Hello folks, here's chapter 5! Just an FYI, the story is about half over by my current calculations... anyway ENJOY!


Chapter 5: Infatuation


Levy was excited. It was the day she had been waiting for all week since Gajeel had told her to make a cover story as to why she wouldn't be in the Castle. She had told Lucy and they had come up with a plan. The two would go for an afternoon ride and take the, oh so gullible, Natsu with them as an escort. There was a small lake to the north west of the castle that they would visit. Once there Lucy would keep Natsu busy enough to not notice Levy disappearing into the woods to her Dragon. It wasn't hard to get Natsu to agree to the trip, unknowing the real agenda of course, and the trio made plans for it to happen the following day. That night Levy told Gajeel their plan and asked where they were going, to which he simply chuckled and replied, "'Tis a secret."

For Levy, it was so nice to finally be out of the Castle. The King had allowed her to travel outside of the walls again, seeing as the elusive Dragon was more elusive and hadn't been spotted in a while. Rather it was more telling him of their plans as the King's health was still in shambles and conversing was of little use and only tired the King more than he was. It was one more thing on her mind. The King was not recovering in any fashion, and he grew sicker with each day that passed. It was a growing concern for the Royal Council as well. If the King died before Levy was wed, or turned nineteen, the thrown would be up for grabs as there were no living relations to take the throne besides Laxus, and that was just a mess in its own.

And so one could say that their little afternoon adventure was a bit of a celebration of her new, returned, freedoms, and an escape from the taxing stress of home. The two ladies and the Knight saddled their horses themselves, Levy saying it was good for her to do so as she didn't need the pampering and she would prefer to do the work herself. The stables boys were accustomed to the Princesses independence as she had always been that way. Once saddled the trio set out at an easy pace. It was only a few hours ride and the group had left just after the morning meal, a lunch packed for them with the expectation that they would be home for supper.

The ride was lively with the three chatting away, about the day, the weather of late; Lucy and Levy talked of their favorite books and Natsu boasted about his latest spar with Gray. As they rode along, they came upon a few separate groups of people who waved and wished them well, prayed that the King would recover quickly, how happy they were to see their beloved Princess again, and the beauty of her and her Lady as they went out. It had been such a while that Levy had been out and about in the Kingdom, that people were glad to see their lovely Princess again. With the King's health as it was, and no reassurance from the Council, seeing Levy fit and well was able to settle some of the nerves of the people.

A few hours later they finally reached the spot of their travel. It was a secluded lagoon at the edges of the end of the Black Forest, where the trees thinned and the forest became lighter and more welcoming. No monstrous wolves or Cave Bares entered the lighter parts of the forest and it was safe for people to travel without a guard. The lake in particular wasn't very large, but then large enough for there to be several swimming spots that the locals visited on the nicer days of the summer months. As it was cloudy and chilly for the middle of July they were guaranteed to be left alone. Even in the dullness of the day, the lake looked marvelous. Crystal blue and green waters that showed fish and frogs and turtles swimming about, herons in the shallows and king fishers diving her and there fishing as they went. The bottom of the lake was radially visible to anyone who looked and one could see rock formations, clusters of sea grass, fallen logs and trees and lilies and reeds here and there. The spot that was a personal favorite was a small secluded beach in a bend in the lake which was sheltered from the main beaches by a grove of willows and aspen. In the height of August, when the days were the hottest, throngs of people would travel to this place and cool down in the crystal waters. Yet as it were that day, a cool breeze blew through the trees and made ripples on the lake, disturbing the surface so much so that one couldn't see the bottom. Grey clouds hung low in the skies, threatening rain. It was not a day for swimming by any means.

A point that Natsu had brought up this very point when Lucy and Levy had asked him to accompany them, "Seems like a funny day to go swimming Luce, what with the clouds and all."

"Oh but Natsu, Levy wants to go very badly and since he is allowed out of the Castle again it would be the perfect spot for a picnic lunch to celebrate! Please won't you come with us?"

He had agreed with a shrug and a simple, "Ok, whatever you say Luce!"

Once they had arrived did Lucy and Levy set their plan into motion. It was Lucy's job to distract Natsu while Levy snuck a little ways off where her Dragon would meet her and the two would travel to the special place he was going to show her. But first they had to lure Natsu into their trap, which really wasn't that hard.

Stripping down to her full bodied bathing suit, Lucy trotted to the water and stuck a toe in. She had to clamp a hand over her mouth to keep the shriek in. The water was cold! But she had to pull through! For Levy! Gritting her teeth she boldly strode into the cold lake. From the shore Levy watched as she set up the picnic for them. Natsu had just returned from tying up the horses and was standing over her shoulder watching his fiancé brave the cold lake. Levy sighed and tossed a thankful look to her maiden, she was being so brave and strong for Levy's sake.

Now waist deep Lucy turned round and called out to Natsu waving him in with her, "N-natsu, come s-swim with me!"

Looking incredulous he replied, "Nah, Luce, the water looks cold."

Oh-h c-come on you! It's g-great!"

"But you're shivering!"

"It's r-really not a-all that b-bad! W-why don't you c-come w-warm me up, hmm?"

Natsu flushed and scratched the back of his head looking around, "Hey hey, Luce, not with Levy here… hey, where is Le- Oop!" He had made the mistake of coming to the waters edge to which Lucy responded with a splash his direction. "Hey! That is cold! Luce get outta' there before you catch cold!"

"Oh Come here you Dragon Slayer you, and try and make me!"

"Come on Lucy!"

"Come on Natsu!" she splashed at him again and he began to take of the light armor he was wearing, "Well if you say so! Here I come Lucy!" and with the last garment gone he sprinted forward and dove into the water. Coming close to Lucy's legs in the mayhem of his splashing and grabbing her around the middle. Grinning at her shriek he fell backwards into the chilled water and dowsed Lucy head first. She rose with a splutter and a gasp before splashing at Natsu with all her might. He just laughed and splashed her back.

Levy shook her head at her friends, they were so childish sometimes. But she was off to meet her love too. The thought made her blush as she trotted through the forest to the little clearing a few hundred yards from the pool of water. Rounding the last tree she grinned when she saw her Dragon waiting patiently in the center of the little clearing. He was standing with his arms folded and he was looking to the sky, watching the clouds move. A sudden thought hit her and she backed up round the tree once more. She didn't think he had noticed her yet. Perfect. Tiptoeing through the underbrush, she made her way behind the Dragon and snuck out from the forest to walk quietly up behind him. She was too focused on her target – his twitching tail – to notice her Dragon smirking at her over his shoulder. She was just about to pounce, cat like, when she happened to glance up and meet his red gaze. She froze mid step and stared at him, he stared back, the corners of his mouth twitching with amusement.

Her face reddened as she set her foot down and clasped her hands before her and looked down, ashamed of being caught. Rocking back and forth on her feet she was surprised when the Dragon bent before her and lifter her chin with a long finger. He smirked at her a moment before kissing her sweetly. Levy instantly relaxed into the embrace and slipped a hand up to the Dragon's face. Breaking the kiss Gajeel looked down at her and grinned,

"I heard ya' comin' a mile away, an' I smelled ya' about three miles ago. Gihihi"

"Well give me props for trying?"

"Never! Now, Come'ere."

He needn't have told her as she slipped her arms around his neck and he hoisted her up, slipping an arm under her back side, the other at his side as he held her one handed.

"Are we really going to fly today? It's light out"

"'tis dark enough, the sun I'm more worried about"

"S'not like a Dragon ta' worry"

"Careful there missy, yer' tongue is slippin'. Been spendin' too much time with the likes of me! Gihihi!"

"Oh hush you!"

"Ghihihi!"

And with that he kicked off and spread his wings to glide lightly over the tops of the trees, just high enough to miss the branches, but low enough to duck down and disappear in them if needed. With a few powerful flaps of his mighty wings they were sailing at great speeds, faster than a galloping horse, the wind hitting her in the face and stinging some. She turned towards the Dragons neck and nuzzled in to the warmth there as the wind whistled by sharply. It wasn't long that the topography began to change and become more hilly and mountainous. And then they were higher in the air, a solid form of rock twenty stories high between them and the open planes where the Castle and Magnolia lay, allowing the Dragon to fly easier and less like he was avoiding detection. Levy noticed the sudden angle of their flight and looked about with bleary eyes from the wind. They were climbing up the side of the mountain and over the very top! She huddled closer to the warmth that was Gajeel as they twisted in the air and began their decent down the far side of the mountain.

It wasn't long before the Dragon kicked out and landed softly among the rocky out cropping's and scraggly trees that adorn the far side of the massive mountain before a few more monstrous land formations became the great volcanic cliffs of the Western Mountains of Fire. Gajeel set Levy down carefully and allowed her to look a bout and get her barring's for a few moments.

"Where are we? And why is it so cold!" She suppressed a shiver as she clutched her arms and rubbed the feeling back into them. The wind during the flight had frozen the little Princess and the cold air of the mountain was not much warmer.

"'Ere" And the Dragon offered her a dark blue cloak that Levy instantly recognized as the one from when she was first lost in the Black Forest the first time she had met the Dragon at her back. She gave him a knowing look and he simply shrugged, smirking at her. She rolled her eyes ad dawned the cloak none the less.

After a few moments of looking around and regaining her balance, Levy looked to the Dragon with a ready set to her face. She wanted to see what he had brought her here to see. Smirking at her, Gajeel took her hand and lead her across the rocky and a little snowy landscape a ways. In total length their journey had taken but a mere half hour, as the Dragon's flight was faster than any horse could run and not having to adapt to the change of terrain aided in his ability to move from one place to another easily. It was but a few minutes more before the Dragon turned over his should to the Princess and told her to close her eyes. Obeying, Levy felt the excitement rise in her chest. The Dragon dropped her hand and told her to wait a moment, and it was but a moment when he took it again and softly guided her forward a few paces. Now at her back, a hand on each shoulder the Dragon whispered for her to open her eyes. Doing so, Levy blinked a few times to readjust to the overcast lighting that was that day. What she saw before her made her gasp.

A little ways before the two, lazing about on rocks and patches of snow were several great cats. Their black dappled grey coats shining even in the dimness of the day. Long fluffy tails were accented with solid black tips and white undersides that ran all the way up to the cat's chin and was nearly reflected in the long white sabers on each side of the beasts face. These majestic creatures were the fabled Saber Tooth Snow Lions. Few a man in her time had seen such creatures much less hunted them as was the ultimate prized pelt among hunters and merchants alike, besides something of a Dragon of course. Levy put a hand to her mouth as she gazed upon the living legends. They walked as if on clouds, their massive fluffy paws seemed to not touch the ground. If it wasn't for the paw prints she wouldn't have believed they did touch the ground.

There were a half dozen of the cats before them, and with the direction of the breeze their sent hadn't reached the cats yet and they acted as if Levy and Gajeel weren't watching them. The Dragon smirked as he watched the little Princess gaze at the Lions before them. He knew she would like the Lions, but the best part wasn't there yet. He stood behind her as Levy sat on a rock to watch the Lions mil about and be cats. For a while the two watched the animals before more of the creatures came out of a small cave in the side of the mountain.

"Kittens! Kittens Gajeel! Oohhh, Look at them!" she was practically squealing as she whispered to the Dragon behind her.

Yes, that's what he was waiting for. It was the right time of year that the Lion Cubs were just venturing beyond the comforts of the den and exploring the world around them. It was something of a treat for the Princess, not that he would ever admit it, but he knew she needed to get away from the Castle and those inside of it, specifically some Prince and his cronies. Just thinking about the Prince made his skin crawl. He couldn't think what Levy must feel like having to live with the bastard. At least he could provide her with some time away.

One by one the Lion cubs came tumbling out of the den and into the afternoon. Cashing tails of the adults, fighting with one another, and doing as cubs do. The Dragon watched the Princess as she was absorbed by the Lions and their cubs. He would much rather watch her than the Lions. He knew about the Lions, but the Princess only knew what she had been told by hunters, and old hunters at that.

The Sabertooth Snow Lions were the apex predators of the Mountains of Fire and the other smaller mountain ranges of Fiore. They were as mythical as the Unicorns and as populated as the Dragons. Hunted for their impeccably soft pelts, they were all but extinct. That and it was insanely hard to hunt, much less kill a Lion. The great cats hunted in packs of up to twelve – that he had seen – and where there was one there were always more just behind the other. Easily the size of a large man when standing on their hind legs, the cats were creatures to be reckoned with. Even Dragons knew to stay away from a mother and her cubs. Mothers had one litter every two years. The cats lived in family groups of mothers, daughters, sisters, nieces, and aunts, with two ore three males heading the family group. The female cubs were kept in the pride while the males either challenged the current head males or were kicked out of the pride. It was usually the lone males that some hunter would come across or that would pray off a farmer's livestock. For being so tied by family, the cats were shy animals, adding to their mystery and rarity. They were the ghosts of the mountains, their coats allowing them to blend in perfectly with their mountain homes, extra padded feet not only kept their pads warm but allowed them to move without sound, and the characteristic sabers made quick work of anything that got in the cats path.

As cubs, the Lions didn't have their sabers yet, but they would grow in as the cat matured. For the time being, the cubs were overgrown balls of fluff that mewled and ran about as kittens do. They weren't the only ones mewling as Levy gushed over the adorable balls of fluff. It was rather amusing to the Dragon to listen to her hushed bubbling.

"Oh Gajeel, they're just so adorable!" Though he thought she was more adorable, not that he would ever say it out loud, "Sure shrimp, Cute. Gihi."

"Oh you kill-joy! They are just the cutest!"

"Yaeh I Figured ya' like seeing them, seein' as your kind don't really get ta' see creatures like this no more. Since ya' bloody well wiped 'em all out…"

"Hush you!"

"Gihihi!"

"No really hush, I think they heard you."

Gajeel looked up. Levy was right, the Lions had heard their little argument. The cubs were being herded back into the den and the cats were scattering, leaving nothing but paw prints and a fleeting memory of what once was.

"Oh, look, you've scared them off you big bad Dragon you!" and she huffed as he gave her a look of mock hurt. It wasn't long before he was smirking at her again and nudged her to follow him once more. As the two picked their way back the way they had come Levy pipped up, "It was lovely to see the Sabertoon Snow Lions though, even if it was for but a little while. Thank you Gajeel."

He merely shrugged and tossed her a grin over his broad shoulder, "Yeah, I'd thought ya'd like that, sein' as how yer' kind don' get ta' see beasts like that without killin' 'em first."

Huffing t his comment she retorted, "Well don't your kind also kill them?"

"Nah, see we Dragons respect nature, not destroy it."

"Oh you!"

"Gihihi!"

"Gajeel, you always talk about 'we Dragons' but I've never heard you talk about other dragons in particular before, besides your father and Lilly. Did you know any other Dragons? What were they like? What'd they look like? Wh – Ooff! – Hey, tell a person when you stop walking!"

The Dragon had stopped dead at her questions. His back to her she couldn't see his expression, and with his wings folded against his back she couldn't see the tightness in his shoulders.

"Gajeel?" She took a few steps forward and around him to peer up into his face, "Hey, what's wrong?" his face was in shadow and there was a grim set to his mouth. Gently, she reached out and touched his arm, but to no avail. The Dragon stared on into nothingness, "Gajeel?"

After a long moment he seemed to rouse himself and, blinking, he looked at her, "Yeah, Shrimp?"

"Oh, you just, went quiet all of a sudden…"

"Hmph, just thinkin'." He started off striding over the rough terrain as if it weren't there, leaving Levy to scramble after him.

"Hey! Wait a minute!"

He didn't answer but pressed on back the way they had come origionally, "Gajeel! Slow down I'm not as fast as you!" Her words fell on Deaf ears as the Dragon walked on as fin there weren't tree roots and boulders and bushes in his way. Levy was falling behind as the Dragon quickly become farther and farther way. Her cries for him seemed lost in the wind as within a few moments he was out of sight around a large boulder.

Panicking slightly Levy hurried as fast as she dared on the rocky terrain, quickly rounding the boulder to almost run into the Dragon once amore, "Gajeel!" This time he looked down at her, his eyes hard and cold, "Gajee1? What's wrong!?" He still said noting as he reached out and picked her up in his arms, holding her to him tightly, his eyes boring holes into hers as he stared her down. Finally he closed his eyes and touched their foreheads together. Levy raised her hands and wrapped them around his neck squeezing them together more and kissing his lips softly. After a moment he sighed and opened his eyes once more.

"Sorry Shrimp, just, ya' hit a nerve."

"Sorry." It was a whisper as she stared back at him.

"Nahh, just a big bad Dragon being a softy that's all."

"Gajeel."

"'Mer Shrimp there's something else I wanna' show ya' on this side of the mountain." And with that he reached his head back and sprang into the air. Levy squealed at the suddenness of the movement but held tight to her Dragon as he pulled on his powerful wings and stretched into the sky. Their flight was not long and he was touching down in a few minutes. Where they landed was a little ways down the mountain side in an open part of the mountain where wild flowers and tall grasses grew in multitude among the rocks and small trees. The land scape seemed to have been colored in pastels and soft dusty colors. It was a tranquil and peaceful sight what with a small brook flowing from an underground spring and down the mountain side. To Levy it was breath taking, and there was no snow at this elevation meaning that the air was warmer too. After being set down by the Dragon she walked a few paces off into the middle of the clearing and sat down on her knees. Closing her eyes she breathed deep the fresh and wondrous mountain air that was all about her.

She felt the Dragon come to sit at her back and leaned against him. He supported her weight as well as his own and nuzzled into her shoulder. For a long while they simply stayed still and enjoyed the peace and quiet as the wind played with their hair. It was quite a sight, a fair maiden and a monstrous black Dragon sitting close to each other.

"This place, it's so calm and peacefull"

"Hmm"

"It reminds me of your home Gajeel. So comfortable and safe."

"Only ya' would be comfortable and safe in a Dragon's layer Gihi!"

"I must say I never would have thought that I would ever say those words. Yet they are true. You make me feel safe and comfortable, that was no lie."

There was no answer to her bold statement, and she didn't need one. Adjusting their position so that she was sitting more in the Dragon's lap she reached up and behind her to play with his hair. She felt his sharp nose behind her ear and she giggled as he puffed into her ear.

"Go on, ask me Shrimp. I can feel that ya' want ta'."

"How could you tell?"

"I just can with you."

"Oh alright. Can you tell me more about the other Dragons that you knew?"

Gajeel sighed and glanced around their little spot before answering, "That's just it Shrimp, I really didn't know any. There was my Father's old friend Igneel The Fire Dragon of the Mountains of Fire. We only met a few times before a Knight slayed him. There was the Sky Dragon Grandenea, I only met her once, I'm not sure what happened to her or where she would be at now. I've never tried to get in contact with any other Dragons, mostly because we're too far spread and it's not like I can just up and go travelin', well not anymore.

I dono' Shrimp, We be solitary beasts mostly, ya' know that. We find our mates and raise our young until they be big enough ta' find mates of their own. There really ain't much ta' a Dragon's life, Gods know why we live for so dman long anyways."

All the while the Dragon talked Levy played with his long black mane and listened to his husky growl of a voice, thinking about the words he had said. There was more to the Dragon's words that he wasn't saying, either by choice or simply because he couldn't. There was something missing still in what he had told her. Something she couldn't put her finger on, but she could tell it was important.

"How long do Dragons live for anyways?"

"Gihi, thousands of years."

"Thousands!? I figured a few hundred but thousands?"

"Gihihi, I'm nearly 400 myself."

"What!? Wow, old man!"

"Oi!" He flicked her on the nose ignoring her indignant squeal, "I'm still a young thing fer' Dragons."

"What's the ratio? Of Dragon years to human years?"

"Prolly something like ten or eleven of Dragon years ta' human years."

Levy thought for a moment, "Soo, that makes you about 40 years old right?"

"Somethin' like that."

"Wow, you really are old! Even in human years! Hey!" He had flicked her again at her comment but he was still affectionate, "Tell me more about Dragon's and their mates?"

There was silence between them a moment, in which he flopped back against the earth and pulled her down with him, settling her down next to him, before he began to speak a sigh clear in his tone and she could tell he was rolling his eyes, "Well, it start's with a nest. The male builds a nest for the female, an' its special in some way or an'other, like only made of tree branches from one kind'o tree, or rocks from a particular place, animal hides or facing one direction' or an'other, has more than enough treasure to keep her satisfied, and food ta' keep her fed. It's kinda' like how humans build a house ta' raise a family in, Dragons build nests to attract and keep a female, some'thin' special that she'll like.

Dragon's mate for life…" His grip became a little stronger around her body and he nuzzled her hair, "Taking a mate is one of the most improtan' things a Dragon does. We live fer' a really long time Shrimp, it gets a littl' lonely at times. Anyway, so after a male seduces a female they, well they mate, and start their own littl' family. Dragon's can only have one youngling at a time see, and twins are super rare, often times thar's only two or three hatchlin's in a family-"

"Why so few!?"

"Few? It takes a great deal ta' raise a Dragon littl' Princess. Ain't like you humans, helpless and needy fer' years an' years. Hatchlin's mature quick, and it take a great deal o'time ta' teach them everything about being a Dragon. Hatchinglin's stick around fer' a hundred years 'er so, before going off an' making lives of their own. But they always come back ta' the parent's every few hundred years or so. For solitary beasts, we value family."

"I see, so what happens if a female isn't impressed with a male? Then what?"

"Gihi, he court's her then, bringing her presents, flowers and pretty stones n' the like, thing's she'd like. Sometimes he'll even rebuild a nest completely to appease her."

Levy wiggled suddenly and Gajeel loosened his grip on her to allow her to move as she pleased. He hadn't expected her to roll over and lay on top of his chest as she did, her arms folded just under his collar bones, her little chin resting there as she looked him in the eye. Taken aback, he stared at her a moment or two, and she stared right back. A smile grew on her lips and it was contagious as he felt his lips twitching as well. Easily he wrapped an arm around her waist and with his free hand he returned to playing with her hair. Suddenly grinning, he continued,

"Sometimes males'll even become more physically endearing ta' their potential mates, taken' care of them see? Showing that'll be a good mate fer' her." He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, "See we ain't so bad, we know how ta' be tender and sweet ta each other." His fingers pulled some blue strands from her face and tucked them behind her ear, "Thar' many ways' ta seduce a mate see," the pad of his thumb stroked her cheek under her eye, his gaze not leaving hers, hers glued to his, ruby red eyes smoldering her very being, searing her soul to him, "An' ya' fer'get that we have magic too, so sometimes we can just put a spell on each other and seduce ya' that way."

His voice was soft and husky and she felt it resonate in her stomach. He was so warm and so soft with her, and maybe he was putting a spell on her. For she felt relaxed and oddly at peace with the world. Not that she cared about anything other than those glowing red eyes that were boring into her very heart through her brain, the world around her had disappeared. All that she could see, smell, hear, feel, was the Dragon flexing and breathing beneath her. His muscles rippling under her body as she lay on top of him. He was her whole world now, and that's all that mattered right then and there.

"They say it take's a great deal fer' a Dragon to fall in love. An' when they do it's a bond like nothin' else in the world. My ol'man was heartbroken when his mate was killed by Dragon Slayers, he never got over it, he was never the same Dragon after that. I'd never be able to imagine what he went through, I was gone when it happened and came back a while after, that's when he ga'me' these." Holding up his right arm he showed ther the deep twisting scars that wrapped around his arm from bicep to wrist. Levy reached out and touched them feeling his slippery smooth skin and watching the muscles flex and glitter in the remaining sunlight.

Turning back to him, she kissed him hard again before whispering, "Gajeel, how long have you been courting me?"

He nuzzled her nose and whispered his answer, "Since I first realized what you are to me."

She turned her head to look into his half lidded eyes, "And what's that?"

He grinned, "My mate."

"Seduce me Dragon…" the words were like an exotic language to her as they fell from her lips

"Oh Princess, I already have..."

For now he pulled her close to him, and inhaling deeply, letting her scent take ahold of him as it always did. It was several minutes of bliss for both of them each affected by the other in their own way. Closing her eyes Levy turned her check to the Dragon's chest and stretched her arms around him. His body quivered in his euphoria from her smell and he slowly raised a hand and twisted their fingers together, his massive clawed and scaled hand dwarfing her pale petite hand.

It was bliss that they could have stayed in forever, surrounded by cool grass, a warm spring breeze that talked and laughed through the trees, and each other close at hand and heart. Moving her head, she listened to the thudding of his heart. The sound calmed and reassured her, even if she needed it not. A hand wove its way into her wavy blue locks and she felt the familiar scrape of his claws scratching against her scalp. She relaxed into his soft ministrations.

"Gajeel?"

"Aye."

"I wish we could stay like this forever."

"Aye…"


It was the perfect tragedy; she was happy, finally, really, truly happy. It was as if she had been reborn and she had something to live for, no someone. She wasn't just a princess anymore, she was HIS princess. No, his Queen, and he was her King. Why couldn't things stay this way forever? Why did have to be apart? What was so wrong about being in love? Wasn't that what marriage was all about? It seemed not for her, no she was to marry to keep her title and home, to stay a part of the Royal family and ensure her survival.

Some nights when she was waiting for, or after Gajeel had left just before dawn, Levy would toy with the idea of running away with the Dragon. For the two of them to go far, far away and just be together and be happy, as they were now. Other times, she wondered if Gajeel could be the one she could marry. In all honesty, he was no less qualified as Jet or Droy had been. Her heart ached a little thinking about those two. Sure she wasn't particularly fond of them, but to be killed in such a brutish fashion by no doubt Laxus… She had pity for them and wished them peace in the afterlife.

She would sometimes wonder what her life would have been like if the two suitors hadn't met an untimely end, at Laxus' sword no doubt, and continued to court her. Which one would she have eventually gone with? And what about her little adventure that started this whole thing? The night that she ran away and met the Dragon for the first time? She wondered how things would be different, if she and the Dragon would become friendly as they had and eventually fall in love as they also had. Would it have come down to a battle between Jet or Droy and Gajeel? Would she approve of the victor? She hadn't the slightest idea.

Sometimes in her musing of what could have been she found herself thinking of what could be as well. Would it be possible for her to leave this country and live with Gajeel for the rest of her life? And what about when her life ended and his still had centuries to go before his time? Would he go with her, or would she have to wait for him? He knew she would wait if he asked. No he didn't have to ask, she would wait willingly for her Dragon to come to her in the afterlife.

Then there were the memories that would pop up in her minds eye, memories of times they were together, or apart and longing for the other. Her mind would whorl and wind remembering all the sweet things that had fallen from the Dragon's sinfull lips and all the sins they had committed together…

"Come away with me Shorty. Let's get outta here, go out on our own. Anywhere we want. Out of the capitol, out of Fiore. Where rules n' laws n' walls n' stupid things can't keep us apart. Come with me, ya? Let's run away, Levy."

He had tempted her with those delicious words just last night, when they got caught up in the moment of passion and had broken the most prestigious of laws for any maiden, especially a princess, to uphold. And she loved it.

Every night since the storm that marked the Dragons return to her, they had been inching closer and closer to it, they both knew it was coming. Gajeel would strip every night before he got into bed with her, amused how bashfully intrigued she was. At first she was hesitant but that soon faded and he taught her the things only her husband should do to her body. She soaked it up like a sponge and he kept going, not giving a damn if he was breaking the golden law, he wanted her and he was gonna' have her, not like she was resisting.

Rather, that night, she was sitting in the middle of her bed with only a silk under gown on. After closing the balcony doors behind him, he moved to the foot of her bed, his eyes not leaving her, and looked her over every carefully. The garment did little for concealing her body, instead it accentuated it, the smooth white material clinging to her curves in all the right places, indecently short and alluring. He had given her a stern look, clearly saying, "Are you sure you know what you're doing and what will happen if anyone finds out?" Levy smiled at him shyly and reaching out, wiggled her fingers at him. It was all he needed and in an instant he was bare, not breaking their gaze at all.

Slowly he climbed onto the bed and knelt before her. Even in this position he still towered over her. His fingers were shaking a little as he easily slipped her out of the skimpy silk and carelessly tossed it to the side. Levy let out a small gasp as his hands closed around her just under her perky breasts, and grabbed onto his tanned arms. Gajeel bent in and claimed her mouth with his in an impossibly sweet and soft kiss that had her moaning for more. He gladly gave.

Fire roared to life in the Dragon's stomach, and suddenly his mind cleared itself of all other thoughts than what was before him, in his hands, in his mind, all around him, it was only her. With confidence he didn't know he possessed, the Dragon pushed her down to the bed, his arms supporting them as she wove her fingers into his hair. Too soon the Dragon was bare with her and spreading her legs to settle between them. He had maidens in the past, but this was different. This was special. He hadn't cared about the pleasure or pain of the other participant in the past and had simply done has he had pleased, the other being helpless against him. But with Levy everything was different. He cared about how she felt and what she felt. He didn't want to hurt her though he knew he would and that it was inevitable. Their drastic physical size difference was bad enough, but as a beast he was more than well endowed. If her physical frame was any indication, it was going to be a tight fit.

He had been as gentle as possible, but she had still cried out. He hated to see her crying, but he knew the pain would lessen over time and she would become accustomed to it. Or so he hoped. He had eased into her and let her rest until the tears stopped. He was light and soft, kissing away the wetness on her face and making her feel his love, in more than one way. For he did love the little Princess, something he thought he would never experience. This was his mate and for a Dragon, it was everything now. She was everything now. He lived so that she might be happy and that she would be satisfied. He cared not about her Royal duties as a Princess, of her place in the Court, or that she was to wed a prince and rule the Kingdom. All he cared about was her, and having her by his side, and he would do anything to keep it that way.

The Dragon and the Princess made love that night. And several times the following nights as well. They had committed the greatest sin of all and neither one cared but for each other.


R&R! UNTIL NEXT TIME!