"Please, don't cry." Harry smoothed the pad of his thumb over her cheek, catching an errant tear. "I didn't mean to push you, Madelyn, but I need you to know that I'm in love with you. You said you didn't want to be alone anymore. I'm here and I'm staying for as long as you'll have me."

"Harry," she stilled his talk with her fingers over his lips. "I love you, too."

His grin lit his face in the dim light. "You do, really?"

"I do," she laughed. "I really, really do."

Sliding his arms beneath her, he pulled her tight, spilling kisses over her forehead, nose, and chin, as he began to withdraw himself. Madelyn's feet slid over the backs of his thighs to rest on the bed, stilling him.

"You're still hard. You didn't finish."

"Shh, it's fine. This is about you, tonight. Too much has been taken from you. Just let me give something."

She raised her hands to cup his face. If this man was the karmic payback for all she had lost as a result of her failed marriage, then Madelyn knew she was the universal winner at life.

"Harry, this is most definitely about us. We both need to be able to give and take."

He dropped a chaste kiss on her lips.

"Fine, Harry, if you want to do all the giving."

Madelyn disentangled their legs and shoved hard against his shoulders.

"Get off."

"What? What did I do?"

"I said get off of me, Harry," her tone was even, but insistent.

Instantly, he pulled himself out of her warmth and rolled to his back. He far outsized her and had it been his wish, he could have easily held her in place. Now didn't seem like the time to play that card.

Instead, he propped himself against the wide slats of the headboard. His cock was still hard, though he was trying to will it into submission. Harry grabbed the sheet to cover himself. Madelyn's attitude had shifted and while he was rarely one to feel discomfort in his own nudity, he assumed she might not want his dick standing at full attention if she was going to read him the riot act.

"Stop it. You're not shy." She whipped the sheet away from him and stood up.

"Baby, what..."

"Don't talk. Just listen. I'm going to say this one time and one time only," her voice was now urgent.

If steam could have rolled off of her body, it would have. In the span of two minutes, she had become a woman possessed. A stark-raving, naked, woman possessed. This was not helping the situation with Harry's persistent erection and he really wished she would have left the sheet alone.

"I don't want Jack in bed with us," she seethed.

"Madelyn..."

"Be quiet."

'Okay, what the fuck,' he was struggling to keep up.

"When you treat me with kid gloves, when you hold back because you think I am damaged goods, or you are somehow trying to make up for my travesty of a failed relationship, you are bringing that man into our bed. It's like having sex with him in the fucking room, Harry!"

'Shit, had he done that? Not when he was making love to her. But when she had finished... and he hadn't?'

"Look at yourself, how long have you been hard for me, hmm? Oh, God. Harry, you made love to me, made me feel incredible, told me you loved me. But are you allowing me to show you that same love?"

The gears in his mind began to crank, the pistons firing on all cylinders.

She was stalking the room. Naked. Nude. Breasts heaving as she fumed, hands planted on her hips, her firm ass quivering slightly as her glutes rolled through her paces.

Harry shook his head to clear the lust that was taking over. He needed to keep his brain engaged.

"What do you want me to do, Madelyn?" Harry brought himself to sit at the edge of the bed.

"Stop trying to make up for Jack. Stop feeling responsible for fixing my past." She threw her hands up, letting them fall to her sides and dropping her head back.

He moved silently as she stood there, her eyes closed, head back, breasts high. Madelyn didn't realize he had come to her until his hands were wrapping around her shoulders. She tried to wriggle away.

"Stop moving."

'Jesus, did she not realize what she was doing to him? Bouncing around the room, full of indignation and now squirming in his arms.'

"I'm sorry. I just want to take care of you, Madelyn. I want to protect you and I haven't felt like this before."

His arms remained tight while she continued attempting to twist free.

"Well, stop being so damn nice! And let me take care of you, too," she huffed in exasperation.

"So let me get this straight. You want me to stop being so giving and take what I want? No more Mr. Nice Guy, tonight? Does that about sum it up?"

"Yes," she breathed, not making eye contact.

Harry ran a palm between her shoulder blades and up the back of her skull, closing his fist in her hair. He drew her head back, forcing her to meet his gaze.

"So..." his other hand cupped under her bum and he rutted up against her. "If I wanted to give you this... hard, could you take it?"

She looked at him defiantly. "Do you think I can't?"

"I think we're going to find out, Professor."

For a beat, her ears felt hollow, the only sound was the pounding of her pulse. There was a smacking sound and the sting took a second to travel from her ass to her brain. Then another.

"Harry!" she looked at him incredulously.

He didn't answer. Instead, he hoisted her up, pulling one of her legs around his hip. Smothering her in a bruising kiss, he walked them backward to the bed. Before Madelyn had a chance to kiss him back, he was turning her around in his arms and pushing her face-first onto the mattress. She was attempting to crawl further when he grabbed her by the ankles and yanked her back. Harry lifted her hips, kicked her feet apart and arranged the head of his penis at her entrance. He narrowed his eyes when she looked over her shoulder in shock.

"Last chance to say 'no,'" he spoke roughly.

"Yes," she said with a tiny smirk.

And he slammed into her.

Madelyn gripped the sheets, thankful that the fabric prevented her nails from biting into her palms. Harry had gone into overdrive. Each time she attempted to lift her upper body or gain some kind of leverage, he dominated her movements. He forced her head down and dug his fingers into her hips as he pounded.

"Aw fuck! You like that, Mads, is this what you wanted? There was a line, Madelyn, and you crossed it."

He held his hands at the tops of her thighs, thumbs slid under her cheeks spreading them.

"I wish you could see this. My cock looks incredible sliding in and out of your pussy. So good, baby."

She had been wet from their lovemaking earlier, and now she was positively dripping as a result of this unleashing of Harry's lust. The sounds from their joining were heightening her enjoyment, rough as it was.

Harry raised her hips and slithered a hand beneath her. Madelyn eagerly anticipated him stroking her into another orgasm. She gasped when instead, he slapped her clit.

"What... Harry..."

"The line, love, you crossed the line. I'm gonna take what I want. You're not walking out of this room tonight."

Madelyn clenched, hard and she knew he felt it as his pace quickened and he pinched her clit, rolling it between his fingers. Without warning an orgasm tore through her but she could gain no leverage to thrust; Harry was in complete control.

"Yeah, that's my good girl. Come all over me like that. Soaked me."

He rocked into her several more times, taking her through the comedown until she began to relax under him. She hummed her breathless satisfaction.

"Oh no, I'm not done with you yet." Harry flipped her over with ease and lifted her further onto the bed. "I knew you liked it a little rough, but I think you like the dirty talk too, don't you? Hmm?"

He leveraged his body over hers looking her in the eye.

"I..."

Harry raised an eyebrow and tilted his head.

"Fine! Yes."

"That's what I thought."

And he was inside of her again.

Harry leaned back onto his haunches, pulling Madelyn with him. This angle, with her bottom high, head low, allowed him a penetration so deep he was stroking below her cervix.

"Harry," she whined.

"Shh, just give it a minute." He slowed his pace. "Relax your muscles, let me hold your weight."

Releasing the air in her lungs, Madelyn closed her eyes and gave over to the sensation of Harry buried within her. The feeling of his long thrusts as he sank himself into her wetness, withdrawing slowly, only to submerge himself again, and again, with unyielding strength, was causing an intense pressure to build. What had been uncomfortable when he began was now the unleashing of a level of euphoria she had not experienced before.

"Oh yeah, you feel it coming, don't you? Damn, you're so tight right now." He blew a stream of air over her exposed nerves. "That's right, love, squeeze hard. Now open your eyes so I can see you come again."

Time and motion had slowed in her mind and it took a moment for his directive to register. When she was able to lift her lids, Madelyn saw everything she had ever wanted in a man. He was beautiful, his heart more so than his physicality, and he was all she needed. An undulating wave of elation crested at her core and washed through every pleasure sensor in her body. Madelyn opened her mouth in a silent cry.

"I love you, Mads. I love you and now you're going to make me come undone."

"I... I can't." Her words were a whisper.

"Yes, you can. Come on, baby, you told me you could take it and now you're going to, one last time."

Harry lay her down without separating. He found her hands and threaded their fingers, raising them above her head. Lowering his weight, he leaned to suck at each of her nipples in turn, causing her to arch slightly. She was exhausted and he knew he was going to lose her soon.

Hiding his face in the crook of her neck, he bit down hard and thrust until he heard her pant his name one last time. In that mind reeling moment, he felt his future join with hers. He saw a home and children and old age. And as his pleasure streamed into her, he knew he would never be happy without this woman.

An hour or more had past when Harry's phone vibrated on the nightstand. Madelyn was asleep on his chest. She had mouthed an 'I love you,' as he pulled out of her and promptly fallen asleep. He had negotiated their bodies up onto the pillows, too drained to worry about cleaning up. Reaching out to grab the phone, he wondered who would be calling him from an unknown number.

"Hello?" he muttered.

"Mr. Styles?"

"Yes, speaking. Who is this?"

"Mr. Styles, this is Detective Barrett. I've taken over Professor Conroy's case. I apologize for calling so late; it was Officer Hopkins who suggested that I contact you this evening."

"It's no problem, Madelyn is with me if you need to speak to her as well."

"No, that won't be necessary this evening, but I would appreciate it if the three of us could meet tomorrow morning."

"Of course. We can come to the station at 9:00am if that works. Can you tell me what's going on?"

"The insurance investigator showed up at our impoundment yard late this afternoon. Honestly, our investigators were about to write this off as no-fault and blame the icy road conditions for Professor Conroy's accident. That is, until the insurance guy called us back to look at the car again."

"And?" Harry was on high alert now. He knew something hadn't been right.

"And, they found several blonde hairs on the headrest of the front seat of the car, as well as a broken fingernail. We'll test it all, of course, but there was pink polish on the nail, and the hair was long, so we're thinking there was another woman in the vehicle."

"Madelyn hasn't let anyone else drive the Subaru, that I know of."

"That's not the only thing we found. There was a small gash in the brake line. It's possible that a rock caused the damage, but..."

"But what?"

"The material around the hole is thin. We suspect someone intentionally tampered with the brake lines. This may not have been an accident."