The Only Dressed Man in the World

"Few degrees warmer than I'd have liked," she said. "I desperately need a drink. Iced tea?"

"Yes, please."

"Lemon, right?" She asked without looking back as she crossed the short stretch of grass to the door.

"Yeah." So busy admiring that now-familiar view of Anna from behind, it wasn't until she was inside that it occurred to him what she'd said. Had he heard her correctly? Had he slipped up?

When she returned, they engaged in harmless small talk, mostly recounting the day's experience. Anna still had obligations with the festivities, mostly in winding things down and beginning the cleanup process, but Kal got the sense she was in no real hurry to get on with it. He, meanwhile, tried to read her to see if she had indeed figured out who he really was. She was calm and gave off no signs of deception, but neither did he probe her with questions to which she would have to lie in response.

"So, do you think you found what you were looking for here in our little community?" Anna asked, pulling his attention away from his musings.

"I know I found a good story," he said, draining the last of his tea.

"I'm glad, but that's not what I meant." She leaned back, but her gaze was intent.

Kal nodded. "I know. And, yes, I think I may have. But I'll probably have to come back again to be sure."

Anna smiled. "Soon, I hope."

They sat in amicable silence for a bit. The camp offered a form of peaceful solitude that his remote, icy fortress did not. Here, there was still warmth and a sense of connectedness, while still stepping away from the concerns of the world.

"When did you know?" he said.

Kal didn't look directly at Anna. Perhaps he didn't want to read her physiological responses for signs of deception. Perhaps he simply didn't want her to feel pressured by his question.

"The moment I saw your eyes," she said. Her voice told him everything -- there was no judgement, no disappointment, no fan-girl giddiness. She had taken his token deception for what it was and respected his reasons for doing so.

He chuckled softly, then looked at her. "Even behind the glasses?"

Anna rolled her twinkling eyes. "Not much of a disguise, really."

"You'd be surprised how well they work."

Anna cocked an eyebrow. "Well, then too many people only see what's on the surface."

Kal nodded and they simply looked at each other for a bit. Without words, volumes were spoken between the two of them. He knew he could trust her with his secret. Lois understood Superman and Clark; Anna saw him without qualifiers.

"It's gotta be tough, maintaining multiple identities," Anna said, reading his mind.

He nodded. "Half of my life is lived under the microscope, the other is just trying to live a normal life while hiding from the other. And with the one person who knew both sides, I had to pretend I couldn't read her emotions better than she could."

The mention of Lois, even obliquely, did cause a slight reaction in Anna. He knew she was attracted to him, just as he was to her, and the revelation of a rival had to generate some response. Why should she be different from any other human?

"Sounds like a sore subject." Anna, to her credit, sounded genuinely sympathetic.

"It still stings, yeah," he said. "But I'm not looking for a shoulder to cry on."

"Perhaps someone who understands, though? A friend?"

Kal reached out and took her hand. Anna squeezed back.

"I could use that. You were right, more than you know." He was lonely. She'd picked up on it right away.

"Help me get the afterparty clean-up crew going?" she said. "Then we can fix dinner."

Kal smiled. That did sound nice. "Deal."

He rose from his chair and helped Anna to her feet. Despite their having been naked together much of the day, he still couldn't help but admire her figure. She, too, didn't hide her eyes roaming over his body.

"You'd better believe I've been checking you out," Anna said, poking him in the side with her elbow. "And since I can't hide anything from you, I'm not going to try."

Kal laughed, happily taking her arm in his as they headed back toward the dwindling party.

"What's Rose gonna say when she sees us?"

Anna shook her head. "Toss-up between 'I told you so' and 'don't forget to use protection.'"

Kal's eyes bugged out. He'd seen and heard a lot, but he was still a quiet, small-town kid at heart. He hadn't really been hoping for anything quite like that. Not yet, anyway.

Anna laughed at his reaction. "Oh, this is going to be so fun. No filter with you. I've always thought of myself as being an open book, but now..."

Superman could handle superhuman foes and international crises without blinking. Clark regularly wilted in a flustered mess at the slightest hint of adversity. As Kal, however, he was feeling more than a few tremors of nervous excitement. He liked it.

#

"You're late," Anna said, standing backlit in her doorway with a fist planted on a bare, cocked hip. Kal knew the gesture was in mock irritation, and he knew that she knew he knew. Over the last week, between a few dinners together and another full day hanging out at Bare Hollow, they'd truly come to understand one another. She kept her word, living unfiltered and unselfconsciously around him. Kal, in turn, had finally found someone in whose presence he could truly be himself. While he wasn't going to out his secret identities to the rest of the Bare Hollow regulars, he was still far more relaxed in their company as well.

"Sorry," Kal said, giving her an equally fake look of apology. "I was busy reading a fascinating article in the Planet."

Anna's façade broke, smile splitting her face ear to ear just before she leapt into his arms. Kal happily caught her naked body, fingers wrapping around her firm butt while lips met. His only regret was that he hadn't yet had the chance to get undressed.

Anna finally broke the kiss and pulled him inside her home. "I still can't believe it was published! I'm so...giddy!"

"I'm not surprised," Kal said. "It was a beautiful piece."

Indeed, Anna had written a very nice bit about Superman, distilled from her interview and his subsequent appearance at the resort. There was nothing salacious about it and she'd really focused on his way of seeing people, beyond the trappings of their clothing. "The Only Dressed Man in the World," had been a clever, attention-grabbing title for the story. It had certainly grabbed the attention of someone else...

"How'd your ex take it?" Leave it to Anna to cut to the heart of the matter.

Kal shrugged while shedding his clothes, tossing them onto her couch. "That's why I was late. She finally broke her silence."

"And?" Anna was clearly nervous to hear the answer, even if Kal couldn't tell exactly what she was most worried about.

Kal took her hands in his, looking her in the eyes. "She was predictably irritated, even if she wouldn't openly admit it. Suggested I had an odd way of dealing with stress."

Anna laughed. "Stress?"

Kal shrugged. "Honestly, I think she might have been more miffed about the Planet running a Superman story that she didn't write. She's kinda had the market on those cornered ever since 'he' first appeared."

That's how it was with Anna. Superman was an inseparable part of him, but it was also a front for how he helped the world. Around Anna, he was Kal, and he referred to Superman as an almost separate entity altogether. Whether that was healthy or not, he didn't particularly care right now.

"Doesn't like to share? Or doesn't play well with others?"

Kal kissed her. "All of the above?" He kissed her again and she melted into him. He could feel her heartrate pick up.

"So," Anna said, extricating her lips from his, "she didn't rope you back in?"

No, Kal thought, Lois hadn't roped him back in. If anything, she'd seemed a bit more personally bothered by their separation than she had when she'd ended things. A bit of jealousy, triggered by her imagination filling in the gaps between his interview at the nudist resort by a female writer? He, admittedly, had felt some pangs of regret, wondering if he could have handled things differently with her. He loved Lois like no one else and knew she felt similarly about him. Whether it was a love that could ever tolerate the close proximity of living together, day in and day out, who could say?

For now, he'd found something, someone, he needed. Anna had convinced him, rightly so, that he need not pass on the opportunity she presented just to assuage any misplaced guilt over how Lois might take it.

"Even if she'd tried, it wouldn't have worked."

Anna smiled broadly and ran her hands over his chest. "Good answer. You don't know how long I've been waiting to hear that."

Kal cocked his head. "Oh?"

"You know perfectly well how badly I want you."

He did. Anna hadn't been shy about teasing him, both subtly and overtly. She openly speculated about what it would be like to have sex with him, even as they were in a heated make out session on her couch or in the kitchen fixing dinner. He hadn't been shy about expressing a mutual interest in her, once he'd gotten over her bluntness. And yet, each time they'd "almost" crossed that threshold, Anna had demurred, saying "not yet."

Anna's hands slid over his abs and hips, just skirting past his rapidly swelling cock. "And I wanted to be sure you had a chance to realize you'd made a mistake. With her. That could only be done in person."

"Ah," Kal said, nodding. "If only I'd known..."

Anna ran a hand under his balls, then slowly up the length of his ample shaft. He shuddered at her touch. She smirked.

"...then you'd have forced the issue and the outcome wouldn't have been honest."

Kal sighed. Anna was as dangerously insightful as Lois. Clearly he had a type. Maybe their differences would lead to a better outcome this time.

"Fair enough," he said. "And I'm nothing if not honest."

Anna stroked his cock. "Certainly honest about your intentions with me, I see."

Kal ran his hands up her sides until finally cupping her breasts. Anna's nipples were already hard, echoing his state of arousal. She sighed appreciatively at his touch and they kissed, driving each other toward a state from which there would be no turning back.

He groaned. "I want you so badly."

"Like I could stop you if I wanted." Anna leapt up, throwing her arms around his neck and legs around his waist. To him, she was light as a feather, yet he could still feel the strength in her lean figure. As had been the case with Lois, he still couldn't let himself completely go without risk of hurting her. Gently, he pinned her against the front door. He could feel the tip of his cock brush against her wet pussy.

Kal shifted his hips ever so slightly until he felt the tip line up properly. He was about to let Anna's weight settle down on his erection, but she squeezed her legs just enough to lift herself upward and break the contact. He felt a pang of frustration and wondered if she was teasing him.

"I want to do something special," she whispered in his ear between nibbles and kisses, perhaps having sensed his intention and frustration.

"Like what?" He was impatient, but also willing to do whatever it took to make their first time memorable.

Anna leaned back enough they could look each other in the eye. "I don't think I'm going out on a limb here to think you've done it while flying before, am I right?"

He didn't really want to bring up his past with Lois in this moment, but neither was he going to brush Anna off. "I have. It's...more awkward than you might think." He and Lois had tried more than a few other positions that weren't possible without his Kryptonian powers.

Anna didn't seem bothered by his answer. "Okay, we'll bump that down the list of things to try. I've got something else in mind that I'm pretty sure will be a first for both of us."

His hormones would've preferred to get on with it, but that impish smile told him the wait would be worth it. Hopefully, it'd be a short one.

"I put myself in your capable hands, then, my dear," he said, gently lowering her back to her feet.

Anna nudged him back and then opened the front door to the nighttime darkness beyond. She shooed him out and followed, closing the door behind her. He had no idea what she had in mind, so he held back until she started leading the way out of the small backyard and into the resort's grounds.

He reached out to take her hand, but missed it as she was already reaching for his conspicuously erect cock. She wrapped her hand around it and gave him a few good strokes. For as much as he'd grown comfortable with public nudity over the last week, this was still a bit much, especially as it violated some of the resort's more family-friendly policies. Thankfully, it was late enough that most people were settling in for the night or at least out of sight range in the darkness.

Anna gave him another quick tug before letting him go. "Might want to put that steel bar away, mister, or someone might recognize you by your nickname."

Man of Steel. Like he hadn't heard that joke and internet speculation more than a few times.

"You're not exactly helping toward that end," he said, not without some resigned humor.

"I know," she said, skipping ahead a few feet so she could flash him some ass. She then twirled around and jiggled her breasts at him. "Just wondering if your superhuman restraint is as strong as your muscles."

Kal narrowed his eyes and let out a low, hungry growl.

Anna's eyes went wide. "Uh oh! Maybe not!"

She turned to run away, but he caught her in a flash and pulled her into a kiss. She melted in his arms and cupped his ass. He mirrored her hand movement, but soon his fingers wrapped around her cheeks and brushed up against her slit. God, was she hot and wet.

Anna moaned. "No self-restraint, I see."

"Careful, dear, or I might just take you right here, where anyone could see us."

He felt Anna's smile between their kisses. "Promises, promises..."

Anna broke it off before his finger could explore any further, but this time their hands met and fingers intertwined. There was a spring in her step as she continued leading them through the resort, inexorably toward the beach. Kal wondered if she didn't have something of an exhibitionist streak that went beyond her comfort with public nudity. Did she want their first time on the beach, where someone might come upon them even at this hour? It was a deliciously naughty idea after his straight-laced upbringing.

The beach was quiet and empty. The lake's tiny waves made the reflection of the stars and moon dance, beckoning them to join in their revelry to the symphony of crickets and frogs. In the busyness of his fulltime job and super heroics, he seldom had the time to slow down and savor such moments.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Anna said, squeezing his hand and leaning into his side.

"Very."

"Well, it gets better. Gimmie a hand."

Anna led him across the beach to where the resort stored its assorted water craft when they weren't out on the water. Aside from the derelict sailboat from which he'd rescued her on their first meeting, there were a handful of canoes and kayaks, a pair of stand-up paddleboards, and a catamaran. She pointed to the catamaran -- little more than a pair of sleek pontoons with a wide deck of taut canvas stretched between them -- and together they dragged it to the water.

"I've never been on one of these before," he said, pushing them off while she climbed into the middle. "How do you pilot it?"

She rolled over onto her back and beckoned him closer. "It can be fitted with a sail or you can use paddles."

Kal leaned over Anna and playfully licked a nipple before continuing up to kiss her lips. "I don't see either of those."

Anna shrugged. "Guess you'll just have to give us a nudge out toward the middle of the lake, then. If you don't mind."

Kal hooked a foot around the edge of the canvas and "pushed" like he was flying. He didn't push hard, fearing it would cause the front of the catamaran to nosedive and pitch them overboard. With a steady nudge, though, they were soon moving at a decent clip out into the empty lake. Anna didn't seem to think that effort required much attention, as she was busy kissing him and running her hands all over his bare skin.

By the time he stopped propelling them somewhere near the middle of the lake, Anna had his cock worked back up to full hardness. She nudged him to roll over onto his back. Rather than climb on top of him, however, she simply laid at his side and held his hand. They looked up at the magnificent tapestry of the clear night sky. Only from high altitude had he seen a more magnificent sight.

"This is my favorite place," she said softly. "It's where I can feel insignificantly small while still marveling at my place in it all."

He smiled and squeezed her hand. "Thanks for sharing it."

They just stared up in silence for several minutes, bathed in the cool evening breeze. Kal's erection subsided, but this time he had no regrets. It would happen when it happened.

Anna finally broke the silence. "Do you know which one you're from?"

"Its name, yes," he said. "But I couldn't point to it. And it's much too far away to be seen with the naked eye."

Anna leaned into him. "That's kinda sad."

He shrugged. "I never knew it. For me, my home star is that big bright one that makes your skin look so good in the middle of the afternoon."

Anna chuckled. "I've noticed how much you like looking at my skin. All of it."

"Lucky for me you don't have any hang-ups about showing it off, then." He could feel the blood beginning to return to his cock as the conversation shifted.

"I like you looking," she said, throwing a leg over his waist and then climbing up until she was straddling his cock. "And I'm not shy about enjoying the sight of your...skin. All of it."

Kal smiled. "Uh huh. So you're really just interested in my body. Typical fangirl."

Anna gave him a mock look of indignation, clearly catching on to his jest. Then she shrugged. "If I was, would you still fuck me?"

Kal raised his eyebrows at her comment. "If that was all you were, well, I might still fuck you." That word felt dirty, yet fun, coming out of his mouth. He suspected she'd chosen it deliberately, a counterpoint to his Boy Scout reputation. "But since I know you're far more than that, I'm going to make love to you."

Anna leaned forward quickly and kissed him hard. Her pussy ground against his cock and he thought she was about to take him inside her. Then she paused.

"I do have one honest and kinda stalker'ish question to ask first," she said. There was a playful glint in her eye.

"Stalker'ish?"

She raised herself up a bit, just enough to let her breasts dangle enticingly in front of him. "Well, you know how it is these days. Any smart girl is going to check out a prospective date on the internet, make sure he's not a psycho or something."

"Uh huh."

"And, well, turns out you've got a bunch of red flags. Multiple identities, lots of secrets, that sort of thing."

Kal knew she was teasing him, so he played along. "Not the best look, I'll grant you. But I'm not on any sex offender registries or anything."

"No, but I did find something that gave me pause."

"Oh?"

Anna seemed to be having trouble keeping a straight face. "See, there's a bunch of speculation about one of those identities, the Superman one, on the net. You know, girls wondering if sex with him, you, would be risky. I mean, say, if I was sucking you off and you came in my mouth, would it be with so much force my head might be blown off? Or might I be at risk of broken bones if you get to pounding me just a bit too enthusiastically? A girl's gotta be safe with a new partner, right?"

Kal sighed and smiled. "Very pragmatic of you." He did wonder just how much research she might have done on him, both for her story and then afterward when they started seeing each other on a more personal level. It was smart of her. And, from what he'd heard, there was plenty of fascination and speculation about Superman. He was certain Anna wasn't into him just for that. It would have been impossible for her to separate that side of him. He didn't want her to have to pretend he was only Superman or Clark, though -- with her, he was Kal, the true sum of his parts. Kal did have powers.