"Why would you be afraid of yourself? I don't understand, Madelyn." He expected that telling her she made no sense whatsoever wasn't going to get him in the house.

With great intention, Harry tried not to appear intimidating in any way. He held his hands loose at his sides, and although she had opened the heavy door, he remained on the other side of the threshold. His heart was pounding like a racehorse's trying to escape the starting gate. Mentally, he nailed his boots to the deck so he didn't burst through the doorway and grab her.

Fleetingly, Harry wondered if she fully understood the effect she had on him and how empty his arms felt without her in them. Had the last several days been as torturous for her as they had been for him? Did she wake up at night, sweating because she thought she was alone in a black hole with the person she loved most in the world floating away? He did. Was she short-tempered during the day, giving everyone a glare that said, 'approach at your own peril?' He was. At any point, had she felt a level of loneliness that caused physical pain in her heart? He had. And he was really fucking done with this suffering.

"You should probably come inside and sit down," Standing back, Madelyn motioned toward the sofa under the painting he had admired the first night she asked him in. "Um, would you like something to drink?"

"No, I just want to fix this, fix us."

"I want that, too."

Harry sat down quickly while she moved at a slower pace.

"Madelyn."

"Yes?" she stopped moving.

"Lock the door. Please, always lock the door."

"Oh. Okay," She snicked the locks and set the alarm before making her way to the end of the couch opposite Harry.

He looked like hell, but she wanted him more than ever. Madelyn's thumb tingled with the desire to smooth the lines between his brows. She needed to slide her fingers into his hair and pull his mouth to hers, kissing away the worry in his eyes. The ability to maintain this physical distance wasn't going to last long, though she knew they needed to talk things through.

"How have you been?" "I've missed you," their words tumbled out in unison.

"I haven't been great if I'm being honest," Harry began. "I thought you wanted some space when you didn't answer my calls and texts. Then I started to think it might be worse than that."

"I've missed you, too, Harry. A lot. I know I should have acknowledged your calls, but I... I couldn't. You thought I was too weak to handle Catelyn's jealous behavior, so you chose to hide it from me. What does that say about how I measure up in your eyes?" she fiddled with the fringe on a pillow. "And you didn't come for me. I didn't rate high enough for you to come talk to me in person."

"No, Madelyn, it isn't like that at all! I wanted to protect you. I didn't want her nastiness to touch you, and if I'm completely honest, there was the fear that you wouldn't trust that I hadn't touched her," Harry shot up and began to pace, one hand on his hip, the other making an unholy mess of his curls.

"Listen to me, Harry. We've talked about trust, and you have mine, implicitly. You are a better man than to succumb to that girl's childish games, I believe that. Look, I'm going to be blunt here, I've dealt with a hell of a lot worse than Catelyn. It would be good for you to recognize that I can handle myself,"

They were both on their feet now; Madelyn straightening the room, punching the throw pillows as she went, tossing them back down.

"You're right, I'm so sorry. I won't cut you out in the future, even if what I want is to safeguard you. I need to trust that you're strong enough to manage the tough stuff, but I'm going to want to be there to help."

"I want you to be there," Madelyn swiped at a tear defiantly. She refused to release the waterworks. "I thought maybe you weren't really in love with me; maybe you just thought you were. Or you decided I was too much work." Revealing her doubts might have seemed to put her in a vulnerable position, but somehow she felt a bit empowered by her own honesty. "I told Becca if you didn't come around by tomorrow, I was going to hunt you down," she managed a half-smile now but didn't meet his gaze.

"Madelyn, love, look at me," he closed the small distance between them, pulling the last unabused pillow out of her hands. "Everything hurts without you. I do love you, and I need you in my life, if you'll still have me. I fucked up, baby. Waiting to come to you was lame and I guarantee, you are not too much work."

"No?" she met his clear green eyes.

He enclosed her in his arms.

"No. Never," Harry rested his cheek on her head and stroked her hair. "You're everything I want, and..." he faded off sounding uncertain.

"And what, Harry?" Madelyn pulled back, searching his face.

Anchoring an arm around her back, he cupped her chin and lifted it.

"You're everything I want... and I want everything. I've gone over it a million times in my head. You're it for me Mads. There isn't going to be anyone else, ever," he kissed her forehead but didn't release her chin as he slid his thumb over her lips.

"Everything?" it came out as a whisper.

"All of it. I want you, forever. The house, a picket fence, babies, a dog, getting old and wrinkly even. Everything. Okay, not the picket fence, maybe a nice hedge though."

"Babies..." Her mind raced as her eyes sought someplace safe to rest.

"Stop it. Stop overthinking that part. I know exactly where that pretty brain of yours is headed and you aren't going to argue with me about age differences or that you think you're too old, because we both know that's bullshit. Women are having babies well into their forties and you aren't even close. Unless... unless you don't want the same things I do," he let go of the woman he had just pledged himself to and took a step backward. "Madelyn?"

Think! Her heart screamed to her head. Marriage, a family, a commitment to spend the rest of her life loving him, being loved by him. Did she want that, was she ready to set aside any residual insecurities and make a grab for her dreams?

"Yes."

"Yes?"

She launched herself into his arms, "Yes! It's a lot to digest, but yes! Let's start with a dog, though, I'd like that."

He wanted to squeeze her harder but it was probably bad form to crush the woman you wanted to spend the rest of your life with.

"I'm not asking you to run off to Vegas or anything crazy. I promise, I'll do right by you, a proper proposal and everything. When you're ready, because I know you'll want to work out a million things first, and we need this business with Jack and the accident cleared up."

Could she love him any more? Nope, she could not possibly love him more than she did in this very moment. Her heart was swollen to the point of exploding. Madelyn slid her palms down Harry's solid arms and into his hands. Leaning back, she admired him, wondering how he could stand there looking so strong and proud, and a little sheepish at the same time.

"I don't need a proposal, Harry. I just need you."

"Well, you deserve a proper proposal when the time is right, and you've already got me. I do still want to know the answer to my earlier question," his tone was serious again.

"Okay, that sounds a little ominous. What question?"

"What did you mean when you said you weren't afraid of me... you were afraid of yourself?"

"You really don't understand the effect you have on me, do you?" her timbre was breathy.

"Um, I think you're going to need to explain." This might not be a bad thing, after all, he mused. In fact, it could be entirely good.

Running her hands firmly up his chest and over Harry's shoulders, she wound her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck. Madelyn lifted herself onto tiptoes, tugging his head down until their lips barely touched.

"Beyond my bruised feelings, frustration, and loneliness, I've wanted you more than ever. Never once, did I not want to be naked in your arms. If anything, I've had more desire for you than ever. So yes, I was afraid of my own response to you. My rational brain knew we needed to talk things out. My body, on the other hand..."

The tip of her tongue skated over his bottom lip before she nuzzled her nose against the raging pulse in his throat.

Harry's voice was choked, "Your body?"

"My body... wants to be devoured by yours."

Author's Note:

Hello, beautiful people! Please do not hate me for ending just as things were heating up. I promise the next chapter will be soon, and totally worth the wait!

In the meantime, I hope you are enjoying THE CHASE. I've really appreciated the comments and feedback that readers have shared. It's time-consuming to create, but super fun to be updating this installment piece (almost) daily. It's a quick and easy read that's about to heat up!

We are back on track with SLIGHT PRESSURE as well. Yay!!! If you are not already familiar, I share round-robin writing duties with alessandra  and styles_orama  on the PussyJockeys profile. Come check it out! Dr. Harry and Dr. Louis are a riot and the women in their lives are pretty awesome, too.

Thanks for hanging in there with me. I would be ever so grateful if you would drop a comment and tap that orange star!  If you're feeling especially wild, hit that 'follow' button.

xoxo 🌟 xoxo