Chapter 18: That One Memory

Lucy Heartfilia woke up with a throbbing headache. Groaning, she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to shift to a more comfortable position, but then she winced when she realized that her entire body was sore.

What happened to me? Ugh, she thought to herself as she opened her eyes and scanned them across the room. Hold on, this isn't my room. Confused, she looked down and found herself wearing a man's shirt—and she couldn't feel her underwear.

She quickly sat up and then cried as her head throbbed more painfully than before. She massaged her head, trying to ease the pain. She tried to recall what happened before she slept, but her memory was hazy. All she could remember that she and Laxus had been drinking champagne and talking.

Wait. Where's Laxus?

She glanced over to the glass door that separated the room and the balcony and found the lightning mage standing outside. And he was—

"Smoking?" yelped Lucy in disbelief.

Laxus must have heard her because he turned around, his eyes wide opened. In a split second, the celestial mage saw his face reddening, and he quickly looked away. Then, she watched him put out his cigar.

Lucy slowly got out of bed, walked over to the glass door, and slid it open. As she stepped out to the balcony, she held up her arm to protect her eyes from the glaring sun. Ugh, what's with this light?

"Hey," she said cautiously. The faint scent of cigar had clung to his clothes that she wrinkled her nose. "Why are you smoking?"

"Ah, it's nothing," he replied. "How are you feeling?"

"Well, my head hurts. Like, a lot," she told him. "My body is also sore. Like someone beat the crap out of me." She squinted up at him. "But I can't seem to remember what happened."

There was it again, his blush. But he looked somewhat surprised. "So," he began, "you don't remember anything?"

"No, my mind's pretty hazy right now."

"Ah."

"Care to fill me in?"

Laxus cleared his throat. "I'd rather wait until your memory comes back," he said awkwardly.

Baffled, Lucy tilted her head. "But why?" she demanded. "What happened?"

"Forget it, okay?" he retorted, folding his arms over his chest. Then, in a softer voice, he said, "It's past breakfast. You want to head to the beach and grab something to eat?"

Realizing that she won't be getting any answers from him at this point, she nodded her head at him. "Okay."

Lucy and her lover sat again on the beach bar and ordered sandwiches and juice for brunch. She had gone back to her room, took a quick shower, and donned a pair of red bikini, a flowy beach cover-up with an intricate heart design, and a hat. After she had taken some aspirin, her headache had subsided a little.

Laxus, on the other hand, had sported a fancy Caribbean blue shirt matched with contrasting dark blue linen shorts. For the first time, he had worn a pair of black sunglasses. In Lucy's opinion, he looked like a celebrity. He smelled good, too, with the scent of cigar gone; it was replaced with his musky scent and masculine perfume.

The celestial mage grinned to herself. So, this was her lover—tall, powerful, and ridiculously handsome.

Laxus caught her staring at him because he cocked his head to the side. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

Feeling his gaze behind his sunglasses, she blushed and shook her head. "No," she replied. "You just… look good."

He gave her a crooked grin, and she felt her heart speed up. She realized that she was suddenly nervous. Strange. Why am I feeling this way?

"I think you look good, too," he told her in a casual tone and then took a bite at his sandwich.

"Thanks."

They continued to eat their sandwiches in silence, savoring each other's company and listening to the beach goers chattering around them. To their surprise, Loke was there, too, flirting outrageously with the ladies in bikinis.

"How is it that your husband is still here?" asked Laxus.

Lucy snorted. "Oh, drop the husband remark, would you?" she said exasperatedly, rolling her eyes. "Well, Loke can summon himself into this world without me having to open his gate. He won't be draining my magic, of course, since he's using his."

"Ah, so that's how it is," he said, adjusting his sunglasses on his nose.

She nodded her head. Then, she frowned at him. "Are you really not going to tell me what happened—?"

"Just drop it, neighbor," he interrupted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I think it would be better if you didn't remember."

She gaped at him. "Was it that embarrassing? Just what in the spirits world did I do?"

"Nothing… It's…"

"And why are you always blushing?"

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

Laxus groaned and ran his hand through his spiky hair. Then, he lowered his voice so that only Lucy could hear him. "We were drinking at the casino. We both got drunk. Then, we went to bed. Can you honestly not remember anything?"

She massaged her temple, trying hard to recall. Yeah, we did get drunk. He carried me all the way to his bedroom. Then, I…

Slowly, the memory started coming back to her.

She had clumsily ripped his shirt off the moment they were in his bedroom. He had protested as his shirt buttons had flown in every direction.

"You know," he had growled, "you're going to pay for what you've done to this shirt."

"Then, make me pay, Laxus," she had slurred, completely drunk. "Make me pay now."

Laxus had pushed her onto the bed, unzipped his pants, and he had made her—

The celestial mage gasped as she recalled what had happened. She could feel the heat rising to her neck, cheeks, and ears. She stared at Laxus, who was looking away from her, his own face red with embarrassment.

"I didn't mean to," he muttered. "I was drunk, and I wasn't thinking." Then, he paused. "I'm sorry."

Lucy had loved every minute of it, even though she had never done it before. Laxus had brought her to a different level of desire, one where she would submit to him without reservation.

"Are you enjoying your punishment?" he had asked her.

He had pinned her wrists above her head as he kissed and nipped at every part of her body that he could reach. Then, he had lowered his face and stuck his tongue into her moist flesh.

She had writhed in pleasure, calling out his name over and again. As she had reached her climax, then came her final moan:

"Laxus… I love you."

Lucy shook her head, now covering her hot face with her hands. Spirits! Did that just happen?

"Hey," said Laxus, placing a hand reassuringly on her shoulder. "Let's not… think about that right now."

She slowly lowered her hands and looked at him tensely. "Yeah, okay."

He smiled slightly and cocked his head. "You want to go for a swim?"

She nodded. "Y-yeah. Let's go."

It's going to be alright. I'm with him now.