Hi guys! A new chapter for you all! Hope you enjoy! Just wanna say thanks so much for all the support for our story - we love it so much!

Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail! :)

CHAPTER 12: MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

I awoke to beams of light streaming in through the window of my bedroom, the heat from the rays warming me comfortingly as I sat up and shook my head at my imagination. That had been one hell of a dream of Corvus, so hot in spite of his dark exterior, or perhaps because of it. Man, was he dreamy, like the ultimate bad boy.

Two spirits in a row, I thought as I left my bed and headed for my bathroom to wash. I hoped that didn't mean I'd be having dreams of my other spirits. Images popped into my head of Taurus, Cancer, and Capricorn, and I blanched, feeling slightly ill. Okay, enough of that or I'd be sick for sure. I pushed the thought from my mind, certain that my imagination would never be so cruel to me, and finished up my shower.

I dressed quickly, intending to write a bit before I headed off to the guild. The story had been coming along well, and I'd just gotten to the part where the villain had taken the Princess captive. Now, it was time for her Knight Protector to save her. I'd planned to have him engage the bad guy in a sword fight, and I was excited to work on it.

Grabbing an apple from the kitchen and a glass of water, I moved to my desk and pulled out my manuscript, reading over the last few pages, as I always did, before starting again. I took a bite of my breakfast and got down to business, diving right into the fight scene.

A couple hours passed as I worked, and by the time I was done, I was frowning, biting my lip at what I had just written. It just wasn't right. I couldn't put my finger on exactly what was wrong with it, but I knew there was a problem. Sighing, I stood to my feet, gathering the pages in my hand. I figured I could take it to the guild, see if Levy could help me fix it. If anyone could see the issue, it'd be her.

Decision made, I slipped the papers into my bag, grabbing my keys as I left the house. I walked along the water, balancing once again on the edge as I thought about my new Spirit. I couldn't help but laugh as I realized how ironic it was that Laxus can given me that key as a way to get to know me. He of course thought that would help me dream of him, and then, instead of Laxus, I'd dreamed of the Spirit attached to the key.

Oh, he was going to be so peeved. I felt bad, but what was I supposed to do about it? I couldn't make myself dream about him, even if I wanted to. Obviously, the fantasy was there, but apparently, my mind refused to bring it to life as I slept. It was rather odd, and quite frustrating for him, from what I could see.

Before I could think any more on the topic, a voice rang out, "Hey Luce!"

Lifting my head, I saw Natsu barreling towards me with Happy right behind him, "Luce, come on! We gotta hurry!"

I hopped down from the ledge just as he reached me, my eyebrow cocked at him, and asked, "Hurry? Why?"

"We've gotta go on a job!" he shouted, spinning me around to pull me back the way I'd come, away from the guild, "Just you, me, and Happy - like old times! Let's go, slow poke!"

"Aye sir!" Happy chirped from above us, snickering behind his paws, "She'd be faster if she lost some weight."

I shot a glare at the insulting cat and turned to the pink-haired man beside me. "But Natsu," I began, trying to figure out why he was dragging me off like this, "I was headed to the guild."

"You can't go there!" he snapped, before laughing nervously, his hand scratching the back of his head, "I mean...we can't go there because...we have a job to do."

He held up a piece of paper in front of my face, and pushing it back enough to read, I shot him a confused look. "Natsu, what is this? You can't do ballet."

"What?" he asked dumbfounded.

"Natsu, this request is for a male/female pair of ballet dancers," I said, grabbing the flier and pointing to a word, "See this? Danseur means a male ballet dancer."

I smiled as he blew out a puff of air and his shoulders slumped. "I thought it meant we were supposed to meet them at a ballet," he pouted.

"When are you going to learn to read the whole request?" I asked, giggling at his depressed expression, "Come on, let's go back. I didn't really feel like going on a mission anyway."

"Aww come on, Luce! It'll be fun. You just stay here, and I'll go get another one," he pleaded, and turned around before waiting for my answer.

I reached out for his arm, yanking him back towards me. "Natsu," I said sternly, wondering at his suspicious behavior. "Why don't you want me at the guild? What's going on?"

"N-nothing," he squeaked, scratching the back of his head sheepishly as I continued to stare at him. It took a well placed bonk on the head to get him talking, but nothing could have prepared me for what he said. He turned his face away a bit, muttering, "It bugs me how all the guys have been staring at you lately. And now, you're talking to them too."

I reeled back at his words, shock filling my mind at his admission. Was he serious? "Natsu...are you jealous?" I asked.

"He liiiiikes you!" Happy filled in.

I rolled my eyes at the Exceed, ignoring him for the moment as Natsu sputtered, "No, why would you say that?"

"Well, it sounds like it's bothering you that I'm spending time with some of the other guys," I replied softly, not really sure how to handle this new development.

"That's cause we're partners. You're supposed to hang out with me, not those losers," he huffed, folding his arms over his chest as if he was offended.

I bit my lip as I watched him, trying to keep in a laugh. He was so cute when he got on his 'partner' soapbox. "We hang out all the time, Natsu. I'm just trying to get to know them. You've got nothing to worry about, because partners always make time for each other," I assured.

"Alright!" he spouted, beaming that big smile of his at me again.

"Now, can we go to the guild?" I asked plaintively.

"Sure Luce!" he yelled, snatching my hand and running back towards the guild, all but dragging me behind him.

We entered the building, and Natsu immediately took off towards Gray, firing off a blast of fire at the unsuspecting man. I shook my head at his once again happy expression, his earlier piqué all but forgotten, and turned with the intention of finding the girls. Sadly, the only one of my "dream confidantes" I could find was Mira, and she was bustling around, busier than ever.

As my eyes moved over the back corner of the room, I caught sight of Gajeel watching me, and as our eyes met, he waved me over with a smile that was, oddly enough, not entirely perverted. I walked over with an answering grin and sat down, saying, "Hey Gajeel. What's up?"

"I wanted to show you something. You know, cause we were talking about what we liked to read," he answered, his face slightly tense as he reached down to grab something.

I smiled brightly, feeling excited that our conversation had produced such surprising results, "Oh that's great."

He paused for a moment, seeming not entirely certain of sharing the information with me, but I spoke again, urging, "Oh, come on. You can't leave me hanging like that."

He offered me a tentative smile and drew his hand up to set a book on the table, pushing it towards as his eyes scanned the area around us for interlopers. He seemed so nervous about anyone seeing it, and I couldn't imagine why. He turned his attention to me, watching me intently as I began to thumb through the pages.

Ignoring his odd behavior, I started reading the first few pages. It was a manga, the drawing very well done, and the writing interesting. I wasn't entirely certain of the main plot of the whole thing, but it had definitely caught my interest. A few minutes passed in silence, and Gajeel began shifting beside me.

Lifting my head, I enthused, "I have to say, I'm intrigued. Admittedly, I don't understand a lot of what's going on, but from what I can see, it seems a really exciting read."

His face spread into a wide grin, and he scooted closer, his hand moving to point things out in the book. "It is. This is Ichigo, the main character. He was just a regular human until he met her, Rukia. She's a Soul Reaper."

I could see that he was warming up to the subject, and I couldn't help but giggle. I'd never seen him quite so animated before, but I had to admit, it was seriously cute. The thought was rather shocking to say the least, because I would have never expected to consider him, of all people, to be adorable. Sexy as hell, absolutely, but cute? That was a surprise.

"What?" he asked, turning suspicious eyes on me.

Another giggle slipped out at him before I could respond, "Sorry. I've just never seen you like this."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he rumbled, his face already beginning to shut down into his normal blank look.

I rushed to assure him, placing my hand on his arm, "Nothing bad, I swear. I like seeing you like this. It's cute."

Thankfully, he began to relax again, the tenseness leaving his body almost instantly. His lips twitched at my words, his eyebrow arching arrogantly, as he mused, "Did you seriously just call me cute?"

"It surprised me too," I laughed lightly, thoroughly enjoying this playful side of him, "Trust me, I'd never have thought it was possible either."

"Hey!" he protested, pulling his face into an expression of mock offense, "I can't believe you just said it wasn't possible for me to be cute."

A laugh bubbled out loudly in response as I explained, "That's not exactly what I said. Besides, it's true. You don't normally exude cuteness. Your usual MO is all tall, dark, and dangerously sexy."

He smirked at that, his red eyes gleaming with amusement, as he leaned in a bit. "I like the sound of that, Bunny Girl."

"When are you going to stop calling me that?" I asked in exasperation, though knowing the question was pointless. He was never going to abandon that embarrassing nickname.

"I'll drop the Bunny Girl name when I forget how you looked in that sexy ass bunny suit," he teased, his face falling into a lecherous grin I was becoming all too familiar with.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. I kind of figured it was a lost cause anyway," I pouted, absent-mindedly thumbing through his book again.

My focus became razor-sharp though, just a moment later, when I came across a fight scene involving swords. I sped through the scene, my eyes taking in every detail of the interaction. I could feel my excitement rising. This was perfect. I was so thoroughly wrapped up in my thoughts, that I barely heard Gajeel speaking again.

"What? Did you say something?" I asked.

"What's got you so distracted?" he questioned, leaning his head over to find what had gained my attention. "You like this part?"

I bit my lip as I considered telling him the truth. There were very few people who had read my writing, and I still wasn't entirely comfortable with just anyone seeing it. I still worried that it would suck, that someone would say they hated it, so I'd been very careful to keep it hidden away from prying eyes.

Now, here I was, debating about sharing it with Gajeel of all people. Before any of the dreams and the time I'd spent with him, I'd have never entertained the thought of such a thing, but now the idea appealed to me. Besides, he'd put aside his own reservations and shared something about himself with me. Could I do any less?

"I'm sure you've heard that I've been writing a novel," I began. Getting a confused look and a nod, I continued, "Well, I was working on a scene this morning, a sword fight actually, and it just didn't feel right. I had planned on asking Levy to help me figure out what was missing, but now..."

He waited after I trailed off, but when I said nothing more, he pressed, "Now, what?"

Taking a deep breath, I answered, "Now, I wonder if you might help me with it."

"Me?" he asked, his face contorting with surprise, "I don't know anything about writing."

"Yes, but you know a lot about fighting, specifically using a sword. I don't need help writing it. I need help with the flow of the fight itself, with making it realistic. You'd be perfect!" I exclaimed, feeling more and more excited with the idea the longer I thought about it.

He was silent for a time, his expression thoughtful, and then he smirked, "Well, I wouldn't want to disappoint you after you just said I was perfect."

"I said you'd be perfect, not that you were perfect," I clarified with a laugh, then asked, "So, is that a yes?"

Before he could answer, a face pushed itself between our heads, causing us to jerk back in opposite directions. "Hey, what are you guys looking at?" Natsu asked, reaching out for the Bleach manga book.

I knew Gajeel wouldn't want Natsu to see it, so before his hand could touch it, I snatched it away, scolding, "Natsu, stop being so nosy."

"Get the hell outta here, dumbass!" Gajeel shouted, throwing his fist at the fire mage's face, turning his arm into a pillar of iron as it connected and sent Natsu flying across the guild.

I followed his flight with my eyes until he smacked into the far wall, then watched in frustration as he scrambled to his feet and headed straight back towards us, his eyes burning with the usual fire for a brawl. I turned to Gajeel and huffed, "It looks like you're about to be pretty busy."

"He's asking for an ass-kicking," he agreed, standing to his feet as he mentioned, "And yeah, I'll help you with your book. Just let me know when."

Clapping my hands in excitement, I stood up as well, offering him a grateful smile. "Awesome! Thanks Gajeel! We can work on it at my place one night if that's okay with you."

Gajeel moved closer, invading my personal space, as he growled playfully, "Whatcha gonna give me in return, Bunny Girl?"

"The only thing you'll be getting is dinner, perv," I returned easily, using my hand to shove his face away.

"Sounds good, Bunny Girl," he responded with a laugh, his face turning smug, "It's a date."

"You wish." I shook my head at his reasoning, laughing with him. I reached out for his book and moved to hand it to him, but he put up his hands, saying, "Keep it. I'll get it from you later."

In the next instant, a flaming fist shot past my face, heading right for Gajeel's chest. It made contact, and sent the Iron Dragon Slayer flying into the table behind him, instantly drawing Elfman into the fray with a loud shout of, "You almost hit Evergreen! That's not manly!"

I rolled my eyes as the trio went at it, and walked away, intending to join Gray across the room. It was surprising that he wasn't involved up to his ears with the mess behind me. Normally, he'd be all over a possible fight with Natsu. I swear, those two would fight over whether the sky was blue.

I made it only a few steps, when the frame of a large man moved into my path, and I looked up to find Laxus staring down at me expectantly. Oh goody, I thought, this was going to be a fun conversation. I almost felt guilty, which was ridiculous. It wasn't like I could control those outrageous dreams. Regardless, I did feel bad having to disappoint him.

"Well?" he asked, his stormy eyes watching me intently.

"Sorry Laxus. It wasn't you," I answered, wondering if he'd let it pass without knowing who had starred in my latest steamy dream.

His face fell a bit, but immediately pulled itself back into his usual smirk. "You know, it's probably best that you get these others out of the way first."

"And why's that?" I asked, a bit confused at his change of heart. Literally the day before, he had been concerned enough to spend time with me in hopes of encouraging a dream of him.

He pulled me closer to him, leaning his head down next to mine to whisper, "Wouldn't want the rest of them feeling bad trying to go after me. I mean, after you've had the best, everything else would seem rather sad, wouldn't it?"

I gulped a bit at his insinuation, my mind already churning out racy scenarios, possible positions, and I could nothing but stand there stunned as he bellowed out a laugh. I knew my face must have turned a rosy color, and the supposition was confirmed when he ran a large finger along my cheek and commented, "Nice reaction. I'd love to know what you just thought of to cause it."

His touch was surprisingly soft in spite of his size and the gruffness he normally showed to the world. The contrast was intriguing to me, appealing to my writer's mind, and I found myself wondering what other things he kept hidden so well. The thought of discovering even more about this strong, complex man was tempting, exciting even.

I blinked for a moment, trying to make my mind relinquish its perusal of him to focus on the conversation. Taking a moment to go over what he'd said, I laughed nervously, shaking my head. "There's no way in hell I'm telling you that. Maybe I'll tell you after..."

"After what?" he asked with a knowing grin. He seemed all too sure of himself, but honestly, if he truly was "the best", he'd have plenty of reason to be self-assured.

"If I dream about you, I'll think about telling you what made me blush," I answered quickly, not giving myself time to back out. It would be embarrassing to admit how fast I'd begun thinking about having sex with him, but I figured it couldn't be much worse than everyone knowing I was so free I was in my dreams.

He smirked again. "Oh, you're going to dream about me," he answered with certainty, "Now, who was the lucky guy this time."

"Are you sure you wanna know, Laxus?" I asked, decidedly uneasy about giving him the information.

His face turned cautious as he said, "Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

I sighed, starting with an apology, "I'm sorry, but I dreamed about my new Spirit last night."

"Okay," he answered casually, obviously not making the connection. I knew the minute he'd figured it out though, as his expression went into disbelief, and he deadpanned, "Of course you dreamed about the guy from the key I just gave you."

I put a hand on his arm, and continued, "I'm really sorry. I feel so bad about that."

"I'm beginning to think you don't like me," he explained, looking a bit hurt, "Are you trying to avoid dreaming about me?"

"No, I'm honestly not Laxus," I argued, feeling slightly panicked that he was offended. I figured this conversation would be bad, but I hadn't expected it to actually hurt his feelings. Now, I really felt like shit. I almost wished I'd lied.

He suddenly burst out laughing, shaking his head at my confusion, and said, "I'm just messing with you. Damn, you're easy to get."

Before I could really consider my actions, my hand had already reached out and smacked his arm in retaliation. He arched a blonde brow at me, his head drawing back a bit in surprise at how nonchalantly I'd done that. I honestly couldn't believe I'd actually hit him either. It was something I was entirely too familiar with doing to Natsu and Gray, but never in a million years would I have thought that I'd do that with Laxus.

Well, it was done and over with, so instead of dwelling on the oddity, I shook it off and glared at him. "That wasn't very nice, Mister," I fussed, poking a finger into his chest, his very hard, very muscular chest. My thoughts began to trail away, heading straight into dangerously pervy territory, but I fought against it, pushing myself to continue my rant. "I can't help who I dream about, and you shouldn't be trying to make me feel bad about it."

The tall blonde man chuckled a bit, completely unapologetic, as he pulled my hand up to his mouth and lightly nipped the pad of my finger with his teeth. "I guess I'll just have to make it up to you sometime."

"W-what?" I stuttered, my brain freezing up as my body went up in flames. How the hell could one little bite turn me on so much?

He smirked again, lifting my hand to his mouth again, when a black blur slammed into Laxus, sending the two of them to the floor with a crash. My eyes widened as I watched Gajeel struggle up off the larger man and apologize, "Sorry, Salamander threw me over here."

I glanced back in the direction Gajeel had come from and caught sight of Natsu looking strangely pleased with himself until he saw me looking at him. His smirk instantly transformed into an innocent smile, and he waved. Had he done that on purpose to get Laxus away from me?

Before I could think too hard on it, I heard Laxus growl angrily as he passed me, "Excuse me while I beat the shit out of that kid."

A moment later, Gajeel came up behind me, leaning in to whisper in my ear, "See you soon Bunny." He let out his odd little laugh, and promptly smacked me on the ass as he ran off to rejoin the fight. There was no time to react, and I wasn't entirely sure how to respond.

I figured there were two options - I could take it as a compliment, as strange as that sounded, or I could view it as an insult. I highly doubted he meant anything bad by it, but I knew I couldn't just let it pass. If I did, I'd have every man in the guild thinking they could touch my backside.

Nodding to myself, I made a silent promise to the cocky Dragon Slayer. I would return the favor, but not in the way it sounded. Giggling a bit, I mulled over my wicked plan. He wanted to pop my ass in the middle of the guild? Then we'd see how he enjoyed a real whipping in the same place.

Looking back over the guild, I once again tried to find the girls, but seeing only Mira still, I made my way over to Gray, who was hanging out at a table with someone I hadn't known was here. Moving up behind him, I dropped my hands on his shoulders, leaning over to look him in the eye. "Loke, how long have you been here?"

"Long enough to know you've been a very naughty girl," he teased, wagging his eyebrows at me.

I gave out an aggrieved sigh, and stood back up, moving into the seat between the two wildly grinning men. Turning to the dark-haired one to my right, I groaned, "Did you have to tell him all that? Now, he's gonna be an even bigger flirt!"

"Hey, he wanted to know what everyone's been up to," Gray answered slyly, "And everyone's been up your ass about those dreams of yours."

Loke leaned over to me, trailing his nose along my cheek as he whispered hotly, "Just so you know, I would relish the chance to taste you so thoroughly, but I would never have stopped at three. As a lion, I have a voracious appetite, and you Princess are positively delectable."

His words hit me like a sledgehammer, and I gulped, my mind flashing with the sight of his handsome face delving between my legs. I couldn't feel his tongue lapping at me again and again, his lips closing around my clit, sucking, teasing. And holy shit, I was on fire again.

The orange-haired man smiled wickedly at my tightly clenched legs, his expression reeking of male satisfaction. The sight gave me enough strength to remind myself of why a relationship with him would never work. Why I could never allow anything like that to ever happen. He was my Spirit, literally from another world, and while I was certain that Loke could rock my body in ways I couldn't even imagine, I couldn't go any farther with him than friendship.

Thankfully, Loke turned his attention back to our half-naked friend, whose shirt had disappeared once again. "It's not really shocking that Gray played a stripper in your dreams. Damn fool can't keep his clothes on to save his life."

I shared a laugh with the orange-haired man as Gray smirked, his expression completely void of shame. "Hey, you're just jealous that she liked it so much."

"Please, she'd never like you better than me," Loke challenged, "I'm her lion, and we all know I'm the epitome of a sexy beast."

"You know, when you think about it," the ice mage mused, completely ignoring Loke's rebuttal, "All the guys should be jealous of me. I'm the only one that's actually gotten to touch her for real." He turned a dark sexy look at me, one that brought to mind his incredibly hot dance, his body rubbing across mine, his muscled stomach rippling as he flexed his hips.

I shifted a bit in my seat, my treacherous body betraying me again with memories of his taut body moving over mine. Loke seemed to pick up on my discomfort and asked suspiciously, "What do you mean 'for real'?"

"Oh I didn't just dance for her in her dream. I did it for real, here in the guild. I was just all over her," Gray explained with a look of smug satisfaction.

"You let him give you a lap dance and not me?" Loke pouted, turning sad eyes on me. "I thought I was your favorite."

I sunk into my seat more, deciding that this wasn't the relaxing, fun conversation I'd had in mind when I'd come over here. "Okay first, no one is my favorite. I'm not getting into that at all," I denied quickly, waving my hands as if to ward away his jealousy. "Secondly, Gray's not being completely honest. He wasn't the only one. Isn't that right, Gray?"

I finished up with a smug look of my own as I watched Gray's face fall, and he muttered, "Ugh...did you have to remind me? Stupid Lyon, always getting in my way."

"You let Lyon give you a lap dance too? That should have been my pleasure," Loke whined, his voice sounding nearly pitiful in his unhappiness.

"Oh sweet Mavis! You've never even said anything about giving me a lap dance before," I snapped in exasperation.

His face turned predatory as he rose to his feet and stood just beside me. He placed his hands on the back of my chair, before spinning the whole thing around so I was facing him. "I'll just have to remedy that then, won't I?" he asked, moving himself to straddle my lap.

Oh the situations I get myself into. "Loke, what are you doing?"

"It's a real shame that you dreamed of Gray and Lyon together. They fight too damn much. Gray and I would have made a much better team. We're friends, so we wouldn't have spent our time arguing. We would have been focused on giving you anything you wanted," Loke purred, lowering his body until it hovered just over my legs.

Raucous laughter sounded around me, many of my guild mates cheering at my dilemma. My mouth opened and closed, my poor muddled brain trying to formulate a sentence, when I felt Gray move behind me, his hands coming down on my shoulders. "The two of us share very well, Lucy. We'd make the perfect team to please you."

One of them was bad enough, but two...did any defenses exist to protect me from such a tempting offer? Sandwiched between both of them, I couldn't think, couldn't dream up a plan of escape. Wasn't even sure I wanted to. The idea appealed to me on a dark level, some deep secret part of me loving the idea of being ravished by two men.

Fire suddenly shot past my face, lighting up several strands of Loke's hair, then another blast whizzed behind me towards Gray. Both men jumped away, Loke smacking at the singed bits of his mane while Gray had already begun activating his magic, "Ice Make: Lance!"

"You sorry bastard! Burning my hair and interrupting my time with my love! You're going to pay for that! Oh Regulus, grant me the strength!"

I looked up to see Natsu smiling devilishly at his accomplishment. There was no doubt now. He'd been doing all of this on purpose. He was definitely trying to keep the other guys away from me. Not knowing what to think about it all, I shook my head and stood up to make my way to the bar, ducking to avoid a few projectiles on the way.

"Having an interesting day, Lucy?" Mira giggled.

"It's been weird, that's for sure," I agreed tiredly before asking, "Hey, where's Levy and Cana?"

Mira turned at a shout from further down the bar, and raised a finger up at Wakaba so he'd know she was coming. Then offering me an apologetic smile, she said quickly, "Levy's on a job with Droy and Jet, and Cana's down at Quatro Cerberus delivering a message for Master. I think she wanted to visit with Bacchus. Sorry, Lucy. I'll have to talk to you later."

I nodded and waved. "That's fine Mira. I'm just gonna head home. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay! Have a nice night!" she chirped before moving off to get back to work.

I opened my eyes to see white, a huge expanse of the stark color in every direction. Sand stretching out as far as the eye could see, a large fortress the only change to the landscape. The huge building rose up from the scenery like a beacon, drawing the eyes to its stately presence. It was stunning, beautiful, even with the absence of color, but even more, it was formidable.

The place seemed familiar, something about it tugging at my memory. I wracked my brain, trying to force the information to the forefront of my mind, and finally, it came to me. It was from Gajeel's book, Las Noches. At least that's what I thought it had said. It was a surprising setting, and I briefly found myself wondering how I'd gotten there, before brushing it aside.

I made my way towards it, my feet slipping a bit in the sand, but thankfully, the distance was short. I pushed through the doors, and found myself in a massive room complete with high ceilings. Seeing no sign of life, I headed for a doorway on the other side of the room, calling out, "Hello? Is anyone here?"

Receiving nothing in response, I moved through the opening and began walking down a long hallway. I passed several rooms on my trek, each one just as empty as the last, the only thing of note being the barred windows in every single one. Before long, I reached the end of the hall, finding another doorway with a set of stairs leading down.

Without giving it much thought, I stepped down, taking my time down the winding staircase so I wouldn't fall. I pressed my palm against the wall as I descended into the lower levels, marveling at the cool feel of the stone. My mind was at odds with itself about this place, one part feeling drawn to it, the other half pulsing with uneasiness. I wasn't sure what was causing such conflicting emotions, but I wanted to know what was here, who might be waiting at the end of this path for me.

Finally, the steps ended, and I found myself once again in another large room, the ceiling high above my head. It looked almost exactly like the last one, except this room was lit up, candles casting their warmth in lovely patches across the floor. Music swelled around me, the lovely classical tones so calming, and I smiled at the romanticism of it all.

I moved further into the room, my steps now making a soft clicking sound on the stone beneath my feet, and I pulled to a stop. Looking down, I made a shocking discovery. My body was decked out in the most provocative thing I'd ever seen, something I'd never have dreamed of wearing.

My breasts were bound up in a tight, black leather mini corset, thick cords lacing the entire length of the front, showing every inch of my cleavage. Further down my body, my crotch was barely covered by an almost pointless pair of panties. It was simply a narrow strip of leather, with thick cords stretching around my hips to connect to the back of the g-string, leaving my ass just about bare.

The last bit of my outfit was strangely the most practical, a pair of shiny black leather boots. They smoothed up over my legs, halfway up my thighs, with large spikes for heels. They were sexy and daring, and something I wasn't sure I'd ever had the courage to wear before.

Before I could think too hard on it, I heard the heavier steps of a man heading towards me, and looking up, I found another surprise in the form of a half-naked man, dressed to compliment my own outfit. I hadn't seen him in such a long time, and I was stunned to find that he had bulked up a bit and lost the makeup.

Quite frankly, he looked rather delicious standing there in only a pair of leather pants, his bare chest giving proof of his new muscles, each one flexing as his arm moved beside him. Distantly, I heard the slap of something, but I couldn't seem to draw my eyes away from the sight of Midnight's abs. I just couldn't believe the difference in him.

Slowly, I trailed my gaze down his body, over the lean hips, and then...I stalled. My mouth dropped open and a squeak shot from my mouth as I realized what that sound had been. In his hand, he held a riding crop, and he snapped it against his leg continuously, over and over again.

"Oh shit," I whispered to myself, as thoughts of that thing stinging across my nearly bare ass shot through my mind. What the hell had I gotten myself into?

My eyes flew around the room, and suddenly, the atmosphere didn't feel so romantic anymore. Bondage paraphernalia littered the space, shackles hanging from the wall, a long knotted whip stretched across the next wall, ball gags and what I could only imagine were butt plugs covered the small table to the side. There was more, but I refused to look any more.

"Oh hell no," I mumbled, edging back towards the stairs.

Midnight moved forward with me and spoke for the first time, "Where are you going? Don't you want me to awaken your darkest desires?"

"Nope, those are just fine right where they are," I stammered nervously, backing through the doorway and then darting up the stairs.

I could hear him close behind me, his voice yelling out a plea, "Come back! You'll love it!"

"No way!" I screamed back, increasing my speed to put more distance between us, "You're not whipping me!" My legs were burning from the fast pace, and the blasted heels weren't helping a damn bit.

He followed quickly, his steps pounding up the steps behind me. "Okay Lucy! I won't do that. You can whip me instead!"

"That's not any better!" I snapped, stumbling out into the large entryway and headed straight for the doors to get outside.

"Lucy, come back!" he begged, rushing across the massive room, "You can lock me up in the shackles!"

I grit my teeth in frustration as I slammed the doors open and found myself outside, with nowhere to go. "Shit!" I cursed loudly. What was I supposed to do now?

"Good, you stopped," he said thankfully, his face a mask of bliss as he held the riding crop out to me, "Now, will you spank me?"

"Hell no! I'm not doing that!" I shrieked, backing away even further, my heels sinking into the sand with every step I took.

Suddenly, a voice came from the dark, "Yo jackass, I don't think she wants to pat your ass."

A fierce longing shot through me, the raspy quality of his voice sending heat pooling deep in my belly. I was shocked to say the least, my body going from freaked out to hungry like the wolf in a single moment, and I hadn't even seen his face yet. He stepped closer, as if responding to my curiosity, and I tipped my head to the side, feeling a wild sense of recognition. I knew him from somewhere, but where?

Midnight snarled at the intruder, his face transforming with rage, "Back off! She's mine!"

"Since when?" I fired back.

"Sounds like she's not interested," the mystery man returned, moving closer to put himself in front of me.

Midnight took a step forward, pointing a finger at the new man, and growled, "You don't know what you've just gotten yourself into. I'm going to kick your ass."

"Bring it, you little shit."

Then it hit me...Oh my God, it's...

A/N: You may now attempt to guess the identity of the new arrival! lol Good luck!