Warning: This chapter contains Lemon!
Chapter 5 – Lust
Natsu was trying really hard to stay calm.
He didn't remember all the details, but somehow teasing Lucy about reading her book and then tickling her got them in this situation.
He was kissing her. In bed. And she was under him.
Their kisses had gradually evolved to making out, since he found out that her lips weren't enough for him, and each day he wanted to touch and taste a new part of her. But then he would always get too fired up and set her clothes on fire accidently, or move too fast and scare her, and their moment would end.
And right now, he really didn't want it to end. It just felt so good. So he tried to go smoothly and slowly so Lucy wouldn't want to stop either.
He had his right hand on her belly, where her shirt had rolled up, so he could feel her silky skin. He started to move his hand up on the slowest pace he could manage. He still felt it was too quick, but he made it. He could feel Lucy's bra on his fingers and she didn't stop him. In fact, she seemed pretty enticed by his touch there, letting out small gasps between their kisses.
So far, so good, he thought, still fighting not to burst into flames. He could feel the laces on her bra, which he was sure were pretty, but right now were only an extra obstacle between his fingers and the skin he so madly wanted to feel. Damn, how he would like to burn it… But he couldn't. Lucy would get mad and stop. He had to be patient. His hand went up, until he finally got to the end of the lace, and felt the top of Lucy's breast. She moaned and he thought for sure he would explode.
He felt Lucy moving to sit up and slipped his hand off her shirt. He went pretty far, he considered, breathing heavily. However, he raised his head and noticed that, unlike he thought, it wasn't over.
Lucy was taking off her shirt. In front of him. She finished taking it off and smiled at him, inviting him to continue. Her bra was red, and she looked incredibly sexy with it.
Natsu quickly took off his own vest and started kissing her again, but this time hugging her so he could get the most of their skins touching. The laced bra and his scarf were the only things between their upper bodies now. He felt as she delicately unraveled the scarf off his neck, and he searched for the hook of the bra on her back. He struggled, feeling his fingers on fire, but finally managed to unhook it.
This was it. Only a loose piece of cloth between him and her bare breasts.
He waited to see if she would protest, but the blonde let the straps fall loose over her shoulders, still kissing him. He smiled and distanced himself from her just a few inches, so the bra would fall off. It did. Lucy was topless. She was topless for him. He had to take a moment to stop his temperature from going up again.
He touched her breast with his fingers slowly. However, this time Lucy was the one speeding up. She leaned into him, making his hand cup her breast whole. The other one was squeezed against his chest, and he could feel the extra soft skin of them, plus the small saliences that were her nipples. He could feel the control escaping. It was really hard to care about it.
He brought his mouth down to her neck, at the same time his fingers traveled on her breast, caressing it, until they got to the nipple and started massaging it.
"Natsu" Lucy gasped, and he couldn't take it anymore. He licked his way from her neck to her breast, finally involving the small rosy nipple with his lips, and sucking it lightly. Lucy threw her head back, and he felt a strong scent rose from her, the scent that called for him.
Suddenly, Lucy felt her whole body go cold when Natsu let her go and walked away. She sat up, confused, and saw him disappearing in the bathroom. As she regained control of her breath, she noticed the smell of something burning. She looked down and saw that her comforter had two burned holes in it, exactly where Natsu had his hands on just a minute prior. She put on her shirt again and went to him.
He had turned on the faucet and put his head on the sink, to soak it with the cold water. However, he was so hot the water was turning into steam, and soon the whole bathroom was full with a dense cloud.
"Natsu, is everything okay?" Lucy asked, trying to touch his shoulder, but soon retreated her hand, since her fingers had been burned. "Ouch!"
"Sorry" he said between gasps for air. "I had to stop. If we continued, I would have burned your bed to the ground for sure"
"It's okay" she assured, astonished by her influence over him.
"Man, I hate myself so much" he groaned, disappointed.
"Don't say that" she commanded, hands in her hips. "It's my boyfriend you're talking about, you know?"
"Yeah, well, he's a total wuss" Natsu insisted, turning off the faucet. "Can't barely keep it together just 'cause you're so…"
"Are you still…?" she asked, testing to touch him with her index finger. He had come back to his usual temperature.
"Hot" they said it together as Lucy hugged him. The water on his hair ran to his face, neck and shoulders.
"It's okay, Natsu"
"How can it be okay? I could've destroyed your stuff, I could've hurt you, Lucy…" he argued, upset. "If I can't control this, we can never… You know"
"We'll find a way" she assured him. "We always find a way"
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Lucy couldn't get over the irony of her situation. After a few months dating Natsu, their sweet, careful kisses had evolved to steamy make out sessions. She would always stop them when she felt they were going too far. But now she knew that there was no such thing anymore. She was ready to cross that line with him, and she wanted it badly. That's when the irony part came: it was now Natsu who would stop them. He got so intense that he lost control of his fire magic, and was afraid it would get loose to burn her and everything around them.
They had agreed taking this step would be her decision, so she decided to take care of Natsu's situation as well.
Fortunately, Lucy was very smart. So it wasn't long until she came up with the perfect plan.
"Man, that was wild! Did you see how I punch that jerk's face?" Natsu asked, excited.
"I did! He was the one that never saw what hit him!" Lucy laughed.
They were coming back from a job of taking down an entire dark guild. Just the two of them. Lucy had asked her other teammates to say they wouldn't be able to come, so Natsu wouldn't suspect her little surprise. The job was a little laborious, but they finished without much trouble. The fire dragon slayer was very proud of having defeated the guild master, a powerful fire mage.
"Are we taking the train back home? It's kind of late" he asked, not happy with the prospect of hours of motion sickness.
"No, I figured it would take us a long time, and that we would be pretty tired" she informed. "So I booked us a room for a hotel nearby"
"Oh, great!" he grinned. "Free breakfast tomorrow! Gonna make all of our money's worth back!"
"You're gonna get us kicked out again" she whined, squeezing his hand.
After collecting their reward, they got the hotel and Lucy got the keys to the room she had booked.
"This place is kind of fancy" Natsu said, looking around as they walked to the room.
"Yes, so please, restrain from destructing furniture" she asked, pretending to be worried.
"Can't make any promises" he replied. "Hey, they have a pool! Let's take a swim before dinner!"
"The sun is almost set!" she protested, opening the door to their room. "I want to take a bath!"
"You have a serious addiction to baths, Lucy" he rolled his eyes, dropping their baggage on the floor and laying on the bed. "But fine, you go ahead, I'm going to take a nap…"
"No, you have to take at least a shower too!" she demanded. "You're all dirty from the fights!"
"Tomorrow I will" he whined, but she was already dragging him out of bed.
"I'm not sleeping in the same bed as you in this state! Come on!" she scolded, giving him a towel. "You go first, and you better be sparkling clean when you come out!"
"Fine, fine, geez!" he agreed at last, going to the bathroom. "I thought you'd be in a better mood"
Lucy made her best to hide her grin, and as soon as she heard the shower on, she got to work.
"There! All fresh and clean!" he announced, coming out of the bathroom wearing only his vacation shorts.
"Very good! Now me!" the blonde made her way to the bathroom with her own towel. "Oh, Natsu, can you go ask for some extra blankets? They only had one here"
"Why do you want blankets for? You know I can keep us warm enough" he asked, confused.
"Sometimes you kick the blanket away and let go of me, and I get cold!" she whined. "Come on, just go!"
"Can't even give me a kiss for encouragement?" he pouted.
"You'll get your kiss when I have my blankets" she winked, closing the bathroom door.
Natsu puffed, annoyed. He could swear Lucy was doing it on purpose. He put on a shirt and went to the receptionist's table, where they sent him somewhere else, where he had to wait for at least twenty minutes. Getting back with the stupid blankets, he decided he would just lay down and sleep, before Lucy could give him more work to do.
All his irritation vanished like magic when he came back to their room, though.
"Lucy?" he called, dropping the blankets on the floor.
His blonde girlfriend was waiting for him sitting on the double bed, wearing a red nightdress he was sure it had to be against the law. It was smooth and thin, and he could see there was nothing underneath it. Her hair was loose, falling all around her like a golden waterfall.
"Surprise" she said in a whisper, but he could hear it crystal clear. He made his way to her in three fast steps.
"You look so gorgeous" he told, sitting next to her and touching her arms. "What is this all about?"
"Well, you said you'd leave the timing for me, didn't you?" she informed, and he blushed, already aware of what she was talking about. "I'm ready now"
"But Lucy… I still… I'm not sure…" he stuttered, but she shut him up with a soft kiss.
"I took care of our little problem" she said, showing him a bottle filled to half with a red potion. "This potion makes anything fireproof for 20 hours. I took a bath in it and sprayed all over the bed and sheets"
"For… real?" he mumbled, chin dropping. She sighed and put the potion aside, taking a lighter. She light it up and showed him how the flame licked her skin but left it unharmed.
"Don't worry, Natsu" she said softly. "Tonight, you can burn as much as you like"
He felt a shiver go through his whole body.
"Y-You mean it?" he had to be sure. But she didn't falter. She was confident and certain.
"I'm all fired up"
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Kissing Lucy knowing he wouldn't have to stop, or be interrupted, or accidentally hurt her was filling Natsu with a whole new feeling. Something was waking up inside of him, something that he had managed to bury deep for a long time, without even realizing it, and the key to free this secret part of him was Lucy. They were still sitting at the foot of the bed, and he took her, one arm behind her back and the other under her knees, and laid her on the middle of the bed. Her nightgown was red, the sheets were maroon, it looked like she was engulfed by flames.
Lucy's skin was also tainted red, not only for the raise of temperature, but because she was really excited and anxious for the new experience they were about to share. The expectation had grown to a level that her shyness was completely forgotten. Her eyes had a darker tone and he was happy to recognize something wild arising from her too.
"Natsu… What will you do to me?" she asked between kisses. Until that moment he wasn't sure, but as soon as she asked he had the answer ready.
"I'm gonna taste every part of your body" he said, feeling her shiver in his arms, but with a wide smile on her flustered face.
"Then I'll be your private buffet of Lucy tonight" she whispered, and whatever it was inside him was finally set loose.
He quickly kissed her again as he positioned himself a little over her. He let go of her lips slowly and started to kiss her face with soft pecks. Then he moved to her chin and her neck, getting a little rougher. The concentrated scent clouded his head again, but he forced himself to stay sober. There was a lot of Lucy to enjoy tonight. She moaned as he bit and sucked her neck like a vampire again. But this time, after being satisfied with it, he took his lips even lower. He left a trail of kisses along the thin bone just above her cleavage, and then rubbed his nose against her shoulder, biting it lightly. Lucy shuddered as he kissed her arm and hand, and let out a sigh when he put her fingers in his mouth one by one, sucking them. She had no idea why, but that really turned her on. He did the same thing on her other hand and arm, giving a full turn and landing on her cleavage again.
She was still wearing the red nightgown. He took the shoulder straps with just his index fingers and soon she felt a burning smell as they lost integrity. He pulled the front of the nightgown down, revealing her breasts. Lucy blushed intensely, closing her eyes as he leaned and started kissing her again. She bit her bottom lip as his hands involved her breasts from below, massaging them slowly as he kissed their top. Finally, he arrived at her right nipple. She could feel his hot breath on it, and thought for sure she would get crazy from anticipation. But at last he put his mouth over it and licked it lightly.
"Ah, Natsu!" she called in desperation, and he responded by sucking it. She moaned in relief, breathing in deep gasps, and arched her body when he changed to the other nipple, massaging the first with his fingers. She had no idea this felt so good. Once Natsu had enough, he pulled her nightgown even lower, to her waist, and started working on her belly. Lucy gasped when he stuck his tongue in her bellybutton, and trembled as he ran his fingers along her abdomen lightly. He nor once lost the appetite. One could think she was made of sugar watching him savor her.
Leaving the treat that was her bellybutton, he made his way to the area just below the belly. That was it. Natsu reached the source of the delicious smell he felt that called for him so loudly. He ripped her nightgown in two, leaving her completely naked. He would save the best for last, so he took some sweet time kissing and biting her stunning legs first. But, finally he couldn't wait any longer. He licked his way from her inner thigh to where her legs met. He almost chuckled. All the times he considered Lucy's scent clouded his senses, was nothing compared to this. The world could be falling apart around him and he wouldn't notice.
Lucy was sure she would pass out this time. Natsu had made all of her body ultra-sensitive, and was now going to her most sensitive part. There was nothing she could do, though. Especially because there was nothing she wanted to do. She let out a keen whimper when he licked her bottom to top. This time he didn't leave her waiting. Soon he had his face buried between her legs, and she felt her head light from the pleasure he was giving her by licking and sucking. She couldn't help but move her hips to accompany him. He helped her, holding her bottom. Then Lucy forgot all about any other thoughts that might be on her head, just moaning loudly as an orgasm took her body.
Natsu was enjoying this as much as she was. His keenest senses had always been smell and taste because of his magic, but even among dragon slayers he stood out when it came to tasting things. He had never stopped to think twice before putting something in his mouth and eating, even of it was powerful magic. It was probably the reason why a kiss was the defining factor to unlock all of his feelings for Lucy and start their relationship. Over the last months, he had gradually tasted more and more of her – lips, tongue, neck, ears – and he knew by heart how each of her pieces taste.
And what was happening right now – that was the peak of it. The taste of her sex was concentrated Lucy, produced especially for him, because of him, and it just made the top of his favorite tastes ever. To top it all, it made him in full control of her senses, and he discovered watching her feel this much pleasure was a real turn on too.
Natsu stopped once Lucy gave her final yell and dropped shaking on the bed. He lay beside her and hugged her.
"Oh my God, Natsu, that felt so good" she told him, holding him close, as if he could escape at any moment.
"Good" he grinned. "As I expected, you are delicious from head to toe"
"Really?" she asked, looking at him. He nodded enthusiastically. "I wanna try it too"
"You wanna…? Hey, what are you doing?" he questioned in alarm as she pulled his shirt off along with his scarf over his head. Before he could understand what was happening, he noticed she had her head over his belly. Her eyes were even darker, the orgasm made any remaining shyness go away and she wanted to have some fun too.
"I've always wanted to do this" she said, licking his abs, slowly passing her tongue through the waves of his muscles as her hands rubbed every salience of his brawny chest. Natsu certainly wasn't expecting this, but he soon relaxed, once he realized the feeling was amazing. He closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation of her tongue against his skin, and when he opened them again, she had already taken off his pants.
"Well aren't we curious today" he chuckled to see her looking at his erection like she was hypnotized.
"Hey, unlike you, I didn't peek on you naked" she protested, putting her hands on his knees and slowly sliding them on his thighs. "I always properly looked away"
"You're not acting so properly tonight" he teased.
"I'm really not" she said as she grabbed him with both hands, and moved them up and down. He exhaled heavily to her touch, and tried to control himself not to cum right away. Lucy could see she was making him crazy, and she enjoyed it very much. Then curiosity took the best of her as she put the head of his dick in her mouth. She remembered well the lesson he had just given her, and ran her tongue around it, starting to suck it as her hands kept the movement below. Natsu groaned and closed his eyes, trying his best to control himself and enjoy this heavenly feeling as much as possible. She knew that, if not for the potion, they would be in flames right now. Although it didn't hurt, she could feel the temperature of his body was really, really high.
He managed to move his hands, ripping the sheets slightly, and take them to her head, grabbing her hair firmly as, just like she did before, he also started rocking his hips up and down, faster and faster, until he trembled and stopped, and she felt her mouth filling with hot liquid. She swallowed it, still sucking him like she would a popsicle. She watched in astonishment as the member in her hands became smaller and softer.
"Damn it… Lucy…" he gasped. The blonde looked up as he collapsed on the bed, and noticed he was about to fall unconscious.
"Hey, Natsu!" she called, lying on top of him. "Don't fall asleep yet!"
"Too late" he informed with his eyes closed. "Congrats, you've defeated Fairy Tail's Salamander."
"Oh, come on!" she whined, shaking him. "Natsu, I'm all turned on again, I… I want you inside me"
She whispered the last part on his ear, and watched as his eyes opened instantly. Then, just like when they were in the battlefield and he looked defeated, he raised again for another go.
"Okay, okay…" he agreed between kisses. "Just give me a sec to recover"
"Sure" she side, smiling and kissing him back. They laid on the bed, kissing and hugging, making the most contact possible between their naked bodies. She entangled her legs among his, and their bellies and chests were fully glued. As they kissed, Natsu noticed an interesting phenomenon: their scents were starting to mix. He could feel her scent lingering on his body and, most importantly, his scent on hers, and the close contact was making them merge into a third new one, a new scent that was extremely enticing for the dragon slayer. It wasn't long for Natsu to start to get hard again.
"Hey, look at you" she noticed, again grabbing her dick with her hand and making him jump.
"Lucy, your nails!" he warned, and she retrieved the hand, startled.
"Sorry!" she asked, worried. He chuckled and took her hand, leading it back to where it was.
"Just go a little easier, okay?" he said, and she nodded, caressing him softly. He slipped his hand from her waist to her special spot as well, and slowly entered her cavity with his finger. He didn't think it was possible, but she was even wetter than before. "How are you this wet?"
"I don't know, but it's all your fault" she replied, her whine turning into a moan as hi slipped a second finger inside her. His manhood was hard as a rock now, escaping her hands to poke her thighs, provoking her. "Natsu, I want to feel you"
He smiled, hearing in words what she had been telling him with her body all this time. He lied her on the bed on her back and kneeled in front of her, between her legs. Lucy looked at him, excited for what was about to happen. Then she stared at his member again. From here, so close to her legs, she had the impression it was much bigger than before.
"W-Wait" she asked, and he stopped, looking at her in confusion. "Natsu, are you… Are you sure it's gonna fit?"
"What?" he raised an eyebrow. "Of course it's gonna fit!"
"Hm, I'm not so sure" she considered, closing her legs. "You… You're so big"
"Lucy, my fingers were just inside you" he reminded her "There's plenty of space in there!"
"O… Okay, if you say so" she opened her legs again hesitantly, and he leaned on top of her, leading his dick to her. After a few tries, she felt it at her opening, and with him, a sharp pain.
"Ouch! Stop, stop!" she asked, and he did. "See, I told you it wasn't gonna fit!"
"You're blocking my way, weirdo!" he explained with a chuckle. "You need to relax"
"I don't know how, I'm pretty nervous" she pouted.
"Are you kidding me? Have you forgotten what we just did?" he said in disbelief. She blushed to the memory, and he couldn't help but laugh. She did all of those things while she was aroused and now was getting shy about it. "Okay, I think I know how to relax you"
"What are you gonna… Oh!" she started to ask, but cut her own question with a moan when he rearranged his member to slide between her lips down there, rubbing against her clit.
"There you go" he smirked to the sight of her closing her eyes and biting her lip in pleasure.
"Hmm…" was all she could answer as he moved back and forth. Once he saw she was relaxed enough, he seized the moment to slip inside her.
This time, the way was free and he went inside so easily his whole body moved forward, and he found himself staring at her deep brown eyes, wide and sparkling with delight at the new experience.
"It fits!" she gasped with an adorable smile.
"Told ya" he grinned, and she chuckled, passing her arms around his neck. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, resting his forehead on hers as he tried to grasp some control as waves of pleasure hit him "Man, you feel so good… Does it hurt?"
"A little" she admitted. "But it also feels really good, please don't stop"
"I don't think I can" he sighed, moving in and out of her slowly. Since he had already cum that night, he was able to last a lot longer inside her, and they enjoyed the sensation as the rhythm became faster and faster. Natsu knew in the back of his head that he should seize the opportunity to touch other parts of Lucy's body, she was completely naked for him. But he was hypnotized, he couldn't stop looking at her face. She had her eyes closed, her mouth slightly opened, her face was rosy and sweaty and her hair fell in a mess around her head in a golden halo. She looked like a real goddess.
"Natsu!" she said suddenly with a gasp, after cracking her eyes opened.
"What is it? Did I hurt you?" he asked in alarm.
"No… It's just…" she smiled, and he breathed in relief "You're burning"
"Burning?" at first he couldn't understand, then he noticed something dancing on her eyes' reflection. He looked down and realized he was engulfed in flames. "Oh… Wow! I didn't even noticed I did this!"
"You look incredible" she chuckled, moving her hips to match his movement and wrapping her legs around his waist. That sight made her even more aroused. During all the time she was secretly in love with him, watching him fight was torture to her. She rooted, she worried, but most of all, she craved his body when she saw him like this. Now he was finally hers.
"Lucy… I don't think I can hold any longer" he whispered.
"Go ahead, I'm almost there" she said, feeling her head lighter and hugging him closer to make the most contact with him and his fire.
"Gee, you're killing me" he said, grinding his teeth. The movement became a lot rougher, and soon he felt her contracting all the muscles around his member, which was the last straw for him to snap. They both moaned and gasped for air, reaching their orgasms. Lucy buried her nails on his back, delighted with how his hot semen filled her insides and the flames around them became more intense. He rolled them on the bed, laying on his back with her on top firmly held as the flames subdued and disappeared.
"I love you, Natsu" she told with her head resting on his chest, and by her breathing Natsu knew she had fallen asleep right away. He took a deep breathe, enjoying the scent they created as darkness came over him.
"I love you too, Lucy"
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Natsu woke up feeling more rested than he'd ever felt his whole life. For a brief second, he had no idea where he was, but soon the memories hit him back and he smiled. Last night had to be the best night of his life. Kissing was good, making out was good, but oh my God sex was the best thing ever.
"Lucy…" he called, raising his head to look for her. She was sleeping with his back turned to him. He made his way to her, hugging her from behind, feeling her naked back against his bare chest and burying his face on her hair, putting soft kisses on her neck as he smelled her sweet scent.
"Natsu" she mumbled, waking up. Natsu watched as she turned to him, scratching her eyes with her fists. "Hey"
"Hey" he replied, touching her nose with his. "Last night was awesome!"
"Yeah, it really was" she agreed, blushing. Now that the excitement had passed, she was the old shy Lucy again. "Do you want to have breakfast? We didn't eat anything after the job"
"Speak for yourself, I ate a whole feast" he grinned, raising the blanket to look at her body. She blushed even more and covered herself again, chuckling. "Seriously, where did you learn to do those things?"
"I didn't learn anywhere!" she replied, as she had been insulted. "It was just instinct! Just like you!"
"Yeah, but I'm a dragon slayer" he argued, happy that since she was distracted by this conversations, she wasn't paying attention to his hand slipping under her blanket. "You're just weirdly gifted I guess"
"Stop that! And stop that too!" she commanded, slapping his hand away. "Come on, let's have breakfast, there's no way you're not starving!"
"I am" he admitted. "But we'll have to put on clothes…"
"Well someone is starting to sound like Gray…" she teased him.
"Ugh, please don't say his name when you're naked… Or when I'm naked… Or, you know, ever" he protested. "I want last night's Lucy back"
"She can be back after I'm properly fed" she determined, getting up. But Natsu pulled her back to bed with one arm and lay on top of her so she couldn't move. "Natsu!"
"Nooo! If we have breakfast we'll have to leave, and I don't want to!" he whined.
"Actually, we don't" she said with a smile. "I forgot to tell you, I booked the room for two nights, in case… Well, in case all went well"
"We get to stay today all day and another night?" he asked, beaming. She nodded. "Yesssss, I was right, you really are a goddess!"
"Then let me eat, for Mavis' sake!" she pleaded, and he let her go at last. "You know, not in a million years I'd imagine one day I'd have to insist with you to go get food!"
"Me neither" he replied, grinning. Suddenly, his expression changed to a curious one. "Hey, Lucy! It just occurred to me… What we did, isn't this how you make babies? Do you have a baby now? You'll lay an egg?"
"NO! I mean, yes, but no!" she yelled as she put on a robe. He looked at her, confused. "What I mean is: yes, that's how you make babies. But no, I'm taking a contraception potion, so there won't be any babies any time soon. And no, I will never lay an egg, that's not a human thing!"
"Oh, I see" he nodded in understanding. "So you don't want to have babies?"
"Not right now" she answered, blushing. "I'd like to get married first"
"Gajeel and Levy aren't married and had a baby" he argued.
"Yeah, but I'd like to live in a bigger place as well" she explained.
"Why? Isn't a baby like, this big?" he asked, showing her his hands not very far from each other.
"Natsu, do you want to have a baby?" she glared.
"Well, I want if you want" he replied with a smile.
"Then I'll let you know whenever I want one, okay?" she stated, and he nodded in agreement.
"Lucy" he called after she got up and started to go through her suitcase.
"What?"
"I don't know what kind of clothes you brought, but you might wanna hide your cleavage… And your neck… And your thighs" he said in a fun tone.
"What is this?" she asked, very angrily. "Just 'cause we had sex you think you can start controlling what I wear?"
"No, of course not!" he denied, raising his hands. "I just thought you'd be embarrassed if everyone saw the hickeys and the biting marks… But it's up to you really"
"You're joking, right?" she asked with a smile, and ran to the bathroom to check the mirror once she saw Natsu's face. "Oh my God!"
"So much for going to the pool" she whined, coming back and sitting on the bed again. Natsu hugged her and kissed the top of her head.
"You have more of that potion, right?" he asked, and she nodded with a chuckle "Well, then I'm sure we can keep ourselves entertained in here"
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"Hey, Happy! What are you doing in here alone? I thought Lucy and Natsu already came back from that job!"
"They did" the blue exceed informed, sitting at the table with Wendy, Charle, Gray, Juvia and Erza. "But I had to get away from them"
"What do you mean? Why would have to do that?" asked Erza, raising an eyebrow.
"Look, I don't know what happened in that trip, but they came back obnoxiously lovey-dovey" Happy said with a disgusted face. "They're just like Edo-Bisca and Edo-Alzack"
"So Lucy became the clingy type, huh" Gray smirked.
"Not only Lucy, Natsu's just as bad, if not worse"
"Natsu? The flamebrain?" Gray repeated, incredulously. "Can't picture it"
"Well, you're about to see it for yourself, they're coming in soon" Happy shrugged.
"Good, I'm sure you're overreacting" the ice mage said with certainty.
"Gray, I'm serious, I bet a fish that no one of you can stay around them for five minutes" the exceed insisted.
"I have no interest in fish, what do I make if I win?" he asked.
"Anything you want, that's how sure I am you're gonna lose" Happy offered.
"Deal! You're really gonna regret this, little buddy" Gray smirked. He could already picture the blue cat in a suit just like Frosh's.
"Here they come" said Wendy, making space for them to sit. They all watched in expectation as the couple approached the table. On first sight, it didn't seem to be anything out of ordinary. They came holding hands and had bright smiles.
"Hi everyone!" greeted Lucy, sitting down. Natsu sat down next to her, and that's when they started to notice something had changed. The dragon slayer sat very close to his girlfriend, holding her with one arm.
"Bye" Happy said, flying away.
"Oh, Happy, come on, stay!" asked Lucy. "We promise we'll behave!"
"Really? Natsu, do you promise?" the exceed look at him.
"Nope!" he said, grinning.
"That's what I thought" the cat turned away from them. "Good luck to you!"
"So, how was your job?" asked Erza, trying to change the subject. "Did the guild give you too much trouble?"
"What guild?" questioned Natsu, still looking at Lucy.
"The dark guild you were supposed to take down" she explained, annoyed.
"No, Erza, we managed to take it down pretty quickly" Lucy answered. "Natsu, look at people when they're talking to you!"
"But I wanna look at you!" he argued as Lucy tried to force him to look at their friends.
"You already looked plenty at me!" she insisted. "Aren't you tired of my face?"
"Never" he grinned, escaping her hands and kissing her nose.
"Awwwwww" Wendy and Mira, who had joined them in the last minutes, let out, finding the couple adorable.
"Don't encourage him!" asked Lucy, even though she had a little smile.
"So I heard someone's having problems controlling PDA" Mira said with a wink.
"What's PDA?" questioned Wendy.
"Public Displays of Affection, which Natsu seems to have gotten a like for" she answered as they watched the dragon slayer hug his girlfriend.
"No, no, it's not a problem!" Lucy denied, trying to get away from his grasp. "He's just a little overwhelmed by the new emotions…"
"Natsu!" Erza shouted in a commanding voice. The pink haired man quickly let go of Lucy, looking at the armored mage with fear. "Quiet! Stay! Now you don't touch Lucy unless she asks you!"
"Oh, very good! Thank you, Erza!" the blonde smiled to see her boyfriend was finally put. "Now, let's have a normal conversation… What's new with you guys?"
"Well, I was just telling these guys that I got a very interesting job at… What the hell is he doing now?" the red head asked, her face going as red as her hair when she saw Natsu nibbling Lucy's ear. "Natsu!"
"What?" he protested. "She touched me first!"
"I just wanted to hold hands" Lucy said in a small voice, which got her no sympathy from her guildmates.
"That's enough! Wendy, let's leave right now!" Charle ordered, dragging the young woman with her by the hand.
"How dare you two flirt like this in front of Juvia? Gray-sama doesn't even kiss in public!" Juvia cried, leaving as well.
"Natsu, you seriously can't wait five minutes?" Lucy pleaded. Her boyfriend buried his face on her hair and shook his head no.
"Sorry, Lucy, you're on your own" Erza stated, also leaving the table.
"See what you did! You scared all of our friends away!" the blonde whined.
"The ice prick is still here" Natsu observed. Indeed, Gray was still at the table, but he looked like he was in physical pain.
"How much time… passed?" he asked.
"Two and a half minutes" informed Mira as she served another table. "You're halfway through to win the bet!"
"Bet?" Lucy frowned.
"Happy made a bet no one would stand to stay around you guys for five minutes" the silver haired waitress told. "Apparently Gray really wants to win"
"Really?" asked Natsu with an evil grin.
"Natsu, don't you dare!" Lucy pointed a finger at him, but he kissed it and she blushed. "Stop that!"
"I'll stop if you give me a real kiss" he demanded.
"Not in front of Gray!" she denied, and he looked at the guildmate.
"You're still here? Man, you really are a perv, aren't you?"
"Shut up, you're the pervert!" he replied, crossing his arms. "Why don't you get a room to do this stuff?"
"We had a room, but Lucy made me leave to come talk to you guys" he complained. "Let's go home, Lucy! I like when it's just the two of us!"
"Oh, Natsu…" Lucy melted at last, cupping his cheek with her hand and kissing him.
"Ugh, fine, you've won your fish, Happy" Gray said, rolling his eyes and getting up. "You two need to get over this clinginess"
"It's just a phase" Bisca said when he joined the others at the bar. "Alzack and I were just like them right after our first date…"
"But they've been dating for a good while already! Months even!" argued Gray, raising an eyebrow. "Where did this behavior come from all of a sudden?"
"I think they… discovered something new" Alzack explained with a chuckle. "After some weeks they'll go back to normal"
"I sure hope so" wished Happy.
"I still think they're cute" Mira commented with a smile, looking at the two lovebirds. Lucy was in Natsu's arms, giggling as he kissed her face all over. They both seemed to have forgotten all about their friends and surroundings.
"Well, at least is good to see Natsu interest in something other than fighting" Erza agreed, also smiling.
"How about another bet?" proposed Cana, coming to them with a bottle of wine. "We all put in 10,000 Jewels. Whoever can get Natsu away from Lucy for five minutes wins it all!"
"My, my" Mira sighed as they all agreed. "Something tells me I'll be working late today…"
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After getting over the excitement of their first time having sex, Natsu managed to keep his magic under control and they didn't need the fireproof potion anymore. Of course he slipped sometimes, especially if they went too intense or tried new things, which meant Lucy was no longer surprise to find some burns in her sheets from time to time.
Since the couple now had this as a regular activity, the dragon slayer started to spend even more time at her apartment. He basically only went to his own house whenever he ran out of clean clothes. Lucy offered to sleep at his place sometimes, but he declined for three reasons. One, he would have to clean. Two, they would disturb Happy, since his house was pretty small, and he and Lucy were pretty loud. And three, Lucy's apartment was much closer to the guild and the city, and he wanted to be able to take her clothes off as soon as possible whenever they had to go out.
They spent a blessed month like this, all over each other. Natsu couldn't get enough of her, and Lucy felt the same way. If it wasn't for her rent, they wouldn't even get out. His friends at the guild noticed their absence, but let them be, after all, they were in their honeymoon phase. After so much trouble for them to be together, they deserved to enjoy each other a little. Plus, no one could really stand being around them anyway.
That was when the nightmares started.
Natsu opened his eyes slowly, still sleepy. Waking up on Lucy's bed was one of his favorite feelings. He felt well rested, but didn't want to move yet. The pillows and the mattress were soft, making him feel like he was lying on a cloud. The covers protected him from the cold outside, keeping his warmth secure. And most importantly, it all had that scent he adored. His favorite scent used to be Lucy's, but now a new one had taken its place: this mixed scent of his and hers, which he felt the first time they made love and that kept lingering as they spent more and more time together. This scent told him that he was hers and she was his, and that meant everything was right in the world.
He stretched his arm to hug her and bring her close, but he found nothing. He sat up.
"Lucy?" he called. No answer. "Bet you're in the bathroom"
He got up on his feet and made his way to the bathroom. He grinned at the prospect of joining her in the tub. He had never taken so many baths in his life. All he needed in the end was the encouragement of a naked and soapy Lucy to play with. He knocked softly and opened the door.
Empty.
The apartment wasn't big, so now he was sure she really wasn't here. He made his way to the kitchen and checked the fridge. Sometimes, when she went out to buy something, she left a little note there. However, there was nothing. He looked around. There wasn't anything out of ordinary. He couldn't see why Lucy would leave without waking him up or warning him. They didn't fight or had any problems lately.
"She must be at the guild" he said out loud, trying to ignore the small hint of panic that was hitting him. "I can just follow her scent"
He put on a pair of pants and left. For his desperation, however, he noticed that outside of the apartment, there was no trace of Lucy's scent.
"Maybe she left through the window" he spoke, not noticing his voice beginning to tremble. He closed the door and made his way to the window. It was open. When he put his head out of it, he met the same problem. No Lucy scent.
He jumped to the street and started to walk to the guild. Halfway he was running.
"Mira, have you seen Lucy?" he asked after going in.
"Lucy? No, Natsu" she answered, frowning. "She always comes with you now"
He was panicking now. He looked around. Everyone was staring at him. He saw every face he ever met, except hers. Except Lucy. She was gone, and everybody knew it.
"No, Lucy. Don't leave me alone" he was crying now, and fell to his knees. The guild was empty now. It was dark outside. The darkness started to surround him. He could only think one thing. "Lucy!"
"Lucy!" Natsu woke up, yelling. He was breathing heavily, and could feel cold sweat all over his body.
"What is it?" Lucy came running from the kitchen, holding a big frying pan with both her hands. "What happened? Natsu, are you okay?"
Natsu sat up, leaning on the headboard and putting his hands on his face, still breathing as if he had just ran a marathon.
"It's… I'm fine" he said in a hoarse voice. "I had a nightmare"
"Oh… You wanna tell me about it?" she asked, sitting next to him and stroking his arm.
"N-No…" Natsu just wanted to forget this horrible feeling.
"Okay… Well, it's all over now" she said, trying to make him feel better. A whistle came from the kitchen. She got up. "Damn, I forgot the kettle"
Before she could take another step, she felt Natsu's hand holding her left wrist. She turned. He pulled her back to bed and hugged her tight, nestling her on his chest and between his legs.
"Stay here. I need you" he asked, putting his forehead on her left shoulder.
"I'm here" she assured him, right hand on top of his and left hand stroking his hair. She had never seen him so disturbed outside of the battlefield. "I'm not going anywhere"
Unfortunately, the nightmares became frequent. It was always the same thing. Lucy disappeared. Sometimes it was just like the first one, in which Natsu woke up and couldn't find her. Sometimes he came back from a mission and found her apartment empty. Other times, she left for a mission and never came back. One could think Natsu would get used to the dreams, but he never did. It always felt real and he always fell in complete desperation, until waking up for real and finding her. Then the only thing that would sooth him was holding her tightly to make sure she was real.
Lucy was getting worried. Natsu didn't wake up yelling like the first time anymore, but she wasn't stupid, she could see that he was having nightmares. Some nights she woke up with him moving around and mumbling in his sleep. Soon he was awake and hugging her like his life depended on it. He wasn't getting enough sleep to be well rested. She wanted to help him, but he refused to talk about it.
Finally she decided it was time to end their reclusiveness. They needed to go back to the guild, to the jobs and their friends. Natsu needed to spend all this energy so he could have dreamless sleep.
"Let's take a job with Gray, Erza and Wendy, what do you say?" she proposed one morning.
"Yeah, good idea!" he grinned at her, and she felt her heart at ease.
They left for the guild holding hands. When they arrived, they found out his comrades were gone: Gray had taken a job with Juvia, and Erza, Wendy and Charle had just left that morning. Happy was still there, though, and very excited to see them back to their normal behavior.
"So, let's go with the classic team!" Natsu announced, meaning him, Lucy and Happy.
"Aye!" the exceed agreed, very happy to have his partners back. "Let's take a fun job!"
"Yes! You can choose this time, Natsu!" Lucy said, willing to please him. "I promise I won't complain!"
"Okay, let's see then…" they took some minutes in front of the job board. "This one!"
"Cleaning a farm of a marmot infestation…?" she read the job description. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, you can use Virgo and I can fire their asses!" he explained, sounding excited. "The money is pretty good!"
"Well, it will save the harvest, I guess" Happy considered. "Are these by any change gigantic marmots?"
"No, just regular marmots" Natsu grinned. Happy and Lucy looked at each other, uncertain.
"Natsu, I told you, you can pick whichever you want!" the girl insisted. This wasn't a job he usually would pick. "Look at this one: protect a village from vampires! We can fight!"
"I want the marmot job" he was determined.
"Well, okay, if you're sure"
"Sweet! Mira, we'll be taking this one!" he yelled at the bartender, who smiled and wished them good luck.
The job went pretty well. Even though there was no fighting, they had a lot of fun with Happy again, after he stopped teasing them. The farmer was a mage who could control the weather in the whole area of his property, so inside was always pleasantly warm. As suggested by Natsu, she summoned Virgo to dig and find the marmots and Natsu attacked them with fire until they all ran away. The farmer was so happy he invited them to stay the night, and they ate a marvelous dinner prepared by his wife.
Lucy thought that maybe Natsu was just taking it easy since they had been away from jobs for a while. However, soon that did not seem the case anymore. After three weeks, she and Happy were really tired of the boring and simple jobs he had been choosing. They both tried to choose instead, but Natsu wasn't being very flexible on the matter. He simply refused to take any job that involved fights or anything dangerous. On top of it all, he was still having trouble sleeping, to the point that two dark circles appeared under his eyes and kept lingering.
"Lucy, you need to talk to him" Happy whined, lying at one of guild's tables. "If I take one more delivering job, I might as well just switch professions and open a delivering enterprise"
"I swear I don't know why he's acting like this, Happy" Lucy argued. "I'll try to talk to him"
"Hey, are we going on a job today or what?" Natsu appeared next to them, grinning.
"NO!" they both shouted at the same time. The dragon slayer stared at them, confused.
"I mean… We are a little tired, Natsu" Lucy explained. "Happy also wants to greet Charle when she comes back later today. Why don't we go home and we can see tomorrow?"
"Oh, okay! I actually need to go home to refill my backpack, why don't you come with me?"
"That's perfect! Let's go!" they waved everyone goodbye and left for Natsu's house.
When they arrived, Natsu cleaned his backpack, taking off the dirty clothes and replacing with clean ones. Lucy insisted he should wash the dirty clothes now, and after some resistance, he put them all on the washer. They would have to wait until they were done to put them on the dryer. Lucy intended to make him talk in the meantime.
"So, we have some time to kill" he commented, hugging her from behind with a suggestive grin.
"Yeah, I know…" Lucy agreed, and was almost destabilize of her plans when he started to kiss her neck. "Wait, Natsu."
He stopped, and she turned, facing him. She tried to put on a serious façade.
"What is it?" he asked, looking at her with a loving expression. She almost caved, but took a deep breath and shook her head.
"We need to talk" she said, getting serious. Natsu's smile vanished. "You're acting strange these past few days. You don't want to take the dangerous jobs you always loved to go to."
He sighed, letting go of her and looking the other way.
"Please talk to me, Natsu" she pleaded. She knew it was hard for him to do that. "Does it have something to do with your dreams?"
"What do you know about my dreams?" he asked, turning to her in surprise.
"I know you've been having nightmares" she informed. "You wake up startled almost every night, it's not hard to notice that. I can also see the dark circles under your eyes."
"Lucy…" he started, and she could tell he still hadn't decided to speak.
"Please, Natsu" she insisted, coming closer to him and holding his hands. "I'm worried about you"
He remained silent for a few seconds, looking at her small hands in his. He put his own hands under hers, leaving only his thumb on top, stroking the place where her guild mark was.
"I have never been so happy as the last few months" he told her quietly. She knew he meant ever since they'd been dating. She blushed faintly and smiled, but stayed in silence, letting him talk. "A close second of this happiness was when I lived with Igneel. You know how that ended."
Lucy's smile was replace by a sad expression. She felt a stream of words wanting to come out of her mouth, and struggled to remain it shut. Now it was time to listen.
"A few weeks ago I started to have these nightmares where you disappear" he continued, squeezing her hands. "You just vanish. I can't find you anywhere. Just like Igneel did."
Lucy finally understood why he needed to hug her close after waking up from these dreams. She felt tears filling her eyes, and bit her lower lip to keep from saying anything.
"I'm scared, Lucy" he admitted at last. "I'm scared of losing you. Until now, this fear only came whenever I saw you in danger. But now it's here all the time. I can't risk it. If I have to sacrifice some silly pleasures, so what? If you're gone, everything will go with you. The food will have no flavor, the sleep will be restless and the fights will be bitter. You're my everything."
"Natsu!" she couldn't hold it anymore, tears flowing down her cheeks as she jumped forward to hug him. He hug her back, hands going up and down her back. Soon she let go to face him again. "Why would suffer alone without saying anything like this for so long?"
"I didn't want to make you cry, see" he put his right hand on her face, cupping her cheek and wiping away her tears with his thumb. The heat from his hand made them evaporate.
"I know what you're going through. I have felt this way too" she told him, sniffing. "It's inevitable when you fall in love with an idiot that keeps running head first into danger."
Natsu chuckled.
"But what I realized, and you have to realize too, is that if we do this" she continued, and Natsu thought she was beautiful when she had this determined expression "If we stop taking risks and avoiding danger, we will no longer be ourselves. We're gonna lose each other anyway, because we will no longer be the ones we fell in love with."
"Damn! Why do you have to be so smart?" he whispered, finally seeing the flaw on his plan. She held his right arm with both her hands and brought it to her chest, his hand right on top of her heart.
"Listen to me. I promise I will never leave you" she said, and he felt his heart getting warm. Funny, he never realized it was cold. "Never, ever ever! Not matter the circumstances, or laws of men or gods, or even if it's for your own good, I'm not leaving. You're stuck with me forever! I swear!"
He hugged her, pressing her head against his chest. His heartbeat was calmer now. Who could have guessed, in the end, that he also needed reassurance, and this badly.
"Thank you" he said, relieved, leaning his back against the wall and sliding to the floor with her.
"Natsu?" Lucy called after some minutes. She escaped his grasp and looked at him.
He was sleeping. And he had a peaceful expression, one she hadn't seen in a long time. She smiled, and summoned Virgo to help her carry him to his hammock. After she made sure he was cozy enough, she finished washing his clothes for him. Happy arrived some hours later and she cooked dinner. She told him she hoped Natsu would be back to normal from now on. They kept talking and playing for a while, but the dragon slayer kept on sleeping.
Natsu slept the whole night. He woke up with the first rays of sunshine feeling more rested than ever. He had a peaceful sleep, and he knew he owed that to Lucy. He smelled her scent and knew she was in the house. He found the celestial spirit mage asleep on the couch, Happy sleeping on her belly. He grinned and decided to make them breakfast.
Even though he had a nightmare like those from time to time, Lucy was always there to tell him that he would never be alone.
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Later that day the three of them went to the guild and found out that everyone from Team Natsu was back. To celebrate their reunion, Erza invited them all to join her in an S-class mission. Lucy was happy to see Natsu get all fired up about it. He was back to normal.
The mission lasted a whole week, including the travel back and forth. Lucy got satisfied with it too. Even though she complained sometimes, she also loved a good adventure and its dangers. Although she did noticed a change of behavior in Natsu. In this mission, not one time he ran all alone to what he thought was the objective or a good fight. He didn't leave Lucy's side, and they fought side by side at all times. She couldn't help feeling relieved about it.
Right now, they were finally arriving home. He went with Lucy to her apartment to help with the baggage. She suspected he had other intentions about it, though, since he told Happy to go on ahead to their house.
Sure enough, he threw all the bags and backpacks on the floor as soon as she closed the door and pressed her against it, kissing her.
"Natsu…" she mumbled against his lips, and he moved them to her neck. "Not now"
"Oh, you're kidding me, right?" he asked, slipping his hands under her shirt and unhooking her bra. "It was a whole week and we nobody left us alone for one minute!"
"I'm all dirty and sweaty from the trip, I want to take a shower first" she whined.
"Wouldn't you feel better taking a shower after?" he argued, kissing her cleavage. She considered for a minute.
"No, I'll be quick, five minutes, I swear!"
"Ugh, fine" he agreed, stepping back. Lucy ran to the bathroom. She also really wanted him, she just needed to take all that sweat off her skin.
While she was preparing to get in the shower, she heard a shout.
"Oh, no!"
"What? What is it?" she asked, but had no answer. She left the bathroom and went to Natsu, who had a horrified expression. "Natsu, what is it?"
"T-There! On the bed!" he pointed. She came close to the bed, scared, but everything seemed normal.
"What? I don't see anyth…" suddenly her boyfriend hugged her and threw himself on the mattress with her.
"Hah! You fell for it!" he laughed, getting on top of her.
"Geez, you're such a child!" she said, laughing too. He kissed her and she noticed he had taken off his shirt and scarf. Damn, he knew she had a weak spot for his bare chest.
"Okay, you can go take your shower now" he said, getting off her.
"Don't you dare!" she warned him, pushing him back to the bed, getting on top of him and taking off her shirt. Natsu quickly removed the bra he had already unhooked and grinned as she kissed him, putting as much contact between their upper bodies as possible. She fell for it indeed.
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Sorry this chapter was really long, but it was either that or break it into two way too short chapters!
Also thanks a lot to all who have reviwed so far!