Chapter 37

Laxus groaned in his sleep and attempted to situate himself closer to the heat source he sensed nearby. A feminine sigh escaped said heat source, and Laxus found himself smirking in his sleep.

They had been traveling all day long and she hadn't complained once. His mate was one tough cookie. Granted her drive could have been as much to do with the fact that they were on track to find and rescue her brother as it was possibly her own personal drive just to get any goal accomplished. Laxus somehow knew this about her despite knowing her for all that long at all. Laxus knew that his magic that called to her. The magic that made her his mate knew that he would appeal to someone with a tough resolve.

They had only stopped once during the journey for lunch. Rory had put said lunch together and while it had just been sandwiches (about 12 for Laxus alone) he had been thankful. She had turned to him when she felt him smiling at her then. She explained herself, "I know it's not much but I promise I can do more then just make sandwiches in regard to food. I did the cooking for Oric, our master, and myself for several years."

Laxus had shifted his shoulders in a half shrug. "Wouldn't matter if you couldn't cook. I'm a pretty decent cook myself."

Freed hopped into the conversation from his perch on a rock a few feet away. At first he nodded in agreement while he finished off the bite that was still in his mouth. "Laxus is the best cook out of all of us in the thunder legion."

Evergreen growled from her grassy perch on the opposite side of Laxus. "What about that casserole I made two weeks ago?"

Freed darted his eyes between Ever and Laxus. Then he obviously intentionally took another bite of his sandwich to avoid the question. That casserole in question had not been recognizable visually as food and had smelled even worse. The only one that even attempted to try it had been Elfman, and that was of course to keep his woman happy. He had courageously volunteered to eat it all to keep anyone else from suffering. But for two days straight afterward he had been sick as a dog. "Ever, I think when we get home I will grab all of Mira's recipe books and we will try to make something new together."

It may not have been a compliment of any kind but it worked to distract her from the future argument that was sure to arise. "That sounds like a splendid idea. I'm kind of surprised you thought of it." The words she said sounded like she was bashing Elfman but the infliction made known what she truly meant. It was an endearment and Elfman took it as such.

After lunch that afternoon had passed rather quickly. The travel again went unhindered. It was when the sun was near setting and a woods appeared in the distance that they decided to set up camp.

Everyone pulled out their sleeping bags and picked a spot. When Rory pulled out hers and laid it beside Laxus' sleeping bag he growled. She looked up at him questioningly. He voiced his distress through clenched teeth, "Not close enough."

"And how do you suppose we will achieve getting closer?"

He didn't answer with words. He merely took his sleeping bag and unzipped it all the way. Then he pulled hers from where she situated it on the ground and did the same. Once both were unzipped completely he lined up the zipper on his sleeping bag with the catch on hers and began to zip them together. "I didn't realize you could do that!"

Laxus merely smirked at her. He felt other couples watching the two curiously but he couldn't find it in himself to be concerned. Then he heard zippers pulling apart and rezipping. He turned and sure enough Ever and Elfman were doing the same with their sleeping bags. The other four travel companions of course did not do the same. They may be obviously interested in each other but were merely flirting at this point.

Before the group had started out planning their sleeping arrangements Freed had cast two spells. One a barrier around their camp area to protect them from possible threats during the night. The other was a hunting barrier, it worked sort of like hypnotism. Any woodland creature in the nearby area would scent the aroma of their ideal feast. Once the creature were inside this barrier they would be trapped.

While the trap was set Mira and Lisanna had approached the woods from the furthest point away from where the hunting barrier, that way they wouldn't spook any creatures away from the trap. They were looking for any fruits of vegetables to accompany the entree. They had came back laden down with wild blackberries, carrots, and parsnips.

The hunting barrier had proved successful a caught seven wild game hens and four wild deer like creatures. Rory had took some of the blackberries and made a marinade for the deer meat. "This should keep it from tasting too gamey," she claimed in way of explanation. "Also we should be able to smoke the meat overnight and eat it as our breakfast tomorrow. I think we should concentrate on the hens as our supper tonight."

Laxus grinned to himself. He felt he was quite lucky. His mate was beautiful, funny, resourceful, and brave. He replayed those thoughts over and over again now as he reached for her warmth beside him. It was unfortunate that right then his sense of smell kicked in at that moment. Rory was smelling more tantalizing then ever before. His dragon side of course saw no problem at all. But his more human side mentally was aware of the amount of bodies nearby. He would not, could not take her quietly with how she smelt at this moment. He would not, could not let her be embarrassed even when the need to take her was pulsing so sharply through him. It was when she sighed again that he lost it.

He didn't bother to wait until she was fully awake before hauling her into his arms and carrying her into the woods. He was sure he would still wake the others but at least this way they would have some privacy. When Laxus found an area where the canopy broke so the starlit sky shown from above he shifted Rory in his arms against a tree. She sighed and began to stir. He was shocked she was still not awake, once asleep she apparently slept like a log. He stroked her shoulder and gazed at her body through her lightweight night shirt. He nibbled at their mark gently. Sleep, she thought at him.

No, Rory, I NEED you.

She blinked her emerald eyes open and while she was still befuddled from sleep she looked at him questioningly. It was when he rearranged her against the trunk of the tree so she now straddled his body when she felt how much he did indeed need her.

Her sigh this time was more feminine and echoed that she now needed him as much as he needed her. But when he said, "You smell so fuckin' good." She stilled and became a tad nervous.

"Do I smell better then I ever have?" She asked him.

Laxus paused and licked his lips. His cravings made it hard to think and delve into the meaning behind her words. But once he realized what she truly meant he himself became nervous too. The need to have her still coursing through his body made it impossible to keep them apart. But he would not trick her into this. "Yes, you do. Rory, you are most definitely fertile right now. I know...I know this is fast but...I can't stop."

It took a moment for Rory to roll around the words in her head. For her to come to terms with what was going on in this moment secluded with each other in the woods. She licked her lips enticingly on purpose and said, "so don't."

So sorry about the delay. My computer is being finicky but I think that problem is finally fixed (crossing fingers). Until next week we have a house guest and I find it harder to write when it could be possible to have said house guest read over my shoulder (luckily he's sleeping at the moment).

I hate back tracking in any story but in all honesty I was having trouble deciding how to begin the trek through the journey and it just worked out better this way for me. I still hope you all enjoyed it. I'm debating on whether I should continue Rory and Laxus next chapter or make you all wait and continue with Team Natsu for next chapter.

I totally had to double check on Rory's twins name. Bad me. But even though I had to double check I still was right. So yay!

Before I go into thanking my reviewers I want to address a guest reviewer. To mylee2223: it makes me excessively happy that you personally believe this to be one of the best mating stories on site. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and in regards to your P.S. if I do include them that is the way I am leaning. It's just a matter of figuring out where to fit it in.

So many reviewers last chapter. (happily dancing) Quite a few names I haven't seen before also so yay! Ty to erzatscarlett, mylee2223, kurahieritr JIO, swallowmysoul, Kaycha, sabrina-luna-potter, Zachariah T. Kitchell, and AmericanOtakuMom. If I misspelled any usernames I apologize. You should have all also received a PM as a more personal ty. :) (mylee2223 sorry but your more personal ty is above since I couldn't PM ya)

This story now has 252 followers and 184 faves and I could not be happier. But please don't let that keep you from fave and following if you haven't already. I love to hear your input so keep the reviews coming. Thank you all so much!