Gajeel heard a knock at the door and pulled himself up. Still half asleep, he briefly wondered how he'd gotten on the couch. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep on the floor of his and Lilly's training room. His limbs protested his movement as he raised himself to his feet. Running a hand through his hair, he trudged to the door and opened it.

"Good morning!"

"Levy?" he blinked into the light as he stared at the small girl he saw before him, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to train with you," she smiled, pushing past him, "Do you mind if I change in your bathroom?"

"Uh… sure," confusion was written all across his face. He shut the door and headed for the kitchen, splashing water onto his face. He noticed that his hands were bandaged and he furrowed his brow. There was a faint smell of Levy on the bandages.

"You ready yet, Sleepy?" the peppy voice came from behind him. He looked back at her and felt his heart seize at her sight. She was wearing a light blue crop top that cut down into a deep V to expose her cleavage. She had on matching blue short shorts and an orange headband.

Gajeel tore his eyes from her form, desperately hoping she didn't catch him staring down her shirt, "Yeah… just let me change real fast,"

He hurried to his room and shut the door, exhaling loudly. He could feel a growing annoyance between his legs as he changed shorts. He stared down at the bulge there, grinding his teeth.

'That girl is going to be the death of me…' he thought angrily as he tried to distract himself enough to allow him to be presentable. After a few minutes, he finally emerged and found her in the back room stretching.

She was reaching down to touch her toes, her back to him. He couldn't help his eyes wandering to her ass while she was distracted. From his angle, he could see the curve of her spine as she stretched. He followed it up her back to the back of her neck and desperately wondered what it would be like to kiss her right at the arc of her collar.

"So, what do you want to do first?" she straightened and looked at him over her shoulder. Gajeel blinked a few times, trying to collect his thoughts.

"Well… is there anything specific you want to work on?" he asked, picking up some tape to begin wrapping up his knuckles again.

"Well… my magic is pretty good, I think," she mused, looking up at the crack in the ceiling that he had caused the day before, "but when it comes to hand to hand combat I fall short. So… could you teach me?"

"Oh, I'm sure I could teach you a few things," he smirked at her, mustering up as much bravado as he could.

"Really? That'd be great!" she smiled and jumped up next to him.

"I'm going to warn you, though," he looked down at her from the corner of his eye, giving her a mischievous half-smile, "I won't take it easy on you just because you're new,"

"I can take you," she smiled, grabbing the tape from his hands to start taping her own.

"Oh can you, Shrimp?" he chuckled, stepping back to do a little stretching of his own. Levy couldn't help sneaking a peak as he did. He was shirtless and it made her want to ravish his body with her eyes. Every toned muscle flexed perfectly as he stretched his arms. Everything on his body looked flawless as he moved, even his scars were attractive. She found herself staring at abs and following them down to the V that vanished into his low hanging shorts.

"Ready?" he smirked as she finished taping her hands.

"Ready," she smiled, determined to show him she wasn't as defenseless as she looked.

He went to punch her and she dodged to the side and then retaliated with a blow to his extended arm. He followed by stepping forward and aiming again at her stomach, which she dodged again. Soon they were trading throws in perfect succession. She could feel that he was holding back as they went, which she was secretly glad for. She could already feel her muscles start to protest and her breath begin to shorten.

Their flow was perfect, like two dance partners who'd spent years practicing with each other, and this was their ballet. She didn't know much, but she knew enough to take a stand against the Iron Dragon. Unfortunately, she soon found herself starting to tire.

A smirk came to Gajeel's face as he realized the slowness of her movements. In one slick moment, he grabbed her wrist and twisted it around her body. Then he secured her tightly against his chest, twisting her arm so that it was holding her back against him. When she slammed against him the wind was almost knocked out of her. The wall of muscle 'Geehee-ing' at her dismay.

"Caught ya, Shrimp," he growled next to her ear.

"Yeah…" she said quietly, her eyes distant. She felt shivers go across her skin where his made contact with hers. It was like electricity was constantly going back and forth between them. She pressed against him, moving her free hand to run her fingers against his thigh. She felt him stiffen at her touch and let out a ragged sigh as her fingers started travelling up. She started to feel something press against the small of her back as a growl started rumbling in his chest…

"I think that's enough for today," he stepped away from her, breaking the heat of their touch and leaving her feeling cold and lonely. She turned around and saw him untaping his hands like nothing had happened. Dismay found its way to her heart. Did he feel nothing?

That's when she noticed the strain in his eyes, the way his jaw tightened as he clenched his teeth.

"Same time tomorrow?" she smiled, walking up behind him and putting a hand on his strong arm.

"Sure," he gave her a reticent smile.

"Alright, see you tomorrow," she smiled brightly, taking her leave of his apartment. On her way home, she stopped by Lucy's house, excitement bubbling up inside of her. She could definitely make this work.