Ferocity | Harry Styles

Chapter 12

"Sorry, sorry. I can' feel my arm, love."

Melody groaned as Harry shifted out from beneath her, and she immediately regretted it. Her breath stalled in her throat. Pain radiated through her side, fresh and loud.

"Yeh okay?"

Melody inhaled slowly, cautiously, and shook her head. Her fingers laced together over her belly, just beneath her ribcage, as if she could somehow press the throbbing right out of her torso.

"All right."

Melody felt Harry's lips flutter at her temple and then the bed shifted, his warmth receding from her skin.

"Here, Mel. Sit up." He slid a hand beneath her neck and helped her lift her shoulders from the mattress. The shift of her muscles stung, laboring her breathing, until she was upright. She heard him twist open the bottle of her pills and shake a couple into his hand. "Take these, okay?" he said, passing her the glass of water on the nightstand.

Melody swallowed the pills with a large gulp of water and then handed the glass back to Harry. There were a few quiet moments, nothing but her breaths filling the silence.

"What do yeh want?" Harry asked eventually. "Wanna lay back down?"

"Please," Melody whispered. She hissed in pain as he helped her slide down onto her back, resting her head on her pillow. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed against a groan.

"Wish I could fix it, love," Harry said, pressing his mouth to her shoulder. He planted a row of kisses to the base of her throat. "Wish I could make it better."

"Harry," she muttered, "why are you kissing me? I never even showered last night."

"I don' care." He reached up to smooth hair away from her eyes and watched them flutter open to look at him. Her tongue peeked out to wet her lips. She still looked dazed with sleep, her eyelids heavy, but there was something in the way she watched him—some vulnerability that made his stomach drop, but also made his skin light up. He hummed, lowering his eyes and turning his face into the top of her chest. "Stop lookin' at me like that," he mumbled.

"Like what?"

"I dunno, like...like 'm saying somethin' important. Just don' mind if yeh're sweaty. Do yeh mind it when I am?"

"No." Her voice sounded thick and he listened to her clear her throat, one hand rising to sift through his hair. "No, sometimes I even like it."

"Do mind my mornin' breath though, yeah?"

"I wouldn't right now," Melody whispered.

Harry drew in a breath and felt her shudder as his teeth grazed along her collarbone. He couldn't help the perplexed chuckle that vibrated through him.

"Dunno how this is turnin' you on. All I did was kiss your neck and tell yeh I don' mind your sweat. 'S that easy?"

"That has nothing to do with it. I just—" Her fingers tightened in his hair and her other hand reached for his shoulder, pulling at him.

Harry groaned, resisting the pull. "What're yeh doin'?"

"Come here."

"Mel," he said, lifting up to look at her, "'m not climbin' on top of yeh. Could hurt yeh."

"I don't care."

"Yeh'll care when yeh're fuckin' cryin' again." Despite his refusal, his fingers pried at the duvet, folding the top down beneath her breasts. He lowered his head to close his lips around a bit of her flesh. "No, love," he uttered between kisses.