Page 26

CHAPTER 25

“O h, shit…” Denny and Shayne groaned as the three of them watched Marty storm out of his parents’ house, looking furious. When she spotted Tristan, her eyes narrowed dangerously and her movements became clipped as she headed straight for him.

“You,” Marty said, pointing a finger at him for emphasis, “and I are going to have a talk.”

“We’ll talk later,” Tristan said with a resigned sigh as he moved to make his way to his parents’ house, in no way ready to talk about the bullshit that went down today when Marty stepped in his path, blocking him.

“No, I think now’s a good time, don’t you?” she said, arms folded over her chest as she glared up at him.

“Later,” Tristan said, moving to step around her when her next words made everything in him go still.

“If you walk away again, Tristan, that’s it. I’m done,” Marty warned, and he knew by the determined look on her face that she meant it. There would be no second chances with her. If he didn’t talk to her about this, she would walk away and destroy him.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Denny said, confirming Tristan’s suspicions that Hank hadn’t told anyone about what happened earlier, “but can’t this wait until after dinner?”

“No, it can’t,” Marty said firmly as her eyes pleaded with him not to fuck this up.

“I don’t want to lose you, Marty,” Tristan said softly, praying that she let this go.

“Then don’t,” she said, her voice breaking as tears filled her eyes and he knew that the choice was no longer his to make. It didn’t matter that this wasn’t something that he wanted to talk about. He’d fucked up and hurt Marty again and that wasn’t something that he could live with.

He reached over and took her beautiful face in his hands, tenderly wiping the tears away with the pads of his thumbs as he leaned down and brushed his lips against her trembling ones. “Okay,” Tristan said softly. “Let’s go talk.”

“Wait a minute!” Denny said, sounding desperate and for good reason. “Just come home and eat dinner with us and then you can talk afterward.”

“You’re on your own,” Tristan said with a shrug as he dropped his hands away and took Marty’s hand in his.

“You betraying son of a bitch!” Denny snapped, shooting an anxious glance towards his truck.

“You’ll never make it,” Tristan pointed out.

“There’s only one way to find out,” he heard Denny mutter as he made a run for it.

“Denny Black! Where do you think you’re going?” their mother demanded and Tristan probably would have laughed his ass off at his brother if he wasn’t dreading this conversation.

“Do you mind if we go for a walk instead?” Marty asked, and as much as he would love to say yes and buy himself a little more time, he couldn’t.

“Let’s go inside and talk,” Tristan said, giving her hand a gentle tug that had her reluctantly following him inside.

“Do you want to end this?” Marty asked as soon as the door closed behind them.

“No,” Tristan said with absolutely no hesitation.

He didn’t want to lose her and be forced to live without her ever again. Right now, he wanted to make up for lost time and make every minute count. He sure as hell didn’t want to waste any of those precious minutes talking about bullshit that was best left in the past.

She studied him for a moment before she nodded firmly and-

“Okay,” Marty said, slowly exhaling as she turned around and headed upstairs.

“Where are you doing? I thought that you wanted to talk,” Tristan said, unable to help but frown as he watched her.

“I do,” Marty said, shrugging it off as she made her way upstairs. “But only when you’re ready to talk, Tristan. I’m not going to force you to do something that you don’t want to, but I needed to know where we stood.”

When he could only stand there staring at her, probably like an idiot, she disappeared around the corner, leaving him more confused than he’d ever felt in his life.

“Shayne?” he said quietly, knowing that he was close by.

“Aye, lad?” Shayne asked, materializing right next to him.

“Is this a trap?” he had to ask.

“I’m not sure,” Shayne admitted, which wasn’t exactly comforting at the moment. “Maybe ye should make a run for it, lad.”

Tristan glared at the bastard. “How exactly is that helpful?” he demanded in a harsh whisper as his eyes darted back to the top of the stairs to make sure that they were still alone.

“That’s all I have right now, lad,” Shayne admitted with a heartfelt sigh.

“It’s not very helpful,” Tristan said, slowly exhaling as he considered his options.

“It is what it is, lad,” Shayne said, shrugging it off.

“Well, it isn’t much,” Tristan said, deciding that he’d rather get this over with. He didn’t want to do this, but he’d hurt her, and he’d do anything to make this right.

He forced himself to walk up the stairs as dread filled him.

“Don’t let me fuck this up,” Tristan prayed as he made his way upstairs and headed towards his room.

When he didn’t find her in his room, he turned around to leave only to frown when he spotted her shoes on the floor. A few feet away, he spotted her nylons and a few feet away from those, he spotted her pinstriped skirt lying in front of his bathroom. More than a little curious, he followed the trail of clothing and pushed the bathroom door open and found her blouse on the bathroom floor. A few feet away from that was her bra and-

Couldn’t help but groan when he spotted Marty surrounded by bubbles in his tub as she absently twirled a pair of lacy pink panties on her finger. When she saw him, she gave him a teasing smile as she sent the panties flying in his direction with a simple flick of her wrist. He caught them as he leaned back against the door.

“I thought you wanted to talk,” Tristan said, wondering just how much she was going to want to know and if he would be able to tell her without losing his fucking mind.

“Not unless you do,” Marty said as she leaned back against the tiled wall and closed her eyes.

“I don’t,” he admitted softly.

“Then, there’s nothing to talk about,” she said, shrugging it off as she shifted to get more comfortable.

“What do you want to do instead?” Tristan asked, wondering where they were supposed to go from here. Thankfully, Marty had an idea.

“You could start by getting me a Coke,” she said in a teasing tone that relaxed something deep inside of him.

“A Coke?”

“Mmmmhmmmm, ice-cold,” Marty said with a satisfied sigh while he stood there, wondering how he’d managed to win over a woman that he clearly didn’t deserve.

* * *

“Help me, please!” a woman cried, startling Marty awake.

She opened her eyes and glanced around the large bathroom only to frown when she didn’t see anything. She swallowed hard as she settled back against the tub even as she listened for a television or a radio, anything to explain the goosebumps racing over her skin and the tiny hairs standing on the back of her neck.

After a moment, she shook it off, telling herself that she’d imagined it. She started to relax when she heard movement in the bedroom.

“Tristan?” she said, wondering what was wrong with her.

“Sorry it took so long. Mom called and wanted to know if we wanted her to bring over some food,” Tristan said, chuckling as he walked into the room, carrying a Coke as self-preservation kicked in.

“You told her no, right?” Marty asked, already moving to climb out of the tub and make a run for it just in case.

“I told her that you were curled up on my couch, fast asleep,” Tristan said as he pulled his holster off his belt and placed it on the counter next to the Coke.

“And she believed you?” Marty asked, debating the odds of making a run for it before Beth showed up with a casserole.

“No, but you should probably know that Denny tried screwing us over so that he could make a run for it,” Tristan said, chuckling as he toed off his shoes.

“That rat bastard,” Marty said as she slowly sat back.

“Yes, he is,” Tristan said, chuckling as he pulled off his shirt and revealed an incredible chest, but that’s not what had Marty hungrily licking her lips. It was that smile of his, that bad-boy-make-her-blood-boil smile of his. She was glad that the stressed expression that he wore earlier was gone. As she watched him remove his pants, Marty couldn’t help but wonder if that smile was because of her.

“We won’t have to worry about anyone bothering us for a while,” Tristan murmured absently as he moved to place his pants on the counter, but after a slight hesitation, he placed his pants on the floor by the tub. It was a little odd, but nothing worth mentioning.

“Why?” Marty asked, wondering if he truly knew his mother at all. If Beth was determined to come over here, then she was damn well going to-

“They’ll be busy for a while helping Denny,” Tristan said offhandedly as he pulled his underwear down and made it difficult to focus.

“What happened to Denny?” Marty somehow managed to ask as she ran her eyes over him. The man truly was magnificent. She wanted to run her hands over his muscles, kiss his scars better, and trace his tattoos with her tongue.

“A freak accident,” Tristan said, sounding unconcerned as he grabbed the Coke off the counter and walked over to the bathtub. With a smile, he gestured lazily for her to move forward.

“Is he okay?” Marty asked, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she moved, noticing for the first time that the water was barely lukewarm. Just how long was she asleep? Marty wondered, taking the Coke as Tristan climbed in behind her.

“I guess I was gone longer than I thought,” Tristan said as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her back against him.

“You left?” Marty asked, frowning as she opened the Coke and took a sip.

“Mmmhmm,” Tristan murmured, taking the Coke and took a sip as she closed her eyes and-

God, she could stay in his arms forever.

“Did they call you to help Denny?” Marty asked, placing her arm over his arm where it lay across her stomach.

Tristan chuckled as he kissed the side of her neck. “No, his unfortunate accident happened while I was over there getting something out of my old room. I would have been quicker, but Denny spotted me sneaking inside and decided to sell me out to distract Mom.”

“Tristan?” Marty said, wondering what could have made him risk drawing his mother’s attention. Then again, she couldn’t help but wonder what this had to do with Denny.

“Hmm?” Tristan murmured absently, carefully placing the Coke down on the side of the tub before reaching for his pants.

“What happened to Denny?”

“Nothing important,” Tristan said as he searched his pants for something. “He just suddenly found himself tied up.”

“Tied up?” Marty repeated, feeling her lips twitch as she turned her head so that she could look at him.

“Well, maybe handcuffed and hanging out the window would be a better description,” Tristan admitted, planting a quick kiss against her lips before shifting to look over the side of the tub so that he could see what he was doing.

“Please tell me that you didn’t really handcuff your brother,” Marty said, sitting up to make it easier for Tristan to do whatever it was that he was doing.

“Had to,” Tristan said as he continued his search only to sigh with relief when he found what he was looking for and sat back.

“And why’s that?” Marty asked as she leaned back against him.

“Because,” Tristan said, turning his attention back to her as he picked up her left hand and slid something onto her finger, “he was keeping me from you and I didn’t want to spend one more minute on this earth without you, Marty. Will you marry me?”

Marty could only stare at the beautiful diamond ring on her finger. It took her a moment before she remembered where she saw this ring before. It was the ring his grandmother left him when he was fifteen. She’d been a child the last time that she saw it, but she’d dreamed of wearing it one day and now, she was.

“I know that I’ve screwed up and that I’m rushing this, Marty, but the idea of spending even one more night without you in my arms is killing me,” Tristan said as he entwined their fingers together. “Please say yes.”

This was insane, Marty told herself as she stared down at the ring on her finger. They’ve never even been on a date and…

God, this was crazy, but what was even crazier was the fact that she wanted to say yes, more like scream it. They needed to slow down, Marty told herself as she sat there, trying to remember why this was a bad idea.

“I don’t want to waste another minute, Marty,” Tristan said softly as he kissed the top of her head. “Say yes.”

“Are you still going to be an asshole?” Marty asked even as she couldn’t help but wonder what the hell was wrong with her even considering this.

“Yes,” he said with absolutely no hesitation, “but you can kick my ass if I step out of line.”

“Marriage is forever,” Marty said, knowing that she couldn’t do this.

“And that’s how long I plan on loving you,” Tristan said, turning his head and kissed the side of her neck, making it difficult to focus.

“I haven’t told you that I love you yet,” Marty pointed out, only to close her eyes on a soft moan when Tristan brushed his lips over her neck.

“I don’t need to hear it to know that you love me,” Tristan whispered against her skin, making her breath catch.

“Damn, you’re cocky,” Marty said, loving the way his lips felt as they pulled up into a smile against her skin.

“Yes, but you love me anyway,” Tristan said, making it really difficult to think while his lips brushed against her neck.

“I do love you, Tristan, even if you piss me off,” Marty admitted on a soft moan as she dropped her head back more, giving him better access.

“Enough to spend the rest of your life with me?” Tristan asked before kissing a path along her chin to her mouth and-

Tore a soft moan from her as he took her mouth in a slow, hungry kiss that left her struggling to remember why they couldn’t do this.

There was so much that they needed to talk about, so much that she didn’t know about this man. They needed to slow down and think this through, Marty told herself as she pulled her hand free so that she could turn around on his lap and wrap her arms around him.

This was a mistake.

And in a minute, she would tell him that before they did something they’d both regret.