'Strumming my pain with his fingers, Singing my life with his words, Killing me softly with his song... Telling my whole life with his words...'

Now a fan of Madelyn's fancy stereo system, he had tweaked a couple of playlists to suit his own taste. Harry waylaid in the living room to activate music to fit the mood he hoped to create for her in his arms. Entering the bedroom, he stalled in the doorway. She had her back to him, her hips swaying gently as Roberta Flack's lyrics floated.

'I heard he sang a good song, I heard he had a style, And so I came to see him, to listen for a while....'

She hung her head back, rolling the weight of it between her shoulder blades. Her fingers massaged her scalp, carding through the dark tresses. Repeatedly, she lifted her hair, allowing gravity to return it, in cascading waves down her back. Harry shoved his hands in his front pockets, thumbs in his belt loops, an effort to hold himself in check.

'I felt all flushed with fever, embarrassed by the crowd, I felt he'd found my letters and read each one out loud, I prayed that he would finish but he just kept right on...'

Madelyn scrunched her fingers into the weave of her sweater and dragged it off.

"Let me undress you."

Harry advanced while she watched him over her shoulder, lips curving gently into a soft smile. With a clever pinch, he released the hooks of her red brassiere. He hooked fingers under the straps, kissing a path over the slope of her shoulder as he slid the straps from her and discarded it. With confidence he wasn't entirely certain of, Harry deftly lowered the zipper at her hip, letting her black skirt fall to reveal her thong of the same color. Of their own will, his hands reached to cup and stroke over her round bottom. His right hand dancing up to brush over her nipples, then to embrace her sex and press her back to feel his erection. Grasping her left hand in his, he guided her to step away from the skirt pooled at her feet. Still holding on, he leaned down and threw back the covers of the bed.

"Sit."

Madelyn complied, leaning back on her hands, full breasts on display, dusky pink nipples tipped upward. She spread her knees, knowing she looked open and wet through the tiny strip of fabric.

Harry stood between her legs. He reached over his shoulders to pull off his shirt, lips tugging into a smile; she knew exactly what she was doing to him. He liked it. He appreciated that regardless of all she had endured, she had not been broken. She had the kind of spirit he wanted to bind himself to. She sat facing him in simple, sheer, black thigh-high stockings and her tall black, leather boots. Harry's mind flashed to the time in her classroom when he told her he wanted to fuck her in those boots. But tonight was not the time.

'He sang as if he knew me in all my dark despair....'

Madelyn raised an eyebrow. "Boots on or off, Harry?" Oh, she knew his mind, at least in part.

"Off tonight, love. Another time."

Tonight, he wanted to repair and rebuild. He had gone over the edge when she said she wanted a partner. She wanted him. Madelyn wanted him to be her partner. He ached to show her he could be the man she needed. He would give her everything that had been taken, and more. He yearned to show her that he could love her the way she deserved to be loved. He needed her to know that he was in love with her.

Kneeling at her feet, he slid the teeth of the long zippers down her boots, one at a time, firmly pulling them off and tossing them aside. Next, he took his time rolling the stockings down her legs unhurriedly, and off her feet as she pointed her toes. Harry's eyes, a deeper green with desire, darted up to her own, then back to the heat that was weeping between her thighs. Stroking the backs of his fingers up, then the pads of them back down, he felt her shudder before he saw it happen.

'And he just kept on singing, singing clear and strong, Strumming my pain with his fingers, Singing my life with his words, Killing me softly with his song... Telling my whole life with his words...'

Wrapping his hands around the strings that rode high on her hips, he instructed her, "Scoot," and pulled the thong down her legs as she moved up to the head of the bed.

Madelyn reclined on the pillows and soaked up the view. Harry undid his jeans but left them hanging open, slung low on his hips. He took in a breath and blew it out, seemingly in relief. She watched as his muscles bunched and stretched each time he bent to retrieve an article of clothing that had been shed. He toed off his boots, kicking them under the bed. Stepping into the walk-in closet, he pulled off his socks and tossed everything into a basket, mixing his garments with hers.

In his peripheral vision, he noted Madelyn leaning left, to eye his actions. Pretending not to realize, he turned his back to her fully. Executing exaggerated shimmying motions he lowered his jeans. Lastly, he tucked his thumbs into the waistband of his black boxer briefs and dropped them with a wiggle of his ass. He knew it was a ridiculous striptease, but why not inject some levity into what was left of a difficult day? The smile on her face was his reward when he reversed his position. And then it fell. The playlist shuffled and it seemed the mellow music of Jessie Ware had carried Madelyn away.

'Don't tell me I've been dreaming, When you're standing there in front of me, It's just the simple things you see, It's all the things you do to me...'

How, Madelyn was questioning, after what seemed the longest nightmare of her life, was it that she was able to have this man in front of her? Could he even fathom his effect on her? Everything about him seemed surreal in that moment. The past several weeks had been intense, yet not once had he flinched. His heart must have been bottomless. When most men would have run from her mess, Harry held her closer, not too tight though. There was a respect for her space, her ability to stand up for herself, to be her own critical thinker. She knew he felt protective of her and at the same time, he was able to accept her wish to protect him. It was in recognizing this equality that she knew she wanted to give him everything, every part of herself.

'When everything is crazy, You find a way to make it right, Yes, I love and I love and I want you, It's gonna be till the end of time...'

"Madelyn... Madelyn? Where did you go?"

The man had been standing there with half a stiffy, wearing nothing but a grin when he realized her consciousness had drifted

"I'm right here, Harry. I was just taking... inventory."

"Oh, well then." Hands on his hips, his grin returned as a smirk.

She laughed a little to herself at his show of ego. Such a guy thing. He WAS beautiful, she thought as he sauntered across the room. He was pulling his long ringlets up with an elastic from his wrist. Had his hair always been curly? When was the last time he'd worn it short? It was an easy thing to appreciate the way his biceps rolled under the ink on his arms as he tightened the band, then dropped them.

One hand went to the butterfly on his belly. She liked that tattoo best. Did he get butterflies in his tummy like she did? His other hand was drifting lower. And lower, until he stood at the side of the bed, feet apart, right hand cupping his sack, rolling his balls. He enjoyed the way she was watching his cock grow. It excited him and he remembered when they were first together and she admitted that he was well-endowed. What man didn't want his woman to think he had the best equipment?

She was on all fours, crawling toward him. He loved the way her breasts swayed heavily. Harry's mind had gone a little hazy by the time she was kneeling in front of him. Braced with her palms over his shoulders, Madelyn sucked his left earlobe into her mouth, releasing in wetly, then spilling open-mouthed kisses down the side of his throat, nibbling for a moment on his protruding collarbone. She had never played much with his nipples, of which she knew he had more than his share. Experimentally, she flicked her tongue over one, then the other, when Harry's hand flew to the nape of her neck and took hold of a fistful of hair, holding her to his chest with a groan. It seemed the smaller buds would have to wait as this was clearly where he wanted her.

Moments ticked by while she laved her tongue over these larger nipples and his nearly hairless chest. The music changed again, but it didn't matter anymore. Madelyn pressed her breasts against his erection and held the cheeks of his bum apart, sliding her mouth lower and over the crown of his penis. He was salty and the tiniest bit metallic, making the tip of her tongue tingle as she dipped it into his slit and gathered the first bit of moisture.

"Baby, please let me be inside you." He held her chin in his palm and lifted so the greens of their eyes met. His were pleading. "All I want right now is to have you around me, to hold you, to be as close to you as possible. I need you. I need to make love to you."

"I'm yours now, Harry, you can have me any way you want."

There was a submission in her tone that nearly surprised her and was not lost on Harry. Tonight, however, he was intent on something gentle and longer lasting.

"Yes, you are mine and mine alone. Just like I'm yours. I want to show you what that means. I feel good when you do. I can't promise that sex will always be perfect between us, but I will damn sure try."

First brushing the backs of his fingers over her nipples, he dropped his hands to grasp her waist and push her back up the bed. He dropped kisses as soft as an infant's breath over her eyelids; tenderly nuzzling his nose on either side of hers. When her lips parted, his were there to patiently kiss and nibble until she opened her mouth for his tongue.

Words became non-verbal while their bodies spoke volumes.

Harry's lips found her throat, His hands wrapped around her breasts, pushing them together, thumbing over their peaks before releasing. First one knee, then the other, spread Madelyn's thighs. He slid the head of his cock from her entrance up to the hood that protected her clit, pushing over it. Again and again, he repeated the motion, spreading her wetness and stimulating her in preparation for him. When she raised her hips and embraced his waist with her thighs, he rolled back and with incredible restraint, sank himself as slowly and deeply as he could, holding her to the bed until she struggled to undulate beneath him.

Madelyn wound her arms under his, grasping his shoulder blades as he pumped into her with long, slow, strokes. She pressed her heels into the flesh of his bum to urge his speed along, but he refused to increase the pace. Instead, he tugged her arms from him. Twining their fingers he held her hands to the mattress, used his knees to lift her thighs over his own and shifted his weight so that with every thrust he was holding her more open and pressing into her more deeply.

His breathing was heavy but even, Madelyn's was not. This was a build-up to a different kind of orgasm. This was Harry making love to her, it was all for her. She could feel the coils winding tightly, behind her eyes, in her belly, between her legs. Then Harry was whispering in her ear...

"Open your eyes, precious. Look at me. I've got you now."

Fluttering her eyelids open, she focused on him.

"There's no hurry, okay. When it happens, just ride it out, I'll carry you all the way. Alright?"

She nodded. Her mouth was open, but she made no sound, just panting breaths. Harry smiled and bit her bottom lip, sucking it deeply into his mouth. He felt her arch and her entire body tighten. It was indescribable. Releasing her lip he maintained his thrusts as she rode through the ecstasy. With his eyes locked on hers, his words were clear.

"I love you, Madelyn." Hips still in motion, "I am desperately, hopelessly in love with you."

***

Author's Note:

Whew, what a chapter! I've been dying to write that one.
It's been a crazy three weeks! Just after finishing the last update, I landed myself in the hospital for a week and have been in recovery mode ever since. No worries now, all will be well. But remember that anniversary celebration I was looking forward to? Let's just say I am grateful that I have a husband who was willing to spend it in the ER. In between complaints of being housebound, I am feeling truly grateful for the family that has taken care of me and my amazing friends who have kept me from going completely bonkers! Love you all!

Dirty/Em

Twitter @dirtyyarn