In My Arms

The music was still pounding as they waited by the elevator.Elizabeth kicked her shoes off and picked them, idly balancing on her tiptoes.“Billion dollar building and the elevators take twenty minutes to get to the eighth floor.It’s bullshit.”

He caught her in his arms and pulled her against him.“You’re deceptively tiny.I didn’t think you were this short.”

“I’m not short, I’m petite.”She pouted.“Good things come in small packages, Mr. Styles.”

“You’re like, five foot nothing.”

“Five foot three, my dear, give me the three inches I deserve.”

He pulled her closer, pressing his lips to the corner of her throat.“I’ll give you more than that.”
The elevator buzzed and the doors opened, revealing Kendall standing there, hands on hips and mouth slightly agape.Shit.That’s the last thing he needed.

“Excuse us.”Elizabeth took his hand and brushed past Kendall, pulling him in after her.“Gotta run.”

Kendall backed out of the elevator, narrowing her eyes at Harry.“Seriously?You’re going to hook up with him?”

Elizabeth shrugged and pounded the elevator buttons with her finger.As the doors started to slide shut, she lifted her hand into a peace sign.“Peace out, bitch.”

She swayed against him, swinging her shoes to her side.“The paparazzi are going to be waiting for us.I mean, not us specifically.But the understood us.Anyway, lucky for you, I drove here because I’m a loser and I parked in the lot.So, you’re going to have to wait while I pay the ticket.Put that on your Twitter feed: hashtag, LA problems.”

He laughed.There was something about her.Obviously she was gorgeous with a fantastic figure he wanted to touch and explore, but there was something else.She was down to earth, laid back.It didn’t seem like the whole paparazzi thing fazed her in the least.That was refreshing.Some people—namely Kendall—liked putting their relationship in front of the cameras.He was fairly sure that’s why it didn’t work.

The elevator doors opened and they stepped out, Elizabeth holding onto his arm as she crammed her feet back into her shoes.“Okay, wait, my card is here in my purse somewhere.Give me like, two seconds.”

He laughed, watching her dig through the tiny purse to find the parking card.She first pulled out a hairband and pulled her long hair up into a messy bun.“This comes in handy.”
Finally, she pulled out a few crumpled bills.Harry raised an eyebrow.“How do you lose anything in a purse that small?”

“Please, Styles, you’d be surprised the bizarre things I manage.”She finally withdrew a parking card and walked to the pay meter, starting to sing along with the piped in music.“It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing…”

He watched her dance, her hips swaying along to the music as she jammed her debit card into the machine.She turned in time to catch him looking and shuffled over to him, wrapping his arms around her waist.“Dance with me, sexy boy.Shoo wop, shoo wop, shoo wop.”

He laughed, pulled her against him and did his best to fumble along with her swing dancing.Elizabeth laughed, raising their interlocked hands up into the air and spinning around.She let go of his hand and grabbed the ticket and her card out of the machine.“Are you hungry or anything?Because, literally, all I have in my house is alcohol and cheese.I’ve lived there like, six months and have been out on movie shoots most of the time.I’ll like, drive you through a drive through or something.”

“I’m good, gorgeous.”He laced his fingers around hers, pulling her back into his arms.“Just you and me is enough.”

“Exactly.”She led him though the parking garage, still half dancing to the Duke Ellington music piped into the garage.She stopped in front of an orange Challenger, digging into her purse to pull out her keys and unlock the doors.She hesitated for a moment and then leaned against him.“You’re done with that Jenner bitch, right?Because, look, I’m not the other woman.”

“Definitely.”He pushed her up against the car and leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers.The kiss deepened almost instantly, his tongue flicked against hers; his hands pulling her body against his.He wanted to hike her skirt up, to wrap her legs around his waist and take her right then, right against the car.“I’m just out having fun.”

“Me too.”She hesitated, running her fingers under his shirt and against his chest.“I saw you looking at me earlier.”

“Did you?”

“Yeah.”She stood on her tip toes and kissed him again.“Pretty lusty, Styles.”

“You’re damn sexy.”

“So are you.”She let him go and cocked her head towards the passenger’s door.“Get in.”

He did as she suggested, circling around the car and climbing into the passenger’s seat.She was already behind the wheel, her seatbelt secured across her body.The radio blasted on, the strains of loud rock music filling the car.Elizabeth pounded the controls and silenced it, pumping her legs against the clutch and the brake pedal.

He secured his own seatbelt, raising his eyebrows.“You drive a stick shift?”

“Please, any knowledgeable girl does.”She threw the car into gear and pulled out of the parking space.“I’m a pretty face, Harry, but I know my way around a car.That’s why I drive this beast.You can’t see shit for blind spots, but I look damn good driving it.”

“You’d look good driving anything.”

She laughed, her foot rhythmically pressing from the gas to the clutch.He stared at her legs, the slim, tattooed flesh flexing and moving from pedal to pedal.Without thinking, he trailed his fingertips down her leg.He wondered what they felt like, wrapped around his waist.“So…I’m not sure who picked up who.Did you hit on me or did I hit on you?”

Elizabeth dropped one hand from the steering wheel and cupped it over his, pressing his fingers into her thigh.“I think the feeling was mutual.At least, I hope it was.”

“It was.”

She slowed the car only long enough to jam her parking slip into the meter, then slammed her foot into the gas pedal and maneuvered the car in the opposite direction of where the paparazzi was stationed.The Challenger purred at her touch—Harry was fairly sure he would have done the same.They traveled out to the main highway and, as they pulled onto the interstate, her cell phone started ringing.Her hand dropped to her purse, pulling the slim pink phone out.“Jesus Christ, you think he could take a no and move on like an adult.”

Harry tried to act casual, but curiosity got the better of him.“Is that the guy from earlier?”

“Yeah, he’s a bastard.He cheated on me and then acted like I’d be totally okay with it.”Elizabeth glanced in her rear view mirror and merged into the leftmost lane.“I’d turn the phone off, but I want to make sure Jen gets home okay.”

The phone started ringing again.She huffed into her hair and tapped the silence button.“You’d think he’d get the idea after like, two months, but no.”

“Want me to answer?”

She giggled.“If you want to, go for it.”

Harry slid his finger across the face of her i-Phone and pressed the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

At first there was silence.Finally, a deep voice muttered, “Is this Elizabeth’s phone?”

“Yeah.”Harry glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.“Who wants to know?”

“This is Liam.Uh, Hemsworth.I need to talk to her.Who’s this?”

“Her boyfriend.”Harry balanced the phone between his ear and his shoulder, sliding his hand to her thigh and squeezing her gently.“What do you want?”

“Are you that little prick she was dancing with?”

“Look, Lizzie doesn’t want to talk to you.”Harry cleared his throat.“She’s with me now.She doesn’t need you.”

“You little fucker—“

“You bother her again, I’ll beat the shit out of you.”Harry waited a beat and then pulled the phone away from his face, pressing the end call button.He smiled at Elizabeth.“Handled.”

“Lizzie, huh?”

“Yeah, my Lizzie.”

She giggled and smiled at him, guiding his hand back to her thigh.“Okay then.Hey, let’s call Keith right now.See what he’s up to; it’s what, after midnight here?It’s what, like five in the morning there?He’ll be thrilled to hear from us.”

“You call your dad, Keith?”

“Trust me, Haz, he’s not much of a dad.”She shifted gears again and merged the car into the right lane.“I mean, yeah, he fucked my mom, but that’s about it.We’ve had a horrifically awkward relationship throughout my childhood and now, we’re pretty close.He knocked my mom up when she was twenty and, surprise, here I am.But that’s about it.”

He shifted his weight from one hip to the other.He hadn’t meant to touch on a sore subject.“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.It is what it is, look, I have him and Uncle Mick and Uncle Paul and all that shit.But I’m my own person.My daddy was a Rolling Stone, but this girl made her own destiny.”She glanced at him.“That sounded much more gallant than it is.I think I got casted in movies because I have a nice rack.”

“I’m not going to argue with you on that one, gorgeous.”

Elizabeth laughed.“Is that a fact?”

“Maybe.I’m just saying, I’m not seeing anything here I don’t like.”He ran his fingers down her thigh.“Hashtag: bestnightever.”

She laughed again, turning her head long enough to smile at him.“You’re hot, Styles.I like that.”

The drive to her house wasn’t nearly as long as she made it out to be.They flirted and laughed the entire drive into the Hills, past the congestion and the heavily lit streets and into the more secluded, elite section of town.He’d long lost any identifying factors to her house.Finally, after a maze of side streets and main roads, she pulled into a secluded driveway and rolled down her window, punching a code into a key pad.Once the gates opened, she threw the car back into gear and pulled forward.

It was too dark to see much of her house, but with the exterior lights he was able to make out the thick front pillars and wide front yard.She turned off the car and cocked her head towards the house.“It’s pretentious, isn’t it?”

“I live in my friend’s attic.”

She slipped her purse over her shoulder and slid out of the car, meeting him at the base of the staircase.Kicking off her shoes, she slid her hand back into his before picking them up.“I was living in a New York apartment before, so this is a little much for me.But, it was built in the 40s and I’m all about vintage…so…yeah, anyway, this is my place.”

Harry’s phone buzzed incessantly in his pocket and he mumbled and apology before pulling it out.It was Louis: You’re going to fuck her, aren’t you?

He switched the phone off and jammed it in his pocket.“Sorry.Just Louis.”

“Aw, he was sweet.So was Ireland.”She pulled him into the house, tossing her shoes onto the hardwood floor of the entryway.“Not my kind of guy though.”

Harry kicked off his black shoes and discarded his next to hers, pulling her backwards and into his arms.He pressed his lips to her neck.“What kind of guy do you like, Miss Elizabeth?”

She giggled, turning around in his arms to face him.“I like boys with curly brown hair and wide green eyes…with lots of tattoos.Speaking of which, you promised to show me yours.”

“Only if you showed me yours too.”He pretended to consider it.“I mean, it’s only fair.”

She pulled him forward, leading him to a hardwood staircase.“Anyway, so, this is my house.That’s the downstairs.This is the upstairs.”

“Too shy to show me?”He pulled her into his arms again, hiking the bottom of her skirt up.As they stumbled into what he assumed was her bedroom, he stared at the door a beat longer than he’d anticipated.“Is that your Oscar? Propping the door open?”

“Uh, yeah.”She picked up the trophy and set it aside, nudging the door shut with her foot.“So, it’s an older house with a few issues and, honestly, I’m not really sure what to do with the awards?Like, do I put them on a mantle or in a trophy case or something?What do you do with yours?I realize this is a really bizarre question and you’re completely welcome just to ignore it…and, yeah, so, tattoos.Come on, Styles, I want to see.”

He shrugged casually and unbuttoned his silk shirt, sliding it off his shoulders and discarding it to the floor.“These are most of them, anyway.”

Her blue eyes widened and darted from side to side, almost as she was taking all his ink in.She stepped forward, trailing her fingertips lightly down his V lines.“Jesus Christ, you are hot.”

“I’m not just a pretty face.”He tugged on her dress.“Come on, Lizzie, a bet’s a bet.Let me see.”

She stepped backwards and reached behind her back, unzipping the tight black dress and letting it fall to the floor.Harry felt his eyes widen.Her hourglass figure was adorned with a red and yellow phoenix, decorating her side from hip to chest.He noted words tattooed underneath her collar bone and, as she turned around, lyrics and other assorted tats were inked on her back.She faced him again, cocking an eyebrow upwards.“Soo….is that what you wanted?”

He shook his head and stepped forward, pulling her into his arms.“You’re what I want.”

Harry leaned over and pressed his lips to hers, reaching around her back and unhooking her bra.Her hands were fumbling with his belt, sliding it; loosening it until she could unfasten his black jeans.Once she did, she shoved them down and again trailed her fingers down his V lines. Jesus.

He slid his hands behind her thighs, lifting her up into his arms.Elizabeth wrapped her legs around his waist and, at the same time, tossed her bra to the side.He carried her to the bed and set her down gently, shimmying his jeans and boxers to the ground before crawling up next to her.He jerked her panties down and off—he couldn’t remember if they were purple or black, no matter—and eased her down onto her back.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close, her lips searching out his.He complied and at the same time, nudged her legs apart with his knee.Her mouth tasted amazing, her body smooth and silky beneath him.Harry let his eyes flutter shut as he entered her, biting his lip to stifle the gasp that threatened to spill out.

Elizabeth arched her back to get closer to him, wrapped her legs around him and crossed her ankles to lock her into place.She cupped his head in her hands and kissed him, muttered something against his lips.Harry moaned in response, sliding her right knee forward and thrusting deeper into her.She felt amazing; her body was so silky and smooth, her lips soft against his.She ran her fingers through his hair, her soft sighs evident of her delight.
He pushed her other knee forward, cupping her calf in his hand.“Do you like that, gorgeous?”

She nodded, pulling his face back to hers.“Don’t stop, please…don’t.”

Harry balanced himself on his toes, focusing his attention on a steady rhythm in her.He dropped his hand to her hip and held her in place, quickly pulling back from her soft lips.“Wait…wait don’t move.Anymore of that and it’ll be over.”

She giggled and pouted, running her fingertips down his chest.“Christ, Harry, you feel amazing.Don’t stop.”

“I don’t want to stop fucking you.”

“Then fuck me.”She cupped her hands around his cheeks and pulled him back to her lips, arching her back upwards again to encourage him back into his rhythm.“Keep going.”

She didn’t have to tell him twice.He crushed his lips to hers, his hands cupping her breasts and his fingertips feeling out her nipples.The first pinch made her gasp; the second made her shudder with delight.The feeling of her body responding to him was enough to push him near the edge.His eyes shot open and he pressed his forehead to hers, his voice raspy in his throat.“I want to finish in you.”

She nodded frantically.“I’m on the pill.”

That was all he needed.He again pulled her knees up against his chest, his hands on her breasts and his lips pressed to hers.After a few panicked thrusts, he lost complete control over himself and finished against her, his breath caught deep in his throat.It seemed to be enough to push her over the edge again and she pulled him to her, hugging him as her body released against him.

They were breathless in each other’s arms, their hearts pounding in mirrored cadence together.Harry leaned up and brushed her hair out of her eyes and planted a kiss on her lips.“You are amazing.”

“Not as amazing as you.”She tangled her fingers through his hair, twisting a curl around her finger.“Stay with me tonight.”

“I’ll stay with you forever, Lizzie.”

She snugged against him for a moment and then squirmed out from underneath him.“Want to….go play in the shower for a minute or twenty?See what kind of trouble we can get to in here?”

Hell yeah.

Notes