Chapter 7

Try

As much as she would love to get naked with the tall God, she really wanted to get started on translating, fueled by her excitement of knowledge she was about to retain and what she was going to do with her share of the Jewel. She studied the runes intensely as she flipped back and forth between a few of her translating books and the tablets. Levy loved what she did, she felt it made her well-rounded. This also served as a very good distraction. Who knows what would have happened between the two if she didn't have anything to occupy herself.

Gajeel emerged from the bathroom wearing nothing but his boxers. "You're still working on that? You're going to tire yourself out," he says as he looks over her shoulder.

"That's the plan," she replies, Gajeel's fresh scent flooding her nostrils. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths and immediately felt relaxed. His smell working like aromatherapy.

He walked over to the bed and stretched out with his back against the headboard, studying Levy. He loved the way she looked when she was deep in thought.

"I'm going to take a bath, clear my head. These tablets are a bit challenging," She says, standing and walking towards the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

She had only translated a quarter of one tablet, even after being there for an hour or so, it was still very difficult. She would usually take baths to do her deep thinking. There's been a few times where she's even brought a book with her.

Sinking deeper into the tub, she realized that those runes were the beginnings of spells. Spells that she didn't know yet, but was about to learn. 'They must be some pretty powerful enchantments if they're worth life or death,' she thought. She was more than ready and excited to learn the new spells. After all, it would make her become a more powerful mage. A thought then dawned on her. 'Once they attack, they'll know who I am and that I've translated, or will be translating these tablets. Won't they come after me?'

They could try to come after her all they wanted to; Gajeel wouldn't let anyone get near her, little did Levy know.

She finishes up her bath and gets dressed for the night, wearing similar nighttime attire to the pink silk, only it was blue, matching her hair. She wanted him to look at her. She adjusted her night wear in the mirror, giving herself a once over, checking out her best physical assets. 'I wish I were prettier for him,' an evil thought attacked. She brushed it away and opened the door ever so slightly to peek and see if Gajeel was awake. It looked like he was asleep, so she tiptoed out of the bathroom and back to the table.

Sitting down at the table, Levy sighed. She was relieved that he was asleep, but a little bummed out too. She didn't understand why she wanted to wear these clothes for him, but she didn't fight it. She thought about how good she felt when he came over while she was wearing her pink pajamas. She may have been at a loss for words for the then shirtless Gajeel, but she still noticed he was staring at her too. She can only imagine how hard he stared when he came in on her pleasuring herself, but alas, it was too dark to see his face.

She grabbed a bottled water and sat back down at the table to translate as much as she could before she was too exhausted.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Levy found herself nodding off. 'I guess it's time for me to call it a night,' she thinks, a little frustrated that she couldn't get more done. She'd only gotten through about half of the tablet. 'I hope the other tablets aren't this difficult.' She scans the room, looking for somewhere else to sleep, since Gajeel had fallen asleep in the middle of the mattress.

She was unsuccessful in her attempt to find other sleeping arrangements. 'Sleeping with him wasn't so bad anyway, for the time he was there,' she thought. At least she knew he wouldn't leave her in the middle of the night this time. She makes her way over to the bed and slowly crawls on it, barely making a dent in the mattress. "Ugh, stupid Gajeel," she whispers. "Taking up all the space!" Facing away from him, she settles down on the edge of the bed, content as she doesn't take up that much space anyway.

She immediately starts drifting off to sleep as large arms suddenly wrap around her body, rolling her so that she was facing the opposite direction. Facing him.

"Why are you on the edge?" He asks, mid-sleep.

"Y-you were taking up all the space," The nervous blue-haired girl says.

Gajeel opened his eyes and lost his breath at the view. Levy had her hair pulled up in a messy bun which paired perfectly with her blue silk pajamas that revealed so much skin. Her sleepy eyes shone softly from the moonlight that was breaking through the curtains. Those kissable lips. After drinking in her view, he met her gaze and stared into those beautiful brown eyes. "Why aren't you mine?" He said so low, he barely heard it. Levy heard him and her eyes widened. He moved a strand of hair behind her ear and cupped the side of her face as he slowly move his face closer to hers. 'Now's your time to back out, Shrimp," he thinks as he gently places his lips on hers. She surprisingly returns the kiss with vigor, making him emit a low growl.

"Levy," he says, breaking the kiss, still cupping her cheek. "I…..shouldn't."

Levy stared into his red sapphire eyes, reading them. He was hurt, scared, and lonely and she wanted to fix all of it. She returned the favor and cupped his cheek. "Gajeel…"

He loved hearing his name from her lips. It just made him want to hear her scream it. He pulled her body closer to his, smashing his mouth against hers, exploring her mouth with his tongue; wanting to do that for so long. She lets out a soft moan, clearly enjoying the slight roughness. 'Oh, ho. My shrimp likes it rough, huh?" He thinks, pulling apart from her and giving her a sly grin.

"I've wanted to do that for so long now," he says, tracing the outline of her lips with his fingers. "But…"

"What's wrong?" She stares up into his eyes.

"I don't…..want to hurt you," he says, sadness in his eyes. "I know I can never undo what I've done."

Levy sits up so that she's sitting on her knees, facing him. She takes his hands in hers. "Gajeel," she says. "You are not the man you once were. You were misguided and you've done everything you can to be a better you." He leans forward, resting his head on her shoulder.

"How…..can you forgive me?" He says as he wraps his arms around her small waist.

Levy didn't have any words. She was overcome with a flood of emotions she has never felt for anyone. She wanted to do anything in her power to make him feel better, to make him feel wanted. She lifted his head and planted small kisses on his jaw, sending all of the sensations to his dick.

"Levy," he pulls away from her, thinking long and hard about what he's about to say. "Be my mate."

Levy was silent. Her heart fluttering. Eyes wide and her mouth agape, trying to find words, any words. She wasn't expecting this, but it'd be a lie if she said she didn't want to. The dream she had about him seemed to uncover feelings for him that she suppressed. It felt good to be able to act on them.

Gajeel immediately regretted the words after he said them. 'Why the fuck did I do that? I just ruined the only good relationship I had!' He panicked. She didn't say anything, and he was worried that he'd pushed her away. Going into defense mode, Gajeel shot up off the bed and was in his clothes quicker than Levy could say anything.

"Just forget I said anything. Get some sleep," he says, exiting the room.

Levy wanted to call for him to come back, but what was she going to say? She needed to think about things first, even though there was a good chance she was going to say yes. Always overthinking and analyzing things. That's Levy McGarden. She fell backwards onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. A million things on her mind as she drifted off to sleep.

Gajeel left the room, needing some fresh air. After standing outside for about 10 minutes, he went back inside the inn. He contemplated going back into his and Levy's room, but decided it was best for there to be a little bit of space between them. He knocked on the door to room seven.

"Gajeel," Lily says, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "What's wrong?"

Gajeel invited himself in, and plopped down on the bed.

"Why don't you make yourself at home," Lily says, annoyed.

"I fuckin' told her, man."

"Told who, what?"

"Levy!"

The small cat was able to put two and two together. "And she said?"

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing! And I'm over here going crazy, man. I need to train or something." Gajeel started pacing around the room frantically.

"You need to calm down," Lily said. "You know how Levy gets. She needs time to think things through. How would you feel if someone dropped a bomb on you like that?"

The cat was right. He just needed to give her some time.

"I guess I just panicked, ya know," he said, sitting back down. "I went outside to try to get some air but it didn't help."

"So instead of going back to the woman you love, you came here?" Lily asked, quizzically.

"Yeah," Gajeel responded, now realizing it was silly. "What if she rejects me?"

"Do you genuinely think she will?"

He thought about that.

Gajeel decided to go back to his room, where he found a sleeping Levy. He shut the door quietly and stripped back down to his boxers before crawling in the bed next to her. Her body reacted to the movement almost immediately and she turned around, draping her arm across his torso. He moved in closer so she could rest her head on his chest. And they slept.

They slept through most of the morning, since they didn't get to sleep until late. Levy woke up first, laying on her side facing Gajeel. Her head was buried in his chest and her hands were flat on his pecs. She turned red when she realized his hand was planted on her ass. She tried to escape his grip, but it tightened when he felt her moving. He slowly opened his eyes, gazing at the beauty before him. He gave in to his urges and kissed her, so passionately, that he surprised himself. Levy didn't fight it, as she relaxed as soon as their lips met.

"Gajeel…" She says, pulling away.

"Don't say anything until you're ready," he says to her.

Levy thinks for a moment, then nods slowly. They stay like that for a moment until Levy's stomach growled. She smiled sheepishly.

"I guess we should get the day started," she says, breaking free from the embrace.

"I'll go grab some food, I'll tell Lily to stay here with you while I'm out," Gajeel says, putting his clothes on.

Levy grabs the apple out of her bag to tide her over. "I'm going to get a head start on translating, take your time." She smiled at Gajeel.

He walked down the hall to get Lily, but it looked like he was already headed his direction.

"Gajeel. I take it you slept well?" Lily asks.

"Yeah, hey, could you stay in there with her while I go grab food?"

"Good idea. An attack could happen at any moment. It's best for me to stay with Levy and the tablets."

"Levy?" Lily calls from outside of the door.

"Come in."

Pantherlily perches on the table and watches Levy work her magic. "This looks pretty detailed," he says.

"Yes, it's pretty difficult. It will take me several hours to translate the rest of this tablet," Levy says, chewing on her pen.

Lily studies the map for a few minutes. "You know, it won't take that long getting to the buyer. It looks like it's only a day's worth of travel," he deduces.

"Clair must have been including the time it'll take to translate. But three days? That's impossible!" Levy rests her head on the table, frustrated. "Maybe her late husband could have translated these in three days but it will probably take me a little longer."

"Maybe the others aren't as bad," Lily reasoned.

"Let's hope not."

"Housekeeping!" A voice said outside the door.

"I'll grab that," Lily says, floating over to the door.

As he opened the door, he was knocked out and shoved into a bag. Levy was about to use her solid script magic when suddenly, everything went black.