A Passionate Understanding: Vignettes Through the Years

Undeniably plotless and meandering ruminations upon the sublimely romantic symbiosis of our favorite Dodge City couple. These are simply random vignettes of love and desire with a few containing habanero-hot spiciness, so beware if you don't subscribe to that sort of ardent nonsense, dear reader. Just don't say you ain't been warned, fair & square. Each vignette is a self-contained stand-alone and does not continue, so this is not really a fic with "chapters." The vignettes are very short as well, a few hundred words each. So don't complain about brevity either because you've been warned up front about that, too. Hopefully you can enjoy them for what they are. Just think of them as "quickies" that end rather abruptly so you are forced to use your imagination for the "rest of the story." Just go with it and nobody'll get hurt. ;-) Thanks for reading, lj

ljljljljlj

"First Kiss"

by Lilyjack

The first time Matt Dillon had kissed her, she'd been wearing her oldest, flimsiest, worn cotton nightgown that badly needed a side seam repaired and was missing two tiny decorative buttons right on the front placket. Kitty didn't have on a speck of paint, and the thick braid she'd carefully woven into her hair before sliding between the cool sheets had been wallowed into a mess after an hour or so of restless tossing and turning. She certainly wasn't looking her finest.

It was the night of stuck-up Tillie Satter's wedding to young rancher Seth Weaver, and Kitty had gone to bed early with a bit of a headache after Bill Pence had given her the night off. Not much business downstairs anyway. Seemed like pretty much every soul in town was at the party a couple of blocks away, and she hadn't been able to sleep a wink for all the noise. Laughter and music spilled out onto the street-merry fiddles, strumming banjos and guitars. She'd tried bunching her pillow over her ears to block out the sound, but that hadn't helped too awful much. So she closed her eyes tight and pulled the sheet over her head, releasing a weary sigh from the bottom of her toes. But, finally, after what seemed an eternity of struggling to get comfortable in her tangled bedding, she apparently had fallen into a fitful sleep.

That is until she was startled awake at an insistent pounding on her bedroom door. "Who izzit?" she mumbled groggily, sitting up and scrubbing her sleepy face with her palms, eyes still sealed shut. "Who's there?"

"It's me, Kitty. Matt."

"Matt?" she blearily repeated. One eye cracked open and she made a face. Dammit, she knew she looked a sight. "Justa minute." Throwing back the covers, she managed to locate only one slipper beside the bed. She squinted, navigating in the pale moonlight streaming through the white lace curtains, casting their intricate shadowy patterns on the bare wooden floor below. "One second," she called again, tossing the mateless slipper under the bed and digging through the small piles of abandoned unmentionables on the floor and chair, searching for her wrapper. Where on earth did she put that blasted…?

"Kitty, you okay?" He hesitated, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Uh, if you're busy, I'll just uh…"

"Yeah, Matt… No! I mean, no, I'm not. Busy. I'm…" She heaved a sigh and stood up straight, blowing a wayward curl out of her face. "…coming… I'm coming, Matt." Traipsing to the door, she opened it just a little ways and warily peeped out. "Evenin', Matt," she smiled, trying not to appear out of sorts.

"Kitty…" He looked taken aback, shoving his Stetson off his forehead with an index finger. "I'm sorry. What're you doin' in bed? I had assumed you'd be at the big wedding. I looked everywhere for ya'."

She cast her eyes down, tried to hide her bare feet beneath the hem of her thin, voluminous nightdress which was rather difficult since it only went down to her ankles. "Oh, well…I, uh, had a little headache." She gingerly tapped her temple for emphasis. "Laid down for a while."

"Oh, I see. Well, I'm real sorry you're feelin' poorly, Kitty."

"Thanks, Matt. My head feels much better now since I managed to get some rest." She bit her lip and looked him over appreciatively. He was wearing a jacket and string tie and his boots were polished and shiny. His handsome face was clean-shaven, his thick, wavy hair freshly trimmed, and the delicious aroma of spicy-scented shaving lotion made her want to close her eyes and breathe him in deeply. But his gussied-up appearance made her feel all the more conspicuous wearing little more than a short-sleeved cotton nightdress with her hair escaping its messy braid. She smiled, "I think I'll recover."

He looked hopeful. "Well, if you're feelin' better now, maybe you can get dressed and come to the…"

Quickly she shook her head. "No, I… I don't think so, Matt."

He eagerly offered, "I'll wait…"

She interrupted, "No, really Matt. I bet there are lots of nice girls at the party you could dance with."

"But, Kitty, I… Well, I'd been lookin' forward to this wedding, sorta. I don't usually care for these things, but I thought I would see… Well, I mean, I guess I assumed that you…"

She rescued him and answered his question before he finished. "No, Matt, really, I can't."

"But Kitty…"

"You don't understand, Matt."

"Kitty, you don't understand." He looked behind him quickly to make sure no one was within earshot. He continued quietly but earnestly, "I don't wanna go with anybody but you."

"Oh…" It was her turn to be taken aback. Her eyes widened and she absently laced her fingers through the worn ribbon drawstring tied in a bow at her bodice.

He reached for her arm. "Don't you wanna go for just a little while?" He grinned. "I gotta haircut just for the occasion."

"Oh…Matt…" She peeped out the door at the upstairs walkway to make sure it was deserted and requested, "Come inside just for a minute, okay? I think we need to talk."

She quickly pulled him within and leaned back against the closed door, crossing her arms self-consciously, in spite of the fact that the room was bathed only in pale silver moonlight and deep shadows. A girl could conceal a host of flaws and secrets in here.

"Kitty, are you sure you're alright? You want me to go get Doc?"

"No, Matt, honestly. I'm fine now. It's just… Well, you see, I…" She didn't know how to approach this. She knew how Matt felt about filthy men who'd tried to call her bad names in the past. He usually just knocked them unconscious in a fit of rage. But she didn't think he'd ever noticed the stares, the snide looks she'd get from some of Dodge's everyday citizens.

"What, Kitty?" His tone was anxious. "You can tell me."

She looked down and studied her folded arms. "Well, I don't think I'd be very welcome at Tillie Satter's wedding. She's what you might call Dodge City high society, if there is such a thing. And I'm just a saloon girl, ya' see. Not very welcome at those kinds of high-falutin' affairs." She glanced up and offered him a half-hearted smile.

"But…"

"Tillie doesn't like me much. Oh, I don't really know her, of course, but I've seen her around town a few times, and if looks could kill, I swear, I'd be dead about ten times over."

"Surely…surely you're mistaken."

"Matt, a woman's not mistaken about these things. I wasn't born yesterday. And I know I wouldn't be welcome at Tillie Satter's wedding."

"Huh." Matt scratched his head beneath the brim of his hat and thought about Kitty's words.

"But you haven't done anything to her, have you?"

"Doesn't matter, Matt. I'm saloon trash."

"Don't talk that way, Kitty."

"Well, I'm not naïve. I know that's what they say about me, and worse, behind my back."

Even in the darkness, she could see Matt's eyes smoldering with anger. "Well, Kitty, if you're not welcome, then I'm not goin' back either."

Feeling guilty that she'd spoiled his nice evening, she tried to soothe him. "Now, Matt…"

"That's all there is to it." He planted his hands stubbornly on his lean hips. "It wouldn't be any fun without you anyway." Then he fastened his gaze on her. "Kitty, I… Well, I've never known a girl like you."

"Ha. I bet you haven't." She tried to lighten the mood, change the subject. She teased, "Say, what about that Lessie girl I've seen chasin' after you whenever she's in town with her family? Doesn't her daddy own a big spread a few miles out? I'm sure she'd be happy to cut a rug with you. Why didn't you ask…?"

"Kitty, honest, you're not listenin' to me. Girls like Lessie, they've been handed everything on a silver platter." He was feeling frustrated but also emboldened by the dark intimacy of the room, not to mention the three glasses of spiked punch he'd drunk before heading back to the Long Branch in search of Kitty. He added quietly, "You, you're different. You don't have a family to rely on and you've had to work hard to support yourself."

"Yeah. Well, maybe my kinda work isn't so appealing to some folks, and they take offense, Matt."

"Kitty, some of us are luckier in life than others. But we play the cards we're dealt, and some of us, like you, make a go of things. You fight hard and come out a winner. You're tough and smart, but in spite of everything that's happened, Kitty, you haven't hardened your heart. What I'm tryin' to say is, you're the sweetest girl I know. And even though I'm a terrible dancer, you're the one I wanna dance with."

His was leaning with his arm braced on the door over her now. No matter how many times she was with him, she never quite got over how big the man was. She was feeling especially small now while she didn't have on any shoes or many clothes for that matter. And him telling her she was the sweetest girl he knew nearly made her cry right then, in spite of the fact that she'd learned a long time ago that crying didn't get a girl like her anywhere. "I don't recall bein' called sweet by too many people."

"Then I don't reckon too many people have known you very well."

"You reckon so, huh?" She glanced up at him in the dim light, her eyes shining.

"Have I ever told you how pretty you are, Kitty Russell?"

She gave him a sincere smile now, all thoughts of hateful girls fading in their quiet moment together. "A time or two, Marshall."

"Well, you look prettier right now, without all the fancy clothes and hairdos those high-falutin' girls are wearin' tonight. With your eyes so bright in the moonlight, and your hair fallin' down around your face, you look so soft and sweet and pretty." He took a quick breath at his own bold words, but quickly continued before his courage ran out, "Those girls don't hold a candle to you." He took the loose end of her messy braid she'd been worrying in her hands, rubbing the big, soft curls between his fingertips.

She was finding it hard to breathe with him looking at her like that. Always before when they'd flirted, they'd been together in crowded rooms, but now, in the dark, in her nightclothes, this was different. "You look mighty handsome yourself tonight, Marshal."

"Well, I don't get gussied up like this for just anybody, you know."

"Oh, I bet you get dressed up like this for all the girls, Matt Dillon."

"I told you…" He gave his hat a shove backwards on his forehead and straightened his shoulders, searching for courage. "… there are no other girls, Kitty."

"Are you sweet talkin' me, Matt?"

"What if I were?"

"Well, I…" She nervously tucked a wayward curl behind her ear and murmured, "I just don't know."

"You don't want me to?"

"Oh, I didn't say that…"

"Then what?"

"Maybe I'm a little surprised?" Her eyes tilted up at the sweet, lilting sound of a slow waltz echoing down the street, its beautiful melody one that always made her chest ache.

"What? You don't think I'm a sweet talkin' kinda fella?" Matt watched her expression and held out a hand. "Will you dance with me, Kitty?"

"Dance?" Her brows lifted.

"Come on, let's dance. Just you and me, nobody watchin'."

Her mouth dropped open as she glanced down meaningfully at her attire. "Matt, I'm not dressed…"

"It's just me, Kitty. No one will see. And you always look pretty to me, no matter what you're wearin'."

She actually felt her cheeks warming and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh Matt, you're teasing me."

"Dance with me, Kitty. Please. Hey, I got dressed up just for you, tonight. It's the least you can do for a gussied-up lawman, isn't it?"

She gave a hesitant smile, unable to resist his grin, and cautiously stepped into his arms, mindful of the thin cotton that was the only barrier that lay between her and that big, tall lawman. It was ironic, really. A girl like her, a girl in her line of work worried about what Matt would think. She didn't give two hoots about all the other men that came through this saloon every night by the dozens. But Matt Dillon wasn't just any man. He was different. She cared what he thought about her. And she was feeling very vulnerable right then with him taking her in his arms with none of the protective armor she was accustomed to wearing when he was usually around. It felt strange, feeling shy. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt shy with a man. She was feeling rather like a very young girl again with her first beau.

But she looked up into those clear-blue eyes that were always so sincere and true, and she felt herself relaxing into his embrace. His hand clasped hers gently and the other slipped around to nestle warmly in the small of her back.

"I'm not very good at this, you know." His voice cracked a little on the last word and he laughed nervously.

She smiled and placed a hand on his smooth cheek. "Well at least I'll have one advantage. Just start with this foot. I'll count…ONE, two, three…ONE, two, three…"

They laughed when they stumbled together at first, but soon they were able to dance a simple little waltz in Kitty's bedroom to the sweet sound of fiddle music. Kitty's heart swelled to bursting in her chest, and for the second time that evening she felt she might just cry. She didn't know what'd come over her. Well, that was a lie. She knew very well what had come over her; what that thing was happened to be well over six feet tall and holding her in his arms right that very minute. She'd loved him since the day she'd laid eyes on him in that café eating breakfast one miserable, rainy morning, but she hadn't dared to hope he'd ever feel the same about her, being the kinda girl she was and all. But now look where they were - dancing a waltz in the moonlight.

Her breath hitched in her chest as the final gentle refrain of the song echoed through the streets and floated through her open window.

"Are you alright, Kitty? I hope I didn't make your headache…"

She shook her head and quickly smiled. "No, Matt… No, not at all. I wanna thank you for the dance. It was lovely." Her face shone up at him happily and she couldn't believe just a few minutes ago she'd been encouraging him to dance with that girl Lessie. What had she been thinking? She didn't ever want to leave this man's embrace.

"No, I think you're lovely, Kitty." He let go of her hand and touched her cheek. "I think you're the loveliest girl I've ever known. For more reasons than one. I meant what I said earlier. You're just not the same as the other girls."

"I like you, too, Matt Dillon. More than you know." She gazed at him with his haircut and string tie and jacket, all dressed up for a Saturday night wedding. Then she took a deep breath, tiptoed high and gave him a soft, lingering kiss on his smooth cheek. Averting her eyes quickly, she turned and walked toward the door. "Guess it's pretty late and you have to be going."

Even in the pale moonlight, she could see the glazed look in his eyes. She watched his hand touch the cheek she'd kissed.

He took a moment to follow her. He towered over her standing there again with her back to the door, and then he quickly removed his hat. His voice cracked a little again when he spoke. "Shoulda' taken this off when I came in. A lady's room and all."

It was not lost on her, his "lady" remark, and tears stung her eyes yet again. She could get used to all this respect. This man was one in a million. But then, she'd had a feeling when she'd first laid eyes on him. She could read people like that. Some said it was a gift.

"Well, you'll remember that next time you come in here won't you then, Marshal?"

"Yes, I most certainly will."

She smiled and placed her hand on the doorknob.

She felt his large, warm hand dwarf hers atop it.

"Wait, just one more thing, Kitty."

She turned her head back and he was inches away. She slowly pivoted to face him. "What?" she breathed.

"Just this…" He gently lifted her chin with his fingertips and ducked his head low, placing his soft lips on hers for the sweetest of kisses. Her eyes remained closed when he pulled away and he whispered in her ear, "Meet me for breakfast at Delmonico's in the morning, 9am?"

"I'll meet you," she whispered back, finally gazing at him.

Matt's heart shone in his eyes. "Can I kiss you again tomorrow?"

Kitty's heart leapt in her chest. She earnestly murmured, "You can kiss me again tomorrow and the day after that, Matt Dillon."

"Night, Kitty. I should go do rounds now."

"Night, Matt. Be careful."

end

ljljljljlj