Author's Note:
Alrighty! It's Sunday! And you know what that means...a new chapter!
As always, humongous thanks to everyone who reviewed! Big hugs and kisses to all my repeat reviewers: sakshishetty3003, mikeczajk12, valerioux, Anna5949, Donthedarkdragon26, quidditchChick6, TheJSmooth, The Age of Awesomeness, Daisy73, SunnieDayys, illleashya, Firefly9917, Leomae2.0, Mihara, and stranger1999.
Also, someone asked where I wanted people to send in their votes on which story will come next. And the answer is: you can give me your vote in the reviews, or you can PM me. Either way is fine. ;D
Anywho, on with the show! And stay tuned for the sneak peek at the end.
Aside from all the safety precautions and extra training, things kind of went back to normal – although everyone was certainly more on edge. The missions on the board had finally picked up again in a huge way, and many members of Fairy Tail were kept busy with them. Everyone aside from Lucy and Yukino came and went as usual, taking on all the new jobs that came flooding in, and the guildhall felt like it had gone back to the way it had been before everyone got stuck on Tenrou island.
That, at least, was a bright spot amongst the tension and anxiety over Tartarus.
As for Lucy, the decision to temporarily move into Fairy Heights turned out to be a good one. Only a few days after Yukino complained about being followed on her mission, Lucy started to feel the same sort of prickly sensation just walking around Magnolia with Natsu and Happy. Natsu had also picked up on it of course, and they'd hurried to the guild at top speed, glancing over their shoulders the whole way.
As soon as Lucy had stepped through the guild's front doors, Natsu had torn back out to try and grab whoever had been following them, but an hour later he returned empty-handed and pissed.
That hadn't been the last time either. Off and on for the next couple of weeks she continued to feel like someone was watching her, and she started to experience a stronger and stronger sense of paranoia.
One day, Yukino and Lucy were together getting lunch. They were in a café near the guildhall, so they felt safe enough that it was just the two of them for once… plus Happy and Amy of course. Natsu was planning on joining them shortly, he was just checking on some business in the celestial realm along with Rogue. They had teamed up to do even more recon through celestial channels to try and track down Tartarus once and for all.
"This is so crazy…I hate it." Lucy eventually sighed, putting down her fork and rubbing her forehead.
Happy looked up from his fish, eyebrows scrunched in concern, and he relocated to her lap. Amy sat on her foot and tilted her big fluffy head back to look up at her upside down with big golden eyes. She was currently in her white dog form.
"You mean being on edge all the time?" Yukino asked with a sad smile.
"Yeah. That. I mean, we're literally two minutes from the guildhall, and I still feel like I'm about to jump out of my skin just because Natsu's not here. It's so stupid! I hate feeling so weak and frightened all the time."
"I know. Me too."
There was a long pause as both celestial mages sulked for a moment.
"Do you want some of my fish?" Happy asked, offering his prize up to her with a hopeful look.
She smiled down at him, feeling warm fuzzies at how sweet he was being. For the past few days he had been super comforting.
Then Yukino suddenly perked up just a little. "Maybe we could do something about it. To make us feel in control of the situation again."
"Like what?"
"Like…maybe we should do some really intense training or something. It would help to distract us, and if we get stronger, we won't be so scared."
Lucy perked up too at her suggestion. "You know…that's actually a really good idea! Why don't we?"
"Aye Sir!" Happy chimed in, and they both chuckled.
Naturally, right as they both started to feel a little better about the situation, something had to go wrong.
The front window of the storefront blew in, sending shards of glass everywhere. Everyone screamed and ducked down. Yukino and Lucy both dashed under the table of their booth. Panic flooded Lucy, the culmination of all the anxiety and paranoia that had built up over the past few weeks.
Her eyes met Yukino's, which were just as wide and frightened as hers.
Suddenly a couple of new voices sounded, and they stood out because they were the only calm ones amongst the panicked noises.
"Damn it all Xades…now you've done it. We're just supposed to follow them, you idiot!"
"They're alone! And together! If we can capture them both, we'll be praised and maybe even given our keys back!" The second voice sounded almost desperate. That didn't bode well.
The tense ball in her stomach clenched even tighter, and she squeezed her eyes closed. For a moment, she felt herself shrinking and cowering, until a warm furry paw landed on her leg. She squinted her eyes open and looked down at happy.
"Lucy…why are we hiding?" he asked.
Her mouth opened to answer the obvious question, but she stalled before the first word even left her lips. Why was she hiding? She was a strong, capable, confidant mage. She'd fought fearlessly in the Grand Magic Games less than a month ago! She was a member of Fairy Tail for cripes sake! In any other situation, she would already be confronting the enemies, not cowering under a table.
Suddenly, she was angry. How dare these demons cow her like this?! How dare she let herself be cowed?!
With a growl, she slid out from under the table and stood. "Everyone! Please! Leave this building immediately! And you…" She turned her attention to the two demons standing in the center of the destruction as all the previous patrons of this establishment edged around them and fled.
"How dare you bust in here and scare everyone?!"
Yukino also inched out from under the table and cautiously stood behind her. Amy flanked them both, her form shifting into that of an enormous wolf as she snarled at the two enemies in front of them.
"If we can capture you, all our problems will be solved!" the first demon shrieked at her, wild-eyed and more than a little perturbed in the head.
"All right…. there's no talking to these two…" Lucy muttered and summoned Aries.
"I'm sorry!" she mewled as usual when she poofed into existence in a puff of pink fluff.
"You're fine, Aries. Now, wool ball these two goons!"
"I'll try my best. Wool ball!" A bunch of pink fluff exploded out of her and captured the demon who was so desperate to catch them that he'd apparently gone against orders. The other one, however, managed to sprout wings and fly away.
"Open! Gate of the Scales! Libra! Reverse the balance of that flying demon!" Yukino called, and suddenly the guy was flying down into the ground instead of up into the sky.
Amusingly, Natsu and Rogue appeared right as the demon performed a crash landing directly in front of them, and they both flinched back a little in surprise from seeing someone suddenly slam into the ground inches from their toes.
"What the…what's going on here?!" Natsu barked, his eyes flashing.
"These two demons showed up and tried to 'capture' us. They must be super low-level though, because…well, see for yourselves."
Natsu glanced at the demon currently dozing in a bed of fluffy pink clouds and the one who was trying – and failing – to peel himself up off the ground. A slow grin worked across his face…and it was about as far from pleasant as one could get with that particular facial expression. He cracked his knuckles and a little smoke escaped between his teeth.
"Great job you two… now we've got a couple of prisoners to question. Maybe we'll finally get some answers."
Naturally, they escaped by poofing back to the demonic realm as soon as Lucy and Yukino released them… much to Natsu's disappointment.
…
After that, Lucy was careful not to go anywhere alone. In fact, she stuck close to the guildhall as much as possible. Even though those two had been super easy to deal with, she knew good and well that the next group wouldn't be nearly as low-leveled. It didn't take long for her to be proven right either, the replacements for the last two were much harder to sense.
However, while they stuck closer to the guildhall, Lucy and Yukino also followed through with their plan to make themselves feel better about the situation. They trained their butts off.
Yukino was several steps behind Lucy, so she helped her fellow celestial wizard in some of the more advanced techniques – such as star dresses and the like. Of course, it was all up to Yukino whether she could meld her magic tightly enough with her spirits, so she spent much of their training doing just that. Likewise, Lucy also spent a lot of her time working with the remainder of her spirits to master the star dresses she didn't possess yet.
Surprisingly, each successive star dress seemed to come a little easier and faster. The more she grew accustomed to the process, the better she got at tailoring it to each spirit, but it was still hard work.
As for who she trained with first, she decided the best way to go about it was to go in order of the spirits she had collected, starting with the ones she was most familiar with. So, to that effect, she started with Taurus - who had been her second spirit after Aquarius.
That had been an interesting experience. Naturally, as soon as she summoned him, he'd poofed in with a moo, and then commented, "Hello Miss Luuuucy. Your boooobs are as amazing as ever."
Yukino flushed and looked over from where she'd been training with Libra, and both women shot Taurus an offended look.
Lucy felt a vein tick in her forehead. "Taurus…how many times have I asked you to not talk about my boobs?!"
"Sorry Miss Luuuucy." he lowed, but sounded thoroughly unapologetic.
She just sighed and shook her head before explaining what she had summoned him for. He seemed surprisingly excited by the prospect. "Moooo! Alright! I was wooondering when you'd want to doooo this!"
She couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm and got even more pumped up herself. When he held out his large black-furred hands, she rested her palms in his…a little startled by just how much bigger his hands were than hers. She'd never held hands with Taurus, so it was no wonder that she had never noticed…though it shouldn't have come as a surprise. He was ten feet tall - at least - and massive in every other way.
Closing her eyes, she focused in on him, the way she had learned to do with Natsu and Aquarius before. It still took almost a week of intense training, but eventually she was able to meld her magic with his. Upon further inspection, she decided that Aquarius had taken extra-long because she'd kept trying to drown Lucy and lacked any sort of patience. Taurus, on the other hand, surprised her with a great deal of patience…probably because he was just happy to be around and look at her boobs the whole time… although, he had to focus too of course.
It probably wouldn't have even taken that long if he had focused more.
Whatever the case, about five days of solid training later, she was finally able to mesh her magic with Taurus's. Unlike Aquarius's cool salty ocean magic, Taurus's was warm…and felt sort of barnyard-y. It was also salty in a way, but it felt more like clean sweat. It also had a sweet scent and feel to it…almost like the sweet notes of hay that cut through a barnyard. It was very earthy and potent, and the thing that had kept throwing her off was the sheer physicality of it.
Eventually though, she felt his magic run through her own veins and fill her muscles with strength that she'd never felt before. As always, the prickly sensation of her clothes changing overtook her, and when she finally looked down and detached her hands from Taurus's, she noted her new outfit with a smile. She now wore black leather pants and a black leather breastplate that almost looked like armor. The sides of her pants were cut and laced with leather all the way up, showing hints of skin, and a pair of kickass boots completed the look. Up top, her tough but surprisingly supple breastplate was held on by a series of complex leather straps crisscrossing over her back. On her arms were a pair of fingerless gloves that went up to mid forearm, and she could already tell by the feel of them that the backs and knuckles were reinforced. Reaching up, she felt along her head to get an idea of what her hair was doing and felt thick braids along her scalp and only a few long twisting strands coming down to frame her face. The braids made two big spirals around two horns that protruded from the sides of her head. On her hip was a long black leather bullwhip that looked positively deadly.
After acquiring Taurus's star dress, she spent the rest of the day training with it, and quickly discovered that this particular form granted her enormous strength, lending a lot of power to her attacks. He stuck around too to give her tips – and also probably to ogle her in tight leather pants. They sparred a bit, getting hoots and hollers from the onlookers and other people training that day.
By that point, everyone was aware that Yukino and Lucy spent almost all day every day training in the large grassy space between the dorms and guildhall. People began to join them, and every day there was a different assortment of people training their powers.
Anyone who was actively training made sure to keep some distance between them and everyone else so a random magic attack wouldn't hurt anyone. But people who were taking a break, or were just passing by, often parked under the trees and watched them train. Whenever someone made a breakthrough in their training and produced something new or exciting, often the others would stop their own training to come take a look.
So Lucy wasn't surprised when her new star dress gathered a crowd, and she received a lot of praise and encouragement from her fellow guildmates. They also shouted out challenges like, "Hey, pick up that big rock over there!" and "Holy shit! That's awesome! Now how far can you throw it?!"
Eventually the crowd dispersed, leaving her semi-alone once again with Taurus, though Yukino stayed closer than the others so she could call for advice whenever she needed it. They both trained longer than anyone else but were never alone. When people started thinning out, Natsu, Sting, and Rogue all joined them, along with Happy and Lector. The two Exceeds usually visited, ate fish and hamburgers or hotdogs – Lector's favorite foods – and had even gotten into the habit of playing cards and other games for fun.
Meanwhile, sometimes Sting, Rogue, and Natsu actually joined in on the training, but other times they stayed off to the side doing their own thing. Sting had recently joined in on the investigation efforts, though he mostly worked with Laxus on the Earthland side of things while Natsu and Rogue took the celestial angle. They often spent their time talking about Tartarus while Lucy and Yukino were training. They had made some progress in trying to track down Tartarus, and everything they'd found out said that the demon guild was becoming more and more active. It was only a matter of time before they made a move.
Soon enough, only a week or so after Lucy had acquired Taurus's star dress, what they had all been waiting for happened…but not at all in the way they'd been expecting.
One day, an urgent message arrived from the capitol, begging them to send powerful mages that were good at tracking. The news was shocking. Someone had kidnapped the princess of Fiore and had taken out the entire guard while doing so, leaving them helpless and unable to try and get her back. So they'd sent out an SOS to all the most powerful guilds in the nation.
Of course Fairy Tail sent a very strong, FAST, and capable team to answer the summons. Sting and Rogue went by air, Laxus by lightning, and Jellal used Meteor. That would probably get them to the capitol in mere minutes.
Long after they'd left though, the taste of anxiety and perturbation soured the air.
The news was extremely concerning, especially to Lucy and Yukino. The fact that Tartarus had gone after the princess meant they were getting a lot bolder.
All Lucy could do was just hope and pray that they got the princess back and maybe took out some of Tartarus or finally acquired some sort of clue about their hideout. Worrying wasn't going to help anyone though, so she just threw herself back into training to distract herself and make it feel like she was doing something productive at least.
By that point, she'd settled into a rigorous training regimen, and started every day by shifting through her acquired star dresses and working with them for about thirty minutes each as a warm up. Then she would spend the rest of the day training with whatever spirit she was currently working with.
The day that Jellal, Rogue, Sting, and Laxus zipped over to the capitol was no different. She tromped out to the field and started by summoning Natsu's star dress. The dragon himself was parked under a nearby tree eating lunch, and watched with Happy and Amy who were also eating lunch. She ignored them as she summoned fire to her hands and practiced throwing it out in front of her in the form of fire balls, jets of flame, and then her whip. After doing that for a while, she then practiced covering her body with it.
As soon as she was finished with fire, she switched to water and practiced using Aquarius's star dress for a while. Using the mermaid's powers, she could summon water from nowhere – which was handy in case she actually did need to summon Aquarius and didn't have any water nearby. The water she created could be used as a shield or as an attack, but she still hadn't quite mastered it yet. After the Grand Magic Games, she had especially put extra effort into mastering Aquarius's technics… mainly because she'd been chewed out for failing to use them properly in the games. Personally, she thought she had done pretty well for herself, but her mermaid spirit apparently disagreed and thought she could do better.
By this point, Natsu had finished his lunch and was raring to go, so he bounded over with a big grin and faced off with her.
"Alright! Come at me Luce! See if you can put me out!"
This had also become part of their training regime. He would light himself on fire, and she would use Aquarius's water to try and douse his flames. So far it had been impossible, but she'd at least managed to force a good flicker or two out of him and lowered his brilliance quite a bit. Today was no exception, she was able to get his flames sort of low, but eventually gave up when the steam became so thick that it made breathing difficult.
After that, she switched to Taurus's star dress and Natsu's grin broadened.
Along with various weight training, she also used him as a punching bag…in a way. She'd been training a lot lately with Capricorn as well in hand-to-hand combat, and she put it to use with the extra strength granted by Taurus's star dress in a devastating combo. Undoubtedly, when she eventually mastered Capricorn's star dress, it would give her mastery over hand-to-hand combat, but she wanted to be at least proficient at it without having to rely on a star dress. It seemed like a handy skill to have.
And so, when she shifted into the leather gear, Natsu cracked his knuckles and lowered his stance, ready to spar. He always went relatively easy on her, but she still generally went home with a nice set of bruises every day from it.
She wasted no time in going at him, aiming for what would be a devastating punch to his midsection. Of course he just turned his abs into hard red scales and skidded back a little ways, dirt piling up around his heels. She kept up her momentum though, taking the necessary steps to follow and went for an uppercut that would probably knock a normal person's head clean off. This time, Natsu dodged, leaning back just enough so her fist swung past his face, and then he turned his body into her space. His hand grabbed onto her extended arm and he twisted, using his grip and her own momentum to throw her forwards. She might have been able to stagger and regain her balance, if he hadn't followed it up with a kick to her backside that splayed her out flat.
Taurus's star dress also increased her durability somewhat, definitely not to the extent that Natsu's did, but at least it allowed her to take the blow without her butt breaking – which it probably would have without the extra help. Natsu was definitely using more force than he ever did the few times they sparred with her in normal clothing. It still hurt though, and she grunted as her face nearly met the ground.
Thankfully, she still managed to roll out of the way before he could mount her, because being pinned by Natsu was not fun. Not only did she have to deal with Happy – and others – teasing from the side-lines, but also the dragon tended to get a little … clingy. He seemed to take way too much enjoyment from wrestling on the ground, and she almost always ended up feeling something hard poking her by the end of it all. Personally, she didn't really see sparring as a turn-on, except in very rare circumstances.
Scrambling back to her feet, she managed to put a little distance between them and then spun to face him again. He was standing there with a shit-eating grin that made her scowl at him… but her reaction only made him flash more fang at her.
"Saucy dragon…" she muttered, half irritated and half amused.
He obviously heard her because he bit his lip in a way that he knew she liked, and she felt her scowl deepen at the obvious tease. Ignoring the slight tightening of her gut, she went at him again, this time aiming a kick at his hip. His tail whipped out and blocked her, grabbing onto her. Instead of panicking though, she used that grip to her advantage. She ducked, planted one hand on the ground, and swept her other leg around from behind to knock his feet out from under him. When he lost his balance, she used her first leg – which he was still holding – to propel him backwards from up top. It was a scissor technique that she'd just learned from Cancer and she was delighted it had worked.
With a slight yelp, he flipped over backwards as she caught him by surprise, and she was able to yank her leg free of his tail. While he was tumbling back, she tucked her feet under her and pounced, landing on him right after he hit the ground. Her hands instantly pinned his wrists to the dirt and held tight as he immediately started struggling to free himself. She managed to keep him down long enough that she felt accomplished, and then his tail got involved and she was toast.
She soon found herself flat on her back, pinned under his weight as he turned the tables and sat on her. His tail immobilized her legs and then they commenced fighting for dominance over her hands. He kept trying to grab her, and she kept smacking him away, and also trying to knock him off her. Of course he won in the end – even Taurus's star dress wasn't enough to overcome the strength of a dragon.
"Alright…I give…" she finally huffed and went limp under him.
He chuckled and gave her wrists a squeeze. "So how're you gonna get me off then?"
Her lips twitched at the – probably unintentional – double entendre. Lowering her voice till he was the only person who could possibly hear her, she said, "Do you want to have sex tonight?"
It was a perfect response, it answered both of his questions at once. That would certainly 'get him off,' and it would also prompt him to release her… thanks to the underlying threat that he wouldn't be getting any if he didn't.
His eyes widened and his cheeks flushed just a tad. Then he grinned and his eyes darkened. "Hell yeah." he said as he hopped off with no resistance.
She chuckled as she stood and then brushed herself off. Unfortunately her good mood didn't last very long, since she suddenly remembered why she was out here…. to distract herself from a harsh reality that terrified her. Her brain was being a real brat, and whispered, "Tartarus," into her ear when she least expected it, spiking her in the butt with anxiety.
As the fresh shiver of tension wound down her spine, she refocused on just training, knowing that if she could get into it her mind would shut up, like it had when she was sparring with Natsu.
After brushing herself off, she switched into her next acquired star dress. Cancer's.
It consisted of a short sleeveless red dress with a turtle neck. The mid-thigh length skirt was cut into two loin-cloth-like flaps, one in front and one in back, but luckily she wore black leggings underneath. The red knee-high boots lent a more dangerous vibe to the ensemble, as did the twin blades that were strapped onto her back. They were super cool swords, their shape mimicked the two sides of a pair of shears. In this form, her hair was held back from her face in a complex lattice work composed of strips of hair crisscrossing across her head. Each intersection of hair was held by a red bead, and at the bottom of the lattice – at about ear-height – each section terminated in a braid, while the rest of her jaw-length hair was loose underneath.
This form granted her mastery over twin swords and extreme speed, which was super nice, and she used that extra speed in another sparring session with Natsu – though of course she didn't use her swords. For the rest of her warm-up, she wore herself out sparring with Natsu, and then exhausted herself further by working with Virgo to try and gain her star dress. By the end of the day, she was completely wiped of any and all energy.
That was probably why Natsu found her asleep in the tub much later that night.
She only stirred when Natsu reached into the water and pulled her out to carry her to bed, but she didn't wake fully until he lit his arms – and her – on fire to flash dry her. The intense heat was impossible to sleep through, and with a small grunt she peeled her blurry eyes open.
"Oh…hey Natsu…what's going on?"
"You fell asleep in the tub…weirdo."
"I…did?" She squinted, trying to think back to what she had been doing right before falling asleep. Sure enough, all she could remember was taking a bath.
"Yep. Looks like you overdid it a bit today with the training."
"Probably…" she sighed, and then grunted as Natsu dropped her onto their bed.
After he'd crawled in and was on his side facing her, he asked, "So, why'd you do it?"
"You know why. I was trying to distract myself."
He huffed, and there was a pause as he thought about it for a minute. "Why're you so upset about it? I mean, sure, she's the princess and all…but you don't know her personally. Besides, I'm sure we'll get her back. Gramps sent some of our strongest."
"Yeah I know…it's just…she's a celestial mage too. She's not a personal friend, but celestial mages are so rare that when you find out about another one you can't help but relate to them. And we're being picked off one by one. Angel got stolen out of prison, and even the Duke of Waterloo disappeared a month ago. Not that I really care about him…but still. It's just getting worse and worse. Next thing you know, it'll be Yukino or me. They've already come after us twice."
"You know I'll never let them take you…or Yukino." Natsu snorted, his hand reaching out to lightly pet her cheek.
"Well they managed to kidnap the princess of Fiore…and that couldn't have been easy."
"She didn't have a dragon as her mate though."
"True." She couldn't help but smile a little at him. After a long pause, she added. "Hey Natsu?"
He grunted.
"Do you know how much I love you?"
His lips twitched into a happy and loving smile. "If it's even half of how much I love you, then anyone who tries to separate us must have a death wish."
At that, she couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah…I would Lucy Kick them all the way to the celestial realm and back."
He squinted one eye as if he was imagining it and then started laughing. "That would make a real funny scene. You suddenly appearing and all the spirits watching as you brought some guy in, kicked him around the milky road and then kicked him back out."
She pictured it too and couldn't help but laugh as well. "That would be funny."
After their chuckles died down, comfortable silence settled over them as Natsu cuddled up to her, draping one arm over her middle and twining his tail around her legs.
After a long moment, he cuddled closer and started pressing burning kisses across her collarbones. With a groan she shifted, peering down at him. Apparently he felt her gaze, because his black eyes flicked up to meet hers and he sent her a lovingly mischievous look.
"What're you doing?" she eventually mumbled when his fingers danced over her belly and pushed her shirt up.
"Collecting my payment for letting you up earlier."
It took her a moment to remember her promise of sex if he'd get off her, and she groaned. "Oh come on…seriously? Natsu…I'm tiiiired." she whined, not really up to it at the moment.
"I know. But you don't have to do a thing…just lay there and let me take care of it. You said you wanted a distraction right?"
She pouted, but it didn't take long before she was going along with it. His fiery lips didn't really leave her much room to even want to protest, and soon she was sighing in pleasure. He took his time, sweeping heated palms over almost every part of her. He spent extra time focusing on her most sensitive areas of course, but the long gentle strokes across her sides, back, and hips were almost soothing…like a massage. Once she was a puddle of melted Lucy-goo, he spent more time reenergizing her with burning kisses that stole her breath but left her wanting more.
It wasn't long before he was on top of her, cradling her head between his palms as he essentially made love to her mouth with his…using his tongue almost like a dick and stroking it in and out in a rhythm that soon had her squirming. Along with his tongue came his fire in waves, as if giving her rhythmic drinks of it. His body lay pressed close to hers, and the sensation of skin on skin was intoxicating. Her legs hooked around his thighs, spreading her for him, and soon he took advantage, though not in the way she expected. His tail snaked around their legs, and then between, before sliding up into her. It wasn't the appendage she'd anticipated, but she was equally happy to have it. He curled the tip so it was blunt and wouldn't stab her cervix – a problem they'd run into on their first try of this and never repeated after – and he soon had it moving in and out in the same rhythm as his tongue.
It was a slow and deliberate slide, one that was both relaxing and mind-numbingly arousing, and she was washed away by it. Her thoughts quieted and the only things left were the sensations of Natsu in and around her, and all she wanted was to never stop. Ever so slowly, he increased the speed and intensity just a bit, keeping both mouth and lower parts in perfect sync.
She wasn't particularly surprised when his tail eventually slipped out and slid lower, prodding at her second entrance as he shifted his hips and lined up his penis in place of his tail. He slid both in at the same time, though he did so much slower with his tail, since he had to stretch her gently as he went. It was a common occurrence for them now though, so she had some good practice with relaxing that set of muscles. He managed to get in as much as he ever did before the moisture on it dried and went to waste. That appendage stayed mostly motionless, aside from some very gentle ripples, while he slowly started rocking his hips, still matching the leisurely pace of his tongue.
Everything was so slow and gentle and almost soothing, that if it were any other situation she probably would have been lulled to sleep…. but in this case, it just amounted to an incredibly slow buildup of tension in her lowest belly. Soon she was moaning softly into his kiss, almost matching his pacing with the sounds. He gradually increased his speed and the strength of his thrusts, but kept them long. Each time, he slid all the way in until he hit her deepest parts and then pulled almost all the way out. That long slide meant that even when he started speeding up, it was still slower than usual…and very deliberate.
It was certainly different from his normal love-making, but she was thoroughly enjoying it, especially in her tired state. Warm flutters accosted her, knowing that he was slowing himself down for her sake, and she greatly appreciated the effort he took to make sure she enjoyed herself too. Eventually though he did speed up a little when he started getting closer, and they both tumbled towards release.
The pressure snapped for them both at the same time, his sending her into hers, and they both arched and gasped together, the kiss finally broken as fire poured down her throat in a torrential roar.
After, they stayed locked together for a long moment, both utterly relaxed and most of Natsu's weight propped on his elbows. He peppered her face and neck with kisses, returning to her lips every so often for another long kiss. Lucy was so tired, satisfied, and blissful that she ended up falling asleep before he even pulled out.
Sneak Peek
With an unimpressed look, Laxus shut them up and finished quickly. "Anyways, point is, we fought them, beat them, and brought the princess back to the capitol. Apparently she's gonna be put in a safehouse somewhere." Then he turned to eyeball Lucy and Yukino. "Even better though, she gave us this as a reward for saving her. Said it was a demon key, but she couldn't use it. So maybe it'll get us closer to finding Tartarus…if one of you two can figure out how to use it."
He handed over the orange and black key and they all took a look at it.
Bonus points for anyone who can guess who the demon is. I'll give you a hint, he's a combination of two characters who have a very close connection. One has tails, the other has whiskers. ;D