Carcassi's Notes

Happy Birthday, babydee1!

carcassi — Sun, 15 Jun 2014 00:17:08 GMT

I promised you a hot fudge sundae, so here it is:

Enjoy!!!! *Hugs you tight*

Happy Birthday, babydee1!!!

carcassi — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 14:19:05 GMT

Dee, my wonderful friend, I hope your special day is filled with sunshine and fun. Not to mention, lots and LOTS of these....

(All calorie-free, of course!)

*Clinks bracelets and hugs you tight* :)

Five things NOT to do when an earthquake hits--and one thing to always remember

carcassi — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:45:00 GMT

Don't get caught working in DC. Because as we all know, DC does NOT do natural disaster well. (If you don't believe me, I can refer you to the ice storm last January, which stranded a lot of people for more than twelve hours. For all I know, there are still some folks out there searching for the Mercedes and Lexuses they abandoned on the George Washington Parkway that night.)

If you are in DC, don't get caught working in a high-rise office building. Mine buckled and swayed for what seemed like forever (but was probably only a few seconds). The ceilings and floors actually *rolled* around me, and trust me, that is not a feeling you want to experience.

Don't ignore your instincts. I was in a minor quake in California, and I still sat tight for the first few seconds, thinking, "We're on the East Coast, this HAS to be something else!"

Don't wait for anyone to tell you what to do. This is especially true in DC, which is full of people all too willing to tell you what to do--except when it counts. In my office, we didn't get an alert to evacuate until about an hour after the quake--long after everyone was already out on the street.

Get out of town as soon as you possibly can. I wish I'd followed this one. Instead, I stood on the sidewalk until our HR folks told us it was OK to go home, which was precisely the same time as every other HR department was saying the same thing to their folks. As a result, I and my co-workers were treated to an unscheduled outing across half of DC, searching for a Metro station that wasn't closed/overcrowded. It's lucky we all liked each other and enjoyed the sunshine. :)

And last but not least.....

Always, always, be grateful that it's a NATURAL disaster. The sight of DC in silent gridlock reminded me a little bit too much of 9/11. As sobering as this experience was, it could have been much, much worse. I don't think that's a bad thing to remember on the eve of the tenth anniversary of the worst disaster to strike our country.

I hope everyone on my f-list is OK and safe home! :)

Happy Birthday, Laurelnola! :)

carcassi — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 23:31:41 GMT

LJ's back - and just in time to send you wishes and e-gifts!! Coincidence? I think not. ;)

What could be better than to whet your appetite for the last Twilight movie? *Rubs hands gleefully*

Have your cake, and Twilight too:

And Edward insisted on sending his personal regards....

Last but not least, there's one more. *eg*

OK, it's my fault. I couldn't resist! Will Shenanigans forgive me, do you think? :D

Have a wonderful evening, Dawn! And remember - you're eating cake for two, now. Get with it, and do your duty!

*Hugs you very carefully*

"Man of Steel" casts Jor-El

carcassi — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 16:25:46 GMT

According to Variety, Russell Crowe is in negotiations to take on the role of Jor-El in Snyder's Superman reboot. If he joins, the cast and crew would be able to boast not one, but two, Academy Award winners (Crowe and Kevin "Jonathan Kent" Costner), and seven Oscar nominees (Crowe, Costner, Amy "Lois Lane" Adams, Diane "Martha Kent" Lane, Michael "Zod" Shannon, and the Christopher Nolan/Emma Thomas production team that worked on Inception).

Wow. After the massive disappointment that was SV, I'm trying not to get too excited about this, but it's hard to resist the temptation. :)

Interestingly, the story also says that Jor-El is one of the last roles to be cast, but so far I haven't heard anything at all about Lex Luthor. The film's starting production next month, so if he was going to be in the movie, you'd think there would have been a casting announcement by now.

Actually, if Snyder really does intend for his movie to be a complete reboot (as he's stated), this might be a good move. As much as I adored Lex on SV (that is, the "Lex" of S1-7, which imo is when the show really ended), the Supes vs. Luthor storyline has been done to death in the movies. IMO, it's time to bring on a new main villain, and who better than Zod? Bring it, General! *Rubs hands in anticipation*

Has anyone heard any rumors about the plot? I've been Googling around for whispers from any reasonably reliable site, but so far come up dry. (I did see a mention in a Chicago paper about a casting call for extras that piqued my interest, though. It asked for "infant twins," of all things. Hmm.)

In other news, Mark Verheiden has resurfaced as a co-executive producer of the new sci-fi show that debuts tonight, "Falling Skies": http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/06/17/falling.skies.scifi/index.html?hpt=hp_c2. I'm not sure about the show, but I may tune in for Verheiden's sake. :)

Birthday Wishes to babydee1 and mari2anne!

carcassi — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 20:55:36 GMT

Happy Birthday to two of the nicest people ever to grace an LJ f-list! :)

(Sorry this comes a couple of days late, Mari! OTOH, I *am* 363 days early for your next one. *Rueful grin*)

Mari---I hope you had a great time, and just in case you haven't had enough cake by now, let me offer you a slice of summertime:

As for YOU, Dee---I know just what you can't resist....

Yep, chocolate. *Blinks eyes innocently* What you thought I meant something else? I can't imagine what. Really. (Hey, I Googled "chocolate-dipped Justin Hartley" and came up empty-handed. At least I tried!)

May your next year be as wonderful as you are, ladies! *Hugs*

Pokes head up out of prairie dog hole

carcassi — Sat, 07 May 2011 16:15:14 GMT

Sorry I've been MIA! I've been so caught up in RL lately that I haven't been able to do much more than check up on LJ now and then. Mostly, I've spent the last several weeks driving back and forth to Pgh to make sure Mom and her caregiver are OK (which they are, thank goodness), dealing with an insanely micro-managing boss at work, and--oh yes--successfully finding a new job to get away from said boss. *BG* (It's actually not that big a switch; I'm just moving down the hall to a different department. But my new soon-to-be-boss is an absolute sweetheart, bless him!)

I know I'm MONTHS overdue on an update to my Chlark fic (actually, it's more like a year overdue *blushes*). I have been working on a new chapter, but taking care of an elderly parent via long distance is, I've discovered, incredibly time consuming. It seems as if every time I sit down to write, the phone rings or something else comes up that needs my attention. Not that I'm complaining, because it's a huge relief to me to know that my mother is happy and well. Still, the interruptions wind up taking me out of the story, and it's very hard to get back in. It's frustrating to *know* what I want to do with my story and not be able to do it!

As for SV, I haven't watched it in ages, so the finale next week doesn't mean that much to me. It stopped being the show I loved a long time ago. In fact, I can hardly wait until it's off the air, leaving fanficcers like me free to ignore the show's "canon", such as it is. *Rubs hands gleefully*

All the same, I don't regret being a fan of the show--because if I hadn't watched SV, I would never have met any of you. :) I will always be grateful for the friends I made through SV, and the good times we've shared. *Huggles you all* I hope you've all been well!

LJ fail :(

carcassi — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:29:44 GMT

Has anyone else had a problem with LJ delivering messages lately? In the past three days, I haven't gotten a single notification of any of the responses I've gotten to a comment or post. (At least, those I know about.) :(

Because someone on K-site likes my S6 Valentine ficlet....

carcassi — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 00:21:10 GMT

...I'm posting a link to it here. I don't go on K-site anymore, but it made me smile to see that someone there still reads my stuff. And in case you don't already know this, I am a total sucker for feedback. *G*

Chlark, post-"Crimson," and very short. But watch for the twist at the end!! :)

Sealed with a Kiss.

~~*Makes note to visit K-site long enough to say thank you*~~ Done!

Happy New Year!!

carcassi — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 22:23:08 GMT

One of my New Year's resolutions was to create my own fanfic archive, and I'm happy to say, the archive's up as of now, yay! If you're interested in browsing my Smallville stories, here they are: Fanfic Archive. I think I've got most of them, but I'll be updating it as necessary.

I wish everyone on my f-list a wonderful New Year. Enjoy the fireworks, guys, and see you in 2011! :)

Why autumn is my favorite season (picspam)

carcassi — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 20:03:22 GMT

Because today was just an indescribably perfect October day here in Virginia, I was inspired to post a few pix to show those of you on my f-list who live in the sunny South the payoff we Northerners get for suffering through those chilly winter months. The pix aren't mine, alas, but they are all from around where I live:

*Sips on hot cider and sighs happily* Hope all of you had a day as beautiful as this one!

(BTW, Dawn--I stuck in a pic of Williamsburg just for you. *G*)

Happy Birthday, ellyfanfiction!

carcassi — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:31:48 GMT

I wanted to post this earlier, but RL (read, "work") intervened. I've been sending you good thoughts all day, though, I promise!

I hope you're out celebrating this evening. If you still crave cake after you come home, here's a little something "super" for you to snack on:

Enjoy, Elly, and in the year to come, I hope you have nowhere to go but "up, up and away." :)

Thank you!!!!! :)

carcassi — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:10:56 GMT

I've had no power for hours, and when I finally get online, what do I find? An irresistible strawberry-topped virtual Dessert Waffle gifted to me by babydee1!

*Silent squee*

Of course, healthy eater that I am, goodies like this don't tempt me at all. Nope. I will now head for the kitchen in search of carrot sticks and celery.

*Looks right and left* *Tiptoes toward freezer* Oooh, fudge ripple ice cream? Gee, it would be a shame to waste it.....

*Wipes chocolate from mouth* *Looks up* Alright, alright. I'll eat carrots and celery tomorrow, OK? *G*

Thank you Dee, for an absolutely delicious AND calorie-free treat! You made my day. :)

SV Fic: 1,001 Kryptonian Nights (Chlark, Adult), Chapter 6/??

carcassi — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 19:03:57 GMT

*Waves* Surprise, it's an update! This is for any readers out there who might still be interested in the adventures of Sultan Kal-El and his intrepid harem girl.

Oh, and remember when I said this would be the last chapter? I lied. *Blushes* Turns out Kal-El and Chloe had something else in mind. Those two can be pretty stubborn, bless 'em. *G*

In case you don't remember where we left our heroes three months ago (!), Chloe had just surprised her favorite Sultan with a piece of Kryptonite. Did she do it on purpose? Will Kal-El recover? And, above all, will someone have to be undressed? (apeygirl, thanks for the inspiration. :D ) Find out the answers to these questions--plus much, much more--in this chappie!

Feedback > a triple chocolate sundae. Yum! :)

NOTE: As always, this fic is lovingly dedicated to my friend butifulyletdown. I hope you're feeling better, Zaye!

Read the last chapter here.

Read the whole story from the beginning here.

Chapter Six

Chloe cried out in horror as she watched Kal-El’s tall figure crash into a set of shelves and topple to the earthen floor amid a torrent of spilled pots and tableware. He landed on his back with an audible thud, his long arms flung out so far that they nearly touched the opposite ends of the tiny room.

Chloe paid no attention to the smashed crockery; her eyes were riveted on Kal-El’s pale face, which was bathed in the poisonous green radiance that had suddenly erupted from the rock in her outstretched palm.

She stared at the glowing stone as if it had suddenly turned into a scorpion in her hands. It hardly seemed possible that it was the same nondescript lump that had sat on her father’s bookshelf for so many years.

Of course, only a few hours earlier, when Kal-El had revealed the truth about himself, he’d explained that it was actually a piece of his home world. She should have known there was a lot more to it than met the eye, but never in her wildest nightmares would she have imagined that it was a killer in disguise.

And there was no doubt in her mind that it was. Looking back at the Sultan, she saw blood seep out of a jagged cut left on his forehead by one of the sharp-edged pottery shards. Dark lines crawled up his neck from above the collar of his black tunic and spread over his marble cheeks, covering his face like a spider’s web. Kal-El, the indestructible, was dying.

A jolt of panic went through her. For once in her life, she didn’t stop to ask questions; heart pounding, she dropped the bundle of clothes slung over her other arm and, with all her might, chucked the cursed rock as far into her father’s chamber as she could. She heard it hit the far wall; at the same instant, the green glow was snuffed out as abruptly as a candle’s flame. Whether its light was extinguished because of the impact or because of the distance from Kal-El, she didn’t know and for now, she didn’t care.

Now that the room where she stood was plunged back into gloom, Kal-El’s inert form was lit only by the few stray moonbeams that managed to filter through the chinks in the closed shutters covering the chamber’s sole window. She sank to her knees next to him and searched anxiously for any signs of improvement, hoping against hope that getting rid of the stone would do some good.

In the darkness, Kal-El’s tall body, dressed in his black tunic, leggings, and caftan, was virtually invisible, except for the pearl sigil embroidered on his tunic. It gleamed on his chest in the moonlight, and it was absolutely still.

Swallowing around the lump in her throat, she bent over him, dabbing gently at the cut on his forehead with the hem of her silken skirt. She held an ear to his chest, listening for any sign of life; hearing none, she straightened and looked at his too-peaceful face.

Chloe stifled a sob. “Please, Kal-El,” she choked out, her vision blurred by sudden tears. “Please get better.”

Unable to resist the urge to touch him, she placed one shaking hand on top of his chest, as hesitantly as if they hadn’t made love just a few brief hours earlier.

“I need you,” she added.

She cut herself off, blinking in surprise. Where had that come from? How could someone she’d just met mean that much to her?

And yet…he did. Until she’d met him, she’d felt like a fish out of water in this desert kingdom. Even her father had a hard time understanding why her dreams and goals were so different from those of most other women. But Kal-El understood, she mused, searching his face anxiously for any sign of movement. In a way, he’d set her free because with him, more than anyone else, she could be herself.

“I need you,” she repeated slowly, and knew she meant it.

As if in response, Kal-El abruptly drew in a sharp breath, startling Chloe into snatching back her hand. The pearl sigil began to rise and fall in a gentle, reassuring rhythm and, to Chloe’s boundless relief, she saw that his cut had healed and the ugly dark lines marring his face were fading rapidly, although his eyes were still shut. She exhaled, feeling the tension drain away.

Now that she knew Kal-El would be alright, she began to wonder nervously if he’d heard what she’d just said. She sincerely hoped not.

“I meant to say, we need you,” she backtracked firmly. “Everyone. The whole kingdom.”

His eyelids fluttered open. His glance, bright as ever in spite of the darkness, was riveted on Chloe, but he said nothing.

She chose to take that as a sign that her impromptu confession had gone unnoticed. Relaxing, she smiled down at him. “You’re alright,” she observed, unnecessarily.

He propped himself up on one elbow and stretched out his free hand to take one of hers. “Yes,” he replied with a note of disbelief in his voice, as if “alright” was the last thing he’d expected to be. His eyes never left her face. “I am.”

“I got rid of that—that thing,” she added, nodding toward her father’s room. “I only wanted to show it to you because I thought you'd be interested in seeing it. Why didn’t you tell me it was so dangerous to you?”

When Kal-El continued to search her face, Chloe tilted her head, puzzled. “What is it?”

Without warning, he burst into a grin wide enough to light up the entire city. “You didn’t know.”

“Of course not, how could I….” Chloe’s head jerked up in sudden realization. “You thought I planned this.” She stared at him, numb with shock. “You thought I was trying to kill you.”

The Sultan’s grin vanished as she recoiled from him and pushed herself to her feet, stung by the thought that Kal-El had believed, even for one instant, that she was capable of cold-blooded murder.

Somewhere deep inside her, she heard a small voice whisper that only yesterday she’d accused the Sultan of the same thing. But that, she thought angrily, had been totally different. She’d had plenty of good reasons for believing that. Kal-El, on the other hand, had jumped to a conclusion for no reason whatsoever.

Well, except that she’d called him a dictator. And made it plain that she hated dictators. But still.

Her whole body tensed as she watched Kal-El rise, moving with his usual fluid grace, obviously none the worse for wear. He reached for her shoulders; breathing hard, she stepped back to evade his grasp, and nearly tripped over the hem of her long silken skirt.

Two warm hands steadied her gently. “I didn’t want to believe that,” he said gravely, meeting her gaze. “I almost told you about the Kryptonite before. If I had, this would never have happened. I’m sorry.”

The quiet apology drained away her anger. Standing perfectly still, she let him hold her while she considered how she might feel if she were in his position.

“I’m the one who should be sorry,” she admitted at last. “You had every right in the world to protect your secret.”

Her lips curved into a small, rueful smile. “Especially from someone like me. Kings and freethinkers don’t usually get along.”

Kal-El’s head bent closer to hers. In the moonlight, his eyes shone, and what Chloe saw in them made her heart beat faster.

“I should have known you’d never betray me,” he murmured, and ran his fingers up and down her cheek, brushing off the last remnants of her tears with his thumb.

“And by the way,” he added, a note of humor creeping into his voice, “I like the way you think.”

Under his gaze, Chloe felt the shock of Kal-El’s near-death experience melt away. Revived a little, in spite of the late hour, she cocked an amused eyebrow at him. “Isn’t a freethinking dictator a contradiction in terms?”

He conceded the point with a low chuckle. “Maybe.”

Her smile deepened. “Hmmm. We’ll have to work on that.” She peered around the poorly-lit room in search of the bundle she’d dropped a few minutes earlier. “Which is why we’re here, come to think of it.”

He looked at her with a puzzled crease in his forehead. “It is?”

Chloe glanced in his direction and continued to scan the room. “You asked me to help you blend in, remember?” she said. “I had an idea. I’ll show you as soon as I locate Dad’s cloak. It’s around here somewhere.”

Instantly, Kal-El zeroed in on a spot near the overturned bookcase. Stepping past her, he retrieved a tattered garment from the floor, straightened, and shook it out in the moonlight.

The dark, hooded cloak was dotted with seams and patches, some of which, Chloe saw with chagrin, were beginning to come apart. She’d never learned how to mend clothes properly because that would have taken time from her work at the printer’s shop. Gabriel sometimes threatened, jokingly, that one day he’d have to marry a seamstress, but he’d never once asked her to spend more time at home.

As she eyed the sorry-looking thing, Chloe felt a sudden surge of gratitude for the tolerance her father had always shown her. He might not understand her, but in his own way, he was one of a kind, just as Kal-El was.

The Sultan, meanwhile, was staring at her in blank confusion. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

Chloe snorted softly and put her hands on her hips. “What else? Try it on, Your Majesty.”

Seeing the doubtful expression on his face, she nearly laughed out loud. “Oh come on. Plain homespun won’t make you break out in hives. If you could break out in hives.”

He made a face as he swung the garment over his shoulders. Although Gabriel wasn’t a short man, his cloak barely reached Kal-El’s knees. Its rough texture sharply contrasted with the soft silks and satins of the Sultan’s outfit.

Kal-El ran exploratory fingers over the front of the cloak, stopping here and there to rub at her hasty repair jobs. “So this is homespun?” He looked up. “Did you make it?”

Chloe was glad her father hadn’t heard that question. “Not exactly,” she replied, struggling to keep her face straight at the thought of Gabriel laughing himself silly. “I, um, got it from the printer’s wife in exchange for teaching her the alphabet. She wants to learn how to read what her husband writes.”

She eyed him critically. “It’s a little shorter on you than I’d hoped, but the important thing is this.”

Stepping forward, she took hold of the cloak’s hood and, rising on tiptoe, reached up to draw it over Kal-El’s puzzled head. She backed off, noting with satisfaction that in the gloom, the Sultan’s face was almost completely concealed.

Only his eyes were visible. They met Chloe’s with a look of almost comic bewilderment.

“Don’t you see?” she prompted, giving him a meaningful look. “No one would ever guess you’re the Sultan.”

She felt a satisfied twinge as those eyes widened in understanding. White teeth glimmered in the faint light as he grinned back at her. “A disguise.”

Chloe smiled. “More than that. This is a way for you to actually be someone else, at least for a while. The cloak is just part of it. I could give you a whole new identity.” She paused to let the idea sink in.

He blew out a resigned sigh. “I can’t turn myself into someone normal, Chloe.”

“I never said you could,” she agreed calmly. “And for what it’s worth, I don’t want you to. You’re an amazing force for good in the world, Kal-El. I would hate to see you turn your back on that.”

The cloaked figure faced her, motionless, and Chloe knew he was listening closely. “But there’s nothing wrong about acting as if you’re normal,” she continued, using every ounce of persuasion she had. “You know—shopping for stuff, chatting with people, maybe even working side-by-side with them now and then? That’s the secret to blending in.”

She held her breath, waiting for a reply. If Kal-El was willing to try living as an ordinary mortal, it would be a huge step in the right direction. The more he got to know people, the less he might like the idea of being worshipped by them.

Kal-E nodded quickly. “That sounds good.”

Hearing the eagerness in his voice, Chloe held back a shout of triumph. The first step was a success.

Unfortunately, the next step was going to be a little bit harder.

“Who knows?” she replied, trying not to sound too hopeful. “You might decide you like it better than being a king.”

Kal-El stripped off the cloak, folded it carefully, and laid it on the well-scrubbed surface of the plain table. “I might,” he agreed quietly, casting her a warning look. “But I don’t think Jor-El would.”

Which was, Chloe reflected morosely, exactly the problem. How she’d get around it, she had no idea, and right now she was too tired to care.

“We’ll need to find you better-fitting clothes,” she said, stifling a yawn, overcome at last by exhaustion. It had been a very long, very unforgettable day.

“Let me take care of that,” he replied briskly, crossing over to her. “You need to go to bed.”

In one smooth motion he scooped her up into his arms. Chloe tucked her head into the hollow of his shoulder, content, for once, to let Kal-El take charge.

He cradled her next to his chest, holding her as lightly as if she were made of eggshells. “Let’s go home.”

Chloe didn’t bother to point out that she was already home. Instead, she relaxed against him drowsily and watched through half-closed eyes as they rose into the air, passed through the opening in the ceiling, and headed into the night sky.

They moved towards the palace at a gentle pace. Beneath them mud brick roofs and zigzag streets slowly slipped past Chloe’s feet, gradually giving way to the courtyards and fountains of the grander residences near the royal precincts.

She was lazily admiring the moonlit sheen reflecting off the stuccoed domes of the approaching palace when Kal-El inclined his head close to hers.

“By the way,” he began, his voice tickling her ear, “I heard what you said. About, um, needing me.”

Instantly Chloe was wide awake. “Said?” she echoed, trying to mask the panic in her voice. “I don’t remember saying anything. Except—I just asked you to get better. That’s all.”

There was a pause, during which they drifted over the Sultan’s private garden and headed towards a series of arched windows that, Chloe knew, belonged to her own chamber. “Oh,” Kal-El said after a minute. “Oh well. I guess I was mistaken.”

She glanced up at him doubtfully, but he was looking straight ahead, as if the task of floating the two of them through one of the windows required his full attention. She was still trying to catch his eye when they emerged in the chamber, close to the magnificent overstuffed bed in which Chloe had awoken that morning.

One look at its fluffy pillows and comfortable down mattress was enough to make Chloe happily table her suspicions. The brocaded coverlet was turned down invitingly, and soft satin sheets gleamed in the light of the enormous candle that had been left flickering on her nightstand. Her maid must have been busy this evening—which relieved Chloe, since it meant that she’d recovered from the bad fright she’d gotten courtesy of Jor-El’s magical crystal.

With infinite care, Kal-El laid Chloe on the mattress, and she sighed, succumbing to temptation. Sinking gratefully into its deliciously soft depths, she let the smooth sheets caress her tired muscles.

She looked up expectantly at Kal-El, who was still standing over her. “Aren’t you going to join me?” she asked wistfully, although she was already more than half asleep.

The candlelight glimmered on his face as he smiled down at her. “Later,” he replied. “I have some work to do first.”

His promise pleased her more than she’d expected. Even if nothing at all happened that night, she liked knowing that Kal-El would be sharing her bed. Because it meant that tomorrow, for the first time, they would start the day together.

A long yawn punctuated her thoughts, and she settled her head more comfortably on top of the stack of pillows, thinking of tomorrow.

Soft laughter rippled the air above her as her friend and lover leaned forward to brush his lips against her cheek. Chloe sighed contentedly, and let her eyelids drift shut.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Kal-El listened to the mingled sounds of Chloe’s breath and her heartbeat as they each slowed into a peaceful rhythm. As hard as it had been, he was glad he’d resisted the urge to climb into bed with her. He could go without sleep for months at a time if necessary, but the same wasn’t true of Chloe. He knew she was exhausted and, more than anything right now, she needed rest.

He eyed her elaborate court outfit worriedly. It didn’t look too comfortable. That thick golden collar, for instance, must weigh her down. It might even constrict her breathing.

Moving more rapidly than a human eye could see, he removed the collar and her sandals. Chloe murmured a little in her sleep and fell quiet again.

Exhaling softly in relief, Kal-El turned his attention to her form-fitting bodice and long, full skirt. They might be a problem, too.

Of course, he could always summon the maid to undress her. But, he mused, letting his eyes wander over the satiny smoothness of her skin and watching that tight bodice rise and fall, the maid was slower than he was. She might wake her.

He nodded to himself and fought back a small twinge of conscience. After all, this was for Chloe’s own good, not because he wanted to see her naked in the candlelight.

Well, not only because he wanted to see her naked in the candlelight. But that wasn’t the point. Not at all.

A split-second later, he was feasting his eyes on a wonderland of bare, shapely curves. She lay on her back on top of the sheets, one arm thrown across the pillows and the other draped over her stomach, her skin softly illuminated by the candle’s glow.

Sinking down onto the edge of the bed next to her, he admired her full breasts, slim waist, and the gentle swelling of her hips as if seeing them for the first time. The flickering shadows danced over her legs, teasing him with brief glimpses of the glistening curls protecting her sex.

As he’d suspected, Chloe looked beautiful in the candlelight. But then, she’d looked beautiful in the daylight too.

Unable to resist, he stretched out a hand to stroke her breast, careful to keep his touch as light as possible. When she didn’t stir, he let his fingers wander to her side. They traced a slow, intoxicating path down to her hips and rested there.

He flattened his palm against her skin, drinking in its coolness. Underneath, he could feel the blood thrumming in her veins, vibrant and bursting with life. She was a universe of desire, waiting to be explored.

Already he could feel himself growing hard. Setting his jaw resolutely, he lifted his hand and noticed that it was trembling.

It took all his strength to fight against the urge to take matters further. That, he told himself sternly, would be unforgivably selfish.

Deciding that he’d better go before the situation spun out of control, he got up, grimacing at the stiffness of the erection pushing against his trousers. He stared down at her tranquil face, framed by a halo of golden hair, and remembered the words she’d spoken to him as he’d recovered consciousness in her father’s house. Whether she denied saying them or not, those three little words had actually made him grateful for that chunk of Kryptonite.

“I need you.” To hear those words, he’d have been willing to face a whole mountain of Kryptonite.

“For what it’s worth, my lady Chloe,” he whispered to her sleeping form, “I need you, too.”

He reached out to tuck her in for the night when he heard her give a low moan. Freezing in his tracks, he watched her squirm on top of the sheets, and hoped, guiltily, that he hadn’t disturbed her too much.

He exhaled a relieved sigh when he saw that her eyes remained tight shut. She was definitely still fast asleep, but she continued to shift restlessly on the bed and her lips moved soundlessly, as if she were having a conversation with someone in her dreams.

Fascinated, Kal-El continued to watch as she let out another soft moan. So slowly that he almost didn’t notice at first, the arm resting on her stomach inched upwards, then lifted slightly to allow her hand to settle on one breast.

Kal-El felt his mouth go dry. At the same time, beads of sweat moistened his brow. He ran his tongue over his lips, unable to look away.

Lazily her fingers fondled the area near the peak of her breast, moving with deliciously deliberate slowness. When they grazed her nipple, Chloe sighed and murmured something that sounded like his name.

By now his erection was so stiff it was painful. Eyes riveted on Chloe, he balled his fists with enough force to pulverize a granite boulder, and struggled to maintain control.

Her hand dropped limply to her side and her head lolled backward on the pillow, exposing the full length of her creamy throat. From its depths rose a needy whimper as her hips began to rock back and forth in a gentle but unmistakable motion.

Kal-El swallowed hard, knowing he couldn’t hold on for much longer. But he also knew it was too late to leave.

Her whimpers grew louder, and they were rapidly driving him to the edge and beyond. He felt a wild impulse to grab her, naked as she was, and make love to her a hundred feet above the city, in full view of everyone—then fly her to one of the many deserted tropical islands he’d discovered and make love to her again. He imagined how she’d look, stretched underneath him on a sandy beach as their intertwined bodies were washed by turquoise waves and serenaded by the surf.

Maybe, he thought feverishly, he’d keep her there, naked of course, so he could have her all to himself. He’d visit her every day, and she’d run to him happily, eager for more pleasure.

More than anything, he wanted to feel himself inside her. But he stubbornly refused to wake her up just to satisfy his own need. So, gritting his teeth, he resigned himself to the only alternative he had.

Chloe’s mouth opened slightly, and he heard a series of low sighs that almost sounded like panting as her hips lifted a bit higher. She let out one last, long sigh, and her body stilled.

Choking back a scream, Kal-El came hard into his trousers. He drew a deep, shuddering breath, and looked again at Chloe’s now-quiet form. From her peaceful face, it was obvious she’d slipped into a deep and restful sleep.

With painstaking caution, he tugged the sheets from under her body and drew them over her. He’d be joining her soon, but before then, there was something he needed to do.

Chloe’s suggestion that he adopt a secret identity had excited him far more than he’d wanted to let on. He’d never before considered the possibility that he could actually pass himself off as a normal human, and of course Jor-El had never suggested it to him, either.

He frowned, and his hands, which had been straightening the brocaded coverlet over Chloe, stilled. He was fairly certain Jor-El wouldn’t approve what he was about to do.

“I love my father.” Chloe’s words from earlier that evening echoed in his brain. “But that doesn’t mean I let him run my life.”

He bit his lip thoughtfully. Until now, he hadn’t really understood what she’d meant. He’d never really thought he had a life of his own.

Chloe had given him that. Kal-El smiled down at her sleeping form, his heart bursting with gratitude. For the first time, he’d found someone who made him feel as if he belonged. With Chloe, more than with anyone else, he could be himself.

He still wasn’t sure which path he’d eventually choose, hers, Jor-El’s, or some other way—but now, he knew the choice was up to him, not his father.

And tonight would be a step in that direction.

It didn’t take long for Kal-El to change into a clean set of clothes and head out into the city. It took a bit longer to find what he was looking for, but once he had, he was back in Chloe’s chamber, standing once more over her bed, feeling a sense of accomplishment.

She’d rolled onto her side, and her face was turned away from him. Cautiously, he lifted the sheets and slipped in behind her. She mumbled drowsily as he snuggled closer and hooked an arm around her waist.

He grinned, glad that he hadn’t woken Chloe. She’d need all the rest she could get.

Tomorrow was going to be a very big day.

Happy Birthday, babydee1!

carcassi — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 17:53:55 GMT

Congrats on celebrating your first b-day in your new (old) home, Dee!! I hope you partied all weekend and that you top it off tonight with a proper romantic dinner. (World Cup? What World Cup? *G*)

If you can't decide on dessert, how about some cake and ice cream?

Many hugs, and enjoy the rest of your day! *Hugs*

SV Fic: 1,001 Kryptonian Nights (Chlark, Adult), Chapter 5/6

carcassi — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 00:34:42 GMT

Yeah, your eyes aren't deceiving you, it's actually an update. I promised this for Wednesday, which wasn't possible, so I cleared Friday night and did my best to get this out for you. :)

At least, in my own defense, I didn't leave you on an evil cliffie last time. The same can't be said for this chapter, however. *Ducks brickbats*

One reason this chapter took so long is that I decided to try something different in it. You'll know what I mean when you read it. Believe it or not, this is the first time I've tried this thing in my fairytale fic, and it was actually very, very hard to write.

I know I promised smut here, but sadly, Kal-El and Chloe refused to cooperate. *Lesigh* They're both kinda stubborn, but believe me, when they get going, they *really* get going. :D The next chappie should be the big finale, and we'll see what happens then. :)

As always, this fic is lovingly dedicated to my lj friend butifulyletdown. Get better soon!! *Hugs*

And so, I give you the latest update on the adventures of Sultan Kal-El and harem girl!Chloe. Enjoy!!

Oh, and as for feedback? *Presses nose to candy store window* Nope, I don't want that chocolate bunny, not at all. *Hopeful look*

Read the last chapter here.

Read the whole story from the beginning here.

Chapter Five

Kal-El eyed the cowering maid glumly, wondering when, if ever, he’d manage to learn how to stop terrifying people. After almost three years as Sultan, he felt he ought to be doing better by now.

He succeeded in coaxing the maid to her feet with soothing murmurs, but noticed, with a jab of guilt, that the woman still shook like a leaf. Eyes on the floor, she handed her brightly-colored silken bundle to Chloe; then, scarcely waiting for Kal-El’s nod of dismissal, she bolted for the door, almost tripping over the threshold in her haste to make good her escape.

As he watched her disappear, he shook his head sadly. “How can I help people if they’re scared to death of me?”

Of course, Kal-El mused, he’d known he would be different. Jor-El had told him many times that his powers would set him apart. He’d known that he would never really fit in with the people of this world.

What he hadn’t known was how much that would hurt.

“It’s not your fault.” The matter-of-fact voice drifted up from the level of his shoulder. “I guess she doesn’t see people appear out of glowing crystals every day.”

He peered down at a head topped by a tousled mass of golden curls and felt the gloom lift a little, knowing that Chloe had seen far worse, and had chosen to stay.

Kal-El’s indestructible body shivered as he remembered her words. “You’re not alone. Not any more.”

He’d thought no power in the world could defeat him, but he’d been wrong; in that moment, the tiny figure by his side had conquered him completely.

Kal-El lifted a hand to tuck a wayward curl behind her ear, already craving anew the feel of her soft body against his. He wondered, not for the first time, how such a brave heart and amazing mind could be packed into such a small—and beautiful—package.

Lightly, he rubbed her ear lobe between his thumb and forefinger. “It wasn’t that bad,” he said, responding to her comment. “We never really left this room. The maid probably only saw the stone light up when we, well, sort of woke up from our trance.”

He sighed again regretfully. “But I guess that was enough.”

She tilted her face upwards, eyes twinkling. “Yeah. It must be hard for you to keep good help.”

Kal-El brightened. Even if the rest of the world never learned to accept him, Chloe was more than enough.

Briefly, he wondered whether he should have told her the truth about the Kryptonite rock her father had taken from their village. Jor-El had made him promise to keep Kryptonite’s deadly powers a secret, but if any human could be trusted with that secret, he felt certain it was Chloe.

On the other hand, could he go against his father’s wishes?

He was still engaged in silent debate when she turned toward him, still cradling in one arm the fresh set of clothes the maid had given her. The gleaming crimson material she held against her chest contrasted sharply with his black caftan and her sky-blue dress. Kal-El also couldn’t help but notice that the material, which puddled underneath her breasts, highlighted her shapely contours in various interesting ways.

At once all thoughts of Kryptonite vanished as a fiery haze clouded his vision. Instinctively he jerked his head upward, trying very, very hard not to remember how silky and firm those breasts had felt in his hands, and how good they’d tasted coated in honey.

Swallowing, he pinched his eyes shut to keep the sudden surge of heat inside. This, he told himself sternly, had to stop, or he’d wind up turning his newly-made best friend and lover into the world’s most beautiful cinder.

One small arm slipped around his back as her body, cushioned by the bundle of clothes, pressed against his. Her hold, feather-light though it was, made Kal-El stiffen in panic as he fought to maintain control. Immune though he was to cold or heat, he felt himself break out in a sweat.

Chloe rested her head against his shoulder. “You do know I’m not afraid of you any more, don’t you?” he heard her murmur softly.

Like an evening breeze, her quiet voice soothed him, cooling his damp forehead. Cracking open an eyelid experimentally, he discovered, to his relief, that the haze had disappeared.

Relieved, he risked a quick glance down, careful to keep his gaze well away from her head. Focusing on the crimson bundle sandwiched between them, he watched Chloe’s hand slide out from under it; he followed her delicate fingers as they trailed up his dark tunic and came to rest on his pearl-encrusted sigil.

Where her voice had cooled him, her touch, so close to his heart, warmed his soul. He drew a deep breath, feeling as if an unimaginable weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

“Look at me,” she ordered. “It’ll be alright.”

For a minute he hesitated, listening to the steady, unruffled rhythm of her heartbeat. He raised his eyes to meet an expression of complete trust, and silently thanked the Universe for sending him such a priceless gift.

She propped her chin on his chest, grinning up at him as he exhaled a long sigh of contentment. “You just need to learn how to blend in a little better. I can help with that.”

Her grin was like bottled sunshine. It was impossible not to return it. “Do you really think I can? Blend in, I mean?” he asked hopefully. “I’ve tried, but so far, it hasn’t really worked.”

She gave him a look of utter disbelief. “Kal-El, since when does swooping down to conquer a kingdom count as ‘blending in’?”

Kal-El sobered, uncomfortably aware of the accusation hidden behind her remark. “I told you why I did it,” he said, feeling a twinge of guilt. “It’s my destiny to help people.”

A pair of finely-shaped eyebrows lifted. “By ruling the world?”

Releasing him, she reclaimed her bundle and stepped back, peering up at him curiously. “Don’t take this the wrong way,” she said, “but—do you really like the idea of being a dictator?”

“No,” he shot back, without thinking. “In fact, I hate it.”

He paused as he realized what he’d just said. It was the first time he’d ever admitted it out loud, but deep down, he’d known for a long time that he wasn’t cut out to be a world conqueror. And it looked as if Chloe knew it, too.

He was well aware how impressive Chloe was (in her clothes or out of them, he thought, hiding a smile), but he was only just beginning to realize that her real talent was exposing the truth.

His hand cupped her cheek. “Believe me, if I could think of any other way to do what I was sent here to do, I’d choose it in a heartbeat.”

Her expression softened. “I know. That’s why I’m still here.”

Her gaze slid to one side, focusing on something behind Kal-El’s back. Swiveling his head, Kal-El saw that she was staring at the granite table holding Jor-El’s crystal.

“I thought you could use a fresh point of view,” she said, in an unexpectedly sharp voice.

Surprised, he turned back to her and caught a glint of something in her eyes. Was it anger? Defiance?

Whatever it was, the glint faded almost as quickly as it had appeared. With a visible effort, she tore her gaze away from the table and looked up at him with a smile that seemed just a shade too bright. “First things first,” she said, briskly, “You’ll never blend in until you learn how to act a little less, er, godlike.”

“I try not to frighten anyone,” he countered defensively. “I’m really pretty low-key.”

He frowned when he saw her roll her eyes. “I mean it,” he insisted stubbornly. “I’ve got very simple tastes.”

“Uh-huh,” she scoffed. “That’s why you live in a gold-plated palace the size of a small city.”

Stung a little by her mockery, Kal-El opened his mouth to protest that the palace came with the job, only to be interrupted by a soft but persistent tap on the thick double doors at the entrance to the chamber. Squinting at the doors, he looked through the wooden panels and saw his vizier, resplendent in full court dress, waiting on the other side.

“What is it, Ahmed?” he called out impatiently.

“Your Majesty, your presence is respectfully requested in the Great Audience Hall.” Kal-El watched the vizier incline his turbaned head toward the closed doors. “The ambassadors of our allies are anxious to do you honor.”

Inwardly, Kal-El groaned. He’d forgotten that today was the day of his weekly Royal Audience, when the diplomats of virtually every kingdom for hundreds of miles around gathered to curry favor with him. It was one of his least favorite duties, but his vizier Ahmed had talked him out of discontinuing the audiences, pointing out that the diplomats would see it as an insult.

Unfortunately, although Ahmed’s political advice might have been good, his timing couldn’t have been worse. Reluctantly, Kal-El turned to face Chloe and winced at the mischievous gleam in her eyes.

“What are they honoring you for?” she asked, sweetly. “Having simple tastes?”

“Um,” he began, groping for a good response.

It didn’t help that Chloe was watching him with increasing amusement. A dimple formed on one rosy cheek, making her look, if possible, more adorable than ever.

“It’s nothing, really,” he insisted, trying to ignore the flush that he knew was spreading up his own cheeks. “Just a small meeting.”

Chloe pursed her full lips and cocked her head to one side. “Was that supposed to be a good lie?” she inquired archly.

Kal-El sighed, wishing that Chloe’s knack for the truth was a little less all-encompassing.

“Best I could come up with on the spur of the moment,” he confessed, defeated. “The thing’s actually huge. Every ambassador in the city comes out of the woodwork to shower me with flattery and gifts. Which, trust me, is a lot more boring than it sounds.”

He’d expected to hear laughter, but instead, the serious expression she leveled on him was almost sympathetic. “I suppose they see the handwriting on the wall,” she commented thoughtfully. “They’re trying their best to butter up their future Overlord.”

Which was, Kal-El thought guiltily, exactly why he hated these audiences. Not that he had any plans to conquer anybody for at least another century or so, but still, he knew they were nervous, and it bothered him. He didn’t want to make anyone nervous.

Watching him, Chloe sighed as if she could guess his thoughts. “Mind taking me along?” she asked, and added, with a hint of that dangerously familiar mischievous gleam, “I’d love to see how well you, um, ‘blend in.’”

Uh-oh, Kal-El thought glumly. Somehow, he didn’t think that Chloe was going to like what she saw.

“Are you sure?” he asked, gamely putting up resistance. “You’ll probably be the only woman there. Not that I haven’t asked the men to bring their ladies along,” he added quickly.

Well. He should have known that that wouldn’t work.

“All the more reason for me to come,” she countered cheerfully, and lifted her bundle of clothes. “Plus, it’ll give me a chance to show off this little silk number.”

She padded across the room towards Kal-El’s bedchamber. “Be out in a minute,” she singsonged as she drew back the curtain at the entrance, then pinned him with a look. “No peeking. I promise you, it’ll be worth the wait.”

Kal-El smiled in spite of himself. Whatever happened, with Chloe along, the royal audience was sure to be anything but boring.

* * * * * * * *

A half hour later, as he led a long procession of glittering courtiers through the last in a series of cavernous marble halls, Kal-El stole a glance downwards at the stunning vision whose slender hand was currently resting on his outstretched arm.

Chloe had been right. It had definitely been worth the wait. The light silken skirt of the crimson dress the maid had brought drifted gracefully behind her, and its sleeveless top hugged her torso in all the right places. A broad golden Egyptian-style collar sparkling with diamonds and sapphires circled her creamy throat, making it seem even longer and more graceful than it actually was. Her small feet were set off by leather sandals studded with rubies.

The obligatory headdress and veil was the only part of the outfit that she’d balked at wearing, claiming it suffocated her. Considering it was about as light as a spider’s web, Kal-El had his doubts about that, but she’d held her ground until he’d pointed out that going bareheaded might offend the ambassadors. Reluctantly convinced, she’d grumbled and thrown the sheer golden material over her head and let Kal-El fasten it with a circlet shaped like intertwined gold-and-silver snakes.

As Chloe walked beside him, Kal-El admired the way the headdress framed her face, floating over her blonde curls like a halo. He made a mental note to send the maid who’d chosen the outfit his thanks—as soon as she’d stopped running.

They approached the broad marble archway that marked the entrance to his throne room, trailed by the shuffling sound of several dozen sandaled feet. Kal-El paused, listening to the royal herald inside the chamber calling out the million-and-one honorary titles that his councilors had given him while Chloe shot him a look and harrumphed softly from behind the hated veil.

When the herald reached “Son of the Sun,” he led them through the archway and into the hall, only to feel a gentle tugging on his arm. He stopped again at once, bringing the entire colorful parade to a halt.

Beside him, Chloe was surveying the sea of bowed heads with eyes as round as saucers. “Wow,” she breathed. “You could fit a small country in here.”

Kal-El cast a disinterested glance over the crowd of kowtowing nobles. As usual, the glitter of gems and the gleam of gold was everywhere, especially on the nobles’ elaborate turbans, which were decorated with feathers intended, so the vizier had told him, to show off the owner’s importance. He hadn’t bothered to listen to Ahmed’s long-winded explanation, but he was reasonably sure that the more feathers, the higher the rank.

The one the vizier had offered him when he’d first arrived had been topped by no less than six ridiculously-huge peacock feathers; he’d waved it away, telling the man that just because he could fly like a bird was no reason for him to look like one.

One glance at Chloe’s face told him that she was thinking twice about walking into the middle of this gilded mob. Why, he wasn’t sure, because she was more dazzling than all of them put together.

He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “You’ve already faced Jor-El,” he said, bending close to her ear. “Compared to him, this is nothing.”

She took a deep breath, straightened, and, lifting her chin, started with him down the long patterned carpet leading to the platform at the far end of the hall, where his throne waited under its golden canopy. Along the way they were fanned by the breeze from the masses of bobbing ostrich, swan, eagle and pheasant plumes.

Feeling as if he were in an aviary, Kal-El brushed aside the ticklish tip of an ostrich frond and guided Chloe past the courtiers toward the small marble-and-gold fountain near the base of the platform. Circling around it, they climbed the steps to the top of the dais; once there, Chloe continued to scan the crowd, from which a low murmur had begun to rise.

“I think I’ve shocked them,” she said in a low voice.

He frowned, glaring at the upturned faces that, here and there, stared at Chloe in barely-concealed disapproval. At once the guilty parties fell to their knees and touched their feathered foreheads to the gleaming floor tiles. “They’ll get used to you, don’t worry.”

Hearing her answering sigh, he turned toward her with a confused look. “What?”

Her shoulders rose and fell in a graceful shrug. “It’s just that—it doesn’t mean much if you order them,” she answered sadly.

The vizier hurried up the steps to his side and inclined his head to both Kal-El and Chloe, causing the three small peacock feathers in his turban to flutter gently. “We are honored that your new favorite is gracing us with her presence,” he intoned deferentially, snapping his fingers at a nearby servant. “A seat shall be prepared for her at once.”

The servant scurried into the crowd and re-emerged a few seconds later, carrying a large golden pillow from one of the refreshment tables lining the walls. Kal-El watched, mystified, as the servant knelt to place the pillow at the foot of his throne.

Chloe narrowed her eyes. “With all due respect, Your Majesty,” she said, giving the vizier a glare so icy it could have frozen molten steel, “I am not your pet Pekingese.”

Finally realizing what was going on, Kal-El grinned. He knew Chloe well enough by now to guess what she’d think of being asked to sit at his feet.

The vizier’s peacock feathers quivered as he stared at Chloe, aghast. “How dare you address His Majesty in that manner?”

Kal-El held up a restraining hand. “Don’t bother, Ahmed,” he said mildly. “It’s no use, trust me. Besides, she’s right.”

He leaned down and gave his irate companion a mischievous wink. “A Pekingese would be quieter.”

“Hmmph,” she replied, but the corners of her lips tugged upwards. “Don’t forget they bite, too.”

Chuckling, he settled on one end of the throne’s wide seat and pushed aside a few of the pearl-studded indigo cushions piled along its sides. “Sit here,” he said, patting the freed space beside him, which shone with gold-and-silver inlay. “There’s plenty of room.”

Ignoring the collective gasp that rose from the hall, she gathered up her full skirt and slipped gracefully into the offered space. Since the throne had been made to his measure, her feet didn’t quite reach the floor, but she solved that problem by resting them on the golden pillow that was supposed to have been her seat.

She craned her slim neck this way and that, taking in the hall from her elevated perch; over the edge of her veil, her eyes gleamed with fascination. “Not exactly low-key, is it?” she breathed, so softly that only Kal-El could possibly have heard, as her gaze swept over the jewel-studded canopy and the chamber’s high walls, which were spangled with azure and gold mosaic tiles.

Kal-El shifted uneasily beside her. He didn’t want Chloe to think that all his talk about being low-key had been a lie. “Well, it is the Audience Chamber,” he pointed out defensively. “It’s supposed to be fancy.”

She tilted her head back to peer at the ceiling, which had been painted to resemble the night sky. Kal-El bit his lip, knowing what she would see, and dreading her reaction.

She caught her breath. “Are those real stars?”

He followed her gaze upwards to the three-dimensional display of twinkling suns that never failed to amaze new courtiers. “It’s only an illusion,” he explained, verbally trying his best to shrug off a view that court poets loved to call the Eighth Wonder of the World.

She chuckled softly before turning back to the display. “So much for simple tastes.”

Before he could answer, she pointed at a large red star at the center of the bright constellations. “That’s Krypton’s sun, isn’t it?”

“Jor-El put it there,” Kal-El confirmed. “He said I should never forget my true home.”

“Your true home?” Sobering suddenly, she turned to look at him, examining his puzzled face with an expression that, half-hidden by the veil, Kal-El found hard to read.

He returned her gaze anxiously, ignoring the line of lords and ambassadors that was beginning to form at the foot of the dais, and wondered if he’d said something wrong.

“Tell me,” she asked, gravely. “Do you always do what your father says?”

The question caught him by surprise. As he stared at her wordlessly, the Persian ambassador, a paunchy self-important older man swathed in gold-trimmed white robes and crowned with a turban twice the size of his head, was padding forward, trailed by at least two dozen retainers bearing litters loaded with jewels, gold, and silver.

Kal-El glanced at him without interest, and turned back to answer Chloe. “Of course.”

He didn’t bother mentioning that just a few minutes ago, he’d almost told her all about the biggest threat to him on the face of the Earth. He was reasonably sure, he reflected with a twinge of discomfort, that his father wouldn’t have approved of that.

He took her hand. Instantly, her fingers curled tightly around his. Kal-El saw the way they fit together and was amazed at how natural it felt.

He looked up to meet a pair of unexpectedly intense hazel eyes. “Don’t you? Do what your father wants, I mean?”

Relaxing into an amused grin, she replied, dryly, “Obviously, you’ve never talked to my father.”

Kal-El frowned, totally lost, and Chloe’s expression gentled. “I love my father,” she explained quietly. “But that doesn’t mean I let him run my life.”

“I see,” he said thoughtfully.

“Do you?”

“Not really,” he admitted, smiling. “My whole life has been my father.”

She nodded in understanding. “I suppose the idea of free will must seem strange. But,” she went on cheerfully, “you’ll get used to it. After all, I got used to you.”

Not sure what to say, Kal-El squeezed her hand lightly, and found himself hoping that she was right.

The vizier, who stood as usual behind Kal-El’s throne, bent down to whisper in Kal-El’s ear. “That reminds me, Your Majesty. The lady’s father is an accomplished scribe. I’m considering recruiting him as an assistant…with your permission, of course.”

Kal-El exchanged a look with Chloe, who smiled her agreement. “He’d be thrilled, I’m sure.” She paused, shifting her glance from the vizier to Kal-El, and added, slowly, “As long as it’s understood that his job doesn’t depend on me. I’m staying for now, but don’t forget, I haven’t promised anything.”

Kal-El’s heart sank at the reminder. “That goes without saying,” he answered, stiffly.

The small hand didn’t leave his grasp. “I just want to be honest with you,” she murmured. “But I’m not about to give up on you that easily.”

As he confidence came surging back, he wondered why the fact that he’d completely lost his heart to this girl didn’t frighten him in the least. With a negligent wave of one hand, he beckoned the Persian ambassador forward while he bent close to Chloe for a last, quick reply. “You have my word, I’ll learn how to be ordinary.”

Serenaded by Chloe’s answering snort, he turned toward the portly ambassador, who hurried past the marble fountain toward the base of the dais, fell to his knees with an audible thud, and kissed the fringed hem of the damask cloth that covered the platform.

“O Fountainhead of flowing wisdom and power!” he recited with downcast eyes, one arm outstretched toward the fountain as if for inspiration. “O Sea of flowing beneficence! You put the waters of the world to shame.” The arm swept past the fountain and pointed to his overburdened servants. “Please accept these poor tokens of my royal master’s esteem.”

Kal-El cringed inwardly as, from his side, came the discreet but unmistakeable sound of bottled laughter. “Forget ‘ordinary,’” Chloe’s soft voice drawled. “Just try not to overflow, okay?”

Kal-El sighed as he watched two of the Persian’s retainers take hold of the ambassador’s chubby arms and pull him to his feet. As they did, litters piled high with treasure paraded past them.

And they were only the first. Next came the Babylonian delegation, bringing pretty much the same thing, except they threw in a small forest of cuttings from their fabled Hanging Gardens. Then the Egyptians countered with rare spices and a scale model of the Sphinx, on which Kal-El’s head replaced the original. The Cretans livened up the proceedings by hauling in a half-dozen bulls garlanded with flowers on which scantily-clad slave girls sat; Kal-El immediately ordered both the bulls and the girls freed, much to the disappointment of everyone but Chloe. Meanwhile, the Greek delegation, as they waited for their turn, toasted Kal-El and the entire court with massive amounts of ouzo.

Kal-El, uninterested in the drink, offered his goblet to Chloe, who was about to refuse when she caught sight of the shocked look on the Greek ambassador’s face. She sipped at it and made a face, but hung on to it stubbornly.

Kal-El politely acknowledged each tribute with thanks and a curt nod, all the while pleasantly aware that Chloe was only inches away. As one hour slid into the next, he found it increasingly hard to ignore her tempting presence, and even harder to sit through the endless flattering speeches.

Chloe had been right, he reflected, watching their faces. They were all afraid of him. Everyone but her.

He wanted, with all his heart, to take Chloe out of here right now and fly them both to a place where no one had ever heard of Sultan Kal-El.

He thought of Jor-El, and sighed inwardly. If only he could.

After receiving three or four more delegations, Kal-El became aware that Chloe was leaning ever so slightly against him, and he heard a small, ladylike hiccup. Glancing at her anxiously, he saw that her goblet was almost empty and her eyes were drifting shut.

“ ‘M fine,” she mumbled sleepily. “Don’ worry.”

Without bothering to answer, Kal-El rose, keeping one hand on her shoulder to prop her up. “My Lady Chloe is tired,” he announced to the hall, cutting off the flowery speech of the representative from Phoenicia. “Thank you all, but this audience is over. Please leave us.”

Within minutes, the chamber was so empty that Kal-El felt sure even human ears would have been able to pick up the sound of a pin dropping. Last of all, the vizier left, bowing in respectful silence on his way out.

Gently, Kal-El scooped up Chloe’s unsteady form from the throne, unhooking the veil and pushing off the headdress so that she could breathe more easily. “Shhh. I’ll take you to your bed,” he whispered, rocking her in his arms. “It’s getting late anyway. The sun must have set by now.”

She squeezed her eyes more tightly shut. “I wish you wouldn’t do that. It just makes me feel more dizzy.”

Chagrined, he stopped the motion and held her perfectly still. “Sorry.”

She blinked a few times, then looked up at him with eyes that were unexpectedly clear. “Y’know, you’re really hopeless.”

It was Kal-El’s turn to feel caught off-balance. “What do you mean?”

One bare white arm lifted briefly, traced a shaky circle around the empty chamber, and dropped to her side. “This. You did it like it was second nature—ordering everyone out. Kal-El, I don’ think—” she paused, hiccupped, and continued, “I don’ think you could act like a regular person if your life depended on it.”

“I told you, I can learn to be ordinary,” he insisted.

Chloe managed a weak smile. “Ordinary people leave a room. The room doesn’t leave them.”

She shook her head, then stopped, blinking as if the motion had made her dizzy again. “I just….it’s too much.”

“Then tell me what I have to do,” he asked urgently, suddenly afraid that Chloe, in spite of what she’d said earlier, had already decided to give up on him. “Tell me what I have to do so that people won’t be afraid of me anymore. Please, I need your help.”

Steadying her head against his supporting arm, she stared up at him for a long moment, as if considering. “Well,” she said at last, “there’s one thing we might try. I can show you, but we need to go to my house.”

Kal-El nodded, choosing to push aside his questions. “We flew over it this morning. I remember it. Would now be okay, or would you rather rest first?”

She snuggled closer to him and yawned. “Now’s fine,” she murmured. “It won’t take long.”

* * * * * * * *

Less than a minute later, Kal-El was carrying Chloe across the flat roof of her father’s mudbrick house, which was bathed in the pale light of a rising crescent moon. As he’d thought, it was night, and the streets below them were deserted.

Chloe lifted her head from his tunic and took several deep breaths of the fresh air, which seemed to revive her a little. “I can walk,” she said, squirming impatiently.

Kal-El set her down carefully and followed her to a small opening cut in the roof, from which a ladder protruded. “It’s down here, in my father’s bedroom,” she explained, starting down the ladder.

Mystified, he watched her to make sure she got down alright before descending after her. Once he reached the bottom, he stepped onto the beaten-earth floor of the tiniest room he’d ever seen and stared at its plain but clean furnishings: a rough-hewn wooden table, two benches, shelves filled with cutlery and other household items, and few clay pots. A single opening led to another room, from which he heard rummaging sounds.

“Need any help?” Kal-El called out. “It’s pretty dark in there.”

“Nope,” she sang out. “I know what I’m looking for.” After a little more rummaging, he heard her exclaim softly. “And—hey!—I’ve got a surprise for you, too.”

A minute later, Chloe emerged, her elegant court dress looking completely out of place in this simple two-room house. Over one arm, she carried what looked like a pile of rags. The other arm was hidden behind her back.

She moved closer to him, grinning. As she did, Kal-El winced, feeling a sudden wave of nausea pass over him.

Extending her hidden arm, she opened her hand. “Look what I found,” she said cheerfully, and Kal-El blanched.

There, in her exposed palm, was a glowing chunk of Kryptonite.

Somehow, he thought, as blackness overcame him, she’d figured out his secret. She’d planned this all along. The only person on Earth who wasn’t afraid of him, had betrayed him.

Faintly, he heard someone scream, and then there was nothing.

Read the next chapter here.

Classic Chlark, pure and simple

carcassi — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:51:03 GMT

For those who miss the Chlark on SV this year, here are a few select bits of my Chlark over the years, both PG and adult-rated, all in one place. These are some of my personal favorites. :)

Adult

Of Gods and Butterflies. AU take on Chlark as Cupid and Psyche. This is long, but it is, imo, the best fic I've ever written. :)

Sweet Dreams. Post-Doomsday porny fluff. Yeah, I know, obviously an AU, but I still like it better than what actually happened. :P

A Spoonful of Sugar. Season 7, Chloe's on a sugar-free diet and Clark has a sweet tooth. PG leading to NC-17 (links at end of chapters).

The Naked Truth. Post Season 6 and completely fluffy. Chloe's nude, Clark floats, and psychology conquers all.

PG-13 and PG

Lois Lane, Star Reporter. Post-Season 5 AU, Chlois.

Big Fin Series. For early-season SV fans who are nostalgic for sweet friendship!Clex and young Chlark, this is post-Season 1 Chlark and Lex scoobying to save a very special friend.

A Dog's Life. Late Season 6. Chlark + Shelby = LOVE.

Dedication. A take on Chlois, post-Season 7.

Chosen. Overlord!Kal/Chloe in an AU-verse where the meteor shower happened years after it did on SV and the Kryptonians have taken over the Earth.

I am a very, very bad fanfic author. Hangs head

carcassi — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:57:04 GMT

I'm so sorry for the delay in updating my Chlark fairytale!fic, 1,001 Kryptonian Nights. RL has been a bear lately, mostly b/c of work-related stuff. (Lately I've had to spend all my time in the office actually *working* instead of writing fic. Shocking, I know. :P) Then there's my church choir, which is rehearsing twice as much as usual to prepare for our Palm Sunday and Easter concerts. On top of that, I was out of town recently for a belated (by reason of snow) b-day celebration with family. As a result, I've only been on lj intermittently in, like, forever. :(

I *am* writing though, I swear!!! In fact, the chappie might have been posted this week if I hadn't decided midway through to take a slightly different direction. I wound up rewriting the part I'd already finished, and now I'm about two-thirds of the way through. With any (good) luck, it should be posted by early next week.

Please don't hate me? *Hopeful smile*

Happy Birthday, kate_tur!

carcassi — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:07:35 GMT

I hope you're having a day as wonderful as you are, Kate, and may the coming year bring you the good things you deserve. :)

I couldn't decide what kind of cake you'd like, so I thought I'd offer you a little of each:

Enjoy!!! {{Hugs}}

Happy belated birthday, gen717!!!!!

carcassi — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:31:08 GMT

I'm on the road this weekend, but I hope you had a wonderful day! In case you didn't get enough cake yesterday, here's a little extra to enjoy....

(P.S. Ollie says "Happy B-day," too. The naughty boy's hiding behind that green balloon, getting ready to pop it with an arrow so he can jump out and give you a BIG surprise.)

(And btw, he's totally nude. Hope you don't mind. :D )

Thank you!!!!! :)

carcassi — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 00:39:45 GMT

monicaop and iliana_1, the birthday balloons ROCK! And I really appreciated the b-day posts and PMs from laurelnola, babydee1, phantom_queen, wwg23, massena1, steefvaniersel, and eternal_moonie.

My b-day travel plans this weekend were totally blown away (literally) by the blizzard that kept me from visiting fam/friends in Pgh, so your thoughtfulness was doubly welcome. I spent all yesterday and today with a grin on my face b/c of you. :)

SV Fic: 1,001 Kryptonian Nights (Chlark, Adult), Chapter 4/5??

carcassi — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:44:00 GMT

For those readers who are still patiently hanging onto the edge of that evil cliffie I left you on in Chapter Three, I have good news: The wait is OVER. *G*

As you recall, we left our intrepid harem girl Chloe just as she'd fallen into Sultan Kal-El's mysterious crystal. Whatever will she find there? And will Kal-El rescue her?

This part's pretty much rated PG, but never fear, more smut will be on the way before long. :) From here, I think there will be only one chapter or, at most, two.

This fic is lovingly dedicated to my lj friend butifulyletdown, and most of it has, thankfully, enjoyed the beta-ing of the World's Best Beta-er, aka the amazingly talented laurelnola.

Feedback? It'd make a great birthday present. Not that my b-day's tomorrow or anything. *Whistles*

And so, I give you the latest entry in SV's version of the "Arabian Nights." I hope you enjoy!! :)

Read the whole story from the beginning here.

Read the last chapter here.

Chapter Four

For a heart-stopping minute, Chloe hurtled through the spinning void, squeezing her eyes shut against the blinding brightness. Then, as quickly as it had started, the dizzying sensation stopped. Chloe felt her sandaled feet touch down softly on a smooth, cool surface.

The light beating against her eyelids seemed to have dimmed, and the only sound she heard was her own unsteady breath. Teetering on wobbly knees, Chloe cautiously cracked open one eye to inspect her surroundings.

Both eyes widened in amazement as they took in the impossible sight before her. Her head tilted back and she gazed up at a vaulted chamber that dwarfed the tallest tower of the Sultan’s Citadel, realizing that she’d left behind all trace of the world she’d known.

It wasn’t just because the massive beams jutting upwards at crazy angles seemed to be made of ice. She still had distant memories of ice from her childhood in the North, even though she’d lived in the desert for years. But she’d never seen ice like this.

This ice was…alive. Each soaring, crystalline beam seemed to be lit from within by a blue-white flame which pulsed at regular intervals, like a heartbeat. Where one beam crossed another, they cast long, pulsating shadows across the glassy surface on which Chloe stood.

Next to those shadows, her own looked no bigger than a speck. Stretching over broad steps and under radiant archways, they disappeared into the remote recesses of the hall.

Briefly, it occurred to her that she ought to be cold. It was, she decided, one more puzzling thing about this strange place.

As she peered upwards, trying to see the exact point where the beams met to form the distant ceiling, a vague thought swam up from her memory. Hadn’t Kal-El mentioned something about growing up in a palace in the North?

Even minus the cold, Chloe mused, this would certainly qualify. Like Kal-El himself, this palace was one-of-a-kind.

Nervously, Chloe peered through the gigantic beams in search of any sign of life apart from the strangely glowing ice formations. Almost at once, her attention was caught by a massive platform, or table, that seemed to be located near the center of the hall. Made of the same translucent material as the beams, it thrust out from the floor at a sharp angle. Like the beams, its surface was ridged and irregular, as if it had grown from the chamber naturally. Looking at it, Chloe thought fleetingly of the wind-sculpted rocky outcrops in the desert wastes.

Except no desert rock in existence had ever been adorned with a collection of glittering crystalline spikes like the one she saw now. The table was literally covered with them; she stared in fascination at the gleaming clusters of ruby, sapphire, and topaz.

Hesitantly, she took a step toward them, and they began to sparkle just as the crystal in Kal-El’s apartments had before she’d fallen into its trap.

She fell back instantly, feeling a shiver that had nothing to do with the temperature. Her eyes riveted to the ominous table, she hugged herself tightly.

“It is illogical for you to feel cold,” a voice boomed from out of nowhere, breaking the chamber’s near-total silence. “You have no physical presence here.”

Chloe’s heart jumped into her throat. The deep bass notes of the voice still reverberated in the hall’s farthest corners as her eyes swept the chamber in search of its source.

“Where are you?” she demanded, although she was unsure whether knowing the answer would make her less afraid, or more. “Who are you?”

“I am the memory of Kal-El’s father. You may call me ‘Jor-El.’”

So, Chloe thought, unsurprised, she’d been right. This was Kal-El’s palace.

But that still left a lot to explain. Unable to locate anyone or anything else to talk to, she cocked her head inquisitively at the glowing table. “What do you mean, ‘no physical presence’?”

A ripple of light flashed across the jagged gemstones on top of the table. “It is a difficult concept for a human to grasp,” the voice answered with exaggerated patience, as if she were five and had just asked why the sky was blue. “Your consciousness is here, but your body is not.”

Chloe felt her jaw set stubbornly. “It’s not that hard,” she informed him curtly, rankled by his patronizing tone. “You mean your crystal put a spell on me or something. I’m not really here.” She looked around pointedly at the cavernous, empty space and turned back to face the table. “And apparently neither are you.”

There was a small silence. When the voice spoke again, it was with the faintest hint of grudging respect. “Very well-reasoned, for a human.”

Brushing aside the half-baked compliment, Chloe asked the question that was uppermost in her mind. “Why did you bring me here?”

Was that a sigh? She wasn’t sure. “I assume Kal-El has noticed that you have a fondness for questions,” he commented drily.

The jewel-toned spikes twinkled softly, which Chloe took as a sign that Kal-El’s father was enjoying a laugh at her expense. Watching the patterns of light dance across the table, she made the interesting discovery that, imaginary or not, her cheeks could still blush.

Straightening, she replied, with as much dignity as she could muster, “I haven’t heard any complaints so far.”

Apparently relenting, Kal-El’s father answered her question. “I sensed your presence when you first arrived in Kal-El’s chambers. Your mind is unusually strong for a human.”

Chloe chose to take that as a compliment. “Umm…thank you,” she replied politely, remembering her first encounter with the glowing crystal. “That must have been yesterday.”

“Time is meaningless to me,” he said dismissively.

Chloe, busy with her thoughts, only half-heard him. “I suppose that’s why the servants are so frightened of that crystal. How many of them have you brought here to have a chat?”

“None. There was no need.”

Her brows shot up. “In that case, I’m back to my first question. Why am I here?”

The lights flashed briefly, giving Chloe the unmistakable feeling that a throat had just been cleared. “Kal-El has had little experience dealing with your people,” the voice said, with careful deliberation. “He requires assistance in order to learn how best to lead the humans and fulfill his destiny.”

Chloe frowned. In her body or out of it, she knew evasion when she heard it. “Hold it. Kal-El’s already got a vizier. Isn’t that enough?”

The dancing colors on the table stilled. “The assistance I speak of is both far more crucial, and far more permanent,” the voice replied. “He requires a mate.” After a moment, he added, “With whom Kal-El may share his burden through the centuries.”

She had just enough time to feel a twinge of pleasure at the thought before the meaning of his last words sank in. She gulped, blinking to stop the sudden sensation that the blue-white chamber was spinning around her. “Centuries? You mean that Kal-El is—is immortal?”

The colored lights resumed their pattern. “As you understand the term, very nearly. He will in any event be extremely long-lived.” There was a pause. “As will his mate.”

She wondered briefly if that had been the secret that Kal-El had been so reluctant to tell her. Both all-powerful and immortal—how could a being like that avoid being worshiped as a god?

And how could his mate avoid being worshipped as a goddess?

Immortality, eternal youth, and marriage to a god. She had to admit, the idea was tempting.

But it was also frightening. How long would it be before the gentle, modest lover she’d left only moments before gave in to his own brand of temptation?

Other images flashed through her mind: Kal-El at the head of adoring armies, smashing battlements into dust; Kal-El striding through the streets of conquered cities while untold thousands cheered.

Kal-El, standing at the altar of a temple dedicated to him, graciously accepting the gifts and prayers of the crowds.

She felt her imaginary stomach give an uneasy lurch. Swallowing, she faced the sparkling light show that was the only evidence of the presence of Kal-El’s father, Jor-El. “Are you saying that I am his mate?”

“Perhaps. I have not yet decided.”

“What if I say no?” she asked, already certain of the reply.

“Regrettably, that will make no difference. It is Kal-El’s destiny, not yours, that matters.”

“I suppose that means that no one else gets a choice, either,” she observed, bitterly. “Kal-El leads and everyone else follows. Period.”

“I understand your concern,” Jor-El said, with what sounded like genuine sympathy. “But in your world, choice is not a possibility. Human cultures have yet to evolve past the concept of absolute monarchy. Free will is neither expected nor respected.”

It was the same argument Kal-El had used at lunch, and, as before, Chloe had to admit that it was totally logical. It was also, she thought, totally unacceptable.

“There has to be another way,” she insisted stubbornly.

The hall suddenly turned colder, and a low rumble shook the ground underneath Chloe’s feet. Fighting back a wave of panic, she clutched a nearby beam for support. Its hard, uneven surface felt as chilly as the ice it resembled.

“Do not attempt to interfere with my son’s destiny,” Jor-El’s voice intoned, rising over the din. “If you do, the consequences will be grave.”

As he spoke, the colors of the jagged crystals on the table merged into a blazing white light. Chloe squeezed her eyes shut, but there was no way to avoid the fiery radiance; it was inside her, searing her brain. An agonized cry escaped her lips.

The jabbing light faded slowly as the floor steadied under her feet. Letting go of the beam, Chloe sucked in a shaky breath and looked at the table. The jeweled crystals sparkled innocently, as if nothing had happened.

One thing was certain, she reflected ruefully while she was waiting for her nerves to settle down. Jor-El definitely knew how to deliver a warning.

Overcome by a wave of helpless anger, Chloe glared at the table. “Why is his destiny so important? Why can’t both of you just go back where you came from and leave us alone?”

The gemlike lights dimmed slightly. For a moment, the silence in the majestic chamber was deafening.

“Perhaps,” Jor-El answered at last, “you should ask Kal-El.”

The next instant, long arms encased in brocaded black silk circled her waist from behind. “Chloe!” a far more familiar, and welcome, voice breathed in her ear. “Are you alright?”

She leaned into his warmth, gratefully supporting herself against his broad chest. Mirage or not, Kal-El, as usual, made her feel safe.

Nestled comfortably in his embrace, she tilted her head, meeting his gaze, and the concern she saw there made her lips curve into a smile. “What kept you?”

He gave her an apologetic look. “I tried to come in when I heard you scream, but the crystal wouldn’t let me.”

He shot an accusing stare at the table. “What have you done to her, Father?”

“She is unharmed, my son,” Jor-El’s voice reassured him. “But as I am sure you are aware, she is unusually curious for a human.”

Kal-El’s expression relaxed into a relieved smile and his grip around Chloe tightened possessively. “Yes she is, isn't she?”

Chloe looked up at him and grimaced. “If you two have finished discussing me in the third person,” she cut in tartly, “I’d like to find out a little more about where you both came from. Jor-El said you’d tell me.”

Sobering, Kal-El bent his head down, his normally-clear eyes clouded by doubt. Soft lips brushed her forehead. “You’re sure?” he murmured.

Chloe met his gaze and tried not to think about how good his body felt against hers. Even if it was an illusion, it was impressively convincing.

“You promised,” she reminded him resolutely.

He sighed and nodded, releasing her. “I’m just afraid you may not like what you find out.”

He strode toward the shining table, and Chloe noticed that he was once again dressed all in black. The dark silk of his caftan glimmered in the colorful light from the crystals as his tall figure loomed over the table.

With an ease suggesting long practice, he reached out to tap one of the smaller crystal spikes in the middle of the cluster, then backed away to rejoin Chloe. Draping an arm around her shoulders, he bent down to whisper in her ear. “Remember, no matter what you see, nothing can hurt you. These are only images.”

She gulped apprehensively. “Thanks for the warning.”

The small, clear crystal rose off the table by itself, like a rope enchanted by a street magician’s flute. It hovered in front of them for a minute, and then it began to spin in mid-air, its faceted surface glinting brightly as it gained speed.

Without warning, the light extinguished, plunging the entire chamber into darkness. Stifling a gasp, she clutched at Kal-El’s tunic blindly, and he gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

Bright points appeared in the void, twinkling and wheeling above them like stars in the night sky. One point in particular, crimson and larger than the rest, dominated the view; as Chloe watched, it seemed to approach, growing quickly into a fiery red ball. As it moved aside, she saw an icy sphere revealed between the flames.

Fascinated, she forgot her fear and leaned forward to examine it better, only to be held back by Kal-El’s gentle restraint. She tossed a questioning look in the direction of his unseen head.

“That’s my home world. It was called Krypton,” she heard him explain quietly.

“Was called?” she echoed, and felt a small, cold knot form in the pit of her stomach. Kal-El, she noticed worriedly, didn’t answer.

They were moving toward the surface of the icy sphere now, skimming vast, snow-covered plains as barren as the driest desert. In the distance, tall mountains glittered like jewels along the curving line of the horizon.

As she admired the view, something else occurred to Chloe. “So the Greeks were right. Worlds are round!”

His chuckle was soft, but unmistakable. “I might have known.”

Too pleased with her discovery to mind his gentle teasing, she kept her eyes riveted to this window into another world. They were flying toward an immense walled city that seemed to be made entirely of ice. Silhouetted against the backdrop of a huge crimson sun, it towered over the white plains, and its tall spires, catching the sun’s light, burned like tongues of frozen flame.

To Chloe’s delight, the moving picture swung closer in, allowing her to take in the city’s countless wonders. They flew past impossibly tall buildings and along broad avenues filled with strangely-dressed people riding in floating chariots. Here and there, she saw children play under the watchful gaze of mechanical creatures, and every so often, the streets were brightened by lush foliage of crimson, violet and gold which swayed in unseen breezes under the protection of gigantic glass bubbles.

With an excited cry, she pointed out to Kal-El a group of boys and girls gathered in what appeared to be an open-air classroom, watching a teacher show them how to paint pictures with light. Like the children, she observed him with wide-eyed absorption as he traced colorful patterns in the air with a long, thin crystal.

To her disappointment, they soon left the otherworldly school behind and began to climb again. After one last sweep over the crystalline surface of the city’s magnificent central dome, the scene went dark.

She stared into the blackness, still lost in admiration. “It’s beautiful. Like a city carved from diamonds.”

She was about to ask why anyone would want to leave such an amazing place when a new scene appeared. They were in a white-walled chamber, staring down at a baby wrapped in golden blankets. He was lying in what looked like a small silver carriage.

They seemed to be descending toward the child, and as they did, Chloe’s attention was caught by a pair of emerald eyes that were both startling and familiar.

She drew a sharp breath. “Who is that?”

Kal-El’s reply was interrupted by a noise like thunder. The room in the picture shook violently, causing the carriage to careen back and forth, and the baby started to wail.

With a jolt of panic, Chloe saw that the walls around the child were crumbling. “Someone save him!” she cried out, even though she knew that no one would hear her.

Kal-El’s hand stroked her arm soothingly. “Don’t worry, someone will.”

A beautiful woman clad in white rushed to the child’s side. As the shaking subsided, she bent over the carriage with glistening eyes, her shining auburn hair falling like a veil over the golden blanket.

Chloe knew, without being told, that this was the child’s mother. The lady dropped a light kiss on the baby’s forehead, silencing his cries, then straightened and, with a face taut and pale, nodded at someone Chloe couldn’t see. Slowly, the sides of the silver carriage closed around the baby.

Chloe watched the scene with a sinking feeling, somehow certain that mother and child would never see each other again. As the scene disappeared, Chloe felt her own tears spilling onto her cheek.

They were flying over the city again, but in the past few seconds it had undergone a drastic change. The once-majestic buildings were now tumbled ruins under a blood-red sky, their remains tortured by the heaving earth underneath. Crowds of panic-stricken people ran in every direction looking for escape, but finding none. Chloe looked on in wordless horror as a huge chasm opened up without warning and swallowed dozens of helpless victims.

Their cries of terror were bone-chilling; Chloe, shuddering, pressed her hands to her ears in a fruitless attempt to block them out. In the distance, she saw the city’s great dome cave in on itself, leaving only a cloud of white dust.

Kal-El wrapped his arms around her, and, dropping her hands, she took shelter against his chest. His body, she noticed, felt less warm than usual, and his arms shook slightly.

“What happened?” she whispered hoarsely.

His long sigh pierced the darkness. “War,” he said simply.

Her own sigh mingled with his. It was an all-too-familiar explanation.

“I’m so sorry,” she told him softly. “Was the entire city destroyed?”

Before he could answer, the scene once more dissolved and changed. They were staring again at the icy sphere that was Kal-El’s world, but this time it seemed to be drifting dangerously close to the crimson sun. As the sphere receded from their view, Chloe saw the sun’s flames begin to lick at its surface.

A moment later, both sphere and sun exploded in a strangely silent cataclysm. All that was left of Kal-El’s world were bits of bright green matter floating in the trackless void.

Chloe became aware that she was sobbing uncontrollably. She buried her face in Kal-El’s tunic, staining the fine silk with her tears.

He gathered her closer and rocked her with gentle, soothing movements. “Sssh. It’s alright, Chloe,” he murmured in her ear. “It was long ago.”

She raised her head from his chest and peered upward, trying to pierce the gloom. “That baby—that was you, wasn’t it?”

She shuddered again, thinking of the woman with the auburn hair. “What happened to you?”

He took hold of her shoulders and, ignoring her wordless protests, gently turned her around. “You need to keep looking,” he said apologetically. “There’s one more thing to see, and it may be the hardest.”

Reluctantly, she obeyed, and was relieved to find that the exploding world had been replaced by scenery that was both more familiar and much more peaceful. Grassy meadows dotted with cattle sped by beneath them, and orchard trees heavy with apples; after they crossed a bubbling stream, the meadows gave way to golden fields ready for harvest, and Chloe glimpsed a collection of simple wooden dwellings in the distance.

Her eyes widened. “That’s the village where I was born!”

Kal-El’s huge palms curled around her shoulders and she felt him tense for some reason. “I know,” he whispered, in a strained voice. “It’s also where that baby landed.”

They appeared to be heading toward the village, losing altitude as they went. In a corner of the picture she glimpsed a cluster of glowing green rocks heading in the same direction.

She stared at the rocks, startled. There was no mistaking them. “Those are the rocks that hit the village.”

Suddenly, she understood the reason for Kal-El’s tension. “You came in the firestorm.”

Kal-El’s grip on her shoulders tightened slightly. “I was the reason for the firestorm,” he said, with an audible tremor in his voice. “Everything that happened that day—it was all my fault.”

Before he'd finished, Chloe was already shaking her head. “Of course it wasn’t," she said, covering his hands with her own. "You were only a baby.” She grimaced impatiently. “Or is an over-developed sense of guilt another one of your powers?”

His hold on her relaxed. “You’re not angry?” he asked, incredulously.

Chloe, hearing him, felt almost as incredulous. How could anyone blame themselves for being a helpless infant in the wrong place at the wrong time? If she needed any further proof that Kal-El was from another world, that definitely was it.

The picture faded and the crystals blazed back to life, illuminating the hall. Seizing the opportunity, she swung around and stood close to his chest, tilting her head far back to meet his anxious eyes. “Kal-El, you suffered more than anyone. Certainly more than my father and me,” she told him firmly.

For a long moment, he searched her face. She returned his gaze steadily, trying with all her might to let him see that she meant what she said.

A hint of a smile played on his lips. “I’m glad you don’t hate me,” he told her, with obvious relief. “Although if you had, I would have understood.”

“As for the village,” he added, “My father tried to protect it as much as possible. He said he destroyed as many of Krypton’s remnants as he could before they hit the ground.”

“Dad said the villagers got rid of most of the rest,” she cut in. “They thought the rocks were cursed. Dad kept one as a souvenir, though.”

She smiled sadly. “I had no idea it was really a piece of someone else’s world.”

Kal-El shot her a look, and she cocked her head inquisitively. “What is it?”

"About those rocks...." He paused and regarded her doubtfully, apparently debating whether he should continue, then shook his head as if he'd thought better of it. He smiled down at her, shrugging. “Nothing.”

She regarded him doubtfully while he took up where he’d left off. “You know the rest. My father transported me to the North to live with him.”

“So you and I are both refugees,” Chloe mused sadly. “But at least we both have our fath….”

She trailed off and looked up at him sharply. “Wait a minute. How did your father get here? There’s no way he could have fit in your little carriage.”

Kal-El’s answering smile was tinged with sadness. “He didn’t. My father and mother both died on Krypton.”

She thought of something Jor-El had said when she'd first arrived. Now, she knew what he'd meant. “He called himself the memory of your father. He’s just….a voice.”

The realization was staggering. Kal-El, the most powerful being in the world, was also the loneliest.

“He’s taught me well,” Kal-El said quickly. “I never felt alone.”

And maybe, she mused, that was the problem. After a lifetime spent listening to Jor-El lecture him about his destiny, it was no wonder he never questioned it. And until she’d arrived, no one else ever had, either.

Biting her lip thoughtfully, she reached a decision.

Chloe took his hands in hers. Curling around his massive palms, they looked as small as a child’s.

“You’re not alone,” she murmured, gazing at him meaningfully. “Not any more.”

A look of sheer joy spread across his face. Seeing it, Chloe's misgivings evaporated like water droplets on a hot stone.

“You mean, you’ll stay?” he asked eagerly.

His grin was like bottled sunshine. It was impossible not to return it. “For now,” she qualified hastily.

Kal-El, his exuberance undimmed, caught her up in his arms and spun her in the air while she clung to his shoulders and shrieked her approval. Lowering her carefully, he kept her caged in his warm embrace, surveying her with the same delighted amazement that she’d felt at her first sight of his home city.

“Jor-El’s not the only one who has a lot to teach you,” she said, lifting her head toward his invitingly.

She wasn’t sure if illusions could kiss, but she was definitely willing to find out.

He bent down until their lips almost touched. “I’m looking forward to it,” he breathed, and covered her mouth hungrily.

Abruptly, the swirling vortex of light reappeared around both of them, startling Chloe into giving an alarmed gasp. Kal-El, seemingly unsurprised, held her still, smiled reassuringly, and set his mouth against hers again, hard. Her protests died in her throat as she surrendered happily to his demanding touch.

Her spirits rose like a sail. She would prove to Kal-El that there was a better way to help the people of his adopted world. At that moment, anything seemed possible.

A faint rumbling sound echoed in her head, like distant thunder. She ignored it.

The next instant, they were standing in the Sultan’s sunlit apartments, their bodies still locked together. Chloe broke off the kiss and pushed back, but only by an inch or so. “What an amazing trip,” she said, grinning.

Kal-El stroked her cheek and chuckled. “I was about to say the same thing. Already, you’ve changed my life.”

Another faint roll of thunder sounded in her ears, and her head jerked up. "Did you hear that?"

Her lover’s brow furrowed. “Hear what?”

“Remember my warning.”

Chloe caught her breath as Jor-El's voice reverberated inside her. “Do not interfere with Kal-El’s destiny.”

Gulping, she lifted her chin stubbornly. Kal-El, she thought, was worth a fight.

Kal-El's worried frown deepened. "What is it?"

She managed a smile. “Er, I…thought I heard something.”

A frightened moan rose up from somewhere nearby, making Chloe jump in alarm. Nervously, she swung her head around in search of its source. Kal-El, obviously hearing it too, did the same.

She exhaled in relief when she saw it was only the same older maid who'd greeted her that morning. Kneeling on the floor and holding a bundle of richly-embroidered clothing, the maid was gibbering in wide-eyed terror, staring at both of them with a face pale as a ghost.

The poor woman, Chloe realized immediately, had just had a front-row seat to the glowing crystal's latest magic show, only hours after Sultan Kal-El had frightened her out of her wits in Chloe's bathing-chamber.

“Uh-oh,” Chloe murmured, hearing Kal-El sigh. “Not again.”

Read the next chapter here.

Fanfic-writing update

carcassi — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:31:19 GMT

For those of you who are following my AU!Chlark fic, 1,001 Kryptonian Nights, I know I left you hanging on an evil cliffie last week, and I very much wanted to rescue you from the edge of that cliff by putting up Chapter Four today. Unfortunately, RL intervened. *Sighs*

Last weekend and part of this week I was wiped out by a cold (or the flu, not sure which, and not sure I want to know!), probably b/c I'd spent half of the week before shoveling approximately 1,238 tons of snow from around my house. Now that I'm back at work, I'm running hard to catch up on everything I needed to get done while I was out sick.

As a result, it's looking like Chapter Four won't be posted until later next week. Sorry for the delay, guys, but I *am* going to work on it this weekend, promise! Please hang in there, and I'll do my best to make it worth the wait! :)

Great weather for igloo-making :)

carcassi — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:10:07 GMT

*Pokes head out of snowdrift* My neighbor took a few post-Snowmageddon pix of our DC-area street, which was hit with about 28" of the not-so-fluffy stuff in the past week.

"Dude, where's my car?"

Great to look at, rotten to shovel. *Rubs aching back*

A neighbor's dog investigates the strange white stuff.

Yep. More snow. Is it spring yet?

This guy's probably asking the same question....

...and so are a few of his friends.

(The poor birds must've been famished. Our massive holly tree is now completely stripped bare of every single red berry, and we gave them bird seed, too.)

I'm from the North, so I'm used to brushing off DC residents' complaints about winter weather. Not any more. *Shivers* I'm impressed that grocery stores/gas stations/etc managed to stay open even during the worst of the onslaught. And now we can all spend the next month or so waiting for it all to melt. *Pours hot cocoa, waits for spring*

SV Fic: 1,001 Kryptonian Nights (Chlark, Adult), Chapter 3/5??

carcassi — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 03:22:37 GMT

From the dropoff in comments on my last update, it looks as if many of you have lost interest in my latest fairytale!Chlark fic. *Tragic sigh*

Which of course means that I appreciate those who DID comment even more. *Smishes my wonderful commenters*

I definitely intend to finish this fic, most of all for butifulyletdown, to whom this fic is dedicated, and also for those readers who are still enjoying the story of Sultan Kal-El and harem girl!Chloe.

This part's pretty much all about the smut. If you remember, last time we left our Sultan and his intrepid harem girl literally suspended in mid-air as the two of them were, um, getting to know each other better. Whatever happened next? You're about to find out. *G*

Thanks and hugs, as always, to my wise and wonderful beta laurelnola. Dawn, your advice is more welcome than sunshine in a snowstorm. And believe me, after this week, even I, in Washington DC, know from snowstorms. *Shivers*

Also, I’m glad you liked the baklava. ;)

I'll be honest, I'm a bit nervous about this chapter. It's got a lot more action than I'm used to writing for any single update, and for once I'm not talking about the plot. *Blushes* I'd be very anxious to hear what you think.

Without further ado, I give you the next chapter of SV's version of "Arabian Nights." Enjoy, and remember....the more feedback, the faster I write. :)

Read the whole story from the beginning here.

Read the last chapter here.

Chapter Three

If a fortuneteller had predicted, only two short days ago, that Chloe would be ravished in mid-air by a supernatural Sultan, she would have laughed and told the woman to quit spiking her tea leaves with poppy juice.

What a difference a couple of days made, Chloe mused blissfully, as she rode far above shimmering waves of sand straddled on top of Kal-El, feeling the obvious evidence of his arousal pressing more insistently between her legs. In that short amount of time, she’d woken up from a nightmare and found herself in a dream come true.

Yesterday, she’d been terrified of this man; now, he’d just given her more pleasure than she’d ever imagined possible.

Her body still quivered with the delicious electricity of her orgasm as she rested her cheek against his broad chest. Long fingers threaded through her tangled, damp hair while their hips moved together in steady time. Already, she could feel desire rekindling inside her.

Detaching herself from his hold, she raised her head and saw her own desire reflected in his face. In spite of the brightness of the desert sun, his emerald eyes gazed at her unblinkingly, as if they could see into her very soul. Nervously, Chloe wondered if he could read her thoughts.

“Are you for real?” she heard herself murmur.

Amusement flickered in those large eyes, and his hips pulsed upwards, forcing an appreciative gasp from her lips. “Does that convince you?” he whispered, smiling.

As she lay against him, feeling the rise and fall of his chest under the soft satin tunic, Chloe discovered that, in spite of her light cotton dress, she was sweating uncontrollably. To cool off, she pushed herself upright, catching the breeze created by Kal-El as he floated them both homeward. The white towers of the Sultan’s Citadel sparkled in the distance, rising from the horizon like a vast mirage. The closer they came, the more buildings appeared, until every shop, temple and home clustered inside the thick stone walls was visible.

The sight of the entire city spread out before them filled her with a sense of awe that distracted her from Kal-El’s pleasurable attentions. “I mean it,” she insisted, turning back to him. “Who are you?”

Her eyes swept across the cloudless sky in which they rode without benefit of wings. Looking down, she saw, directly underneath them, a flock of gazelle drinking from a small spring shaded by tamarisk and acacia. From their height, the animals looked like white specks moving in and out of the cover of the green canopy.

“How are you?” Chloe whispered.

His body stilled beneath her, and Chloe’s head jerked up to find that his expression had sobered suddenly. “You’re still afraid of me,” he said, his voice tinged with disappointment.

Before he’d finished, Chloe already was shaking her head. “Not at all,” she told him firmly, and knew that it was true. “Just curious.”

Leaning forward, she trailed her fingers down his cheek, smiling, and noted with satisfaction that his eyes brightened at once.

Chloe’s smile widened into a grin. She let the tips of her fingers play over his lips, and he captured them with his mouth, sucking on them softly.

A pleasant tingle went down her arm. “You’re a very big mystery, Your Majesty,” she murmured.

Already she could feel him hardening again, and she rubbed against him provocatively. “Very big,” she purred.

He let go of her fingers as a throaty chuckle escaped his lips. “Say my name. It's Kal-El.”

She searched his face. “Kal-El,” she repeated, rolling the name over her tongue, savoring its intimate taste.

Seeing his delighted smile, she tilted her head. “What?”

His smile widened into a dazzling grin. “No human--I mean, no one’s ever called me that."

Eyes bright with a light that she'd never before seen met hers. "I like hearing you say it."

She beamed with pleasure, but refused to be distracted. With a hint of challenge in her voice, she replied, “Okay, Kal-El. Are you going to answer any of my questions?

He returned her gaze with sparkling eyes. “You never give up, do you?”

A flush of pleasure spread across Chloe’s cheeks at the obvious admiration in his voice. Still, she refused to let him dodge the issue. Resolutely resisting the urge to react to the tempting warmth underneath her, she held his gaze, arching her brows expectantly.

He gave a defeated sigh. “Alright. I promise I’ll tell you the truth about me,” he said reluctantly, and darted a faintly worried look at her from the corner of his eyes. “Although you may learn more than you bargained for.”

Chloe peered at him, puzzled. “What do you mean?”

He shook his head and gathered her closer to him, pushing her body into his. “Later,” he said firmly, and arched himself upwards sharply.

All rational thought instantly flew from Chloe’s mind. With a soft moan, she responded instinctively, grinding her body against his. Deliberately moving her own hips in a circular motion, she massaged his stiffening bulge with the soft hair surrounding her sex.

Kal-El bit back a cry, staring at her with a look of sheer ecstasy. Chloe drank in the sight of him and felt a renewed sense of confidence at this proof of her own power.

She panted a little to catch her breath. “I’m going to enjoy investigating,” she murmured silkily.

With a low growl, he snatched her into his arms and rolled to a standing position, hovering in mid-air. One huge palm cupped her head and set it, gently but firmly, against his shoulder. “So will I,” he whispered huskily into her ear.

There was just enough time for Chloe to catch a brief flash of crimson as his caftan billowed around them. Then, everything disappeared in a rush of wind.

A second later everything was quiet. This time, the feeling of breathlessness didn’t catch Chloe by surprise; she inhaled quickly and pushed away from her warm nest on Kal-El’s shoulder, craning her neck to inspect their surroundings, half-fearful and half-hopeful. Where, exactly, had he taken her?

Seeing a familiar marble railing, she laughed raggedly. “We’re on your balcony.”

“Where we first met,” he agreed, setting her down softly.

A pleasant aroma drifted out to them from the Sultan’s quarters. Glancing into the large chamber, Chloe saw servants moving to and fro around one of the central tables, laying out dozens of small dishes artfully arranged on golden platters. Among the many courses, Chloe spotted roast lamb on a bed of couscous, baked lentils, and several kinds of savory pastries which, Chloe’s nose told her, were stuffed with curried mixtures of meat or vegetables. Next to them were set bowls filled with freshly-baked flat bread, hummus and olives, as well as a ewer filled with fragrant mint tea. On a nearby table, another platter was piled high with baklava that dripped with honey.

As the servants bustled around the room, Chloe noticed that they gave the odd table in the corner a wide berth. Reminded of its strange behavior the night before, she wondered if they, too had seen it glow.

It must be nearly noon, she thought, and heard her stomach rumble in agreement, reminding her that, apart from a few bites of honey cake and coffee earlier this morning at the harem school, she’d had nothing to eat all day.

She saw Kal-El smile, and knew that her reaction hadn’t escaped his sharp ears. “It looks like enough for an army,” she whispered to him, too soft for the servants to hear.

Eyes twinkling, he leaned down and asked, in an equally low voice, “Join me for lunch?”

She looked up at him doubtfully, remembering how eager he’d been for another type of refreshment, just a minute before. “Wouldn’t you rather skip it?” she whispered back.

His soft laugh tickled her ear. “Maybe. But you wouldn’t.”

Taking her hand, he led her into the chamber. At his entrance, as usual, all activity came to a halt, the servants all bowing as one.

Kal-El surveyed them with a mild look. “Leave us.”

As they scrambled to obey, Chloe watched their faces carefully. Like the harem girls, they weren’t afraid; they seemed genuinely overjoyed to serve his every wish.

It was understandable, she reflected. But their enthusiasm was also, somehow, disturbing. Where the harem girls had merely admired Kal-El, these servants looked at him with blind adoration. She had the uncomfortable feeling that if the Sultan were to order them to jump from his highest tower, they’d obey happily.

Kal-El seemed not to notice. He shed his caftan, discarding it on a random cushion, and turned to her, motioning toward the platter-laden table. “Shall we?”

Overcome by the intoxicating scents, she hiked up her skirt and sank down gratefully onto a soft velvet cushion fringed with gold thread. Folding his tall frame, he took the seat next to her and handed her a golden plate from a stack left by the servants, along with a snow-white napkin embroidered with his crest.

She smiled her thanks and began to help herself from the bountiful display, trying her best to push aside her misgivings as she spooned a bit of lamb and couscous onto her plate.

But it was no use; the look on the servants’ faces still haunted her. She offered the large platter to Kal-El, regarding him curiously. “Do you ever get tired of being worshipped?” she asked, abruptly.

He frowned as he accepted the platter. “I don’t want to be worshipped.”

Chloe arched her brows. “But you do expect to be obeyed,” she countered, scooping up the couscous with a wedge of the flatbread. The lamb was tender and perfectly spiced. “Mmm.”

A puzzled crease appeared on his forehead. “Of course,” he said, dipping his bread into the hummus. “How else could I rule?”

She eyed him speculatively as she bit into a small pastry stuffed with a mixture of curried vegetables. For a minute, she chewed in thoughtful silence.

“Tell me again, why is that so important to you?” she demanded after she’d finished. “You don’t seem like the type to enjoy giving orders.”

He put down his cup of tea and gave her a look that was unexpectedly intense. “It’s the only way I know to fulfill my destiny,” he said, setting both elbows on the table and leaning so close that his breath warmed her face. Like the tea, it smelled pleasantly of fresh mint. “I want to help people. All people, everywhere. In your world, only kings have that power.” He shrugged. “It’s a fact of the times.”

Their eyes met. He had a point, Chloe conceded to herself reluctantly. Everyone she knew took it for granted that kings ruled the world by divine right, and apparently everyone except her had no problem with that.

“But times can change,” she heard herself murmur as she held his gaze.

His face bent closer to hers, and Chloe’s breath came unevenly as an entirely different kind of hunger reawakened in her. Their eyes met, and she watched Kal-El’s widen.

To Chloe’s dismay, he pulled back abruptly, but it was only to retrieve the platter of baklava from the neighboring table. Swinging around again, he offered the plate to her with a gleam in his eye that had nothing to do with food.

“Care for dessert?” he asked.

With a tingle of excitement in the pit of her stomach, Chloe glanced wordlessly from his face to the platter. Dipping a finger into the pool of honey that had dripped from the pastries onto the plate, she brought it to her lips, and licked it slowly, never taking her eyes off Kal-El.

A low, appreciative rumble rose from his throat as he picked up a piece of the honey-coated pastry and held it to her mouth. “Take a bite,” he said, in a voice of command.

She nibbled the buttery sweet obediently, feeling its sticky goodness cling to her mouth as it dissolved. By the time she was done, her lips and chin were covered with honey-coated flecks of pastry.

Kal-El’s face was inches away from hers. He took hold of her waist, circling it with his warmth. “Let me help,” he said, his voice dropping to a throaty whisper.

Slowly, he began to lick off the sticky coating from around her mouth with a maddeningly deliberate rhythm that sent shivers of desire racing through her. His tongue flicked across her upper lip, teasing it with light, moist strokes, then trailed downward to taste her lower lip. Seizing the opportunity, Chloe eagerly captured it with her mouth and sucked in its sweetness.

He growled a little and set his mouth against hers, hard. Chloe moaned in delight as he forced her lips open, exploring her soft recesses with his tongue.

Warm hands pulled her closer, and began to untie her sash. Once it fell from her, the hands slipped lower, tracing the curves of her hips and unleashing an aching need in the soft core of her body. Squirming in pleasure, she slid nearer to him, her skirt pushing up until it was almost above her thighs.

Kal-El broke the kiss and glanced downward, his breath coming faster. Moving too quickly for her eyes to follow, his hands dove underneath her skirt and skimmed her thighs, trailing up and down with a touch that was light but searing. Chloe gasped as his fingers slipped inside her legs and caressed her sex with a teasing gentleness that stoked the fire already burning inside her.

He aimed a questioning look at her, and Chloe, reading the meaning in his eyes, nodded mutely.

With deliberate care, he took hold of her dress and lifted it over her head, leaving her naked before him. Her heart hammering in her chest, she stared up at him as his eyes roved over every inch of her creamy flesh with a mixture of desire and pure delight.

“Beautiful,” he whispered, as if it were a prayer.

A quiver of pleasure ran down her spine. Slipping off her cushion, she crawled onto his lap and straddled him, feeling his erection push up from under the loose trousers of his outfit.

She heard him draw in a sharp breath, and smiled into his eyes. “Now it’s my turn,” she murmured, tugging at his tunic.

His fingers curled warmly over hers, helping her shuck it off. She was left blinking at a close-up view of two perfectly-formed nipples jutting out from a magnificently muscled chest.

Her eyes widened. “Wow.”

Her fingers strayed all over his sculptured body, tracing the lines of his pectorals and trailing his swollen biceps, feeling their steely hardness. She sensed the restraint in them, as if he were exerting all his will to hold back his strength.

She glanced up at him. “Don’t worry. I won’t break.”

Kal-El’s eyes smoldered, but they were, blessedly, still green. He bent over her, smiling, and smoothed her hair with a light touch. “I won’t let you,” he replied gently.

Without taking his eyes off her, he extended one long arm toward the baklava and scooped up a fingerful of honey.

Her lips curved into a smile. “Still hungry?”

His answering smile was anything but innocent. “Not for baklava,” he said, and let his eyes fall to her breasts. They explored the smooth curves and peaks intently, as if he were memorizing every line of her. At his gaze, Chloe felt her nipples grow taut.

With easy strength, one arm gathered her next to his chest while his free hand smeared the sticky, sweet substance over the hard buds. Then, bending down, he began to suck at them softly.

She gasped as he played with them, jabbing lightly at their rosy base, drawing progressively louder moans of pleasure from her, while his honeyed fingers trailed down her bare stomach and rested on her hips.

Chloe’s moans became needier; she wrapped her arms around his chest and felt his sweat seep into her skin. Its salty tang spiked into her nostrils, mingled with the musky scent of his arousal.

Wanting more, she began to rock against him insistently. He stilled her hips with a touch that was gentle but irresistible.

Kal-El raised his head. “Shhh,” he murmured soothingly into her ear, tightened his hold, and lifted them both into the air.

Panting, she laid her head on his shoulder as he floated them from the table and through a doorway hung with heavy velvet curtains. They hovered over a massive canopied bed, and Chloe just had time to be grateful for his slow speed before he deposited her, carefully, on a gleaming coverlet of crimson damask. He landed next to her and knelt on the soft mattress, surveying her reclining body from head to toe.

She looked up at him. Bare-chested and golden-skinned, he towered over her, his erection very visible even under the loose satin trousers.

Before she had time to think, she was already hooking her fingers under his waistband and undoing the ivory button that secured it. His own hands covered hers as she slid the trousers down past his hips, freeing his hardened cock.

Chloe’s eyes grew round as she stared at the size of his arousal. Swollen and erect, it sprang up from a nest of dark curls; with mixed feelings of desire and trepidation, she lifted trembling fingers and began to stroke its hot, rigid length.

At her touch, Kal-El hissed between clenched teeth. Pulling away, he quickly shed the remainder of his clothing and returned to the bed, planting his knees on either side of her chest. She stared, admiring the magnificent display above her.

“Please,” he murmured, guiding her mouth to his cock.

Gently, she explored the sensitive tip with her tongue and reveled in his moans of delight. Opening her mouth, she took him in, or at least, all of him that she could handle, savoring the sharp, hot taste of him. He guided her head with passionate gentleness as she moved back and forth, sucking and licking at him.

She let her eyes drift shut and, for the first time she could remember, let someone else take complete control of her. Amazingly, the thought didn’t frighten her nearly as much as she thought it would. Here she was, in the hands of a man who could burn her to a cinder with a single glance or break her bones with one touch, and she’d never felt safer in her entire life.

She drank in his heat, feeling both of them moving closer to the edge. Abruptly, he stopped his motion and pulled back from her, breathing hard.

Her eyes flew open. He’d risen on all fours and was staring down at her with an expression of such intense need that she inhaled sharply, her whole body quivering. She writhed impatiently, begging him wordlessly for more.

His fingers traced a scorching trail along the inside of her thighs and they fell apart instantly, as if at his command. Chloe, dropping all pretence at restraint, arched her hips upwards, urging him on with her body.

With a muffled roar, he lowered himself onto her. The tip of his cock brushed her opening; in response, she tilted her hips forward and wrapped her legs around his. Slowly, she felt him push in deeper, his hard length already wet with her moisture. He moved it back and forth in a steady, hypnotic rhythm, each time thrusting more deeply, until he filled her completely.

By now, Chloe was beyond speech. Aching with raw need, she pumped her hips as they moved together faster. One large hand took hold of her buttocks and squeezed them possessively.

The small motion set Chloe on fire. She attacked him, rocking wildly, watching his eyes glaze over as they both lost control. Her muscles squeezed his hard length as he drove into her, and she heard herself cry out for release.

The rising tide inside her broke at last, flooding her body with wave after wave of pure ecstasy. She let out a long, shuddering sigh, surrendering to its force as Kal-El, tightening his hold, gave one last thrust, spilled into her, and collapsed. For a long moment, they lay together in blissful silence, bodies entwined, sticky and spent.

Finally, Chloe, squirming under his weight, nudged his shoulder. At once he shifted position, pulling himself out of her as he rolled away. Leaning back on one elbow, he surveyed her with a slightly dazed smile. “That was….incredible.”

Still basking in the afterglow of their mutual orgasm, Chloe looked up at him and discovered that, for once, words failed her. He might not be a god, but he was, unquestionably, a wonder of nature.

Kal-El brushed aside a stray lock of damp hair from her forehead. “I have to go now,” he said apologetically, and shushed her protest with the soft touch of his finger on her lips. “My Council must be wondering where I’ve been all day.”

He tilted his head and added, in a tone that was half-questioning and half-hopeful, “You’ll stay, won’t you? At least, for a little while longer?”

With an almost terrifying lack of hesitation, Chloe found herself nodding. “I’d like to learn more about you,” she said quickly, as if that explained her eager agreement. “Remember, you promised.”

He sighed, sobering. “I know.” Swinging his long legs over the edge of the bed, he stood up, facing her. She smiled, feasting her eyes on the sight of so much naked perfection.

“I’ll send your maid with fresh clothes.” He waved a hand in the direction of a doorway she hadn’t noticed before. “Feel free to wash up in the bathing chamber,” he said. “I’ll be back soon.”

There was a sudden gust of wind as he disappeared, leaving Chloe blinking at the empty space where he’d just been. “Wish I could learn that trick,” she murmured regretfully, sliding onto her feet and padding barefoot toward the doorway over acres of thick, colorful carpets.

The pool in the Sultan’s bathing chamber made her own look like a puddle by comparison, but Chloe was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to notice or appreciate its magnificence. There was an exquisite openwork screen of finest gold surrounding the pool, decorated with shapes of mythical beasts; barely glancing at it, she passed through and dove into the water, refreshed by its coolness.

What if Kal-El asked her to stay permanently? What would she tell him?

And what, she mused uneasily, did Kal-El intend to tell her? What secrets had he been guarding? Whatever they were, he’d looked anything but pleased at the prospect of revealing them.

Leaving the pool, Chloe located a stack of towels, dried herself off, and hurried to the large outer room to retrieve her clothes and wait for her maid. She slipped them on quickly and began to pace back and forth, turning the questions over in her mind endlessly.

Her arm brushed against something cold and unyielding, bringing her to a halt. Looking down, she discovered that she was standing directly in front of Kal-El’s oddly-shaped granite table, and that the shield-shaped crystal in its center had again begun to glow.

She caught her breath, falling back a step, but the glow didn’t diminish. Cautiously, she inspected it, ready to bolt at the first sign of danger. Its white light was bright but not blinding, and it seemed to be twinkling, as if inviting her to come closer. Inside its depths she thought she caught a fleeting glimpse of something that looked like a palace built out of ice.

As if she were watching someone else, Chloe saw her arm stretch out toward the crystal and touch it with trembling fingers. It blazed brighter under her hand; she gasped, trying, and failing, to yank away.

In growing horror, she realized that, slowly but inexorably, she was being pulled into the very heart of the glowing stone. She had just enough time to scream before the world around her disappeared and she fell into a bottomless vortex of light.

Read the next chapter here.

Carcassi's Notes

Happy Birthday, babydee1!

Happy Birthday, babydee1!!!

Five things NOT to do when an earthquake hits--and one thing to always remember

Happy Birthday, Laurelnola! :)

"Man of Steel" casts Jor-El

Birthday Wishes to babydee1 and mari2anne!

*Pokes head up out of prairie dog hole*

LJ fail :(

Because someone on K-site likes my S6 Valentine ficlet....

Happy New Year!!

Why autumn is my favorite season (picspam)

Happy Birthday, ellyfanfiction!

Thank you!!!!! :)

SV Fic: 1,001 Kryptonian Nights (Chlark, Adult), Chapter 6/??

Happy Birthday, babydee1!

SV Fic: 1,001 Kryptonian Nights (Chlark, Adult), Chapter 5/6

Classic Chlark, pure and simple

I am a very, very bad fanfic author. *Hangs head*

Happy Birthday, kate_tur!

Happy belated birthday, gen717!!!!!

Thank you!!!!! :)

SV Fic: 1,001 Kryptonian Nights (Chlark, Adult), Chapter 4/5??

Fanfic-writing update

Great weather for igloo-making :)

SV Fic: 1,001 Kryptonian Nights (Chlark, Adult), Chapter 3/5??

Pokes head up out of prairie dog hole

I am a very, very bad fanfic author. Hangs head