Chapter 6 - Willow

"You can sleep with me, Tali," I said as Rafe kissed my forehead and left for his first floor apartment.

She gave a sexy purr. "Anytime, anywhere." She blew me a kiss.

I laughed. "I said sleep. You can't get in my pants that easily."

"Pfft. I could if I wanted to. I know all the tricks." She helped me from the stool, holding my hands as I waited for the trembling in my legs to stop long enough for me to walk.

"Yeah, because I taught them to you," I said.

"And the student becomes the master."

I snorted. "Maybe with the weak willed men you tend to surround yourself with. I think there's a closet sub in there somewhere. Even if just in the bedroom."

She laughed, the sound big and beautiful. "Oh girl. I'd eat a man like that alive. No one gets to tell me what to do."

"Except for the boys and Papa," we said in unison. Smiled at each other.

"And they don't count," she said as we stepped around my oversized couch. "Besides, I think I'm going to take a page from your book and swear off men completely. They are so much work."

"Pretty sure you mean women are work."

I blinked as the words flitted across my mind. I shook my head clear. I could have sworn I knew that voice, I just couldn't place it.

"Chase?" Tali asked as we stopped at the foot of my bed. "Did you hear me?"

I shook my head. "No. Sorry. What did you say?"

"Do you want right or left?"

"Left," I called as I hobbled to the en suite bathroom. I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and ran a brush through my hair. That's as good as it was going to get tonight. My system was starting to crash and I just wanted to get horizontal.

I came back out into the bedroom, barely kept from just plopping into the fluffy blankets and soft bed. I eased down, slid under the covers.

Tali leaned over, kissed my forehead. "'Night, Chase. Love you."

"Love you, too, Tali. Happy sleep."

I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow.