Chapter Twenty-Four: Reno
Sam stayed on board the train when it stopped in Reno Saturday morning. He was going on to Denver, and the men had said their goodbyes as the train pulled in. Matt and Luiz, now both dressed in what Matt considered normal clothes, stepped onto the platform with Frank. Matt wore his own gunbelt, and all three of them had Stetsons. Matt's hair was cut and his beard neatly trimmed – he wasn't sure about shaving with the scar slicing his face, but thought he'd wait and see what Kitty said about it.
Doc was there to meet them with a plain, neatly-dressed girl beside him. He smiled broadly and held out a hand, but Matt, also smiling, told him simply, "I need more than just that, old man," and enveloped him in an embrace.
"You let me go, you big ox," Doc said, holding on to him tightly, "You're gonna break my bones."
Eventually, they parted. Doc brought Estelle forward, and Matt took the girl's hand. "I've heard a lot about you, Estelle," he said, "I know we saw each other before, but I'm sorry, I don't remember."
"I remember, Marshal," she said, "And I'm glad you're not dead." But then there was a shrill whistle from the end of the platform where Frank was standing with the luggage, and Estelle went running towards him to be gathered up, twirled around, and kissed on both cheeks.
"It will take her a while, Matt," Doc said. "She loves Sam almost as much as she loves Kitty. But we've talked, and she's going to try."
Matt's eyes were searching the covered platform. "Where's Kitty?" he asked.
"She's waiting for you at the house, son," Doc said. "She wanted to come, but I didn't want Maria out in this wet snow."
"She all right?"
"She's fine, Matt," Doc told him, "Fine and healthy and 'glowin' like a rose'."
"I need to see her, Doc. I honestly don't think I can wait a minute longer."
Doc pointed down the street from the station. "Small green house on the right side, three blocks that way. She'll be looking for you. The rest of us are going to go have some breakfast and give you two some time to yourselves." Matt was off before he finished speaking – long, quick strides that weren't quite running.
Kitty was watching for him. She ran out in the snow to meet him as soon as she saw his tall form cross the street and come down the block towards her. She ran straight into his arms, and all the fear and apprehension that somehow things would be different drained right out of Matt as he held her hard against him. It felt like she had never been out of his arms. At some point, he noticed the snow on her hair, brushed it off, and moved his new hat to cover her. Arm in arm they walked back to the house and in the front door.
Taking his hand, Kitty led him through the door to the front bedroom and stopped beside the crib where Maria lay asleep, her thumb in her mouth and her bright curls in disarray. "Oh, Lord, Kitty, she's so beautiful," Matt said, the first words other than her name that he had actually spoken. "She has your hair."
"Not really, cowboy. Hers is blonder than mine, but it may get darker as she grows," Kitty told him.
Matt held her away from him just a little and tipped her face up, "Let me look at you. I don't think you've been eating enough."
Kitty looked up at Matt and reached a hand to run through his beard, and then a fingertip to trace the scar along his face. "Do you think you can put up with it?" he asked her seriously.
"The scar, yes," she answered with a smile, "The beard, we'll have to see."
"Let's just try that out now," Matt said softly, cupping her face and reaching his mouth down for a kiss. He'd meant it to be gentle, but Kitty's body molded to his, her arms around his neck, and her mouth opening under his lips. They clung to each other, tongues searching, until they finally broke apart gasping for breath. Matt clasped her against him, unwilling to let her go. Kitty settled her cheek against his heart and stood listening to it beat.
"I know there's things we should say, Matt, but all I want to do is hold you and never let you go," she told him.
"We've got all the time in the world, sweetheart, for holding, for talking, and for loving."
When the others came in stamping off snow and carrying luggage an hour or so later, they found Kitty and Matt sitting close together on the sofa with baby Maria sharing their laps. Matt stood and went to Luiz who was hiding himself behind the others. Frank reached down to pick up Maria – holding her high over his head while she giggled frantically. Matt led Luiz forward and the boy went down on one knee in front of Kitty. He took the hand she offered him and kissed it as if he had made that gesture his whole life. "You are as beautiful as he told me, dama. For you he has crossed the whole world."
"Thank you for bringing him back to me, Luiz," Kitty said, leaning forward to take his face in her hands and kiss his cheeks. "I can never, ever thank you enough for doing that."
Before there was time for the scene to prove embarrassing, Frank handed Maria to her father and said, "Don't you kids bother to take those coats off, you and I are heading downtown."
"In the snow?" Estelle asked.
"In the snow," Frank agreed. "Do you know that Luiz has never seen snow before today?"
Estelle looked at Luiz in surprise. "Never?"
"Where I lived as a child, there was snow in the mountains, but not near us. On the ship, no." Luiz said.
"So you've never thrown a snowball?" Estelle asked, her eyes suddenly bright with purpose.
"What is this thing, a snowball?"
"Well, I think you're bound to find out soon, youngster," Frank told him.
He was starting to herd them towards the door when Kitty said, "Don't forget your hat, Estelle."
The girl's face soured, but she reached for the small straw hat that she'd removed the minute she came through the door. "Yes, ma'am."
"You do not like this hat?" Luiz asked watching her.
"It's a silly hat and it doesn't keep the snow off at all. I wish I had a hat like yours," she replied.
Luiz looked at the Stetson he still held in his hands. He adored the new, western clothes that Frank and Matt had outfitted him with, but the hat, just like theirs, was the crowning glory. He handed it to Estelle. "You take this one, menina," he said.
Grinning, Estelle tried it on, but her smile faded when she found it too large. She handed it back. "I will buy you a hat. Just like this. It is a good hat," Luiz told her.
"A girl can't wear a hat like that, Luiz," Kitty said trying to hide the smile that teased her lips.
"My girl can if she wants to," Matt said stoutly. "Luiz has six months' pay in his pocket, and if she wants a Stetson he can get her one."
Nothing Matt could have said would have established him so positively in the child's graces. The smile that she gave him transformed her plain face into a thing of delight. Leaving the despised straw hat hanging by the door, Frank ushered the two of them out into the snow.
Skipping along, Estelle asked, "What was that you called me in there? Men… mena?"
"Menina," Luiz replied. "It is a little name," he looked up at Frank who inserted, "A nickname."
"Yes, a nickname, to use for a girl in one's family." Luiz looked shyly down at his boots, "I called my little sister this."
"You have a sister?" Estelle asked in surprise.
"Not anymore. She died, oh, four years ago." Luiz replied.
"I'm sorry. My sister died too, but she was just a baby."
"That is sad, menina. If you do not dislike, I can call you this."
"I like it." Estelle declared. "Will you really buy me a hat? A Stetson?"
"Certainly." Luiz replied calmly, "I have said it."
"Then I won't throw a snowball at you," Estelle said, and then amended, "At least not until after we get the hat."
Frank laughed at that and shepherded them on towards the stores on Virginia Street.
OoOoO
Back at the house, Kitty went into the kitchen and returned with a pot of coffee and three cups. She poured and handed one to Doc and then traded Matt a coffee cup for his daughter. She set Maria on the floor where she immediately made a beeline for Doc and pulled herself up against his knee.
"She can walk?" Matt exclaimed.
"Not yet, but pretty soon, I think," Kitty replied, "Right now she has to hold on to something to stand up."
Doc set down his cup and lifted the child into his lap where she tucked her hands into his pocket and began contentedly playing with his watch. The three of them sat, looking at each other, almost too satisfied to speak.
"You know, Doc, I had some mighty long conversations with you while I was on that first ship," Matt said at last.
"How'd you manage that?" Doc asked.
"Kept askin' myself what you would tell me to do. You always came up with the same advice."
Doc considered that for a moment, "I imagine I'd tell you to look after yourself, wait for your chance, and not to fight against things you couldn't change."
Matt's smile came from deep inside him. "Pretty much exactly the words I came up with, Doc. That and you tellin' me that you loved Kitty and you'd watch over her."
"We all watched over her." Doc said, "And she didn't make it easy for us, let me tell ya."
"Oh, stop it, Doc. Just 'cause I got out of bed before you wanted me to after the baby…"
"And walked right outside and up to my office to see Sam," he interrupted.
"Wish I'd been there, Kitty," Matt said, his face clouding, "The day I thought you'd be having the baby I couldn't think of much else. We were in a big storm off the coast of Africa and they had me down on the pumps. The water kept rising, and I didn't even notice. I just kept pumping and thinkin' about you and Doc up in your room and the baby comin'." He sighed. "I suppose she was already two weeks old by then." Matt laid a hand on Kitty's belly, "This one, you just bet I'll be around."
Doc busied himself dandling Maria on his knee, not quite able to deal with the intensity of the look that Matt and Kitty shared at that remark. Clearing his throat he finally said, "Frank tell you what time the wedding is?"
"No, but I figured he wouldn't have left if it was comin' up too soon."
"Three o'clock," Doc said, "Over at the Methodist church on Fifth Street. We can walk if the snow stops, or I'll get a buggy for Kitty and the baby."
Matt looked around the small house in sudden embarrassment. Clearly Estelle and Maria had been sharing the main bedroom with Kitty, with Doc in the other small bedroom. It wasn't what he would choose for a wedding night, or for a reunion after more than a year apart. Doc met his eyes, his own sparkling with both merriment and kindness, "We got you and Kitty a room at the Black Rose for your honeymoon, Matt. Frank's leaving for Dodge on the morning train, and I'll stay here with the children for a few days until you all settle what you want to do."
Matt nodded his thanks. He should have known he could count on Doc to take care of him as well as Kitty. "I'm mighty glad to be home," was all he said.
OoOoO
The wedding party walked the few blocks to the brick church on Fifth Street. The bride was dressed in a traveling dress of dark green covered by a black cloak and wore a small green hat with several feathers. The maid of honor had been hustled into a pale blue wool dress that came down almost to her ankles and made her feel quite grown up. The tan Stetson she sported did not add to that image, however, it did keep her hair dry and shade her eyes nicely. Doc wore his usual dark suit and hat covered by his old buffalo coat, but the other men were dressed in jeans, work shirts, and heavy coats. Heeled riding boots and Stetsons completed their fashion statements for the day.
Estelle hung her hat in the coat room just like the other gentlemen. There were no bouquets, but she took Maria from Kitty's arms and held the sleepy child against her shoulder. Luiz looked around the small church with critical eyes. He liked the two stained glass windows at the front, but looked in vain for a font of water to cross himself. His eyes went wide in disbelief when the Reverend Mr. Dixon introduced the lady sitting at the organ as his wife. There were no statues, not even a crucifix, only a bare wooden cross behind the altar. Kitty noticed his discomfort and took a moment to turn him to face her, pretending to straighten his collar.
"This is a church, dama?" he whispered.
"Yes it is, Luiz. I imagine it's a bit different from what you remember, but it's a fine church."
"God is with us here, dama?"
"Always," she told him smiling and let him go to take Matt's arm.
The ceremony was brief and without incident. The only surprise occurred when the minister asked if there was a ring and Matt took a wide gold band inset with three small sapphires out of his pocket and proceeded to place it on Kitty's finger. Matt gave the bride the tender kiss he'd planned on earlier that day, and left it at that. Frank and Doc kissed her as well, and Luiz again kissed her hand – something Kitty quite thought she might like to get used to. The papers were signed by the bride and groom and the two adult witnesses, Frank slid a ten dollar gold piece into the preacher's hand, and they headed back to the house.
The early supper that Kitty and Estelle served was the first family meal that Luiz had eaten since he left Portugal. He watched the others carefully to see how they handled portions and implements, and occasionally lifted his eyes to Matt's for a nod to see if he was doing things correctly. He endeared himself to Kitty by jumping up and starting to clear the table when Estelle did, and to Estelle by demonstrating his ability and willingness to wash dishes. "He was cook's boy for five months on the Black Queen," Matt said when Doc raised his eyebrows in comment.
"Well that's certainly handy," Kitty observed.
Matt and Kitty waited with more patience than anyone expected while coffee was served by the cook's boy and small glasses of whiskey by the saloon keeper's daughter. The evening sky was already dark when Matt stood and went to the bedroom to fetch the valise that Kitty had packed earlier.
"I don't expect to see you two before the train leaves tomorrow morning," Frank said, "So I'll just say goodbye now." He shook Matt's hand and slipped his arm around Kitty's waist to give her a quick kiss. Doc reassured a mildly anxious Kitty that he and Estelle were perfectly competent to care for Maria, but was pleased to see her worry evaporate as Matt took her hand and led her down the walk to the street.
Reno wasn't a large town, but it was nearly three times the size of Dodge City, and seemed to have more than three times the number of hotels, saloons, and gambling houses. The Black Rose was a wide board building with a deep verandah. A restaurant on the first floor was busy with diners, but no one else was waiting at the hotel desk when Matt signed the register as Mr. and Mrs. Dillon and took his key. Their room was on the top floor at the back, and included a private wash room. He led Kitty up the stairs, unlocked the door and ushered her through, stopping in the doorway to remove his gunbelt and hat and hang them on the hook just inside.
Closing the door behind them Matt stood with his back against it. As much as he'd enjoyed the reunion with Doc and meeting his daughter for the first time, this was what he'd been looking forward to ever since his first conversation with Sam. It seemed impossible that they were married, that he really belonged to Kitty at long last, and best of all, that they were alone together in this room. Kitty removed her hat and laid it on the dresser before turning to face him.
"I'm a little scared, Matt," she admitted, "It's been so long, and so many things have happened. I'm afraid to believe you're actually here. Keep thinkin' I'll wake up, and it will be a dream."
"As long as you're not scared of me, Kitty," Matt said, "then we'll work the rest of it out."
"How could I be scared of you, Matt?" she asked him, smiling, "I'm just afraid of losin' you again."
Matt walked slowly toward her and pulled her into his arms, "I'm not goin' anywhere without you, Kitty. You just give me a little time and I'll convince you of that."
"Think that'll take very long?" she purred, "For you to start convincing me?"
"Nope," he said, "I'm just afraid I won't have the strength to take long enough to do a good job of it. It's been a mighty long time, Kitty."
She raised her face to his and started unbuttoning his shirt as he kissed her. His hands found the pins in her hair and pulled them out one by one before he started on the tiny hooks holding her bodice together at the back. When she would have unbuckled his belt, Matt's hands stopped her and moved her back a little to unfasten her skirt and untie her petticoats. She turned in his arms so that he could unlace her corset, and when it dropped to the floor she faced him again, her breasts loose beneath her fitted chemise. "I want to see all of you, Kitty," he said.
Kitty sat on the edge of the bed to remove her stockings, and then unbuttoned her chemise and dropped it off her shoulders. When she stood to untie her pantalets, Matt's hands smoothed over the skin of her back, and when she let them drop, he lowered his hands to cup her bottom. "Turnabout's fair play," she remarked moving her hands back to his belt, but he stopped her again. Matt toed off his boots and lay back on the bed, opening his arms to her. Kitty lay beside him, stroking his naked torso. "You hidin' something in there you don't want me to see, cowboy?" she asked him in a sultry voice moving her hands lower to trace the edge of his waistband.
"If you touch me I'll be done for," he replied.
Kitty's fingers delicately undid his belt buckle, not letting herself touch the tight outline pushing large against the front of his pants. "You have to let me in sometime, Matt," she said popping the top button on his jeans. She ran a hand up the length of him and he groaned. She loosed the other buttons of his fly and reached in to touch him. Matt's breath caught and he thought about dying right there on the bed. He reached a hand down to remove hers but just succeeded in lacing her fingers around him. One single stroke and his hips lifted, his eyes closed, and his brain went blank in exploding pleasure as his seed shot white and wet all over both of them.
When Matt opened his eyes, Kitty was gone. He allowed all his muscles to slump and began berating himself for his lack of control. But seconds later she was back beside him, wiping his chest and belly with a damp cloth and maneuvering him out of the rest of his clothes. "I'm sorry," Matt whispered.
"I'm not," Kitty told him with a kiss. "I should have believed what you said instead of teasing you, but I still would have done the same thing. When you're that tight with it, Matt, there's nothin' else to do but let it go, and then, later, we'll both go slower."
It was chilly in the room, and Kitty turned down the covers on one side of the bed and crawled under them. Matt joined her and she snuggled against him sighing with pleasure at the feel of his skin against hers. "You're not mad at me?" he asked.
"No," she said, "but I admit I was a little surprised." She scooted up to look at his face, her hands running through his beard and her fingers stroking the long scar. "Matt, how long has it been?"
"Since I was with a woman?"
She nodded. "Yes."
"You should know, honey, you were there - the night before I took Tonneman to the train,"
"All the time you were gone?" she asked.
"I admit I eased myself when I could, Kitty, but even that's difficult when you're sleeping in a room full of men, or in bed with a boy layin' next to you," Matt told her pulling her down against him. She smelled wonderful. A floral smell of roses with an undertone of the lavender soap she'd always favored. He buried his face in her neck, and then moved it lower to lie against her breasts. They seemed, if that were possible, even softer than before. "First time I even saw a woman was in Loanda, in Africa, and most of them were colored. Not that I minded that, but I only had a little money and there was something else I needed more."
"Oh?" Her hands stroked his neck and shoulders, fighting with herself not to move his mouth to her tight and straining nipples. She knew she had to be patient, but it was almost more than she could manage. "What was that?"
"Food. On the Lupinho I was always hungry, always. The Rainha Negra was better, and there was a cup of coffee once a day, but still not enough. Luiz gave me part of his ration sometimes, and, God help me, I let him do it. Two days a week we got rum and I could trade mine for food so those days weren't as bad."
Kitty felt the lust drain out of her. "Oh, Matt," was all she could say as she buried her fingers in his hair.
"On the British ship, the Annie Laurie, I bargained for double rations. I didn't care if they paid me or not, but I had to have more to eat. So it was better the last seven months. The food was still awful, and they served tea, not coffee, but it wasn't near as bad as the first ships."
Kitty tossed back the covers and began running her hands over him. She'd known that he looked thinner, but discovered she could feel his ribs beneath his scarred flesh. She smoothed her hands down to his hips and felt the bones there as well. Matt, however, liked it. "Mmmm. You just keep doin' that, honey." So she did. It wasn't long before her wandering hands found his soft length and she toyed with him, stroking and fondling. When she moved her mouth down to kiss and lick him he grew firm again under her ministrations, and his strong hands pulled her back up to his mouth. Finally, finally he moved to her breasts, and her hips bucked against him as he caressed her nipples. "They're bigger," he said, in wonder, covering one with his mouth and sucking. He lifted his head in surprise at the sweet wet drops on his tongue.
"Doc made me wean her when he found out I was pregnant again," Kitty told him softly. "But I still let her nurse some at night when she's sleepin' next to me, so there's a little milk left. Does it bother you?"
In answer he moved to her other nipple and sucked again, tasting the sweetness and rolling the nipple with his tongue. And at that it was too late for conversation. Matt turned her under him and she spread her legs, sighing and arching as he entered her. He wanted to be slow but excitement took over and he pushed deep, holding himself on his elbows and covering her breasts with kisses. He found a nipple and drew hard on it, loving the sounds she made and the feel of her hips rising tight against him. He didn't know if he could wait, but he didn't have to. The flutter of her muscles against his plunging cock and her voice calling out in passion led him to release.
It was better after that. They both felt easier with each other and fell into a relaxed and familiar embrace. Matt's hands stroked over the softness of her belly and then he moved his face down to watch as his fingers found the striated lines of stretch marks he'd never seen before. He laid his hand over the slight rise that was her child. "You going to be okay with this, Matt?" Kitty asked him seriously. "Sam was so worried that you wouldn't want this baby."
"I can't imagine not loving any child of yours, Kitty," Matt said sincerely. "There's a balance to it somehow. I'll get to see this child grow inside you and be born, just like Sam was there for Maria. What I can't get over is Sam letting go of you. I don't know how he could do that."
Kitty's voice was quiet. "At first, when we made our agreement, I don't think he even thought it could happen. He was really just humoring me. Everyone was convinced you were dead – 'cept maybe me and Festus. But then a lot of days we were pretty sure you were, too. After all the years we'd been such good friends I knew Sam loved me, but he didn't love me the way he came to later. I suppose, there at the beginning, before things changed, he thought that if you did come back, it wouldn't be such a difficult thing to do."
"You love him, Kitty?" Matt asked levelly.
"Yes. Guess I always will. But not like I love you, Matt," she said, thinking more to explain than to reassure. "Sam's feelings changed the longer we were married. I'm sorry about that, because it made it harder on him at the end, but my feelings stayed pretty much the same. We got more familiar with each other, more easy being together, but I never felt as much for him as he came to feel for me. I was grateful to him, I was comfortable bein' with him, even in bed, and I knew he loved being a father to Maria and Estelle. Those are all the kinds of things you can build a marriage on, and we did."
Kitty drew him back up to lay beside her, caressing the soft curls of his beard while she looked into the blue of his eyes. "Sam took a bullet for me, Matt - just stepped right in front of me when Shiloh raised his rifle. So yes, I love him. But no matter how long we were together it would never have been more than a shadow of what you and I have with each other. He knew that, right from the beginning, but he never let it come between us. Whatever I could give him, that was always enough, and he never asked for more."
Matt pulled the covers up around them and laid her head on his chest, cradling her in his arms. He was silent for a while thinking all that over before he asked, "Were you angry when I didn't come back, Kitty?"
"Yes. Some with you. Some with myself," she told him honestly. "I was so mad that I hadn't just married you that last afternoon when you suggested it. It would have made everything different. But I suppose if I had done that, and then you'd died, I would have felt guilty forever for somehow changing your luck."
They lay quiet for quite a long time. Matt's hands moved softly against her smooth skin. At some point, long after he'd thought her asleep, she said, "Tell me about Luiz." So he did. When he got to the point where he learned about the Lupinho transporting women, she stopped him with a question, "You think that's what Tonneman had in mind for me?"
"I'm sure of it. He wanted me to know that was going to happen. It was part of what he wanted me to suffer, and I surely did," Matt said. "There were nights when I walked the deck 'til dawn just thinking about him holding you captive, about you sold into a house somewhere that I couldn't find you, or reach you. Kitty, until I got off the ship and talked to Sam and Frank I didn't really know you were safe. I hoped you were. And I told myself that was enough, that it didn't matter if I couldn't marry you, as long as you were safe. But I was ready to head south to the Gulf and take ship again for Brazil to try to find you if that's what I needed to do."
She, in turn, told him about red-haired Julie, sold by her father and rescued by Festus. "I doubt she's eighteen even yet, Matt, but she banked her reward money and worked days for me and nights at Delmonico's learning the business. And I taught her bookkeeping. She wants to open a restaurant, and she wants to marry Newly. Not sure which she wants most, but I'm hopin' she can have both."
Matt sighed. "Wish I could go back to Dodge and see folks, but I can't see that happening now. I understand why you don't want to go back, Kitty, and I'm not leavin' you alone. Maybe someday latter I'll get back for a while."
"You able to live with that, Matt?" Kitty asked him.
"Yes, as long as I can live with you, and Maria, and Estelle, and Luiz. We've got ourselves quite a family, honey, and more to come. What you think we ought to do with them?" Matt asked.
"What do you want to do, Matt?" Kitty countered.
"I want to raise horses, breed them." Matt's eyes were bright and alive. "I think Chief Joseph is still around, and we were on pretty good terms when he left Dodge five years ago – bet I could get him to sell me some Appaloosas. I liked the horse ranch I saw in Australia. I want to make something like that here. And Luiz, he lives and breathes horses if you let him. Since we can't go back to Dodge, I don't much care where we go, as long as it's not a big city, and as long as I can have access to the land and water I'll need." Matt told her truthfully.
"How about somewhere along the Platte in Colorado?" Kitty ventured.
Matt thought about that, "So we could be near enough for Sam to visit?"
Kitty nodded against his chest. "That make you mad, Matt?" she asked softly.
"No, it doesn't. Sam and I talked quite a bit. It would be nice to be near enough, say a day's ride on the train, that he could visit, but far enough that we don't have to live in a city like Denver." Matt told her giving her shoulders a squeeze.
After a prolonged silence, Kitty reached for the hand caressing her shoulder and carried it to her lips. Her voice was quiet as she said, "There's something else we need to talk about, Matt."
"Frank?" His voice was low and level.
"Yes, Frank." Kitty said, hoping he would let hear her explanation but fearing he wouldn't.
"You don't have to, Kitty, but if you want to, I'll listen."
"He told you?"
"Yes."
"That's not good enough. I want you to hear it from me. I've never been less than honest with you, cowboy, and I don't want to start our marriage with this on my conscience." She turned so that they were looking into each other's eyes in the light from the lamp. "That one night I spent with Frank we needed each other something desperate, Matt." She shook her head. "No, that's not right. We—both of us—needed you something desperate. But you were dead. The only thing we had left of you was each other—each other and your baby growing inside of me. I never meant for it to happen, and I don't think Frank did either, but…well, it did. And the truth is, I don't regret it, Matt. Maybe I should, but I don't."
She searched his eyes for anger or censure, but saw only love and longing burning in those pale blue depths. "I know you figured I'd marry him, and I was tempted, but I just thank God I had the sense not to do that. He and I are too much alike – maybe that's why both of us are so good with you, cowboy – but we spark on each other. He needs a woman like Maria was - someone sweet and good and gentle who counts on him to make decisions and take care of her. If I'd married Frank, we surely would have had some good times, but I might well have killed him by now."
"Guess I have to thank you, then, for savin' his life." Matt said, his voice solemn but his eyes bright with mischief. He pulled her back against the pillows for a brief kiss and then tucked her under his arm with her head against his chest. "It's really all right, Kitty. I spent a whole lot of months thinkin' about you and Frank together forever and me nowhere in the picture." Kitty tried to comment on that but he held his fingers gently against her lips. "I'm willin' to let him get by with one night, honey, if it means I get to hold you in my arms for all the rest of our lives." He kissed the top of her head. "Anything else you feel the need to confess?"
"Well…" her fingers twisted lightly in the hair on his chest, and she arched an eyebrow at him, "Frank and Sam weren't the only men in Dodge lining up to marry me, you know. You wanna hear about all the others, too?"
Matt's chuckle started deep in his throat. "I do want to hear about Doc, and Festus, and Newly. Every word that you can remember. Sam told me about "the suitors" and it sounded like a mighty good story 'ceptin' he didn't know enough of the details."
"Oh, Matt," she said, pulling herself up to look at him, "They were so worried, and so sweet! It was horrible at the time, but now, well, you're right. Now it makes a mighty good story."
They talked on into the night. Matt's stomach started rumbling about midnight, but it was too late to find anything to eat, so they made love instead. It was slow this time, with Matt holding her from behind and moving his hand against her while he stroked in and out at a leisurely pace that gradually grew in tempo as she coasted along the edge, dipping into one little climax after another until he finally burst inside her. They slept then, deeply and at peace, back in each other's arms at last, where they belonged.