*-*-*-*

Marty closed her eyes, wincing as the floorboards beneath the carpet creaked softly. Slowly, she looked over her shoulder and almost sighed with relief when she spotted Tristan lying undisturbed and most importantly, still asleep on his bed. Her eyes shot to the alarm clock. It was barely one o'clock in the morning. After the marathon of love making, not to mention what he went through today, he should be out cold until morning.

She should be sleeping, too, but she could no longer ignore the call of nature. Carefully, she padded across the bedroom carpet to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She paused for another moment before locking the door. Marty had no doubt that he could burst through the door if he wanted to, but it made her feel safer this way.

After relieving herself, washing her face, and cringing at the sight of her hair she opened the door and whimpered.

"Morning, baby," Tristan drawled, giving her a sexy lopsided smile.

Another whimper may have escaped her as her gaze dropped down his body only to shoot back up in alarm. He couldn't be.....

Oh, but he was. She gasped as he reached out and pulled her to him. The hard erection she’d glimpsed only a few seconds ago jerked against her stomach.

"I was just using the bathroom. I-I'd like some sleep now," she mumbled pathetically.

He chuckled softly against the crook of her neck. "I'll get you back in bed. Don't worry about it," he said as he lifted her up and once again her legs wrapped around him. This time he pressed her against the wall and entered her hard with one thrust, earning a whimper or a moan from her. She really wasn't sure which.

*-*-*-*

"Shit," Marty whispered harshly as she overfilled her glass with water. The excess water pooled on the counter before running over the side and onto the tiled floor. Marty quickly downed her second glass of water before she grabbed a few paper towels. Once the last drop of water was gone, she knelt down on the floor and frantically tried to wipe up the mess so that she could go back to sleep before he woke up again.

She was so tired....so damn tired and sore. She was sore in places she hadn’t even known existed until today. As soon as she cleaned up this mess she was going back to bed to-

"Thirsty?"

"Oh, no," Marty whimpered, too afraid to look back. She didn't need to since she already knew that it was him. Two warm hands gripped her h*ps and held her in place as he slowly penetrated her.

This was not happening. It couldn't be. It had to be humanly impossible for a man to get this many erections in a twenty-four hour period. It couldn't be healthy for him. She knew that it wasn't healthy for her, but once again her body betrayed her.

By morning she was going to need a vacation just to catch up on sleep.

*-*-*-*

Marty yawned and turned over onto her back just as a warm heavy weight settled on top of her. Her eyes flew open just as Tristan slid inside of her.

"B-b-but I was only turning over. I was still sleeping!" she protested weakly as he rolled his h*ps against hers.

He pressed a kiss to her lips. "Last time. I promise," he said with such an innocent expression that she almost believed him.

*-*-*-*

"Baby, wake up." A pause. "Marty, it's time to wake up," Tristan said, giving her a little shake.

Marty came awake with a start. When she saw him, she practically flew off the bed. The entire time she refused to turn her back on him. She held out her hand in a stopping motion towards him when he moved to go to her.

"Just stay away from me, Tristan Black," she warned as she backed up towards the bathroom.

Tristan shook his head in disbelief as he watched Marty turn and practically run to the bathroom. She slammed the door shut and seconds later locked it.

"What's wrong with her?" Shayne asked, materializing next to him.

He shrugged as he fixed his tie. "No idea. I'm guessing she's not a morning person."

Shayne snorted as they listened while Marty threatened a very vital part of Tristan's anatomy. "Guess not, lad."

Chapter 20

"You and I need to talk," Tristan said quietly as he threw his bathroom door one last look of longing. He wanted to take Marty back into his bed and hold her, but they had to move their asses if they were going to make it to the therapy session early enough for him to explain to the therapist that it would be in his best interest to sign Tristan's paper and forget all about Hank's request.

"Ye don't have to thank me, lad," Shayne said, grinning hugely. "I was happy to help."

For a moment, Tristan could only stare at him, sure that he’d misheard. "You call that help?" he demanded in a harsh whisper.

Shayne nodded firmly, still grinning as he let out a happy little sigh. "Ye finally got the lass right where ye want her."

"And you really think you had something to do with that?" Tristan asked in a low whisper as he kept an eye on the door.

"Of course I did, lad," Shayne said, gesturing to the rumpled sheets. "Ye really didn't think that ye managed to get her in bed with yer skills, now did ye?"

When Tristan only glared, Shayne let out an exaggerated sigh as he gave Tristan a pitying look. "That really is sad, lad. Just sad," he said, shaking his head in sympathy.

"Say goodbye to your  p**n , you betraying bastard," he hissed, grinning hugely when Shayne's jaw dropped.

"But that entertains me!"

Tristan merely shrugged as he adjusted his tie.

"It's educational!" Shayne protested.

Tristan chuckled as he grabbed his weapon off the bureau and attached it to his belt, wincing when a muscle in his arm protested, but he ignored it. He had too much shit to do and he wasn't about to let Hank put him back on full medical.

"Consider it gone," Tristan said as he checked his hair in the mirror.

Shayne let out a heartfelt sigh. "I didn't want to have to tell ye this, lad, but ye’ve left me no choice. I'm afraid that I need to watch  p**n  at least eight hours a day or I'll die."

"Uh huh," Tristan said absently as he attached a holster to his ankle.

"It's true, lad. I have a medical condition. I didn't tell ye, because I didn't want to worry ye, lad," Shayne said with nod as if he truly thought this bullshit was believable.

"Do you know what you left me with yesterday when you pulled your disappearing act?" Tristan asked, nervously glancing around the room when he suddenly remembered the bimbo twins.

"I already took care of the lasses, lad," Shayne said, reading his mind, not literally, of course. After all these years together it wasn't too difficult to figure out what the other one was thinking.

"Not soon enough," he said, looking at his watch. They needed to move their asses now if Marty was going to have a chance to go home and change into some clean clothes.

"Well, ye were being a bit of an ass yesterday, lad. So really, ye can't blame me for that disappearing act," Shayne explained sheepishly.

"And I bet you were so upset that you just had to rush home and get a dose of  p**n  to help settle your nerves," he drawled as he turned around and leaned back, resting his hip against the bureau while he waited for Marty.

"That's it exactly, lad," Shayne readily agreed.