Stealing Kisses

Lilah Montgomery was sitting alone. Not exactly the type of thing one wants when one is at a party. She felt like a wallflower. She’d had high hopes for this weekend. It was a fan based weekend, where Country artists got together, played a benefit concert, signed autograph’s and generally gave back to the people that made them. And as usual, this years Weekend in the Country had been a big hit. Lilah had been looking forward to spending her off time with her boyfriend Chris.

Too bad Chris’ wife had decided to come.

Guilt warred with anger as she watched them from across the room. Guilt that she was in love with and involved with a married man. She believed in the sanctity of marriage, and here she was knee deep in adultery. Anger that that married man could play so easily between her and the woman he’d promised to honor til death did them part.

Lilah sighed and felt her heart squeeze painfully again. Why did she keep doing this too herself? She’d known, known entering into this affair was futile. It didn’t matter that Chris was everything she’d ever wanted. He was everything his wife had ever wanted as well. With the subtle difference that She’d met him first.

"We’re a pair, ain’t we? You all hooked up on Chris, and me all hooked up on Rachael." She gave a startled jerk then cut her eyes to the man who spoke. Jon Richards, one half of the country duo R&R (the other R, Bill Rayne hadn’t come to the fan weekend, since his wife was in labor) returned her steady gaze with a pair of dark blue eyes. He cocked his head, the black cowboy hat on his head now casting a shadow across his handsome face.

He was wearing his signature button down, this one in a shade of blue to match his eyes, black jeans and boots. A simple gold chain hung around his neck and a very un-country diamond stud winked in his left ear. Under the hat he had short dark hair, and he had the longest legs she’d ever seen. He was tall and slender, but not skinny or wimpy looking. His face was sharp and angular with high cheekbones and a mouth that wasn’t too thin or full. His mustache was neatly trimmed and extended just below the corners of his mouth.

"Yeah. A real pair of winners." Lilah replied. She looked back across the room, seeing Chris with his wife, smiling like he didn’t have a care in the world. Maybe he didn’t. It wasn’t his heart that was breaking. He must have felt her looking at him, because he turned, his blue eyes as piercing as ever, even across the distance. "How did I become this person, Jon?"

"What person is that, Lilah?" She could feel his eyes on her as well, a darker blue than Chris’s, but still as intense.

"The type of person that falls for a married man, and doesn’t seem to mind being ‘the other woman’. Marriage...it’s not something you mess with. And since I met him," she nodded in Chris’s’ direction, who had turned back to his wife, "I can’t seem to remember that,"

Jon sighed and even though she didn’t turn to him, she knew he was looking at his own object of torment. Rachael was across the room, canoodling with her fiancé the last time Lilah had seen her. "I dunno, sweetheart. I know he’s not makin’ it easier on you. Course, I don’t think it’s any easier on him, being a cheatin’ dog." Lilah couldn’t help but smile.

"Yeah, I guess not. At least...Rachael’s not married. So you have this much," she held up her thumb and index finger, showing barely a hairs distance between. "Chance of getting her."

"She’s married. Just ‘cause she don’t have the gold ring, doesn’t make her any less committed. And unfortunately she’s more faithful than Chris turned out to be."

"So, what do we do?" Lilah turned to look at him then, her hazel eyes questioning and bright with the burn of tears behind them. Jon turned his head and looked at her for a long minute, considering.

"Well, first thing I’m gonna do, is ask you to dance with me." Confusion drew her brows together.

"Why?"

He stood up, a smile playing across his mouth. It was a nice mouth, she thought, remembering the crush she’d had on him when they first met. "To see how it feels,"

Now it was her to turn to stare. Did she risk it? Take a chance, with Chris right there? And what did it matter if he saw? His wife was with him. He was where he belonged. Where the hell did she belong? Lilah looked at Jon’s outstretched hand and wondered...was this it?

Get a grip, Li. He’s asking you to dance, not to get married.

Tentatively, she reached out, placing her hand in his. His skin was warm and calloused, his fingers strong as they closed around hers. With a gentle tug she was on her feet, following him out to the floor and stepping easily into his arms. Jon held her close, one hand at the small of her back, the other holding hers against his chest. She could feel the steady thump of his heart under their hands and it was comforting.

He smelled like Irish Spring and some spicy aftershave. It tickled her nose and sent a pleasant sensation rolling down her back. She liked the feel of his hand on her there, the heat of his body pressed against hers. He was just tall enough so she could rest her head on his shoulder, and she did.

"This feels good," Jon whispered in her ear, his mustache tickling her. She felt a long, slow shudder ripple over her, and the first licks of desire in the pit of her abdomen. She raised her head and looked at him.

"Jon, are you trying to seduce me?" she asked, only half teasing.

"Yeah," he told her, his voice husky. "I think I am." Lilah had nothing to say to that. There was nothing too say. "And, I think I’m going to kiss you,"

She was stunned, not sure whether she wanted him too or not. He kept his eyes on hers as his head dipped, giving her plenty of time to pull away. She didn’t.

Jon’s lips closed over hers, gentle as a butterfly’s wings at first, then again with a bit more pressure. A tiny moan escaped her parted lips and she initiated the next kiss. This one was firmer, longer, wetter. Her heart was thundering in her ears when his tongue traced the delicate outline of her mouth before sliding inside to tangle slowly with hers. She heard a whimper and wasn’t sure if it came from him or herself. She decided it didn’t matter as his grip tightened on her, pressing her closer and crushing her breasts against his chest. She was hyper aware of him. Every nerve was tuned to him.

He took his time exploring her mouth, learning every recess of the warm wet cavern before finally raising his head again. She was breathing hard and so was he, arousal darkening the blue of his eyes to midnight.

"Come upstairs with me," his Texas drawl was thick with his desire and she could feel the evidence of that desire pressed against her.

Should she? Could she? Indecision had her looking away and over his shoulder, her gaze colliding with a another set of blue eyes, this pair furious. How she could tell that from so far away was a mystery. Maybe it was the set of Chris’s mouth that told her. Maybe it was the stiffness of his shoulders. Whatever it was, she felt guilt crashing over her, cooling her desire, no matter how irrational it was.

"No, baby, no. Don’t look at him. Don’t let him decide for you. He’ll be sleeping with his wife tonight, and you’ll be alone, wondering why you are alone," Jon was right. She knew he was right. So, with a great deal of effort, she turned away from Chris and looked back at Jon. "All right," Lilah told him, her voice wavering a bit. She cleared her throat then with a bit more punch she said, "All right. Let’s go upstairs." He smiled, a strange mix of relief and want written on his features. Without another word, they turned together, with her shoulders tucked under his arm and left the ballroom. Neither looked back.

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