Sorry for taking so long. I kind of forgot I hadn't posted anything in a while. Yeah, I suck...you can say it. lol Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one. I sure did! :D

Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail.

FROM THE HEART

Chapter 7

"I should probably head out...before we do something we'll regret."

Lucy looked up at him quizzically, then her face fell. "Yeah...maybe you should."

The words were quiet and pained as she pulled back and turned away to unlock her door. She was silent while she worked, leaving Lyon to frown in dissatisfaction when she murmured a soft goodbye and walked inside.

But Lyon couldn't leave it alone. He wasn't an idiot. He could see something was wrong. So he followed her back into her home, his head shaking in frustration. Why was it every time he turned around, he was messing everything up?

Taking her hand, he turned her around and was startled to find her eyes watering. "Lucy..."

"I'm sorry."

Her whisper was enough to wrench his heart in two, and he couldn't keep himself from tugging her into his arms. "Why are you apologizing? You've done nothing wrong. I'm the one who should be sorry."

But she shook her head slowly, still keeping her face turned away. "No, I shouldn't be pushing you. I keep expecting too much, and I-I know it's too soon."

"Pushing me?" She couldn't actually be talking about sex, could she? "Lucy," he hummed, lifting a hand to her face. "Look at me."

He eased her head up, forcing her to look him in the eye, and then he pulled her tight against his body. "Does it feel like you're expecting something from me that I'm not ready to give?"

Her deep brown eyes widened, and her lip trembled. "Then why..."

"Why what?" He was pretty sure he knew where she was going, but he wanted her to know she could talk to him, ask him anything.

She took a shuddering breath and forged ahead. "Then why did you say you should leave? If you w-want me too, why would you say you'd regret it?"

Lyon sighed, then dipped his head down and kissed her. He hated how uncertain she sounded, and he was determined to change that. "I didn't mean I'd regret being with you. I want nothing more than to take you to bed right now, but I don't want you to regret it. I don't want you waking up tomorrow wondering if I'm in this for just sex."

Lucy's eyes took on a glassy look, and then the first tear slipped out. It was like a punch to his gut, and he couldn't help but feel that he'd said something wrong until she reached for him, her hands guiding his mouth down to hers. She kissed him deeply, passionately, and there wasn't a question in his mind what she was saying.

And if that wasn't enough of a clue, her whispered plea certainly was. "Stay with me tonight."

How could he say no to that? He wanted her so much, and here she was offering herself to him, all but begging him to take her. He couldn't deny her; he didn't want to.

"I'm not going anywhere," he rasped, pulling her tightly against his body as he dropped his mouth over hers again.

He kissed her like he'd wanted to all damn night, hard and fast, and Lucy met him just as eagerly. Her hands reached for his shirt, tugging it up his body with a hunger that equaled his own. He pulled back just long enough to discard the shirt, and then her fingers were sliding over his skin, brushing over his muscles and driving him wild.

There was no hesitation in her touch, no uncertainty about what she was doing as if she'd been holding herself back for far too long. And he supposed she had. He couldn't imagine living with such a fierce desire for so long, never getting anything in return, always wondering if things would ever change. No, she was the stronger of them, because he could have never wanted her this much and not gone after her.

Even now, the urge to strip her bare and take her was pressing down hard on him, and he knew it was going to be hard to control. But he had to find a way. She was virgin from what he could tell, and he had to take it slow.

But she sure as hell wasn't making it easy. Already she was tugging at his pants, and he hadn't even gotten to her shirt yet. How the hell was that possible when he was damn near a professional stripper?

He had to stop this before she got her hands on him, because if that happened, his control would be shot to hell and he'd been spreading her out across her table.

"Not yet, sweetheart," Lyon murmured, pulling her hand away from the clasp on his pants and reaching to unbutton her top.

A soft moan left her mouth as he kissed his way down her neck, his lips following the slow path of his hands until she was bare but for the tiniest scrap of lace covering her breasts. He pressed kiss after kiss over the heaving mounds to the tune of her little whimpers, and with a slight flick of his wrist, her bra was gone, leaving her deliciously naked from the waist up.

She was a beautiful sight, her large breasts lifting with her ragged breathing, both dusky nipples pebbling beneath his perusal, and he couldn't keep his appreciation to himself. He dipped down to the bounty before him, taking a pert nipple gently into his mouth and giving it a long slow suck. He laved over it, glorying in the plaintive cries that escaped her mouth and the way she arched herself into his touch.

He'd never had such a responsive lover, and it made him want to find all her hidden spots, all the erogenous zones on her body, and make her react. He wanted to hear her scream his name and beg for more. He needed to watch her melt.

And melt she was. Lucy could barely stand under his assault. His mouth was so hot around her flesh, his tongue so insistent as it flicked against the tender peak of her breast. She didn't know how much more she could take.

She was burning up inside, her body clamoring for him, aching for his touch, his love. She wanted him with a passion long denied, and it was bursting out of her with every frantic exhale of air. She needed him, and once more she reached for him, desperately seeking to speed things up.

And once more, he stopped her. She groaned her frustration, but with one little nip of his teeth, the sound changed into a moan of pleasure. How could he drive her so crazy, make her insane with need, and then refuse to move past this point?

She loved that he wanted to take his time with her, to please her so thoroughly, but sweet Mavis, she was going to combust by the time he went for her skirt. "Lyon please...don't make me wait any longer..."

She meant it. She'd ached for him for long months, her heart wounded and broken, her body throbbing for a touch she couldn't have, and she couldn't take it anymore. She was so close to everything she'd always wanted and never thought possible, and she couldn't bear to be put off any longer. She needed him.

Lyon seemed to hear the desperation in her voice, because he pulled back and kissed her full on the mouth. His tongue thrust greedily between her lips, and she moaned at his intensity. It was just what she needed, hot and eager and oh so good. And finally...finally his hands were sliding down to her waist, his fingers easily powering through the fastenings on her skirt and pushing it down her legs.

He wasted no time ridding her of her panties, and as she stepped out of the last remaining article of clothing, she reached for him, determined to touch him. And this time, he let her. She hummed against his mouth as she undid his pants and slipped her hand inside. She found him thick and ready beneath his boxer briefs, and she felt wetness pool between her legs at the thought of all that hardness moving inside her.

With an impatience born of long lonely nights, Lucy stripped him bare and wrapped her greedy hand around him. Lyon jerked back from her mouth with a low groan, and Lucy could relate. Being able to touch him was a dream come true, a wonderful, amazing, intoxicating dream come true, and she wanted nothing more than to have it happen over and over and over again.

"Where's your room?"

His voice was a rasp, gruff with need, and it sent a jolt of fire deep into the pit of her belly. She let herself stroke along that hardness one more time before she reached for his hand. "This way."

She led him through the small apartment, and backed up to her bed, pulling him with her onto the soft surface. He followed her down, his eyes boring into hers with an intensity that had her heart hammering in her chest. God, she couldn't believe this was happening, that in a few short moments, Lyon would be making love to her. Their bodies would be joined in a way she'd only ever imagined in weak moments, and it was all coming true.

Lucy spread her legs in welcome, and Lyon sank down between them, his shaft pressing up wonderfully against her aching sex. She slid her hands around his back, tugging at him in silent demand, and he leaned down, kissing her softly, gently.

She arched into him, begging him with her body to take her when she felt his hand slide between her parted thighs. She gasped as his fingers brushed over her clit, dipping ever so slightly into her cleft before gliding back up. Over and over again, he did that, teasing and stroking until Lucy was mad with desire. She longed for him to slip those fingers inside her, to end the desperate ache in her body, and finally, he did.

Lyon flexed his hand over her, using his palm to rub across that delicate nub as his fingers drove in and out, in and out. She cried out at the incredible sensation, at the welling of something in the innermost part of her being. She could feel it coming, that beautiful burst of pleasure that would signal her end, and a few strokes later, it hit her, sending her bowing off the bed and screaming out his name.

Lucy couldn't move, couldn't command her limbs to cooperate any more than she could force her lungs to breathe. In that moment, she was frozen in a delicious swirl of sensation of his creation.

A moment or a lifetime later, she opened her eyes and found him hovering over her, his lips lifted in that soft smile she loved so much, and he hummed, "Beautiful..."

Her heart swelled at his compliment, and she felt the first prick of tears. It was everything she'd hoped for, everything she'd ever dreamed of, and it was real. He was real.

"You ready, sweetheart?"

Her answer was instant and completely certain. "Yes..."

Lyon pressed himself between her legs, nudging the entrance of her sex, and then he looked up at her, his expression gentle. "Hold on..."

With a quick flexing of his hips, he was inside her, breaking through her hymen and filling her to the brim. She gasped at the sting of pain that accompanied his invasion, but she didn't regret it. She couldn't regret anything that had happened that day. He was everything she'd ever wanted, and he was here with her now - on top of her, inside of her, surrounding her in his presence. She'd never felt so whole.

The pain lasted for only a moment, and then the desire for him surged again. She found herself shifting her hips, bowing up into him in a bid to make him move. Her actions drove a groan from his lips, and he kissed her hard, sending the sound tripping along her nerves and stoking the fire inside her.

And then he drew back, easing his body out of hers and driving it back in. He set a slow, deliberate pace, one that shallowed her breathing and sent her moaning in appreciation. She couldn't have dreamed this would be so good. She'd known how much this act would mean to her, how much it would touch her heart, but she couldn't have imagined how good it would feel to her body.

She'd been so innocent of all this, and because of that, she'd been largely ignorant. Not of the act itself. She knew plenty of that, but the sensations, the feelings it invoked were all so new and overwhelming. And because it was Lyon, it was more so.

All she could think about was how much she loved him and how amazing it felt to finally be able to show him - with her words, her body. She wanted him to know her heart, and as their bodies moved together, joining and separating, she couldn't help the tears that spilled over. It was as if her heart were overflowing.

Lucy reached for him, pulling him down to her mouth, and he shifted over her, lifting a hand to her face and brushing at her tears as he kissed her. It was a moment she knew she'd never forget, the one where she knew without a doubt that she mattered more to him than just a girl. She wasn't just a woman to be with, a body to sleep with. She was someone he was beginning to care about.

It was enough to send a wave of emotion bursting in her chest, and she kissed him desperately, hungrily, as if she could never get enough. And she was sure that was true. She'd never get over this need for him, and she didn't want to.

He was it for her, the One, the only. There was not a single doubt in her mind. He was her soul mate, for now...for always.

And as he thrust between her legs, she felt that pull deep inside her, the one that signaled her end, and she eased back with a moan. God, how could he feel so good?

Lyon seemed to see she was close, and he grabbed behind her knee, lifting it up and hooking it over his hip. He thrust deep, harder and harder until Lucy was gasping out his name, pleading with him for something more. And he gave it to her, angling his hips just enough to brush over her clit and send her reeling with sensation.

She latched onto his back as the orgasm swelled over her, rising up inside her like a massive wave, and then it crashed. She came howling with pleasure as Lyon kept up his fast pace, lengthening her climax and leaving her shaking and quivering in his arms.

His eyes clenched, and he fisted the covers beneath her and drove up into her once more before letting himself go. He came with a harsh grunt, his body shuddering and pressing hers tightly into the bed.

It was quiet for long minutes save for their shared heaving, and then Lyon shifted, slipping from her body and dropping onto the bed beside her. Then he reached for her, pulling her in against his side. "You okay, sweetheart?"

Lucy snuggled into his chest and hummed in satisfaction. "I'm...wonderful."

A deep chuckle rumbled beneath her head, then he yawned and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Good."

She sighed contentedly, listening to his heart tap out a steady beat, and just before the darkness took her, she spoke the words she'd kept hidden for so long. "I love you..."

A/N: Oh holy yum yums...Lucy finally got her man. WOOOO!