The Contract // H.S.

Chapter Twenty-Three // Part Two

"C'mon," Harry grabs my hand and leads me back to our table where I pick up my things. We leave the front doors of the restaurant, the mountain air hitting us in a gust as we walk outside. We are a giggling mess due to the wine as we make our way to the loading area for the tram, Harry notices my arms are wrapped around my body trying to get warm.

"Here," he removes his suit jacket from his body and places it on my shoulders, a cloud of his warmth still hanging around it. The warm air and familiar scent of Harry's cologne settles around me like a weighted blanket and my shivers quell instantly. 

"Better?" he asks as we load ourselves into the next tram down the mountain. 

"Thanks, Mr. Styles," I say to him, turning my back and pressing myself against him. His arms go to wrap around my neck, his hands touching the opposite elbow, and he rests his chin on my head as we both stare out at the Palm Springs lights on the ten minute descent back to the parking lot.

Harry's hands move slowly down to my hips, turn me around, and travel slowly up my sides and slide up to my wrists, which he grabs and places behind his neck. His hands then float down my sides and rest on my hips. He slowly leans his head down towards mine at the same time I'm looking up into his eyes. We stare at each other hypnotically for a few seconds, our eyes flick between each other's and eventually lock in place. Harry moves closer, the air thickening between our lips as mine open just slightly in anticipation of the inevitable feel of his. 

Harry's smooth and supple lips press against mine gently, a tenderness in the way his lips attach to mine and the gentle way his tongue slips inside my mouth; his breathe invading my senses as a mix of red wine and mint. 

This kiss is dripping with desire and attraction to one another. My arms tighten around his neck, pulling him closer to me as if we weren't already flush to each other. Harry's suit jacket weighing on my shoulders like a blanket but I also feel the firmness of his chest against the deep v-neck of my dress.  I forget that we are floating a thousand feet in the air down the side of a mountain, as  I am overwhelmed at the gravity of emotions I'm feeling at the moment.

 If this were a normal situation, I'd be completely and totally head over heels for Harry. I'd be jumping in eyes wide shut, off the deep end, and into that vulnerable place where I might open myself up to everything that a relationship would entail with him. The way his comparatively giant hand comes up to cup my jaw as we pull each other as close as possible, and the way he lets out little exasperated breaths in between our lips locking together tells me he feels the same way; except nothing is holding him back like what's gripping me to cement my feet in the idea of not getting attached to him. I can't. I can't let myself give a piece of my heart to Harry. This whole relationship is being built on a foundation of untruths on my behalf. I was contracted to be this person for him. I'm being paid to be with him. 

How do I know that I'd feel the same way if I wasn't being paid to do so? Would I have even given him a chance if there wasn't millions of dollars on the line? 

My thoughts get interrupted when Harry takes a few steps forward, forcing me to step backward towards the window of the tram car. When my butt hits the handrail that lines the edge of the tram, Harry wraps his giant arms around my waist and hoists me up so that I'm sitting on the cold metal bar, my legs automatically creating a space for him to settle into as our lips stay locked onto each other, intensifying the feeling of our lips pressing together. My back presses against the frigid glass of the tram car, my body involuntarily reacting to the temperature by pressing forward into him, craving the contrasting warmth of his torso. 

I don't even know how close we are to the bottom of the mountain anymore, the sensual make out session overtaking every single one of my senses at the moment. Harry's lips move away from mine and go to my neck, where I feel the gentle scratch of his teeth on my skin. I whimper out quietly, opening my eyes and noticing how close we are to the bottom.