"Forsaking All Others"

Susan had thought that nothing could spoil this, her perfect day, until she turned her head during the fundraiser dance and saw him.

She waved frantically to one of her bridesmaids. "How the hell did Mark get here?" she hissed. "I know I didn't fucking invite him."

Alexa shrugged, looking equally baffled. "Ask Tony?" she suggested. More than a little miffed, Susan tried just that, waving to get her new husband's attention, but he was busy dancing with one of the tiny little aunts he seemed to have in abundance. Susan's flailings were going unnoticed.

The DJ boomed, "Come on, folks, we've only had thirty participants so far for the fundraiser dance! Let's raise some more money for the newlyweds, huh? A ten dollar contribution gets you a dance with the lovely bride or the blushing groom! I want to see all you folks digging deep to get these two some extra spending money for their honeymoon!"

Jen panicked as she saw Mark reach inside his suit and withdraw a slim wallet. Approaching Sara, who was taking the contributions, he spoke with her briefly. Sara threw a panicked look at Susan, who made more frantic motions: "No! Stall him! Give him some excuse, I don't care!" Then she saw Sara's eyes bug out as Mark handed her a folded bill. He turned and started walking towards her.

Susan shut her eyes briefly, lips moving in a silent prayer: "Lord, please help me get through a short dance with my psychotic ex-boyfriend," and then put on her best smile. She was already framing the words, "Why, Mark, what a surprise!" But to her astonishment, Mark walked right past her to where Tony was dancing with his aunt, and tapped the little woman on the shoulder.

"I'm cutting in," he said calmly.

Susan's mouth fell open as her ex-boyfriend put one arm around her husband's waist and drew him close, then began twirling him about the dance floor to the strains of Prince's "When Doves Cry". She rushed over to Sara. "What the hell, Sar?" she half-wailed. "Why didn't you find some excuse to get rid of him?"

Sara looked as stunned as Susan felt. "Because he gave me this," she whispered. She held up a five-thousand-dollar bill. "What was I supposed to say?"


Across the dance floor, Tony wasn't sure what was making his head spin more -- the whirlings and twirlings as Mark spun him about, or the fact that he was dancing with his wife's ex-boyfriend. "Um, not that I don't appreciate the contribution, man," he said, "but really, how come you're not dancing with Sue?"

Mark looked down for a second and smiled grimly, then looked back at Tony. "Well, two reasons, really," he said. "First off, 'cause she and I didn't really end on good terms -- I'm sure you know that." Tony nodded. "Then you know she wouldn't really want to dance with me on this, her perfect day." The words were tinged with bitterness, and Tony nodded again. "But you're still wondering why the dance at all, if that's the case." Tony nodded a third time.

Mark tightened his arm around Tony's waist. "Well, that's the other reason," he said quietly, his voice low, taut with strain. His lips brushed against Tony's neck as he leaned close and whispered, "Because it wasn't her I wanted to dance with."

Abruptly Tony was aware of three things: firstly, that his heart was pounding far beyond any reason caused by a simple dance; secondly, that Mark was pressing very, very close to him, and the ridge in Mark's trousers wasn't just a roll of quarters in his pocket; and thirdly, that (oh my God) he was rapidly becoming as hard as Mark was. His cock throbbed. His breath came sharp and fast. His tongue tangled as he fought for words.

In the next second Mark's eyes went wide. One of their gyrations had obviously communicated Tony's excitement to him as well. "Well, well, well," he murmured, and thrust his hips forward slowly, deliberately, now grinding against Tony to the pounding rhythm of the music. Tony groaned as each pulsing stroke of Mark's crotch against his sent bright spears of delicious friction radiating outward, but Mark wouldn't pull away. "How come I never noticed this when you were dating?"


"This" was rapidly becoming unmanageable. Tony gulped and broke free from Mark, pushing him back till they were no longer pressed so tightly together, somehow keeping to the song's rhythm. He looked around rapidly but aside from Susan (who was shooting dagger looks at him) no one else seemed to have noticed anything out of the ordinary.


Mark leaned in close once more. "Meet me in the bathrooms in five," he said quietly. And stepped away, leaving Tony's body full of adrenaline and his head full of confusion. He rearranged things in a hurry, till his obvious excitement was less apparent to every onlooker.

"Annnnnnnnnnnd that's the end of the fundraiser dance!" the DJ shouted cheerfully. Tony, seeing Susan approaching with murder in her eyes, hoped it wasn't the end of his new marriage as well.

-- PB