Let It Snow...

A birthday fantasy for Trixie and Wulfie...

Oh the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we've no place to go,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

It doesn't show signs of stopping,
And I've bought some corn for popping,
The lights are turned way down low,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

When we finally kiss goodnight,
How I'll hate going out in the storm!
But if you'll really hold me tight,
All the way home I'll be warm.

The fire is slowly dying,
And, my dear, we're still good-bying,
But as long as you love me so,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Setting:Kitty's room at the Long Branch, on a snowy, quiet January evening in Dodge.

Kitty hummed to herself as she brushed out her recently unpinned curls. She could feel the room warming up thanks to the extra wood she'd added to the fire. The cracks and pops of the burning logs were almost loud in the hushed stillness of the snowy evening. Big fat snowflakes were falling slowly past her window, dropping soft as down onto the foot-deep layer of snow already obscuring the buildings along Front Street. The best thing about a serious winter snowfall was that the criminal elements were no fonder of it than the respectable citizens, and that meant Matt's job requirements tended to ease up considerably. Which left him free for more... entertaining... pursuits.

She smiled to herself, putting down the brush and tying her hair back with a piece of blue silk ribbon to keep it out of the way while she finished her toilette. Once the room got a little warmer, she'd shed her heavy robe and change into something a bit flimsier, specifically the delicate salmon-colored silk lingerie that had arrived the day before from St. Louis. She remembered Matt's first encounter, a decade ago now, with real silk. He'd been captivated, his big rough fingers stroking slowly up and down her body as he whispered his amazement at the sensation. "It feels almost like I'm not touching anything!" She'd slid his hand underneath the silken chemise and suggested he might find something there he could feel. Kitty lips quirked upward at the memory. That night she'd discovered just how much of an aphrodisiac silk was going to be for her man.

After putting a few final touches on her face – nothing much, but a bit of lip rouge and a little emphasis for her eyes would help complete the effect she hoped the lingerie would create – she rose and surveyed the room. The bed was freshly made with soft flannel sheets and two quilts, and a pair of hot bricks wrapped in more flannel were tucked under the foot of the mattress. A teapot snuggled in its quilted cozy kept a pair of cups company on her table, ready to dispense a hot toddy to a chilled peace officer. A large pail of water was keeping warm on the hearth in case he wanted to wash up, and the flannel robe she'd gotten him for Christmas hung on a hook outside her private washroom. Everything was ready except her, and she judged it warm enough to fix that.

She slipped off her heavy robe and flannel nightgown, and donned the silky slip of a gown and its matching lacy robe. As she changed, she couldn't help but wonder if the heavy snowfall was slowing Matt's progress as he made his final rounds for the night. As she hung up the discarded garments in her dressing area, she heard a key turn in the lock to her back door. Apparently the snow hadn't been too much of a problem. She stepped back into her room in time to see the door swing inward and admit a tall figure wearing a fur-lined coat, wool scarf and a very familiar Stetson. He looked up and smiled his lopsided boyish grin, blue eyes warming as he took in her new outfit. "Hello, Kitty. Hope I'm not too late."

Sure he could see in her eyes just how welcome he was, she nevertheless made the invitation explicit. "Come here, Cowboy. I've been waiting for you." Two long, eager strides brought him to her. He was wrapped in cold night air, smelling faintly of wood smoke and winter. He bent his head to press a chilled kiss on her mouth. She shivered slightly and began to unbutton his coat. He removed his hat and scarf and tossed them onto a nearby chair, then shrugged out of his coat. Tossing it aside, he reached for her again, wrapping his long arms around her and staring warmly down into her face.

Kitty brushed a stray curl off his forehead, then ran her fingers lightly through his hair. "Everything quiet out there?"

"Not a soul on the streets but me," he confirmed.

"Well, good, then we won't be interrupted." Kitty slid her arms around his neck. "Let's see if we can warm you up a bit, shall we?" She pressed a soft kiss against his cool lips. Matt kissed her back, his big hands starting to explore the softness of her new garments.

"I'm feeling warmer already." She opened her eyes to find him smiling down at her. Then he paused for a second, his hands continuing to stroke up and down over the silky fabric. She knew he was asking himself if he should remember this purchase. "Is this, ah, new? It sure is beautiful!" Another patented Matt Dillon smile, the kind that made her knees turn to jelly, even as she smiled to herself at his gambit. On the chance that he had forgotten, he was quick to draw her attention to his appreciation of it. Well, that was fine with her, as long as it did its job!

"Itis new, and I'm glad you like it." She lowered her arms and slipped her hand in his. "Now come on over to the parlor so I can fix you a hot toddy and warm you up a bit."

He followed obediently, pausing only to pull off his snowy boots and damp socks and set them by the fire to dry before settling himself in the big armchair by the fireplace and accepting a cup of the hot, sweet brandy mixture. As she began to head for the settee, he caught her hand with his free one. "Aren't you going to help warm me up?" His tone was pure come-on, his blue eyes full of faux innocence.

She chuckled softly, letting him pull her back toward the chair. She set her cup down on the side table. He did the same, then pulled her onto his lap, wrapping her in his still slightly chilled embrace. Shivering a little, she snuggled against his chest, rubbing her hand up and down his arm to help warm him. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he picked up his cup and took a swallow. "Mmm, Kitty, this really hits the spot." He tipped the cup again, then set it back down so he could pick up hers. "Here, you should have some too. I'm afraid making me warm is giving you a chill."

Kitty took the cup from him. It really was a wonderful drink on a cold night like this, warm and sweet and intoxicating. She looked at him over the rim of her cup, his clear blue eyes watching her solicitously. He really was the sweetest man. Unable to resist, she lowered the cup to drop a soft kiss on his lips, which she noted were finally the proper temperature. He kissed her back, soft and gentle and lingering. She wondered if the men who tangled with the rough tough marshal during the day could possibly imagine the tender, sensitive lover he became in her arms at night.

She took a healthy swallow of the warming drink, and then put the cup down so she could snuggle up against him again. He wrapped her in his embrace, dropping a kiss into her hair, and sighed contentedly. When he spoke his voice was warm and relaxed. "So it looked like the Long Branch was as quiet as the rest of the town today. By the way, how are those new girls working out? What were their names?"

"Trixie is the lighter-haired one. The dark-haired girl goes by Wulfie. Fast friends, those two. They're working out fine so far. The other night when that bunch of cowhands came into town, Trixie had 'em all laughing their heads off with the crazy stories she told. Then the two of them got things going with the piano player – they had all those punchers singin' their lungs out. It was great for business, made 'em real thirsty!"

Matt chuckled. "You know, I probably shouldn't say this, but I could have sworn that the dark-haired one, well, that she pinched me when I walked by her yesterday."

Kitty watched the color suffuse his cheeks. "Pinched you?" she said suspiciously. "Where?"

He blushed harder. "Well, um, I might have been mistaken..."

Kitty stared at him. "Matt Dillon, did that hussy pinch your behind!?"

"Well, it sure felt like it!"

Kitty laughed. "Oh, I expect you didn't imagine it. I believe you've got a couple of serious admirers there, Marshal. I overheard her and Trixie chatting this morning when they didn't know I was there. They were expressing their, ah, admiration for that part of you in particular."

Matt blushed even harder. "Kitty!"

"Well it's true, Cowboy. And I can't really be mad at them. You do have the nicest behind in all of Dodge!" She dropped a kiss on his flushed cheek. "However, I have a very strict 'look but don't touch' policy when it comes to your, ah, assets, so if it happens again, I'll have a word with her about it."

Matt groaned in embarrassment.

"Actually," Kitty's voice was thoughtful. "Maybe I could relax the rules a little just for this weekend..."

Matt's looked at her like she'd gone crazy. "What?! Let them touch me?!"

Kitty smiled coquettishly from beneath her long eyelashes. "Don't you worry, Cowboy, I'm not talking about anything too risqué. I just happen to know that this week both Trixie and Wulfie are having birthdays, and they are planning a bit of a celebration tomorrow night."

Matt gave her a heated look. "I was kinda hoping we could have a private celebration of our own tomorrow night." He traced a long finger across her lips. "I asked Festus to keep an eye on things for me, remember?"

Kitty caught his hand and twined her fingers through his. "Oh, I remember, Cowboy." She pressed a kiss on his fingertip. "Don't you worry, I'm planning on 'celebrating' your irresistible little behind off. I just meant that earlier in the evening, since I told the girls I'd help them celebrate, maybe you could be there too, to wish them Happy Birthday."

Matt looked skeptical. "Wish them Happy Birthday how, exactly?"

Kitty laughed. "Oh I don't know. A birthday hug, perhaps. A kiss on the cheek. You don't have to if you're too shy, Cowboy."

Matt looked affronted. "I am not 'shy'!" His blue eyes grew intense. "It's just that there's only one woman I'm interesting in kissing, on the cheek or anywhere else."

"Oh really? And who would that be?" Kitty's voice was low and sultry.

"You know perfectly well who, but I'd be happy to demonstrate." Pulling her close, he lowered his mouth to hers. His lips were warm and demanding, his tongue hot and seeking as he deepened the kiss. Threading a hand through his hair she pulled him closer, tangling her tongue with his, tasting brandy and desire.

She felt his hand slide up to cup her breast through the silken lingerie. He moaned into her mouth as his fingers kneaded the generous mound, tweaking the stiffened peak. Returning the favor, she slid her free hand inside his shirt, running her nails across his broad chest, flicking the small brown buds that had come to attention atop his strong pectorals.

His kisses grew more urgent as his hands roamed insistently over her body, molding her curves. His mouth left hers to trail hotly down her throat and shoulders, then moved lower to kiss and nibble the lightly freckled expanse of skin just above her décolletage. "Oh, Matt, Matt." Whispering her appreciation, she hung on for dear life as his mouth moved yet lower, suckling her through the covering silk.

"Oh god, Matt." She thought she might swoon as his big fingers stroked across her skin, slipping under the silken garments and sliding them slowly off her shoulder. Loosing her hold on his head, she bared the other shoulder herself. Matt immediately caught the top of the silk gown and peeled it down her body to reveal her breasts. "So beautiful." Dipping his head, he latched on to a taut nipple and resumed his sweet torture.

Captive on his lap, deliciously pinned between his strong arms and his hot, urgent mouth, she could feel the hard evidence of his growing desire pressing against her hip. Her Cowboy had clearly recovered from his winter wanderings, and she thought it was past time he shed some clothes too, and joined her on the much more comfortable bed. Summoning her focus, she pushed against his shoulders. After a moment's resistance, he lifted his head, smoky blue eyes questioning the interruption.

Kitty ran a finger slowly across his parted lips. He answered by pressing his tongue softly against the stroking digit. His blue eyes held hers, waiting. She trailed the finger down his throat and chest to the top button of his still fastened shirt. A quick motion popped it from its hole, exposing a bit more skin to her touch. "How 'bout we get those clothes off you and move this to the bed – that is, if you're up to it. What do you say, Marshal?"

Lust lit up his intense blue gaze. His lips quirked upward in a patented Matt Dillon tease. "Oh I'm definitely up to it." Slipping one hand under her knees, he leaned forward and stood suddenly, taking her up into his arms. She threw her arms around his neck, unable suppress a slight squeak of surprise. Matt flashed a satisfied grin. "To bed it is." Quickly he crossed to the sleeping area, laying her on the quilts and then standing to remove his clothes.

Kitty lay back and simply enjoyed the show as he peeled off his vest and work shirt to reveal the broad expanse of his chest and shoulders. She'd always preferred her men big, and Matt Dillon definitely qualified. She remembered the first time she'd gotten a good look at him shirtless. It was actually in Doc's office, not that long after they'd met and before they'd so much as kissed. She'd walked in while he was getting his arm tended to. He'd blushed to his roots and hopped off the examining table, clearly intending to reach for his shirt, but Doc was in the middle of tying a bandage and wouldn't let him. She smiled at the memory. He'd been forced to stand there, fidgeting, his manly chest on full display.

She had to admit she'd really been very naughty that day, openly ogling him, running her tongue over her lips and raising her eyebrows in a clear show of female appreciation. Of course she'd quickly dropped into a poker face when Doc had turned to her to request his scissors, only to resume her open admiration as soon as he turned back to his work. It had been that day, she recalled, that combination of rugged masculinity and boyish shyness, that had fixed her intention to make the big lawman hers in every way.

Returning to the present, she admired the play of muscles in his arms and chest as he tugged hard on his belt and then unfastened his straining pant buttons, his sturdy pectorals and biceps flexing with the effort. She supposed there were men around that some would think to put ahead of him, but as far as she was concerned, the rugged beauty of her big marshal put all other men to shame.

She licked her lips in anticipation as he finally shucked his pants and longjohns in one quick move, then stood facing her in all his naked glory. She noted happily that she had not been mistaken before – Deputy Matt was standing tall and proud, clearly ready for action.

Big Matt was obviously just as eager to resume their previous activities, lowering himself into her outstretched arms and recapturing her mouth for a deep, searing kiss. Kitty sighed happily, loving the feel of his weight pressing her into the soft feather mattress. She felt his hand sliding down her side, seeking the bottom edge of the silk gown and tugging it upwards, leaving nothing between them where their hips met. As he plundered her mouth with heated kisses, she trailed her fingernails slowly down his long form, from his wide, muscular shoulders to his firm, rounded ass. Cupping the muscular cheeks, she pulled him against her. Taking her cue, he immediately began to rock his hips, pressing the turgid length of his manhood against her sex in the way he knew inflamed her desire. Moaning, she began to rock with him, feeling the building desire in her loins.

She started to reach for him, to guide him, but he caught her hand. "No, you first." Raising his body, he trailed kisses down her neck and chest, pausing a minute to worship each breast in turn before continuing his southward progress, his lips marking a searing trail across her sensitized flesh.

Finally reaching his goal, he opened her to his questing mouth, loving her in a way few men ever had, and with a virtuosity that was a testament both to his love for her and his persistence in mastering new skills. He'd been a dubious but willing pupil at first, but her enthusiastic reaction had won him over pretty much immediately, and he'd never stopped working to improve. As she floated in a haze of arousal, she thought somewhat incongruously that if they ever held 4th of July competitions for this skill, rather than shooting or riding or whatnot, she'd put her man up against the rest of the town – heck, the rest of Kansas – combined, and confidently bet the farm.

That was pretty much her last coherent thought for a time, as her talented Cowboy brought her to the peak of ecstasy not once but twice before she finally grabbed him by the curls and pulled him back up to lay on top of her again. This time he willingly accepted her guiding hand, joining them slowly and deliberately, drawing out his pleasure until he couldn't hold back any more and his body arched up in a final passionate thrust, his face a mask of ecstatic agony as he surrendered to his own release.

He collapsed on top of her and she held him close, stroking him gently as he came back to earth. Sometimes she thought this was the best moment of all. Matt was all hers, only hers, totally vulnerable and trusting.

Eventually he raised a tousled head to drop a soft kiss on her lips. A sweet, boyish Matt Dillon smile lit his face as he stroked some of the wild red tendrils from her forehead. "I love you, Kitty."

Simple words, but the most powerful she knew. Words that kept her going, gave her heart the strength it needed when he was late returning from some long trip and no one knew where he was, or how he was; or when she had to watch him draw down on yet another of the endless supply of bad men who turned up in Dodge looking to make a fast buck or a big name for themselves.

Wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders she hugged him fiercely, unable to stop her eyes from tearing up slightly at the surge of raw emotion his words provoked. "I know you do, Cowboy. And I love you too, more than you can know." She kissed him gently, a benediction and seal on their mutual confession.

Seeing the fatigue creeping into his warm blue gaze, she slid a hand down his back to pat his rear encouragingly. "Why don't you roll off me, and we'll get settled into the nice warm bed and get some sleep, eh?"

"Okay." He obediently rolled aside onto his back. She raised up on her arm to look down at his open trusting face, and a bit of the devil seized her.

"After all, you'll need to be nice and rested up for the birthday party tomorrow night. I hear those girls can be quite a handful, and once I tell them that you're their gift, well..."

A moment's wide-eyed consternation, then a mischievous grin as he realized she was teasing him again. "Well, if I'm going to be their birthday present, does that mean you'll want me to give them the same, ah, special birthday services I gave you on your last one?"

Kitty smacked him lightly on the chest. "Not if you want to live, no." He laughed as she smiled saucily down at him.

"I was thinking you could dance with each of them, though, and perhaps a birthday hug and kiss would be nice too."

He looked up at her with mock concern. "But what if they pinch me again?!"

"Well then, Cowboy, you can bring your poor bruised behind up here to my nice cozy bed and I'll kiss it and make it all better. Good?"

"Good." He confirmed, grinning, then reached for her, pulling her down on top of him for a kiss.

"So," he said casually, running his hands down her back to cup her derriere, "are you tired?" His blue gaze was growing heated again. "I mean, maybe we should practice for tomorrow night – the last part, ya know, where you tend to my wounds." He failed to suppress a slight grin. "Good to be prepared, right?"

"Always a good idea," she agreed, with a promise-filled kiss. "Help me bank the fire and douse the lamps, and then we'll practice as much as you need so you can wish Wulfie and Trixie a proper Happy Birthday..."

FIN