I suck at updating. If you guys have it in your hearts to forgive me for that, feel free to drop a review :)

Things get pretty steamy in this chapter, so consider yourself warned!

Chapter 4: August Heat

"You don't look so good Luce. Are you okay?"

It was a sweltering 41 degrees Celsius outside, and Lucy was lying spread-eagled on the floor of Natsu's cabin alongside Happy. Both of them had rivers of sweat running off of them, and were desperately trying to keep themselves cool by exposing their bodies to the relatively lower temperature of the floorboards.

Natsu, however, remained unbothered by the August heat thanks to his magic, which essentially rendered him impervious to the agony of major temperature fluctuations, much to Lucy's annoyance. The brutal cold of mount Hakobe? Natsu just heated himself up while Lucy shivered inside Horologium. The raging heat of Magnolia in the summertime? Natsu didn't even notice the heat, while Lucy melted. Granted she was glad that he didn't have to suffer the same struggles as her, but it was still frustrating to be around someone who could never empathize with her reality.

"Ugh… I'm fine Natsu. I just wish this heat would stop."

"Oh. Is it really that hot?"

Lucy gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, chanting silently to herself: I will not kill Natsu for being insensitive. I will not kill Natsu for being insensitive. I will not kill Natsu for being insensitive. It had been almost a month since they had finally reached an understanding of their feelings, and not much had changed between them in their daily interactions. He had a knack for ticking her off in the worst way. She heard Happy moan beside her.

"Aye, Natsu? This is the worst. I feel like I'm going to melt. And Lucy is sweating so much that it's gross."

"You shitty cat! If I had the energy I would get up right now and turn you into a scarf!"

"Waaah! Natsu why did you have to fall in love with Lucy? She's so mean!"

"Shut it you mangy feline!"

"Waaah! There she goes again!"

Natsu chuckled to himself from his position in his hammock as he gently swayed back and forth, his foot pushing against the wall. Lucy always got angry at the strangest things. But then again he had come to expect it by now. She was a weirdo after all.

"Natsu?"

"Yeah Luce?"

"Would you mind if I crashed here tonight? The heat was really bad this morning in the city, so I'm guessing that my apartment feels like an oven right now. At least here you don't have all the paving stones absorb the sunshine."

"Sure thing Luce. D'you want the hammock or the couch?"

Lucy emitted a groan and threw her arm over her face.

"I think I'll just stay on the floor if you don't mind. It's cooler down here."

"Eh? The floor? Well, whatever makes you happy I guess."

"I was only joking Natsu. I'll take the couch." Lucy moved her arm back to its prior position on the floor and turned her head slightly towards the well-worn couch sitting in the room, the red upholstery bringing back memories from a couple days ago.

She was lounging on his couch with a book in one hand, absentmindedly stroking the head of her favorite dragon slayer with the other, as he drifted between wakefulness and sleep while reclined in her lap. It was a position that both of them had been intimately familiar with for at least a year, despite the fact that their relationship had only become definitive within the past few weeks. He had always enjoyed her soothing presence, and she appreciated the companionship that was a welcome respite from the loneliness of her life prior to joining Fairy Tail.

Natsu frowned as the hand that had been stroking his hair ceased its motions, and he cast a glance upwards in hopes of ascertaining the cause. Lucy seemed to be thoroughly engrossed in her book as always, but there was a defined grimace on her face, and her eyebrows were pulled together in consternation. Thinking that this was slightly out of character for her, Natsu raised a hand and poked her cheek, instantly breaking her concentration. She looked at him quizzically.

"What?"

"You look weird."

"Why thank you Natsu. I'll add that to the list of greatest compliments I've ever received." She huffed back at him while rolling her eyes, before delving back into her book. Almost instantly, the grimace returned, and Natsu poked her cheek again. This time, Lucy put down her reading and looked at Natsu with raised eyebrows.

"You're doing it again Luce."

"Doing what?"

"Being weird."

Reflecting on this cryptic remark, Lucy came the realization that he was probably referring to her reactions to the book she was reading. She had always felt relatively strong reactions to the situations of fictional characters in the stories she read, probably a side effect of her own time spent writing and developing her characters, and she was somewhat notorious for having easy-to-read facial expressions.

"Oh, it's just that one of the characters in this book is being really stupid, and it frustrates me." She said with a reassuring smile.

"Huh?"

"This prince thinks that he can tame a pair of very angry dragons with just a whip, and I'm pretty sure that he's going to die. It's too bad really, he seemed like a nice character."

"That's stupid. You can't tame a dragon. What kind of crap are you reading anyways?"

"Natsu! Be nice!" She gently flicked his forehead, but the smile on her face told him that she wasn't really angry. "Someone worked very hard on this book!"

Natsu reached up and grabbed her wrist, angling it so that he could see the cover of the book. "Uh huh, sure. But Georgio should get the facts straight."

Lucy laughed out loud at that statement, and carefully set her book down before turning her full attention back to Natsu. "It's George, not Georgio. And it's fiction writing, so technically he can shape his world however he wants, even if it isn't very accurate to us."

"You can't tame a dragon though! They're free! And crazy strong too!" Lucy smiled at Natsu as he continued ranting, watching the rapid gesturing of his hands. "This one time, Igneel totally blasted off the top of a mountain with a single Kayruu no houkou! Just one! The mountain had this giant crater in the middle of it, and I swear it had to be half a mile away from where we were training. It was so awesome!"

"It sounds kind of terrifying to me, but I'll take your word for it. The dragons in the book are very different from the ones in this world." Lucy gently took one of Natsu's hands into her own and cradled it against her face. "They act more like animals than anything else, and they don't have magic. They're also very cruel." She turned her face to kiss his palm, and looked down into warm onyx eyes.

"Our world's dragons are way better. But do you want to know what I prefer over dragons?"

Natsu twisted his form and sat up so that he was sitting beside her on the couch, still allowing her to hold his hand as he regarded her questioningly. Smiling, she let go of his hand, leaned in towards him and whispered into his ear "I prefer my very own dragon slayer."

Lucy nuzzled into the crook underneath his ear and pressed her lips to his neck, feeling his muscular arms wrap around her torso, calloused hands rough against her skin as they slipped beneath the hem of her shirt. She sighed with pleasure at his warmth, and parted her lips to suck on the now rapidly pulsing artery that ran down the column of his neck. The way his breath hitched and his arms tightened encouraged her to continue, and as she was moving her tongue to caress his scar she found herself bodily lifted and placed astride Natsu's lap. Grinning, she pulled back to regard him with a raised eyebrow, questioning how quickly he had surrendered to her advances.

Natsu only smirked back at her and ran his hands down her lithe frame until he reached her hips, then shifted his path backwards to firmly grasp her rear and pull her flush against his crotch, allowing her to feel his rapidly growing hardness against the throbbing heat of her center. Her eyes fluttered as she moaned, knowing that she was no longer the one holding the reins, and not minding that at all.

Natsu watched her with a hint of smugness, eyes lingering on the way her chest rose and fell with her breaths. No one else got to see this side of Lucy; no one else was permitted to make her feel this way so long as he was around. He leaned forward, grasping the neckline of her shirt between his teeth, and yanked backwards. Lucy's eyes widened when she glanced downward to find the source of the ripping sound she had heard just a second ago, but when she opened her mouth to yell at him for ripping her shirt, the only sound she was able to emit was a breathy gasp as Natsu assaulted her now free breasts with his teeth, gently suckling the soft flesh as his hands kneaded her ass.

Unable to mentally process anything beyond the sensations Natsu was eliciting, Lucy threaded her fingers through his soft pink locks and clutched him closer to her chest, throwing her head back to allow him better access. He responded by renewing his assault and clutching her lower half even closer to him, eliciting a sensual moan that made his cock twitch with longing. She was so soft and warm…

He slipped his hands past the waistband of her shorts to enjoy the smooth texture of her skin, and in return Lucy's hands released their purchase on his hair, moving down to his shoulders to push his vest down and reveal the toned muscles hiding beneath. Realizing what she wanted, he pulled his hands away to toss his scarf to the side and allow the vest to slip off completely, while Lucy busied herself with undoing his belt buckle.

The feeling of fresh air reaching his hip bones finally pulled him out of the lust driven haze his mind had worked itself into, and a mental warning bell sounded. Wasn't it too soon for this sort of thing? They had only been dating for a few weeks for crying out loud! Was this what they really wanted?

Noticing the way his motions froze, Lucy turned her attention away from the fastenings on his pants and looked into his warm onyx pools, her own eyes silently asking what was wrong. He reached a hand up to her face, gently cupping her cheek as his thumb stroked across her lips.

"Luce… I…"

"What's wrong? I don't…" Natsu's heart clenched as he watched the lust in her eyes dim into self-doubt, and he rested his thumb on her lips to silence her.

"Luce, don't rush yourself. I'm ready when you are, but no hurry."

She smiled in relief, and he allowed his hand to rest on her collarbone as she pressed her forehead against his. She never would have guessed that impulsive Natsu would be the one to slow things down, but then again, he was always full of surprises.

"Lucy, why do you have that weird grin on your face?" Happy's smug voice pulled her away from her memories, and she turned her head to look at the snickering cat, who now had a paw pressed against his mouth. "You look really creepy!"

"What was that fish-breath?!"

Happy quickly drifted away on his wings as Lucy reached over in a lazy attempt to grab him, and Natsu chuckled, chiming in with a "Watch out little buddy!". Lucy tilted her head back to give him a half-hearted glare, and felt a pool of desire settle into her belly at the sight of his rippling abs and heart-stopping grin.

If only it wasn't so damn hot outside…

Author note: Just to let you know, the book Lucy is reading is A Dance with Dragons.