Part Twenty-One

When Marden told Ailene that he needed some time think about everything, she didn't expect him to take so long.

Winter melted away into spring, and spring bloomed to summer. Every day since their last meeting in January, Ailene desperately anticipated an owl to come with a letter from him attached. She refused to step back into the Leaky Cauldron for fear that someone else might come after her and he wouldn't be there to protect her. And without an owl, she had no other way of getting in contact with him.

They no longer stepped foot in Rosa's café, so trying to look for him there was a lost cause. She had no floo powder, nor an address to travel to. The city of London had no record of a Marden McKinnon. Neither did Glasgow or Edinburgh. Yes, she traveled all the way to Scotland to look. Plenty of McKinnons, no Marden.

Why do you even care? This is what you wanted right? You wanted him gone, out of your life? But now, she yearned for him.

On Saturday nights, she would look for him in the crowd below. She could've sworn she spotted him a few times at his usual, lonely table in the corner. But whenever she ventured down to try and talk to him, he was nowhere to be found. It had to be her imagination. And each night, she'd walk right by the Leaky Cauldron, the sign above the door swaying in the breeze enticingly. But she couldn't do it, she couldn't bring herself to go inside.

She'd just have to wait; though how long she'd wait was another question.

It was a usual, late Saturday evening in August, the night had wrapped up and Ailene sat at her vanity when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in, I'm just wrapping up." She called, not expecting to see Marden opening the door and standing there. She watched his reflection on the mirror, the breath catching in her throat. She didn't see him at all that night, and she slowly turned to look at him. He leaned against the doorframe, a rather sad expression on his face.

"I think I'm ready to talk now." He said softly.

Ailene was speechless, she couldn't help but gape slightly as she watched him. After a few long moments, she slowly nodded her head. "Okay. I've been ready."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I just needed to be sure I was ready."

Ailene nodded, her shoulders dropped that caused one of the sleeves of her dress to slip off of her.

"I'll wait outside for you. We can go someplace and sit, or maybe we can go back to one of our places..." He trailed off.

"No, Marden. It's okay, we can talk here." She said to him before he left, only to watch him turn and shut the door behind him. He looked around and found a spare chair, pulling it up in front of her and sat. He still had that strange looking cloth in his hand.

"I hope you've been well." He said softly, watching her tentatively.

"For the most part. I've been dying to hear back from you for about eight months." She said casually, but offered him a stern glance.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Like I said, I needed to make sure I was ready to speak to you."

Ailene sat, watching him. "I am still sorry about everything. Everything I've ever put you through."

"It's fine." He said softly, looking up at her. "I forgive you. Most of the things you are apologizing for are things you really don't need to. I don't regret anything. I don't regret bringing you to my sister's wedding, I don't regret introducing you to them, or announcing our plans to get married. I don't ever regret loving you. If I had a time-turner, I'd go back in time and do it all over again."

Ailene wasn't so sure what a time-turner was, but it wasn't hard to guess. "Me too." She whispered, looking down at the ringing hands in her lap. "But I'm also sorry for the repercussions you faced. I don't want you to have to go through anymore." She repeated herself.

Marden shook his head and scoffed slightly. "There would never be any repercussions. My family threatens me with all sorts of things, but half of them aren't true. They wanted to try and scare you. Which I guess worked, but they were all lies." He then reached out and took her hand. "And if there were any repercussions, I wouldn't care because I'd be happy with you. You're all that makes me happy in this world."

Ailene felt as though her heart was a magnet, and she could feel it pulling towards him. Tears found themselves in the wells of her eyes, and she desperately tried to wipe them away. She didn't want to him to see her cry. She shed too many tears already.

"I'll never forget the night we first kissed." He whispered softly. "I've never wanted to kiss someone more in my entire life."

Ailene was still turned away from him, dabbing her eyes. She could feel her heart breaking into a million pieces, the chips falling away into nothingness.

"I've said it before, but I will always love you. No matter how far you may move away from me, no matter who you chose as a husband, no matter how many children you have with him. I will always love you. I will always be here to love you."

The tears turned to sobs. Ailene always seemed to cry now when he was around, but she was having such a hard time assessing her emotions. She didn't know exactly how she was feeling. Loneliness, longing, anguish, joy, pain. She was feeling all of these at once.

She heard shifting beside her and Marden now knelt next to her, and she turned to look down at him. A hand reached up and cupped her cheek, his thumb wiping away her tears.

"Please don't cry, darling." He purred to her, Ailene placing a hand over his. Then they found themselves in each other's embrace, Ailene's arms wrapped around him tight, holding him close and never wanting to let go.

She was now on her feet, her cheek pressed against his chest. He stroked the back of her head, running fingers through her hair. "I like your new haircut." He complimented, and Ailene snorted out a laugh.

"Thank you." She said, pulling away from him and placing a hand on her ends. Her hair now came to just above her shoulders, and he continued to play with it. This was the Marden she now remembers, not the cold and distant Marden back in January. He was warm and gentle with her, so gentle. He took care of her the way a woman should be taken care of.

Marden now placed both of his hands on her cheeks, holding her face as he admired her. Ailene placed her hands on his wrists, and she bounced up on her tiptoes before placing a sweet kiss on his lips. Followed by another kiss. And another, and another, until their lips did not part at all. Their tongues found one another and danced together. Their bodies pressed together as much as they could, and it became quite clear that they both wanted their bodies to connect, to become one.

Ailene's back pressed against the ledge of her vanity, and it brought her back to New Year's Eve when they were in the exact same spot. She lifted herself up to sit on her vanity, her legs spread far apart. Then, she placed both of her hands on each cheek of his bum, pushing him closer until their lower bodies met.

Of course he was hard, she'd be shocked if he wasn't. She wanted to feel him stretch her walls open and fill her deep inside.

Marden's hands made quick work of the loose, floofy skirt of her dress, aggressively tearing off her underwear. They were both eager to get things going. Ailene reached out and undid his belt, yanking it out of the loops of his pants before fidgeting with his buttons and zipper. His erection became free, and she found it with her hands, caressing it and feeling how throbbing he was.

Marden felt shivers glide up his spine at her touch. His hands found her hips and he pulled Ailene towards him, until he plunged deep inside of her. Ailene tipped her head back against her mirror, her fingers running along his scalp before clutching fistfuls of his curls. He began to thrust into her body, the vanity knocking against the wall behind them. They made eye contact with one another as they fucked, Ailene stifling a moan each time he rammed into her, while Marden's breath caught each time he found himself going deeper and deeper.

It didn't take long for Ailene to become uncomfortable in this position, and and she pushed him away, his hardness departing from her body. Marden now took charge, twirling her body around as her feet found the floor. He pushed her down, causing her to bend over her vanity. Ailene's face was inches from the the mirror, watching his magnificent body make love to hers. His hands gripped at her waist, feeling her bones underneath her skin. He leaned down with her, kissing her upper back as he entered her once again. She felt one of his strong hands press the middle of her back down, causing her to arch her back, lifting her bum to meet his body at the perfect height. She could barley feel her toes touching the ground.

This time, there was much more power in his thrusts.

Their bodies clapped together perfectly, and now Ailene couldn't help but moan loudly; the angle in which her body contorted allowed for him to reach new depths that no one had ever been able to do before. However, she was soon silenced as another strong hand clasped over her mouth. He was sure they were not the only ones left in the building.

God, why was he so good at this? Marden was the most skilled lover she had ever encountered. No matter how many times they made love in the many different ways, he never ever ceased to please her, to make her moan so primitively. Not to mention that he was the only man to make her orgasm until she was completely finished.

After about five minutes, her body couldn't handle it anymore, and she felt the climax swell in her abdomen. She hummed through his fingers, before she felt her legs become weak. She could no longer support herself, instead letting him keep her body up as he pounded her, drawing out her orgasm as he always did. Their bodies made sloppy noises until she could feel his body writhe underneath hers, and he filled her with cum. He made long, hard strokes against her body as he came, now it was he that moaned in response. Marden gripped her waist hard, digging his fingernails into her skin.

And with that, it was done. He pulled out and stumbled slightly before falling down in her chair, his entire body exhausted. Ailene made eye contact with her reflection before she slowly sank down, kneeling on the floor. Her hands gripped the side of the vanity as aftershocks still flowed over her body. This topped all of their other previous encounters.

The room was filled with their panting. It was like this for several long moments until Ailene felt his arms lift her up off of the ground and pull her into his lap. He tucked her head under his chin, and she laid there, her cheek against his sweating chest. His heart pounded in his chest, and it wasn't until their bodies had calmed, their breathing steady, did they stir. Ailene sat up and looked down at Marden, who looked back up at her with a content expression.

They both got dressed without another word, both of them exhausted and rather shocked with themselves that they just did that. It was as if they never left one another.

They walked out onto the street as rain poured through the night. There were distant rumbles, and small flashes of light could be seen through far off clouds. Marden drew his wand and lifted it in the air, an invisible umbrella protected them from the down pour , though he seemed to still be getting wet.

They walked in silence. What more was there to say? Their bodies said it all. Marden wrapped his arm around her shoulder, Ailene wrapped an arm around his torso, practically supporting one another.

At the corner, Ailene looked up at him. "Let's go back to your place."