All rights to Hiro Mashima
~ Part One: Burn ~
Verb: to undergo rapid combustion or consume fuel in such a way as to give off heat, gases, and usually light
Well into the night, and even into the wee hours of the morning, they danced together in a spiral of tangled limbs and heavy breathing. The Fire Salamander and the Star Child held each other close, both afraid that if they let go, they would wake up from what would have to be the best dream they had both ever had.
Because surely this was a dream. For Natsu, his only goal at the beginning of the night was to drink himself into a stupor and maybe give Gray a black eye. Never had he thought that he would meet his best friend, here in Fairy Tail of all places and that she would shine as brightly as the stars that she covets so deeply. So, all his goals for the foreseeable future had now shifted at a ninety-degree angle, his top priority being to feel her, whether it be her hand or the taper of her waist or the skin of her cheek.
Or something more, but he wasn't holding out too much hope for that because they only just officially met a few hours prior.
He also wants to know her. There is only so much you can say online, and sometimes the meaning is lost in translation with no facial expressions to give clues as to the hidden code behind some statements. This communication style, face to face, is what he lives for. Natsu is and will always be a truly social person, who loves to talk and laugh with his friends, see the expression in their eyes when they tell an exciting story, and get swept up in the sound of their laughter. Not being able to hear Lucy's voice for months on end was killing him a little inside.
But it was worth the wait. Everything was so worth it. She was here now, and that's all that mattered. His Lucy was dancing so close to him he could feel the warmth of her skin though her dress. Her hands clasped behind his neck rubbing absentminded circles on his nape were so delicate that he could barely feel if she was touching him at all. But when she did touch him – honest to the gods – he thought he was going to burst into flames and disintegrate into a pile of ashes out here on the dance floor.
They were surrounded by a jumbled mess of bodies, sweaty and sticky from the heat. But all the two could see were each other. They were close together through necessity as there wasn't a lot of room left between all the people, but Natsu deemed the proximity of Lucy not close enough.
So he did what he had to do to convey his displeasure at the space left between them, he grasped her dress-clad hips in both hands and dragged her flush against his torso. 'That's better.'
At that moment his brain ceased to function as he felt just how truly close they were. He could now feel how her hips were swaying in his hands, and he could see how a light sheen of sweat now covered her body and made her glisten like the night sky under the strobing lights.
And he could smell her. Dear gods, he could smell everything about her. The light flowery scent of her perfume, the musky smell of her sweat from dancing, and the deliciously deep dark scent of her excitement. She was fantastic, flowing through her moves like a trained dancer, so beautiful and graceful with just a hint of sass that kept a man guessing. He could hear her ragged breaths, from the dancing he presumed, or maybe it was something more.
He could only hope that he was affecting her just as much as she was affecting him. The evidence of that fact was sitting low in his pants, tense and aching, he really needed a cold shower, but was reluctant to move even an inch away from this seductress in front of him. Any man could see she was something special, but she was Natsu's, and she could be scooped up by any of these jokers around them. At this thought a feral growl of a warning to any man who was foolish to even come close to this woman rumbled up though his chest. Gods forbid if any man touched her that in his eyes was deemed inappropriate.
They were likely to lose a hand for their trouble.
Lucy gasped as she felt a growl spill from Natsu's chest into hers, vibrating the air around them. Lucy had never felt so alive in her life. Dancing here with her Fire Salamander felt so right, even the hands that were clutching her waist needed to stay where they were because it made her feel something new.
Something exciting. She had never really been touched before, her house being so big and lonely. Even hugs were sparse and few between because her parents were gone so early in her life. Her sisters were a balm on her aching heart, but they just weren't…enough. It was too platonic.
She wanted to be held like she was an anchor in someone's life and if they let go, they were liable to drift off into the atmosphere. She wanted someone to touch her, to light a fire deep in her bones.
And Lucy could feel that with Natsu. He was gripping her so tightly like he was worried she was going to disappear on him. She loved it; she relished the feeling of being needed, of being wanted. The hug that he gave her earlier was so tight and warm she could see herself falling asleep in his embrace.
She hoped she might one day.
With those thoughts in mind, she made another pact with herself. She would not go back to not knowing this man in front of her. She would speak to him in person, culminate an actual relationship with him, whether it is friendly or not.
She hoped he would become more than just her best friend one day, as she could see that he was loyal and a genuinely beautiful person under all that pink hair and gleaming smile. She wanted that smile all to herself. She had never been greedy in her whole life, but she deemed it necessary. His full toothy grin was a treasure to be coveted, so she would.
One of his hands moved up from her hips and skimmed up the length of her arm, ghosting over her bare shoulder to land under her chin. He tilted her head up, so they were eye to eye, his on full display, gleaming and glinting in the dim lights. "You are so beautiful Lucy, just as I pictured you." She heard his voice, low, raw and so hypnotic in her ear.
No one had ever called her beautiful before, and never in that tone of voice. But she loved it when Natsu said it. She didn't know what she should say back, so she just smiled, a hint of a blush stealing over her cheeks.
Lucy leant into his embrace, even more, their lower halves connecting in a more intimate grind. She could feel his arousal slightly through his pants, and she jolted slightly before realising that she was the one who made him feel like that.
Her. And no one else. So she relaxed into him, letting the beat sweep her away. Her core was aching slightly at the thought of his hard length so close to her, hidden under the layers of his clothes.
Confidence swept through her like a wave. She wanted to see what else she could do to Natsu, could she cause him to lose even more control of his body? She slowly moved her hands down from his neck, skimming over his collar bones to graze his muscled chest.
She felt all his muscles jump from her touch, his abs twitching under her palms. A slightly strangled noise erupted from his throat, a mix of a groan and a whine unique to Natsu, something she had never heard before. A wicked grin passed over her face for a moment. He wasn't immune to her advances it seems.
She looked up into his eyes again, a fire immediately lighting between her legs when she saw the naked lust flashing in his eyes. "Natsu…" She breathed.
She wanted to kiss him. To feel what it was like, just this once, even if it never happened again.
Lucy leant in towards him, and he towards her. Natsu seemed to have the same notion about her lips, although his thoughts were more in the realms of just what those lips could do to him given half a chance.
Millimetres. There were mere millimetres between them when a buzzing noise and a vibration on Lucy's right thigh broke the spell like a rock though a glass window. The remnants of the little world they were in shattering all around them.
Strapped to her thigh, Lucy had her phone set on vibrate in the case of emergencies, and her set of magical keys. Neither could be seen under her dress unless closely inspected.
Natsu groaned low in his throat and dropped his slightly sweaty forehead onto Lucy's shoulder. All he wanted was a kiss, one kiss from Lucy and he would be able to die a happy man. "Dammit. I have to answer this; I'll be back in a minute." And then she was gone from his arms, striding away towards the exit.
Natsu had never felt colder than he did at that moment. The eternal fire that burned within him felt like nothing compared to what Lucy's touch could do to him.
Sidling up to the bar yet again, ignoring the sharp looks and smiles from a particular demon bar maid, Natsu ordered another drink, spiced rum this time, to try to warm his insides back up.
It was a nice thought until his ridiculously acute hearing picked up the sounds of a woman's scream from outside. The discomfort in his gut and the painful squeeze in his chest deemed the sound important.
He knew it was Lucy.
"Gajeel! Laxus! With me!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, barley being heard over the pounding beat of the club. But he knew that they heard him, just as he knew they would follow him out into the night.
-ooo-
Buzzing incessantly against her thigh, Lucy's phone was becoming a nuisance to her. And she wasn't feeling at all amicable to whomever was on the other side of this phone call that interrupted her first kiss with a gorgeous hunk of a man who actually seemed to like her for herself, and not the amount of money her parents had. Or the fact that she was now the sole heir to said fortune.
No.
Even if Natsu knew her last name, he wouldn't be that petty. From all the talks they had on the chat site, she knew that he was an honest, honourable man. 'I think I should tell him my whole name and identity.' She knew it was past time to tell him. Their bond was built on trust, and she would be damned before anything or anyone came between them, especially something as stupid as her fucking last name.
It seems that Lucy is very protective over her Fire Salamander, but she didn't know why just yet.
Ripping off her phone from the strap around her thigh, Lucy accepts the call and offers a terse "What!" before she could even check the number on the caller ID.
"LUCY! Thank God! Where the hell are you? We checked everywhere today! You missed all our texts for hours, so I decided to call you instead! Do you know what time it is? We were so worried!"
Lucy slaps her hands over her eyes and sighs. "Sora…I'm sorry, I didn't realise that I didn't tell you and Yuki anything. I'm in Magnolia…at a club. Sora…I met a guy. His name is Natsu."
Immediately Sorano's whole demeanour took a complete one-eighty spin. "Oh! Well, why didn't you say so? A man you say…well, good luck sis! Just remember to use protection and such. On another note…when will you be home? Hopefully, tomorrow sometime, if you catch my meaning."
And Lucy did catch her meaning. Ever the blunt one Sorano couldn't have known all the wonderfully delicious images that she was conjuring up in Lucy's brain.
"Yeah, I think tomorrow night, really late probably, or early the next morning. I have to come back here to Fairy Tail to talk to the owner. Apparently, he was good friends with my mother when she was alive. Hopefully, he can tell me a little more about her and maybe he has some stories to share. I'll get a hotel room or something so that I don't waste money on the commute back and forth from the house."
"Alight then. Have fun tonight girly. Both Yuki and I love you lots, be safe!"
And then Sorano was gone, happy that she did her due diligence with regards to her sisters. She would always worry about Lucy a bit; she worked so hard all the time. But maybe this is the push she needs to grow and stretch her wings so to speak.
Lucy smiled down at her phone for a second, pleased that she had such a wonderful sister in her life.
A cold breeze blew down the avenue, making her shiver and wish she had thought to bring a jacket. Even though it was a warm summer's night, she was sweaty from the dancing inside and causing her a touch of distress. So she turned back towards Fairy Tail in hopes that Natsu would still be inside. She wasn't ready to stop dancing with him, even though it was almost one in the morning.
A foreign hand grabbed her forearm in a bruising grip. She knew this wasn't Natsu without even turning around. He would never hurt her like this, and she would bet any amount of money that the person now holding her arm wasn't friendly in any way.
"Lucy Heartfilia. Who knew that the boss was right and you finally came down from that palace you call a house. Now give us those keys, and we'll let you go."
She was right. This man and the other three beefy idiots that surrounded her on all her sides were not pleasant in the slightest. From the steel in their eyes and the fact that they were all carrying strange looking guns, she deduced that they were more than likely some mercenaries.
"How do you know that name? How did you know I was here of all places!? And what keys are you talking about?" Lucy silently applauded herself for not stuttering even though her insides felt like they were becoming liquid and all she wanted to do was curl up on the ground and cower. She wouldn't let them take her keys; they were all she had left of her mother other than her love of the stars and a gigantic mansion.
She wanted to cry.
But she wouldn't give these assholes the satisfaction. Oh no, she was her father's daughter after all, and in the face of a problem, she would stand tall and proud and piss them off before she succumbed to her fear. 'I hope Papa's proud of me for this. Wherever he is.'
The man gave her no answer to her questions, only to leer at her exposed skin with lustful and calculating eyes. So she did the only thing she could think of at the moment to keep the slimy bastard away from touching her.
She kicked him in the balls, ramming her slightly pointed heel into his groin as far as it would go. Stunned and in an immense amount of pain, the leader of this little group fell onto the sidewalk and vomited up his dinner, groaning and whining like a child.
Everyone else, including Lucy, stood stalk still, flabbergasted that the tiny, rich, brat of a girl had the audacity to fight back against them.
Lucy, coming out of her stupor before the rest of the men, did the next thing that came to mind, even if it was the wrong choice and they shot her in the next minute. She knew that they would call her bluff about those keys strapped to her leg. Someone told them she was here, someone knew about those keys, and someone wanted them for themselves.
She screamed, hoping and praying to the gods that someone would hear her.
