Chapter 36

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Saturday:

When Harry had arrived, Maddie had wasted no time at all. She had been wanting him all week; needing his hands on her body, his lips against hers. And it took Harry no time at all to catch up to where she was. Finally they were free of all that had been looming over them. Her arm was completely healed, there was no possibility that she would be leaving him for Africa any time soon, and she felt settled and free and home. And all of that was translating into this nearly embarrassing insatiable need to be with him—though Harry had zero issue rising to the challenge.

She had pushed him up against that door and he had dropped his overnight bag without a second thought. Moving from the door, to the kitchen, to the couch—they rid the other of their clothes along the way. And now, Harry was underneath her in a tangled mess of limbs and post-coital bliss as they both tried to catch their breath.

"Wow..." Maddie breathed against his bare shoulder as she slumped forward; letting her body rest on his chest.

"Yes," Harry chuckled, his hand traced a lazy line along her spine; tickling her as it went. "Welcome to London."

"Ha!" She tossed her head back with laughter; moving so that she was sitting up. "That was some Welcome Committee. Does the Visitors' Center know about you?"

"No," he shook his head, his hands resting on her bare thighs that were straddled over him. "And don't tell them. I could get in a whole host of..." Harry laughed against her lips as she leaned down to kiss him again, a moan escaping her lips. "Maddie, love, I appreciate your spirit but I am going to need to rest for a moment before we..." She kissed him again; longer and with more passion. Both of Harry's hands moved to her hair as he responded in kind.

"Five minutes?" Maddie pulled back slightly.

"Sorry?" Harry smirked.

"You need to rest," her eyes were sultry as she looked him over. "Will five minutes do or do you need longer?"

"Ohhhhh..." His laughter rumbled in his chest. "I had no idea a week apart would ignite such a..."

"Fire?" She finished for him. "I didn't either. Though I have to admit, I thought you would be more up for the task." And with a wicked wink she lifted herself off of him and moved towards her bathroom.

"Oh come on Maddie!" He called after her. "I asked for five minutes! It's not like I..." He heard the bathroom door shut. "And now I'm just yelling like a maniac, to myself." Moving off the couch, Harry went the other bathroom in her place to clean up.

When he returned, he could hear Maddie moving around the kitchen. He pulled on his boxers and a t-shirt as he moved to join her. He saw her a moment before she saw him and he stopped to watch her as she moved. She was wearing his blue button down with the sleeves rolled up and her lacy panties underneath—as she pulled items out of the fridge and the cupboards.

Moving up behind her, Harry put his hands on her hips; pulling her back to him. His lips planted kisses on her neck as she moved to him.

"Mmmm..." She moaned, her hand reached back to twist in his hair. "Is five minutes up?"

"No...." Harry chuckled into her neck. "And I may very well need ten. What are you doing?" He reached out around her to take a cherry tomato from one of the bowls in her hand; plopping it into his mouth.

"We are going to cook dinner," she turned in his arms then; pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I think we're going to need refueling."

"I think maybe you're right," he couldn't help the smug grin on his face as he watched her move away from him; continuing her search through the kitchen. "Oh! I brought wine." Leaving her to what she was doing, he went back to the entryway where his bag sat, just as he had left it. Harry moved the bag into her room and returned to the kitchen with the wine in hand. "Would you like me to open this?"

"Yes please," she nodded; retrieving a cork screw and two glasses. "Do you know how or do you usually have people who do that for you?" Her eyes glinted with laughter. "I mean, you said you were the guy who would never have to cook for himself, so..."

"Wow," he shook his head as he maneuvered the cork screw expertly. "You sure are on tonight, aren't you?"

"I know," she grinned wide. "I think I'm finally starting to settle into myself."

"Fantastic," he pulled the cork and poured two glasses. "Look at that. All on my own."

"Nicely done," she took the glass he offered.

"Welcome to London," he raised his glass in a toast.

"Thank you," she clinked hers to his and took a sip. "Though I'm pretty sure you already did that." Harry shook his head with a smirk as he took a drink. "This is wonderful."

"I'm glad you like it," Harry took another drink.

"I do. Oh! I've decided what you can give me as a housewarming gift," she moved to him then, her hands resting on his chest as she smiled up at him sweetly.

"Oh? What's that?" His smile mirrored hers.

"This shirt. It's lovely; so soft and it smells just like you." She turned her nose to the collar and inhaled; her eyes closing.

"You want my shirt?"

"I do," she nodded and stepped away from him then; turning all the way around so he could get a good look. "I think it looks fabulous on me."

"No arguments here," he shook his head. "If you really want the shirt..."

"Please."

"It's yours."

"Thank you," she leaned up on her toes to kiss him. "But you can feel free to try to take it back from me anytime you like." With a swift pat on his ass, she turned away from him then.

"You're killing me Madeline." Harry shook his head. "Absolutely killing me." His eyes turned then to the spread of food she had assembled on the counter. "Tell me, what exactly is it you're hoping to do in here tonight?"

She arched an eyebrow suggestively.

"Besides that," he laughed as Maddie cracked; her smile reaching her eyes.

"Well, I want to make a salad, some pasta with sauce and some garlic bread." She waved her fingers in the direction of the foods as she spoke. "It's relatively well-balanced, filling and pretty simple. Even you can't mess up pasta."

"Well now, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Harry warned. "What do you want me to do first?"

"First..." Maddie looked around. "First, I want you to wash and chop these veggies for the salad while I get the sauce going."

"Done." Setting his wine glass aside, Harry followed her orders and the cooking adventure began.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"Well," Maddie swallowed her last bit of pasta and looked across the table at him. "That wasn't half bad, Wales."

"Half bad?" He laughed. "I thought it was fantastic. Particularly that salad..."

"Enough about the expertly chopped radishes; it makes you sound like a crazy person."

"Fine, fine," he spread his hands up in defeat. "So...what did you learn?"

"Sorry?"

"You said that your father told you that you could learn a lot about a man by cooking a meal with him. So...other than my amazing skills with a chef's knife, what did you learn?"

"Hmmm..." Maddie smiled warmly; he had remembered. "I learned...I learned that you take orders well..."

"Of course you knew that already—having been ordering me around since the very beginning," he poked and she laughed.

"And you're a great listener; very attentive." Maddie pushed back from the table. "You pay great attention to detail, you want to make sure you get it right—even if it means you have to start over." Leaving her chair, she moved closer to him. "You are really great with a knife—and that shows agility and dexterity; control and determination."

"You were really paying attention, weren't you?" Harry's voice was low as she moved to stand next to his chair.

"Most importantly," she sighed as she pushed him slightly back in his chair, making room for herself in his lap; her knees on either side of him. "You wanted to please me."

"I do want to please you," his hands made their way around her waist; pulling her closer to him.

"Has it been five minutes yet?" She cocked her head to the side suggestively.

"God yes," Harry breathed moments before his lips crashed into hers.

Forgetting the food on the table, the dishes, the dessert she had prepared earlier that still remained in the fridge; Maddie held tight to Harry as he stood, taking her with him. She wrapped her legs around him and pressed her fingers into the flesh at his shoulders as he took the party to her bedroom—leaving everything else behind to be dealt with in the morning.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"Hello?" Maddie answered the phone as her eyes drifted to the clock. It was Sunday afternoon and they were still in bed, though Harry had risen at her request to bring back coffee and the dessert from the night before. They had eaten, made love, and fallen back asleep until now.

"I'm so sorry," Ella was on the other end. "I know you were with him last night and I wouldn't bother you if it weren't important..."

"It's fine," Maddie smiled as Harry lifted her hand and placed a kiss on her wrist; slowly moving up her arm. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, it's just...." She took a breath. "I was looking at a royal blog late last night and..."

"A royal blog?" Maddie laughed. Harry's eyes glanced up at her from where his lips were stationed at the inside of her elbow. "What are you doing..."

"They have your picture." Ella interrupted. "Well a couple of pictures."

"They what?" Maddie sat up straight in bed, her arm pulling from Harry's fingers.

"Is he there with you?"

"Yes," Harry moved so he could take her hand back in his; his lips starting their journey over again.

"Don't freak out."

"I'm not," Maddie took a breath. "How bad is it?"

"It's not bad," Ella looked it over again. "It's night and it looks like it was raining. You can really only see the back of you but you can totally see him. Your hair looks terrible. Maddie, were you riding on the back of that motorcycle?"

"Tetbury," Maddie breathed; remembering their date.

"Tetbury?" That drew Harry's attention. His mouth left her skin as he sat up and focused

"The good news is, they don't know who you are. Right now you're just mystery blonde. Some girl was visiting the area on holiday, saw Harry and then took some photos from quite a distance, posted them on twitter. She was interested in him, not you."

"What's the bad news?"

"The bad news..." Ella chuckled. "Well, it is incredibly clear that Harry is in love with you. The girl who posted it said that he seemed very in to you; attentive, doting. He has his hand on your ass in one and the way he is looking at you in this one..."

"Sorry, how is that bad news?" Maddie's hand rested in Harry's lap as he watched her closely.

"Because now..." Ella took a deep breath. "Now they are really going to want to know who you are."

"Oh..."

"There are some theories; some British actress, a college student...one poster even suggests he's back with Chelsy. But nobody's even close. You okay?"

"Of course," Maddie sighed; sitting back against her pillow, leaning closer to him. "It was bound to happen eventually."

"I suppose you're right. Sorry that I bothered you. I just thought...I thought you would want to know."

"Well, I appreciate the heads up."

"Great. Now I'm going to let you get back to...whatever it was you were doing before I called," Maddie could almost hear the smirk on Ella's face. "Tell Harry hello."

"Will do. Thank you Ella. Good-bye."

"Good bye dear." Maddie hung up the phone and turned to Harry.

"Ella says hello."

"Okay, are you going to tell me what that was about?" He raised his eyebrows.

"There's a picture; on the blogs."

"Of?"

"Us. In Tetbury." Maddie sighed and turned so that she was looking at him.

"Ah...I see." His jaw grew tight.

"It's night. You can see the motorcycle and you," her fingers ran down his arm. "And the back of me...Ella said my hair looks terrible and your hand is on my ass."

"Ha!" Harry laughed; his hands running over her legs. "Of course it is. Do they know who you are?"

"I am mystery blonde woman right now," Maddie chuckled at the idea. "The hypotheses include a British actress, a college student, and a reunion with Chelsy."

"Yeah," Harry breathed; running a hand through his hair. "They're never going to let that one go."

"So there you go."

"You okay?" His eye squinted as he watched her as though he were searching for something.

"What? Yes!" She scooted closer to him; pulling on his t-shirt to bring him in for a kiss. "A picture was bound to surface eventually. And, I would imagine it is going to get worse than mystery blonde with bad hair and your hand on my ass."

"Yes." Harry thought for a moment. "It's going to get a lot worse. You know, maybe we should talk about how you want to handle the press."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, there's an office at the palace that sifts through everything about us. Do you want me to ask them to pass the stuff about you onto you? Or would you rather not see it?"

"Wow...I don't know. I guess I haven't..." Maddie's mouth turned down in a frown. "Can I have some time to think about it?"

"Of course," Harry nodded. "Just let me know."

Though it would still be some time before the world discovered the identity of the mystery blonde, Harry was already gearing up, already preparing for what he knew was just around the bend. He watched as Maddie slipped from the bed, telling him something about needing to shower and make an effort to keep her hands off of him and he hoped that what was about to come towards her would be met with the same smile and shrug that she had met everything else so far.

"Harry?" Maddie's voice called to him as she peeked around the door.

"Yes love?" He raised his eyebrows.

"You coming with me?"

"I'm going to need a vacation to recover from this weekend," Harry grumbled playfully as he tossed the covers back and hurried to join her in the bathroom. At least she would accomplish one of her two goals.


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