she was not sure what it was, but he was helping her along and soon she was hurtling,tumbling blindly towards it. She felt light explode before her eyes and something pleasurable shake her body. It left her gasping but yet wanting more.

Kal watched her as she laid back, eyes glazed and limbs slack. She was trusting him to do things that would have surely gotten him skewered on the tip of a sword and her banishment at one point in time in her life. This was a big step for her. She had lived in a virginal state for so long and her chastity was just as much a state of mind as it was part of her warrior's discipline. She would only do this with a man who had earned her love and trust and that it was him humbled him immensely. He had to control himself not to fall upon her like one who had been starved for so long. With all her skills and experience and wisdom this was one arena whereby she had to rely on him, at least for now. He wanted her first time to be memorable and he wanted her to see, feel and understand how wonderful physical love could be. For the first time in his life he did not have to be afraid of hurting anyone. Diana was not crying out in pain or wincing, as Lois use to occasionally do if he caressed or kissed a little too hard. He did not have to worry that his Kryptonian DNA would kill her either. She was not like human women. She was fashioned out clay and did not bleed with the lunar cycles. And here in the haven of gods, both were to remain eternally youthful and strong.

Diana felt him draw her close and hold her. She looked at him in wonder. What he had just done to her had been so intimate she never believed she would ever have a man do something like that to her. "That was..."

"What?"

She searched for words, but couldn't find any. She blushed. "I liked it."

He chuckled and kissed her."It's only an appetizer."

"But what of you?" Diana shifted so she was kissing his neck, his chest and her fingers snaked down to his groin. "I want to make you feel this too..."

He closed his eyes as the touch of her lips seemed to scorch his skin but he had to stop her fingers. "Not just yet...A little too much of that and this encounter will finish all too quickly."

Diana frowned pensively. "Oh. I see."

Kal laughed. "No,you don't see, not yet..." He bent to her breasts once more and said,"You know champagne coupes were reputedly molded from the female breast. Some say it was from Marie Antoinette or the mistress of Louis the fifteenth...others say Helen of Troy...If I didn't know better I would think it must have been you."

Diana gasped, "Now that is one ...tidbit I never expected... Superman to know."

He looked up. "Ah but Clark Kent is a reporter. I know a lot of interesting if useless information."

Diana looked at him and pushed the spit curl back. "You miss being Clark?"

"Diana, I'm still Clark. It doesn't matter what you call me. Kal, Clark, Superman. I am one man."

She smiled and their lips met once more. He shifted and she could feel him turning her so she was under him. His eyes never left hers as their bodies slowly became one. Her lips parted and let out a tiny gasp as her body adjusted to the raw sensation of being impaled by his. His weight and feel and masculine scent seemed to surround her. She closed her eyes and bit back a whimper of pleasure.

Kal closed his eyes. He laid very still once he was fully within her. He allowed her to get used to this wholly new sensation. Plus he had to master himself. This was like nothing he ever felt before. It would be his first time in being able to take his full pleasure.

"Open you eyes, Diana. Look at me."

She obeyed. His blue eyes were almost smoky with need and desire and his expression possessive. It was a side of him she did not know could exist and that this intensity was for her mesmerized her. He began to move slowly, at first testing how much she could take. Diana swallowed and gasped at the meeting of their flesh. She raised her hips instinctively.

He could hear her heart pounding, her whimpers turning into moans of delight; her nails raking across his back. For the first time he could use all his strength and test his stamina, and give into the combination of love and lust he was feeling for her.

Time seemed to melt away and the sounds of moans and shuddering gasps and whimpers filled the air. Sweat was beading both their skins now and she was looking at him with a tortured look of need and desperation and confusion.

"Kal...I...want..."She clawed at him...she wanted him closer than they already were if that were even possible.

Kal knew what she wanted. His fingers entwined her own on the pillow above them and his flesh communed with hers with one final, hard, definitive push.

Diana's eyes widened and her lips parted as shivers of pure ecstasy begin to shake her. She tore her fingers from his to wrap her arms around his neck...it was as if she was drowning and would be swept under if she didn't hold onto him. Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Hippolyta, Amazonian codes and training...none of them could have prepared her for this.

Kal groaned. For the first time in his life he was losing control and it was like nothing he could ever imagine. But it was a relief bordering on desperation and he gladly gave into it. He was going to die that short but very sweet and powerful death. La petit mort...Clark Kent often wondered how that would feel...now he would know.

He uttered her name as if it were some sort of prayer. "God...Diana..."

Their lips met fiercely as they crested wave after wave of raw pleasure.

It was not just a union of two beautiful bodies and friends, but two souls that had walked with rents in their spirits for far too long; years of feeling alone and not belonging, both on Earth and Asgard...now they had finally found each other and a peace in a love that was purifying and renewing them both.

They collapsed together in a tangled heap. Their hearts still thudding fiercely.

He moved so she could lie comfortably on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked, once their breathing had begun to slow down.

She looked up at him, her face almost awed. "I...think so..."

"I didn't hurt you?" He didn't think he had but he had been so long accustomed asking that question of Lois, he still almost could not believe Diana had reveled in and welcomed him at his full strength.

"No. It was...words can't describe what I felt...Will incredible and heavenly suffice for now? I think I'm still a bit dazed."

He smiled broadly. "Oh, I think I can live with that."

She asked tentatively, "Was...I...? I hope I was..."

He hugged her tighter. "You were wonderful. Everything I dreamed you would be and so much more. A man couldn't ask for a woman more giving of herself. Thank you..."

She cocked her head at him. "You don't have to thank me..."

"But I do. I have lived my life restraining myself for so long...in very aspect...never truly being able to be me. With you, I can be all that I am...I never have to check what I say, what I do...and now well, let's say it is much nicer to not hold back," he grinned boyishly.

Diana smiled but then sighed, "I think now I understand why this thing is so powerful and why my sisters are so fearful of it. Something that can give so much pleasure can give much pain as well. No wonder my mother felt so hurt after Heracles."

"Yes, it can. Especially if you have given your love with all your heart to be betrayed and humiliated. You mother wanted to preserve you from heartache. She unfortunately measured all men with the same yardstick."

Diana rested her hand on his chest and trailed her fingers across the wide expanse, almost fascinated by the feel and contours of muscles that seemed to be crafted under a Greek sculptor's loving hand. It felt slightly cool now the sweat was drying from his skin. "I'm glad my fate was different and I met you. You are the only man I trust implicitly."

He smiled, but looked slightly skeptical. "Not even Bruce or J'onn?"

She shook her head adamant. "I trust them with moral matters, yes, even my life but not with my heart."

Kal took her hand and kissed it. "I'll try my very best to never break it, ma'am."

She pouted playfully. "You had better not. Hell, nay Tartarus, hath no fury than an irate Amazon."

He laughed. "Well, you know what you have to do to keep me in line?"

She could hear the mischief in his voice and caught the glint in his eyes. She said demurely, "I see. But I'm new at it and still have much to learn."

"Practice makes perfect, they say," he said turning her to face him.

"I'm a fast learner," she whispered.

That was all the encouragement he needed.

Diana opened her eyes and stretched luxuriously. She let out a tiny sigh of contentment and turned to see the other side of the bed-space empty. Diana sat up slowly and blinked, looked around. From the light coming in from the window she could tell she had slept in late. The sun appeared to be high in the sky. He was not in the room, and she wondered if she had dreamed it all. But every muscle in her body seemed to ache with a kind of delicious weariness, and she could see the depression in the pillow where his head had been and she could also smell his lingering scent on the furs. It had been real and she smiled to herself as she recalled what took place the night before.

They had made love for hours. Each time had been better and more intense than the last. She blushed as she recalled some of the things that passed between them. Hera, if her mother knew, she would not be entirely pleased. Donna would be amused and say I told you so and Artemis would no doubt look at her with scorn and pity. Diana sat up and pushed her hair back and stretched. Artemis did not know what she was missing. Now that Diana had become Kal's lover she had no intention of being less than herself and giving her heart and soul to this relationship. They had an eternity to learn about and love each other. Diana sighed at the thought of not hearing Donna's teasing. Happiness had a price.

She got up and reached for a robe. She wondered where he had gone and went to the window and looked out in curiosity. There was noise and celebration in the yard. She moved back and went to the door and peeped out to see a servant passing.

"What is going on?"

"Thor is back, Princess."

"Thor?"

"But...How?"

"It is a miracle, Princess. The people are celebrating. The gods have assembled in the throne room."

Diana nodded and closed the door. That was where Kal must have gone. She wondered why he didn't wake her. She proceeded to the bath chamber and washed and changed into the formal gown of the night before. She then made her way to the throne room.

When she arrived she saw Thor on his throne. Magni stood at his right hand side and scores of well wishers were going up to see him. She spied Kal standing in the middle of the throng with arms folded. He turned at once. He knew she had come in.

She smiled and gently squeezed past to stand near him. He reached for her hand.

"Why didn't you wake me?" she asked.

"You were sleeping so peacefully and I couldn't bear to wake you," he replied softly.

Diana smiled and she turned her eyes to the dais and she looked at Thor with shining eyes. They had fought alongside the God for many years and Diana had missed him when he died. Now it was wonderful to see him larger than life and laughing and his voice booming. She asked, "Have you spoken to him?"

Kal nodded and pointed to the hammer which Thor had at his side. "Yes, I gave him Mjolnir."

Diana commented, "Back where it belongs."

"Yes, with it's true master."

Diana was standing on her own as Kal had stepped aside to talk to several courtiers. Thor approached her and smiled, "Princess, walk with me a while?"

He held out his arm which Diana took. They stepped out onto the long corridor, and walked towards the balcony. It was the only place not crowded with well wishers.

Diana said, "It is wonderful to see you alive, Sire."

"Tis wonderful to be granted life by Odin once more."

"So what now?"

"We rebuild and forge our peace."

"Kal and I will help you do this. Kal is very handy when it comes to rebuilding..."

Thor turned and leaned against the balustrade." Asgard is most grateful to the pair of you. Kal-El was a fine General from what I garner. I never thought he had it in him. I recall a time he would stand around pouting whilst you or the men slayed the black hordes. He never wanted to defile his over sanctimonious sensibilities."

Diana remembered it well and the derisive barbs Thor use to direct at Kal. There had been many a battle over tactics and morality in the beginning. But that eventually faded as both men learned to respect each other and that living through a thousand year war was possibly the biggest test of any man and woman's courage, will, compassion, and honor. Nothing was simple. Heat vision or Athena's wisdom would not always work. Both she and Kal had learned that.

Diana said quietly, "Kal is one of the strongest men I know and I do not mean only in terms of raw power. And wanting to not war is no weakness. He believes in seeking peaceful solutions but when there is no other way, he gives his all in battle. He did give his all."

Thor nodded and mused, " Yes, so it would seem. You love this man ?"

"Yes, sire."

Thor heaved a sigh. "It warms my heart to see you happy, Princess, and tis clear he holds you in great esteem and affection. The pair of you left lives in your world to come to Asgard to aid us and we are forever in your debt. However, I am obliged to tell you that you can go back."

Diana blinked, somewhat confused. "What?"

"You can go back. To the precise time you left. To resume your lives. It is a gift from Odin to you in return for your service."

Diana felt a pain knife her heart. Her voice sounded strangled. "To go...back?"

"Yes. You will gain all that you have lost...Or lose all that you have gained. The choice is yours, Princess, and yours alone."

All the colour drained out of her cheeks. Her eyes held his as if in disbelief and seeking to check that he was not jesting as usual. But Thor was somber and he reached and touched her shoulder. "You have until the dawn tomorrow to make your decision. Should you decide to stay then you will be with us forever. There will be no opportunity to return. Ever. Ponder most carefully and let me know."

Thor left her and she stood like a marble statue, staring blindly at the horizon.

Hands move up her body and lips plant themselves in the hollowed warmth of her neck. Diana gasped and clutched his back, nails digging convulsively into his skin, and she felt herself splinter apart again. Kal's deep guttural moan of her name, coupled with his whispered, "I love you", brought tears to her eyes and she bit back the sob rising to her lips. They slowly fell back on the sheets and he looked at her in concern and pushed the hair from her face. Her tears made him worry he may have hurt her with the force of a passion that had seemed insatiable. Diana had matched him, but still it was new to her and he wondered if perhaps he had been too demanding.

"What is it?" he asked.

She looked at him. His blue eyes so warm, so full of tenderness, she opened her lips to say what was in her heart but instead she buried her face in his neck and gulped. "Nothing. I'm just...happy. I thank the gods for this...for you, Kal."

He held her tightly. "Me too...You okay?"

"Yes, I'm just very tired now."

He pulled the covers over them. "It looks as if it's a couple of hours short of dawn. Let's get some rest. I promised Magni to ride out with him and view the damaged townships after breakfast."

She nodded and closed her eyes. She should have gone to Thor sooner but something inside her wanted to be with him one more time. To have this one last memory to sustain her in the future ahead where she would have to give him up to their former lives. It had been even more intense and for a moment she had been so close to spilling her soul to him and telling him the truth. Yet she couldn't. It was a small lie when compared to the bigger truth.

Sleep did not come to her as tired as she was. An hour later she was still awake whilst he was sleeping soundly. Diana just laid listening to his breathing and studying his profile in the dim light. It was always a pleasure to watch him sleep. Normally the situation was always reversed. He used to watch over her, like the gallant knight he was, ensuring no harm came to her, even though she was perfectly capable of defending them both. It was who Kal was: the protector. It was rare he got a chance to give himself up to a deep sleep and she knew he could only do this when he was truly at peace. There was no war and no one calling for Superman's help that he had to be vigilant. Plus she had played a part in wearing him out, and she would have smiled with pride at that. Now she could only watch him with an increasing pain in her heart.

She gently eased herself out from the arm that curled around her waist and sat up. Her fingers trembled as they stroked the curl from his brow but she tightened her jaw and got up. She picked up her clothes that were strewn on the floor and floated out to the ante chamber where she swiftly dressed.

She reached Thor's chambers and knocked. He was up and waiting for her. He was sitting in a large chair before a fire in the audience chamber. "You are early, Princess."

"I know. I could not sleep."

"Well? Have you come to a decision?"

"Yes and you know what that decision would be."

Thor stood up with a sympathetic look. "It surprises me little that this would be your choice. Yet returning after all that has transpired will not be easy ."

"I know and that is why I want one boon granted."

"A boon?" He eyed her curiously. "Speak."

"I want Kal to forget all that has happened here."

Thor's brows rose. "Are you certain that is what you want?"

"Yes. He deserves a chance at his old life without all of this affecting his decisions. He has a woman who loved him and whom he loved awaiting him. It's not their fault that I was called upon to help and he followed his friend into battle." Her voice trembled but she controlled it. "It is the right thing to do."

"Even if it tears your own heart asunder? Destroying your happiness?"

"I could not live here in eternity with Kal knowing he had a chance to go back to the woman he pledged himself to until death do them part. That would be wrong."

"Do you want to me to banish your memories also? It would make this easier."

Diana shook her head. "No. I...need the truth. I will abide with it and Hera help me, learn to live with it."

Thor came to her and touched her cheek. "May the gods of my forefathers watch over you, Princess, and may you one day be granted happiness that you so rightfully deserve."

She pushed down every emotion; part of her felt hollow, as if something inside her had died. She bowed. "Thank you. Now send us back."

Author's Note: I especially thought Immortal Beloved never let us really see Wonder Woman's point of view. She was just used as some tool to fulfill the writer's agenda and was never explored. I wanted to show a thinking, feeling woman, who as we all know is a strong, noble, virtuous, self sacrificing hero in her own right