Warning, warning, warning! Lemonish Lime Warning! Adult content ahead - unsuitable for children
"I will take that as submission - excellent choice." Lucy slightly parted her lips and moistened them with the tip of her tongue. Slowly she released Natsu's wrists and trailed her fingers down over his arms. She dipped her head and joined her lips to his. Natsu groaned and stole control of the kiss. He sighed and stroked Lucy's tongue with his. Panting harshly, he clutched her hips.
"Luce, you're not fighting fair, vanishing our clothes like that!" His hands slid up from her hips to caress and clutch her rib cage.
Lucy sighed, "I'm not fighting, this is play...we were both way overdressed." She tensed her thighs and rose up slightly and settled down on Natsu's lap. "You can't tell me you don't like this." With one hand stroking his stomach, she pushed herself back and captured the tip of him. His hands fell from her chest and clenched fistfuls of bed sheet. Watching his face intently, Lucy began squeezing and sliding her hand up and then down.
"Luce, this is too much, too soon!"
"Relax, this is just a dream, just a dream..." Lucy started giggling. Perversely, she kept her hand in motion. The contrast of hard flesh and satiny smooth skin was a revelation. She watched her hand travel faster and faster, pumping up and down. His hips started thrusting, synchronized with breathy moans and gasping pants.
"Lucy!" Natsu was in a state of utter bliss. Wet dreams had never felt this good. Another change of pace and her slow slide down paired with a stronger grip on the upward stroke sent Natsu hurtling over the barrier. Lucy shrieked in surprise and then moaned as she felt the pleasure echoed from her lover- a delicious ripple of bliss, making her stomach coil and skin tingle.
"Fuck! That was amazing!" She crawled up and snuggled under his arm and against his side. "I could get used to that."
Natsu nodded weakly and pulled the bed covers up. "If this keeps up, I won't be able to wear white to our wedding."
"Baka!" Lucy nipped his bicep for his impudence. "I need to bite - can't help it, I've got dragon needs."
"Weirdo..." Natsu yawned. "Good night Luce."
"Mmmm," was all she answered.
In the morning, Lucy woke first. She smiled and cuddled her bed mate. Teasingly, she traced the muscles of his abdomen with one hand. Getting bolder when he didn't stir or otherwise indicate consciousness, she ran her hand over his hip and back up to his chest. With an evil grin, she leaned over and lightly bit Natsu's neck. "Good morning," she whispered.
Natsu's eyes snapped open. "Mornin' Luce. You want the shower first? How about I order some room service. I think we can finish early and be home before dark tonight." He sat up in bed and stretched his arms.
Lucy laid on her side watching his display of tanned limbs and toned muscles. "If you're trying to get me out of bed, showing off your body is a step in the wrong direction."
"Lucy, don't make this harder than it already is."
"That's what she said!" Lucy sniggered. "Oh, fine. I shower, you order food, you shower, we eat, we pack and check out. Together, we fix the damaged buildings and hop the train home." As Natsu picked up the room service lacrima, Lucy threw back the bed covers and got out of bed. Within ten minutes she was showered and dressed in fresh clothes.
"I hope room service gets here soon, Natsu. Would you like help washing your back? How about those tricky spots on your front?"
"Luce! I'm pretty sure that's the Love spring influencing your behaviour. I'll just be a few minutes and our food should show up very soon." Natsu grabbed new clothes and shut himself in the bathroom. He walked out when finished and found Lucy setting out the room service items. They sat down and devoured every scrap of food.
"We're ready to pack up and head out. I'll get rid of the service cart and you check for stray belongings, Luce." Natsu tidied the cart and wheeled it out the door and left it in the hallway off to the side.
"Just about everything is packed and ready to go. I have one question Natsu. Do you know where my new red panties went? They are not in my luggage, and I didn't see them in the bathroom or anywhere in the room."
He grinned sheepishly, "Would you believe the Love spring made me steal your panties?"
Lucy put her hands on her hips. "No. Do I even want to know why you took my underwear? Never mind, let's get going."
She bent to pick up her bag, but Natsu got there first and took it with his. "Oh, thanks. Well, let me get the door for you then." Walking peacefully together, they arrived at the work site just as Caleb showed up. "Good morning!" Lucy chirped. "We're all fired up to finish early!"
"Excellent. My wife would like to thank you for the thoughtful bottle of wine last night. I thank both of you as well." Caleb smiled and rummaged in his briefcase. Pulling out a sheaf of papers he perused them and checked off two thirds of the comments. "We have just the structural damage to repair on three of the buildings. I have a good work crew that prepped the work site last night and I think we can power through it and finish ahead of schedule."
Natsu pumped his fist and exclaimed, "I'm all fired up! Let's get going!" He entered the first building and started pulling out garbage for burning. The morning passed faster than Lucy expected. She had called Taurus out of the spirit world first thing and it was spooky how well he had fit in with the construction workers. Lunch was a brief break, and then back to work. Finally, the last pile of rubble had been burnt as the interior walls had been completed.
Lucy thanked and dismissed Taurus. "Natsu, why don't you wash up in the park facilities and I will collect our jewels. We'll meet up at the train station as soon as we're able, okay?"
"Sure thing Luce. I'll take care of our baggage." He captured one of Lucy's hands and pulled her in close. With a shy hesitant smile he kissed her cheek. "See you soon!"
Caleb finished his paperwork and showed up to escort Lucy back to City Hall. "I hope you and Natsu enjoyed our little town's Hot Spring. Without the two of you, we would have had to cancel our festival. I don't mean to pry, but is there any reason you're leaving early?"
Lucy blushed and stammered, "N-n-not really... Well, I guess part of the reason is we want to see how we feel away from the Love spring."
Broadly smiling, Caleb nodded. "Without even seeing the marks, my wife was sure you and Natsu were a happy couple."
"What marks?" Lucy stopped walking and tilted her head at the political aid. The late afternoon crowd surged around them. "I covered mine up with makeup." The blonde flushed and started walking, but slower than before. "So, you must have seen it at lunch. I must have cleaned it off when I washed up."
"Ah, no. It's kind of amusing, and it's what our Love spring is known for actually. After bathing in the spring, love bites are almost always a certainty and they never stay covered for long." Caleb smiled ruefully. "I've been through almost the same thing. You look horrified. Magic ointment takes care of it, or a person can let it fade naturally." He thrust out his right hand and showed Lucy the mark on the inside of his wrist. "Tell me what you see."
"Oh, wow... It's like a rainbow bruise! But I don't understand, why couldn't I see a rainbow bruise on Natsu yesterday?"
"I can only guess that you weren't ready. Other folks can always see clearer looking in than the people involved can see out. It has been a pleasure meeting you and your partner. Give him my well wishes, won't you?" Caleb paused on the steps leading up to City Hall. "Don't let the mayor cheat you. With your assistance, we completed the repairs ahead of schedule and under budget. You didn't hear it from me, but some of the buildings were already suffering damage."
Lucy gave Caleb a quizzical look. "Why are you telling me this? I appreciate the inside scoop, but I haven't done anything special to warrant..."
"Don't over think this," Caleb interjected. "The festival will bring in a tonne of jewels from tourists and the mayor is a bit of a shit-weasel."
Lucy laughed. "Well, thanks for your help. Maybe we'll be back one day to visit the Love spring." She held out her hand and shook Caleb's hand farewell and friendship.
Lucy entered the building and made her way to the mayor's office. She knocked and was told to enter. "Hello Mr. Mayor. I've come for our jewels."
"Yes, we're very happy you've finished on time, but I've been handed invoices for your meal expenditures and they have overrun our allowable estimates. I've argued for leniency with the council on your behalf, but, you see, some of the older business owners are stubborn and refuse to see reason." The mayor drummed his fingers on his desk as he settled further back in his fancy chair. "Would you like to sit down as we discuss this, Miss Lucy?"
Glaring with her hands on her hips she shook her head. "No, I don't need to sit and discuss this matter, because you owe us what you promised and furthermore, because we are leaving now, you can pony up a voucher for a free one night stay at the Hot Spring Hotel - with no expiry date. Consider yourself lucky that you won't be responsible for any of our other meals today."
"Ah, erm..." The mayor was blindsided by Lucy's strong position. With a sour look, he opened a desk drawer and thumbed through the contents. Pulling out a blank letterhead paper, he quickly scribbled the requested voucher. He handed that and an envelope full of 200,000 jewels to the celestial mage.
With an acidly sweet smile, Lucy accepted both. "I also know some of the buildings were already suffering damage. Will I have trouble with this voucher?"
The mayor grunted as he stood up and went over to the corner of his office and rifled through a cabinet. He pulled out a ornate sticker seal and affixed it to the voucher. "Happy?"
Lucy nodded and left quickly. On her walk to the train station she realized she was grinning like a loon. Ah, got my rent jewels! Gonna sleep in my bed tonight! Oh! When does Natsu want me to pay up? Don't go crazy Lucy... Catching sight of Natsu waiting on a bench, Lucy ran over and dropped down next to him.
"Hey, did you miss me?" She fluttered her eye lashes and stroked his arm lightly. "I got all our jewels and a voucher for a free one night stay at the hotel."
Natsu turned to see Lucy's beaming face and returned her smile. "Awesome! You're the best! I bought our tickets for the next train, it leaves in 20 minutes. We can board now if you want."
Lucy eyed him suspiciously. "You seem awful eager to get on this train. What's up?"
"Nothing! Maybe I just want to spend some time alone with my girlfriend at her apartment." His words tumbled out in a rush and Natsu blushed. "I was thinking about you the whole time I was waiting. I wanted to sound more cool the first time I said you were my girlfriend."
The blonde turned a delicate shade of pink. "I was just thinking about you too, not just about my rent jewels. I'm not going to change - rent is almost always on my mind, but I might have been obsessing over paying off on our bet."
"Don't worry about that Luce. I will collect when I'm ready - I know you need time to write my bedtime story anyway. More importantly..." Natsu shyly slipped his hand into her lap to capture her hand. "If we get into the train compartment now, before it starts moving, we can have a make out session."
"Hells ya!" Lucy popped up and dashed with her boyfriend into the train and locked themselves into a private compartment.
