Chapter Three: Disappearance of a Prince.

Lucy clenched her fists around the thin, almost transparent panties, eyes scrunched and twitching due to her friends pervy personality. She was certain he had a death wish. "Yes?" He chuckled, peeking around the door without knocking, not phased that she could be changing or bothered by the fact she still wore a towel around her form. A mixture between a frustrated groan and a growl built up in the blonde's chest. He. Was. So. Dead. She opened her eyes, a viscous look within them making her resemble a pissed off cat.

Igneel's grin was plastered on his face, his eyes slightly lidded as it took in her form. "YOU PERV!" was the only warning he got before his face met with the wall, her foot applying force as it pushed his starting-to-swell, red cheek further into the paint. Igneel groaned slightly before slumping down to the ground, a pout taking his smile's place, eyes downcast as he rubbed his tender cheeks. "Geez, Luce, what was that for?".

"For being a pervert!" The busty blonde huffed as she folded her arms, her narrowed, judgemental eyes never straying from his form. "After all these years and you still haven't changed" Her voice was supposed to be laced with the same fake anger that her face portrayed, but that was hard to do when a strong feeling of nostalgia and comfort washed through you. It had been so long since she last saw little Igni [Ig-nee], and the fact that he was still pretty much the same amused her greatly. Though the fact he was still a pervert got under her skin. Shaking her head slightly she muttered "How did Anya ever put up with your flirtatious and childish behaviour, I'll never understand!" She peeked at the fire king from the corner of her eyes as he scratched the back of his neck and gave off his usual boyish grin.

"Who knows. Maybe because she loved me and we were mates?" No shit. Lucy thought as she rolled her eyes. She had loved Anya greatly, and the wonderful woman had been such a perfect match for her reckless and idiotic best friend. He was always hot-headed and never thought things through, often ending up in fights or trouble. Anya was the exact opposite, always caring, smart and peaceful. Lucy still thought the girl deserved better, but who was she to say who someone should or shouldn't love? Not just that but she wasn't fate, she didn't pick out and chose who is whose mate. Heck, she'd never even been in love before!

"You're lucky she did!" Was the only retort she could come up with. Lucy sighed before moving back to her bed and sitting down. Her body still felt exhausted, and her throat, though it wasn't burning, still ached. Igneel frowned as he watched her.

"Hey, Lu? You okay?" Lucy gave a small nod before swallowing down some spit that had started to gather at the corners of her mouth. "You're still slightly out of it, huh." his loud exhale made Lucy turn to face him, a small smile barely caressing her dry and cracking lips.

"I'll be fine soon. Especially once I've fed, I'll just have to ask Cana or one of my servants since it's an emergency." Lucy looked away and up to the ceiling "Perhaps I'll head home later on for Virgo or-"

"Luce" Igneel sat next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. His amber yes boring into her brown ones. "Take my blood. It'll be better that way, you'll get fed sooner and heal quicker, and you won't have to travel to Muertos and back for preparations." Igneel moved closer, turning to face her as he began to unbutton his shirt. Lucy looked up to him, her lips slightly parted. Her eyes and lips twitching, a sign that she was about to reject him.
"Igne-"

"-Just do it Lucy, it's not like my blood will kill you, y'know?" His voice faded near the end. She had always rejected him whenever he had offered his blood to her. Growing up, especially in their teenage years -Lucy growing at a slower pace, had been a teenager long before Igneel and the others had- Igneel had constantly tried winning Lucy over, though he had found her extremely attractive and eventually realised his feeling for her, they obviously paled in comparison to the love he had for Anya, a woman he didn't meet until only thirty years ago. After Anya's death, Lucy and him had grown apart, and recently he had started to become more attracted to the blonde once again, probably due to loneliness -as Grandine would say- but that didn't mean he was looking towards her for anything more than friendship -unless she was willing of course.

Igneel smiled softly, raising a hand to ghost across her cheek and into her long hair, stroking the golden locks before threading his fingers into the strands, pulling her closer to the junction where his neck and shoulder met. He closed his eyes as he felt her hot breath against his skin. He had wanted this for so long. It felt like forever before he felt her cold lips touch his heated skin, a sensation that caused his breath to hitch and his body to tense for a split second, relaxing once more as he felt her lips part, her wet tongue barely touching his bare skin as her mouth closed down onto his, her sharp teeth clamping down and piercing his skin. The feeling of her teeth didn't cause him pain, not in the way a needle would. The pain was bitter-sweet. Entangled with pleasure, a feeling he had read about that happened when being fed off of by a vampire. A side effect and an experience felt by both prey and predator. He couldn't help but tense his jaw, his arms wrapping around her tender form and pulling her onto his lap. His hands tightened, one clutching the towel at the back, his thumb making circles over the material, whilst his other hand scrunched up some of her sunshine locks, tempted to pull at them. Or to push her head further into him. The blonde he held onto desperately in his arms was unaware of anything around her, too absorbed in the blissful feeling of quenching her thirst. She continued to gulp down the blood like a human suffering from dehydration in a desert. Drinking until she pulled back slightly to breathe, licking up the thin trails of the drops she had missed and over the wound to close it before moving further along his shoulder and biting down again. She couldn't get enough of it, and he didn't want her to stop. He hadn't felt this kind of pleasure since Mika had passed away seven years prior, at the birth of Natsu. He didn't want the feeling to go away just yet.

He couldn't help his hands from roaming over her soft, exposed flesh, gripping slightly on her arms and thighs. Then she moved slightly, turning to get a better hold of his flesh, causing her hips to grind against his and forcing a moan past his lips. Something that the vampire queen didn't acknowledge. Igneel was expecting her to slap or yell at him for his noises and obvious proof of arousal that she had awakened within him, instead, she continued on like nothing had happened. Grinning, he began to lay back, bringing her with him. "Papa? What're you doing?" the small voice, alongside the opening of the room door, caused the older male to freeze up before pushing his head up to look over the blonde hair that obscured his view of his pink-haired son.

"Nothing, Natsu" His voice was rough and he sounded slightly breathless. Not that he blamed himself. Natsu moved closer, his eyes narrowing onto his father.

"Then why were you making funny noises? And what's wrong with Lucy?" Igneel swallowed down another moan before pulling on Lucy slightly. He'd have to stop. Lucy pulled away, eyes blinking up at the male before turning to see a little pinkette less than three feet away. "Oh, hey Natsu, are you okay?" she asked softly and groggily before turning back towards the already healing bite mark, licking up the smudged blood on his tanned skin. Natsu's eyes focused on the wounds that Lucy had made before they moved to his dad's, a weird fire burning within them as he ground his teeth, hissing through them but trying to sound normal to the blonde, happy that she wasn't facing him at that point.

"I'm fine. What about you?"

"I'm alright, kiddo" Igneel chuckled and Lucy nodded in agreement, turning towards the young boy. Blood still dripping from her lips and down her chin before she wiped it with the back of her hand, smudging the gooey substance. She brought the land to her lips and began to lick it clean.

"Same, your dad was just feeding me" she gave a soft smile, to which Natsu's face relaxed and a grin, similar to his father's, appeared.

"Why didn't you just say you were hungry, weirdo! I would have got you some yummy fire-chicken!" Igneel gave his son a confused look, one eyebrow raised and the other pushing down.

"Son, you never give anyone fire-chicken. It's your favoui-"

"I'd share with Luce though!" The body walked over before hugging the blonde, his arms wrapping tightly and protectively around her and his eyes gave his father a stern, uninterested glare, "But I won't share my Luce with anyway". Lucy, not thinking of anything by what Natsu said, giggled and ruffled the boy's hair.

"Oh yeah? Well, I would share my little Natsu either!" That earned a blushing, huge grin off the pinkette. Lucy was starting to like being liked by this kid, maybe when he's a little older they'll be as close as her and Igni, maybe even best friends! That would be nice. While she thought of this, she gave a large grin back, her eyes closed as her face stretched. Natsu, seeing she wasn't looking, gave Igneel a scowl, eyes narrowing and glowing with a hidden threat that Igneel knew all too well. Oh boy, seems like Lucy's more dense than his seven-year-old idiot-of-a-son and has just agreed to being the kid's beloved without even understanding what it was the kid was even talking about.

And she called him stupid.

He couldn't help but laugh slightly at that, though it was mainly on the inside than out. Just as Natsu began to loosen his arms, Loke, a ginger-haired male, with cat-like ears and piercing moss green eyes stormed in, out of breath. He wore golden armour and a long sword. "King Igneel, Queen Lucy, there's an emergency. My lord, it appears as though Zeref has gone!".