Natsu hovers over me, both of us covered in sweat, his usually-fluffy pink hair plastered to his forehead. I struggle slightly, testing his hold on my wrists, which he has pinned to either side of my head. Giving me a wide, toothy smile, he leaned down and planted a kiss on the tip of my nose.
"That was really good, Lucy," he said softly. "You're a lot better than I thought you would be."
"Well, I didn't spend our time apart just sitting on my ass," I told him, pulling at my wrists again. He just held them a little tighter - though not enough to hurt.
"I can tell, you really wore me out." I don't like the mischievous glint in his eyes as he says this, and I find out why a moment later when he lets his body weight drop onto me. Well, at least my wrists are free now.
"Natsu," I whined, "get off. You're all sweaty and gross. And heavy." Wriggling around, I tried to free myself, but he stayed stubbornly in place.
"Sorry, Lucy, but I'm just too exhausted. I can't possibly move," he teased, letting his head fall to the crook of my neck.
The warmth of his breath and the weight of his body on mine are both doing things to me, and it occurred to me that I wouldn't mind it so much if we were somewhere a little more private instead of being in what used to be my in-home dance studio. But since someone could walk in at any time, I need Natsu to get the hell off of me. Time for some creative coaxing.
"Natsu?"
"Hmm?"
"If you get up, I can make us some delicious coffee," I use a sing-song voice in hopes of luring him off of me. He loved our morning routine before he left, and a slight shift in his weight gives me hope that my tactic has worked.
"Nooooo," he whined, and I want so desperately to be irritated, but he's too fucking cute. "'M comfy; stay here."
"Natsu," I drew his name out, beckoning him to look at me, which he does, after a few moments. "I'll fight dirty if I have to."
A snort is his answer before he proceeds to nuzzle at my neck. My arms wrap around his shoulders and I allow my hands to glide down his bare back.
"Never say I didn't warn you," I whispered before going on the offensive, taking a chance and digging my fingers into his sides.
My gamble paid off; he squawked in protest, rolling away from me. Too bad for him, I followed, moving over him to straddle his thighs so I could continue my assault. He's breathless and thrashing to get away in no time, begging me to stop as I laughed at his reactions, but showed him mercy all the same.
"That," he panted below me, "was not nice."
"You could've had coffee instead," I said as I stopped my attack, my hands resting at the bottom of his ribcage. I couldn't help but giggle at the look he was giving me. "It was your choice to be tortured."
"Is that so?" Natsu sat up suddenly, his arms wrapping around my waist when I lost my balance and nearly fell from my position on his thighs. Not that I would have fallen far, but apparently that's besides the point.
"Yep. I did warn you I was prepared to fight dirty," I told him matter-of-factly as I draped my arms over his shoulders. "It's not my fault you chose not to heed the warning."
Natsu's burning gaze started to make me feel even warmer that our sparring had and I tore my eyes from his in an attempt to cool down just a bit. This action, unfortunately, forced me to acknowledge the time; our sparring and playing around had lasted longer than intended, and there was still work to be done. Sighing, I rested my head on Natsu's shoulder before breaking the bad news.
"We should go shower, there's still a lot to do today," I told him while reluctantly pulling myself out of his arms.
"I wasn't expecting the invitation, but I'm definitely not going to say no to that."
"What invitation?" I asked before it dawned on me exactly how I had worded my statement. "I… Natsu, that's… it's not… I mean, I didn't…"
He cut off my stammering with a soft kiss to my forehead, somehow not caring about my still-sweaty state, since he wrapped his arms around me again.
"I know," he whispered, his tone soothing my racing heart and calming my breaths. He pulled back to look in my eyes, his showing such affection and concern that I knew I was a goner. "Lucy, I don't want you ever to feel pressured with me. I'm not trying to take this farther than you are willing to go, and I want to make it clear - in case it isn't already - that I don't ever want to break the trust you have in me, and I will never intentionally hurt you, or do anything you are uncomfortable with. Okay?"
So much for my heart calming down, because it feels like it's about to pound its way out of my chest. I don't trust myself to speak, knowing I will say something I'm not quite ready to admit, so I give him a soft smile and nod.
Natsu walked me to my room, placing another kiss on my forehead before walking to his suite to shower. I bit my lip when I stepped under the steam of hot water in my own shower, allowing my thoughts to wander to what it would be like to have Natsu in here with me. That sent my mind straight to the gutter, so I pushed it aside in favor of washing my hair and body.
The day after that was relatively boring, but lacking in the morning's sexual tension. It did, however, come with a certain amount of apprehension. As the day grew longer, the time of my potential meeting with whomever Jose is sending for a 'visit' with my father.
It was well past midnight when Natsu came stumbling drowsily into the office where I was pouring over paperwork I had found in my father's desk several hours ago.
"What're you doing still awake?"
"Just trying to make sense of all this," I answered, gesturing to the mess around me.
"No," he said firmly, gathering the papers and files and holding them out to me. "Tomorrow's going to be stressful enough; lock this all back away, and we'll deal with it later."
"But…"
He slid around the desk, opening the bottom drawer and placing everything inside, then closing it again and turning the small key.
"You're exhausted and anxious, Lucy, and you need to get some sleep. Please, just come to bed."
"I wasn't expecting the invitation, but I'm definitely not going to say no to that," I said, using his earlier words on him.
The stunned look on his face let me know he hadn't meant it like that, but the smile that followed told me he was not opposed to the idea of sleeping next to me again. I took his hand and led him to my room; the exhaustion hit once my head was on my pillow, and my eyes closed as Natsu curled against my back.
"I don't give a damn," I heard Natsu's angry whisper at the door. "Whoever's coming won't be here until at least noon, and she needs to get some fucking sleep." He paused, obviously listening to the person just outside my room. "That's none of your business, just give us another hour so she can rest. I have a feeling today's gonna suck."
The door closed softly and moments later, Natsu was back in bed with me. I turned over to face him, lifting one hand to run through his messy hair.
"Sorry I woke you," he said softly, leaning into my touch.
"It's alright," I replied while my nails scratched softly at his scalp. "This isn't a bad way to wake up. Who was at the door, anyway?"
"Just Loke." Natsu rolled his eyes. "He said something about a morning run, but I'm pretty sure you're going to need your energy to deal with today's visitor."
"Yeah, I'm not really in a running mood today. I'm so nervous something will go wrong."
"Well, sounds like there's only one thing we can do…" He paused, likely for dramatic effect while I waited for his amended plan. "You and I, we're going to let everyone else handle today's shit show while we stay locked in your room cuddling and watching really bad horror movies."
Several seconds passed, Natsu looking at me with a smirk on his lips and a sparkle in his eyes.
"Not a chance," I finally broke the silence, trying desperately not to laugh at the dejected pout that had replaced his smirk.
"It was worth a try." He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me tight against him as he had last night. "Try not to worry too much. Things are not likely to go one hundred percent to plan today. Some shit will go wrong, no matter how we try to plan for everything. But you've got me, and Gray, and the team backing you up." Natsu lets out a sigh and nuzzles my hair. "I'm not gonna say everything's going to be fine, because I don't know that, but I do know that we'll get through this meeting today, and whatever comes after."
We stayed like that for a little longer until my body decided it was time to get up, or else, then went down to the kitchen to really start the day.
Things were going smooth until several hours later - less than an hour before our unwanted guest should be arriving - when I hit a bit of a snag with Natsu.
"Natsu, stop touching it," I scolded, pulling his hands away.
"I can't," he whined as he tried to free his hands from my grasp. "It's all weird and stiff, and I don't like it feeling like this."
"This can't be the first time it's been like this, right?" The scowl he gives me confirms my suspicions. "So, just deal with it however you did in the past."
"You're gonna leave me like this all day?" Natsu's scowl turns into a pout immediately as he looks at me with huge, sad puppy eyes. "Please, won't you help me? This is uncomfortable, and Gray will make fun of me if I have to be like this for a full day. And I'll be in pain if it's stiff like this for too long."
"Natsu…" How did I ever allow such a childish man to steal my heart, I will never know. "Let's make a deal, okay?"
He perks up just a little bit at my words.
"Just stop messing with your damn hair until this day is over, that's all I ask of you," I begin, his pout not diminishing in the least. "In return, I will personally kick Gray in the face if he makes fun of you." A wicked grin stretches across his face at that, and I know I have to add an amendment. "That is if - and only if - Gray messes with you without you goading him into a fight."
The pout has returned in full force - including the classic 'arms folded over the chest' move - and I cannot contain my laughter.
"I don't know if it's worth it if that's all I'm getting out of this."
"As an added bonus, I'll also wash all that crap out of your hair for you tonight." My teeth pulled at my lower lip. I'm nervous he will still object to this. "It's up to you. I can just have Loke with me instead, but…"
"But…" Natsu prompted when I had been silent a little too long. One of his hands pulled free from my grasp to cup my face, thumb caressing my cheek as I leaned into his touch.
"You're the only one who didn't try to argue or try to talk me out of this. We were apart for three months and you come back to find me planning something admittedly crazy and possibly dangerous, but instead of trying to talk me out of it like literally everyone else did, you just accepted it. You didn't even know what I was planning before agreeing to help. I just… I want someone with me who trusts me - who really trusts me - not just someone who is there to protect me. And that's you."
"How could I possibly say no to that?" His eyes close and he leans forward, his forehead resting against mine.
A soft knock on the door ended the conversation. Aquarius surprised us both when she stepped hesitantly through the door. In the three months I'd known her, the woman never hesitated doing anything except showing affection - and that was really just during the first meeting.
"Is something wrong?"
"We've been keeping an eye on the cameras in the area so that we would know who to expect and when they would arrive," Aquarius told us. This is information we already knew, as it was part of the plan. "They were just spotted at a gas station around ten miles away."
"They? I thought it was just going to be one person." Natsu's tone sounds as confused as I am.
"That's what our intel suggested, but there must have been a change of plan." Aquarius took one of my hands, giving a light squeeze before dropping a bomb. "We recognize both men; one is the driver and the other… Lucy, it's Jose."
"How long before they get here?" It is far from easy to keep my voice steady.
"Twenty minutes at most," she replied, then turned her eyes to Natsu. "You cannot be in that room. It'll have to be Loke."
"Like hell," Natsu nearly yelled at her. I placed a hand on his chest to calm him, which -rather surprisingly - worked.
"No," I said to Aquarius. "I need him with me, and this is not up for debate. Where's Gemini?"
"They're in their room."
I pulled Natsu behind me, as I quickly made my way to the twins' room. The door was pulled open before I even had a chance to knock.
"We heard who's coming, and we know what we need to do," they said together as they allowed Natsu and I to enter.
"You should go change, Miss Lucy, they'll be here soon."
"Don't worry, we'll make sure Natsu is ready before they arrive."
With that, I was pushed out of the room. Though every ounce of professionalism inside me is telling me that I should be dressed properly for a meeting, I know that it can't look like I've been expecting one, so I head to my room to put on the clothes I had laid out last night.
It felt wrong to pull on the pair of dark jeans and ankle boots, but I pushed that feeling aside. Looking at the blouse I had picked out, I quickly discarded the idea, opting instead for a scoop-neck tee-shirt and the zip-front hoodie Natsu had worn yesterday. I quickly tied my hair into a braid and wound it into a loose bun at the base of my neck to polish off a look of casual innocence.
Natsu and I met back up minutes later in one of the guest bedrooms where all the monitoring screens were set up. He was not even recognizable - the twins did an amazing job with makeup in such a short amount of time. We watched as a car entered the long driveway to the front doors, my stomach churning as it parked and two men got out.
"It's not too late to change your mind, Princess," Loke said, looking back at me. "One word to Aries, and they will not be allowed through the front door."
"No." Even I could tell my voice was shaky and uncertain. After a deep breath, I tried again. "No, I can do this, but I won't be on even ground with this bastard; Capricorn, I'd like you with me as well."
I received a nod from him and a squeeze on my hand from Natsu. Aside from Natsu, Capricorn argued the least against my plan, and I knew both his business savvy and fighting skill could be of use if this went south.
With everything as ready as it could be, the three of us headed towards the parlor, all silently hoping nothing more would go wrong today.
Thank you to everyone who gave a fave/follow to this story. Special thanks to my reviewers: , anneryoko, Naraku's Phoenix, Copperreign12, galactiaconstella, Trugracee, RequiemMage, and Uchida Akira.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'll be working on the next one when I get home from work tonight.
TTFN, Lovelies!