Chapter 2

Levy couldn't believe her luck.

Black Steel seemed to want to keep her so very close to home.

She had a bit of difficulty getting away for a moment while working with Freed, but she hid in the bathroom up in the mall when she had claimed to be going to visit Gajeel and see how his work was going.

She didn't think she was entirely safe, so she only texted from the stall.

Her phone buzzed a second later and she read the message before erasing it.

She took a swallow as she sat there.

She was getting far too deep in this if that was what was needed.

Seducing the Dragon?

She wasn't sure much seduction needed to go on.

He was already just shy of jumping her.

It was as if he was perfectly attracted to her already.

But she would find the thief of those books, with a bit of help from Dragon Scale of the Fairy Tail Mall.

She felt bad about using another bibliophile like that, but Freed seemed more than willing to help her.

Levy stood up and headed out of the stall after flushing to give the impression of having used the bathroom.

She opened the door as a woman stood at the counter applying fresh lipstick.

Her long white hair was silky soft and flowed freely in perfect straight locks.

The dainty white flats went well with the soft golden skirt and low cut but still demure white and gold top.

If Levy had seem her from a distance, her hair might have looked like a hood.

She turned to face Levy and the smaller woman felt tiny.

"You know, Gajeel very rarely brings a girl around. In fact, you're the first. But I can see why he would." She reached out to touch Levy's soft hair and pale green shirt. "You're quite adorable. His protective instincts probably scream to just bundle you up and keep you locked away in his lair."

More accurate than she thought actually.

"I'm Mira, the one who runs the dating service by the end where Gajeel has his shop. Laxus, the tech geek who looks like he could bench four hundred pounds, that's my man. He's scary sometimes, like Gajeel, but under that rough armor, they're both marshmallows." She said. "Very squishy marshmallows." Mira laughed.

Levy made a nervous laugh as well.

She tried to edge out the door as Mira turned to finish touching up.

"Oh, and little Levy, you might want to hide better when sending hidden texts. Gajeel is territorial like Laxus and if he even thinks you've been in contact with a previous boyfriend, no matter how faint the relationship, he will keep you by his side. Just fair warning. You seem like a good girl, and Gajeel seems more than fond of you, so I just want you to enter the Dragon family easily."

Levy nodded and hurried out the bathroom.

She walked past the computer store where Laxus was showing a young man what he had done to his computer.

She ignored his raised brow at her and went into the tattoo parlor.

xXx

Gajeel looked up as his mate walked in.

The man on his table flinched as Gajeel deftly secured the temporary studs in his nose.

"Alright, make sure you keep the area as clean as you can until the redness and swelling go down. Then you can switch to the ones you want and just keep the openings clean as normal. Stop by in about a week so I can see how it's doing, unless something goes wrong. If it gets infected, go to the hospital, if the stud breaks, try not to breath it in and come in so I can replace it." Gajeel said as he took care of payment.

The young man nodded and stuffed the receipt in his wallet with his card.

Levy moved closer to his table as the man walked out the door and Gajeel moved back to his chair as he waited for the next appointment.

Cobra didn't even look up from the woman in front of him as he worked to fill in as much of the outlining he could, without putting too much stress on her skin at once.

Kinana was drawing up sketches for another young man of a tattoo he wanted.

"So, run off from Freed?" Gajeel asked.

Levy nodded.

"Get tired?"

"Kind of. I prefer looking at the physical books, not online recreations." She said. "So far, we can't really find any connection between the books other than Dragons and the Tears."

Gajeel shrugged.

Levy moved to sit on the table in front of him.

"So...what all do you do?" She asked.

He grinned. "Piercings. And an occasional tattoo." Gajeel said. "Why, want one?"

"A tattoo? Not really. I wouldn't even know what to get or where." She shook her head.

Those soft blue curls framed her face so perfectly.

"What about piercings? Surely you've considered doing your ears at least?"

She sighed. "My...mother never thought it was appropriate."

"And you're not in you're mothers house, now are you? You're in mine."

She blushed slightly.

"I...what would you recommend?"

He frowned as he looked at her professionally.

"Hmm...you're so tiny it's hard to say. Nothing too glaring, but something just shocking enough to be noticed once or twice until others get used to it..." He brushed his finger over her bare knee as her skirt rode up from how she was sitting. "I'd say a tongue piercing or maybe a navel stud."

She frowned and glanced down.

"Wouldn't that be hard on me?"

"Eh, not really. I'm a master at this." He said. "Doing your stomach wouldn't be a problem if I use one of the things I created."

He reached into a bin under his table and held up what seemed like nothing more than a needle curled over in the middle to create a loop.

"What is that?" Levy asked.

He held it out to her.

"An implant. The two ends are brought together until they meet, then I can pierce the skin inside your navel at the back and it'll dig in cleanly. It's coated in a solution that makes it bond just between the skin and muscle to the bottom layer of skin that never gets shed off. It's sensitive for a couple days, but after a week, you won't even notice it. The loop allows you to hang and kind of dangling thing from it."

"What if it gets ripped out?" Levy sounded scared.

Gajeel took the bag back.

"It can't hurt. The needles at each end are super flexible but strong enough to hold a dangle. It would just pull out and you might risk losing it, but I can just put a new one in the same holes if they've fully healed right." He looked at her. "Wanna try it?"

xXx

Levy looked at the tiny thing.

In truth, the tiny needles weren't very long, it wouldn't really hurt to take it out after this was all over.

But did she trust him enough to do it?

She looked in those soft red eyes.

Yes, she could trust him.

If nothing else, he wasn't liable to hurt her at this point.

Not until he discovered her secrets.

She nodded.

"Well, how about tomorrow then?"

"I...might chicken out you know."

He grinned. "As if that would matter. I can do it whenever you want, but I'd rather you be ready first."

She nodded. "I am."

"Then lay down."

He stood up and she stared up at him.

His wild black hair was pulled into a ponytail with a rubber band.

She knew that was never good. Rubber bands were notorious for tearing out strands of hair.

And for a Dragon, he had good hair.

Soft, thick, and it had a slight shine to it, indicating it was healthy.

Every bit of him screamed vibrant life. Muscled and tanned and full of energy.

Levy felt nervous as she started to pull her legs up.

"Just lay back." He spoke low, only loud enough for her.

She watched him move towards the curtain at the side of the wall.

"What are you doing?" She couldn't make her voice go higher than a whisper.

"Just relax." Gajeel said.

He closed the curtain to shield them both from view and she tensed as he came to stand in front of her again.

He eased her knees apart to stand between them and she felt her skin tingle.

Never in her life had she considered getting piercings or a tattoo.

And not once had she ever had a man so close to her before Gajeel.

He put his hand on her waist as she wrapped her arms around herself.

Her legs were kept open by his hips and she stared up at his face as he leaned closer.

"You're so scared right now little Levy."

"I...you're intimidating." She averted her eyes from his.

"No, I think you're just scared to be in such a position with a man you're attracted to."

"I...am not." She looked away.

He leaned in near enough to put his mouth against her pulse for a hot second, drawing her blood to the surface with a quick suck and leaving behind a hickey.

She shuddered as he nipped her right earlobe.

"Don't fucking lie to a Dragon Levy. We don't like it." He growled.

She closed her eyes as his hands pulled hers away from her stomach and pinned them over her head as he forced her down gently.

Never hurting her, but making it more than clear her body and her mind were conflicting. She wanted to not like him, but after seeing how he had reacted with Kinana yesterday and the devout admiration and respect Freed spoke with when talking about him and Laxus, she just couldn't hate him.

And damn him, he was sexy.

Even knowing he was a Dragon, she still wanted at least one night with him. When they weren't on opposing sides. Someday.

xXx

Gajeel looked down at the tiny woman.

Her skin was flushed around her cheeks and collarbone and he'd just bet if he tugged that sweater up, her nipples would be hard.

Maybe he should.

He reached with his free hand to tug on the hem and her thighs tightened on his waist unintentionally seductive.

Her eyes were closed and her face was turned away from him, otherwise he might have thought she did it on purpose.

He tugged her sweater up enough to show her lean tummy.

Just rounded enough to be soft, not rock solid like some of the Mages he had to deal with. Those women were just insane.

How could a woman not like being soft enough for a man to feel them?

Gajeel shook his head as he picked up the bag and tore it open with his teeth.

He carefully took the implant in his large fingers and held it just right.

"Look at me Levy." He growled.

She opened those chocolate brown eyes and looked up at his face.

"I'm not letting you go. Ever." He said as he deftly applied the little implant in her navel.

She caught her breath and tensed for a moment as she felt the sting and he could feel her toes curl in her tiny boots.

A tear formed at the corner of her eye and he leaned over her.

She didn't turn from him as he licked it away.

"You can't keep me here forever. Eventually someone will miss me." She said.

"I'm not holding you prisoner. I'm saying you'll be living with me from now on. Staying in my home, coming back to me every day, sleeping in my bed..." He leaned down to kiss her, knowing he shouldn't.

Tasting her made the urges worse.

So far he had been doing better than Laxus only because he had a will of metal.

Now he might as well kiss his resistance goodbye as he tasted the strawberry lip gloss she had in her pocket and the chocolate she'd eaten with lunch of soup.

Honestly, nothing went together and he couldn't care less.

Her lips were soft, her eyes were closed with a look of pleasure, and fuck she made the cutest little whimper when he nipped her plump bottom lip to get deeper.

He let go of her hands to tangle that hand in her hair as his other slid under her sweater to wrap around her side, his thumb just brushing the underside of her breast to tease her.

Her arms slowly went around his neck as he coaxed her tongue to tangle with his.

He felt it as her right hand found its way under the neck of his shirt to touch the skin of his back and her other threaded into the hair at the nape of his neck.

He just about teased his hand under the bottom hem of her sports bra when her hand tugged on the knot of his pony tail.

He growled, almost a snarl, and pulled away, pulling her left hand from his hair and her other from under his shirt.

She turned away from him as he growled while trying to tug the rubber band out.

He knew better than to use one, but he hadn't thought to grab a real band from his bathroom earlier and Mira hadn't had any in her desk.

xXx

Levy pulled her left leg from around him and nimbly moved so that she could slide from the table.

She nearly made it to the curtain before Gajeel grabbed her.

"Wait." He said. She turned as he threw the rubber band away.

With his hair loose like that, he looked wild. Like he didn't belong in any cultured society.

She looked up at him.

"Sorry I scared you." He rubbed his other hand over his face and her eyes lingered on his lips.

Softer than she would have thought for a Metal Dragon.

And he had tasted sweet, like lemon candies.

He pulled her back towards the table.

"Let me look at your piercing before you run off at least." He said.

She nodded and let him help her back up so she could lean back enough for him to pull her sweater up to see.

She glanced down.

It didn't really hurt. Felt uncomfortable, but not painful.

His kiss had kept her well distracted while her body adjusted to the quick pain.

The tiny loop was barely visible if one wasn't looking.

He reached under the table and pulled out a bottle and a q-tip.

She flinched as he dipped the swab into the bottle before brushing it over her navel.

It burned just slightly, like rubbing alcohol on a cut.

"There. I'll do it again later, but keep it dry for a while." He said.

She nodded and he let her down again, but kept close to her.

So much that she could feel his erection against her hip as she slid down his body off the table.

"I...I'm sorry my growling scared you." He said again, rubbing the back of his neck where he had tied his hair up.

"I...just...thought you might hurt me for hurting you."

He made a low laugh and leaned down to kiss her gently on the lips.

"You didn't really hurt me, it just pulled on some pretty sensitive hairs." He said.

Levy reached up and untied her headband.

The soft fabric fell from her hair, letting her slightly long hair fall free and in her face.

He tucked the strands behind her ears as she bunched the length of fabric up.

She took his hand and put it in his palm before turning for the curtain and hurrying out.

She rushed past Kinana and Cobra as she was taking care of a charge and he was examining the location the young man from earlier wanted his tattoo she had drawn up.

Levy ignored both of them as she hurried out of the shop and headed for the elevator hidden in the back of the bar.

The man who had been at the bar last night looked up at her as she hurried through.

He barely paused in wiping down the tables for the coming crowd.

His wife spoke as Levy was opening the elevator doors.

"It's alright Bach, she's Gajeel's girl."

"Ah. Figures he'd find someone eventually."

The doors closed and she slid against the wall of the elevator and balled up.

God she was stupid.

Getting involved with Gajeel could easily take away her freedom and possibly life.

Never trust a Dragon.

Double damn sure never trust Black Steel Gajeel.

xXx

Gajeel caught the glances from his two employees as he pulled the curtain back open.

Cobra averted his eyes quickly and started working on the inks he was dealing with.

But Kinana didn't find something else to do.

She came to him as he sank into his chair.

"Did you...scare Miss Levy?" Kinana asked.

Gajeel glared for a second and she flinched.

He sighed as he looked at the floor.

"Yeah. Just a little."

"She seems so nice and sweet, you should go easy with her if you want to start a relationship on a good note." Kinana said.

Cobra snorted and his girlfriend leveled a glare of her own at him.

He hunched over and started inking in the design on the man's shoulder blade.

"I already have Mira for dating advice. You want to start up on that too? Go work with her." Gajeel said.

"I...couldn't possibly, she's a professional. I'm just...I like drawing." She was meek as she moved to turn away.

Gajeel sat up enough to tie his hair up with Levy's headband.

"Kinana." She turned to face him again, keeping her eyes on the floor. "Thanks for the concern, but really, we just kind of startled each other."

She nodded.

"Anyone come in for anything?"

She pointed at a woman sitting in a chair at the front.

"She says she had an appointment at three."

He looked at the clock.

Three ten.

Damn. He hated being late.

He sighed as he stepped towards her.

"You wanted a set of ear piercings right?" He asked.

"Yes. Is this a bad time? I can always come back."

He shook his head.

"No, I just had a delay." He motioned for her to come back to his table.

"Ah, that girl who ran out a minute ago?" She had a knowing look on her face.

"Go on and sit on the table."

"She your girlfriend?" The woman asked.

Gajeel pulled out the gun used for basic ear piercings.

"I guess you could say that. I'd like her to be, but I think I scared her." He shrugged. "We're working on it."

"I can see how a tiny thing like that might be scared of you." The woman said.

Gajeel snorted as he set the gold stud in the gun and put it on the table to look at her levelly and measure by eye.

He marked even points with the very tip of a sharpie.

"I guess you can't quite put me in the same class as the refined boys she's used to dealing with." Gajeel picked the gun back up and lined the point up with his mark.

"So what's an upper city girl like her doing down here?"

"Working on a project relating to the recent thieveries at the libraries." He said as he loaded up the second stud.

The woman made a sound of understanding.

"Ah, so I suppose she's working with the library across the street."

Gajeel lined up the mark again and finished the second piercing.

"For a while."

The woman looked in the mirror he held up.

"And when she is done?"

"We'll figure it out." Gajeel said.

"Well, good luck with that."

She slid from the table as Kinana moved to the register.

Gajeel frowned as he watched her pay with a gold card.

He took in her looks for the first time.

Long, straight blond hair, a bombshell body with a generous rack, and legs that went for miles.

He supposed when she had sat on his table, that short skirt rode up.

But she wasn't his type.

She glanced back at him and waved before heading out the door.

Speaking of upper city girls where they didn't belong.

He got up as she rounded the corner of the door frame and nearly collided with Natsu as he made his rounds.

The pink haired Dragon got flustered and Gajeel listened as he apologized and offered to walk her out.

He shook his head as he went to the register, watching the two round the corner towards the main doors.

He looked down at the top receipt in the till and frowned.

Lucy Heartfilia.

That name sounded familiar.

He pulled out his phone and looked her name up.

He sighed as he realized why it looked familiar.

She was the one who had been covering the few cases he'd gotten taken care of involving dangerous Mages loose in Magnolia.

This was his district to maintain, but he heard there were other organizations like Dragon Scale in every major city.

Lucy had kept the real truth hidden from the unwary public, but made enough references that anyone of Magical decent would know what was going on.

He sighed again as he sat in his chair again.

That was one person in this town he needed on his side.

xXx

Gajeel groaned as he stood up from the bar with Laxus.

"You're getting it bad." Laxus said.

"Screw off. I'm doing better than you were." Gajeel said.

Laxus laughed. "True enough, but you'd better do something quick, before she runs away from you. Try getting the bite on her."

Gajeel frowned at him as they headed for the hallway.

"She's so damn small though."

"Yeah, it's pretty potent." Laxus made a concerned face. "If yours is anything like mine, it's strong."

"Worse. I'm from a much stronger line than you. You've got human Mage in your line. I'm straight Dragon far back as we go."

"Shit." Laxus sighed as he pushed the button for the elevator down.

"If I did bite her, I think it might keep us both in bed for days."

Laxus grinned as the doors closed.

"Nothing wrong with that. Call in sick. Freed can work without her."

Gajeel shoved at his shoulder.

"If I'm under the influence of that with her, I could break her."

"Could. Key word there. She might be stronger than you think. Or you might just take that into consideration even in a state of mind like that."

"I somehow doubt it." Gajeel scoffed.

The doors opened again and Gajeel frowned as he saw Freed kneeling in front of Levy in a chair.

He stormed over and pushed the other man aside.

He knelt to look at her.

"What the hell happened?" Gajeel glared at him as he caught sight of the rainbow of swirling color in her chocolate eyes.

"I didn't do anything I swear. I just tried to teach her a bit of Script Magic since she saw me do some. So I tried to help her unlock her Source and this happened. She's been like this for several minutes." Freed said.

Gajeel scooped her up and headed for the other elevator.

Laxus darted ahead to push the button for him and he didn't stop until the doors were closed.

He looked down at the fragile woman in his arms.

No, he couldn't bite her.

The effect of Dragon saliva in her bloodstream would have her writhing for at least two days was strong enough from him on a normal case to effect a woman like Mira for a full day.

Laxus was so diluted that it was a kind of event thing between them.

Gajeel had never bitten a woman because of how toxic his bite was.

The doors opened and he stepped through the veil into his little pocket floating in the Aether.

His den.

He walked the grating to his room and pushed the door open with his shoulder.

He carried Levy up to the bed and carefully set her down.

She tumbled to her side and stared blankly ahead.

He eased her boots off and kicked his own to the metal walkway.

He laid beside her and touched her cheek.

"Levy baby?" He spoke softly.

xXx

Levy was drowning.

In Magic.

Freed had explained how he unlocked his deep Magic and she had repeated it. She had been amazed to find that she could slip into a vast reserve of untapped Magic within her.

Until it sucked her under.

Suddenly, the swirling blaze of beautiful color had turned thick and black.

She clawed for the surface again, but kept going deeper as thoughts flooded her mind.

How she was lying to Gajeel.

How she was hiding from her team about how she felt doing this job.

How she had spent so long feeling guilty for denying her two oldest partners vying for her love.

All her self doubts, worries, painful memories, everything she had shoved away for so long just rushed her and pulled her down deeper.

"Levy baby?"

His voice was a flash of silver in the black around her.

"Levy, come back to me."

That light pierced the dark around her.

Even lying to him, he was still concerned about her.

She had to come clean with him. At the very least.

If he hated her after that, she'd just tell her team it didn't work out, she couldn't get close to him.

"Let it go baby. Whatever is dragging you down, we'll work it out."

She could feel his warmth as he held her against his body and stroked her cheek.

Such a huge, dominating Dragon, and he was being so very gentle with her.

She struggled to reach the light he provided.

"I'm right here baby. You're alright. You're safe with me. Safe in my arms."

Levy blinked as the swirl of colors became clearer until she blinked away the Magic clouding her vision and saw those soft red eyes staring at her with such concern.

She felt the tears well up as she reached to tangle her hands in his shirt and bury her face against his neck.

"Shh, it's alright. You're okay."

She couldn't stop herself from crying, but he just kept running his fingers through her hair and holding her close.

"I..." She hiccuped. "I've been lying to you."

She pushed away from him.

"About being fired." He said. "I know."

She looked up at him.

"I finished the job, and when I reported in, I had to tell them that I got held up by you. They said that if you had an interest in me, I should stick close and try to find out what all you were doing." Levy said.

He didn't say anything for a moment and she buried her face in his shirt again, afraid he was going to be furious and this might be her last chance to breathe in his scent.

The smell of tattoo ink, peppermint body wash, and a metallic salty hint that she guessed was his natural scent.

"I figured it was that. The city police have been trying to get a grip on me for years. They just don't seem to get that I deal with the shit they can't." He said.

She looked up at him.

"You're not...mad?"

He made a low laugh.

"Not really. Irritated they would think to use you like that, but not mad at you." He said. "I'll just have to get you away from them now even faster than I had planned. Laxus can pull you from their systems and cut all ties you have with them."

"But...that's illegal."

"No, not since you're a Mage. Mages fall under my jurisdiction, not the police. The king of Fiore will side with me over them in this case and they know it. Low level grunts like you don't know about the veil, but upper division and the royal guard and the king are all well informed and I send in some emails as needed." Gajeel said.

Levy looked at where she was still gripping his shirt.

"I guess...I really am one of you." She said.

"Not quite. You're like Freed and Gray, but I'm a Dragon."

"So we...can't be together anyway." She closed her eyes.

"Depends how badly I want you. I told Laxus my line was kept pure of human blood. I never said all of my line started out as Dragons."

Levy looked at him.

"It's an old thing, but only certain families do it now. Any children between a Dragon and human will be Dragon, but their blood is tainted and pure Dragons like myself can tell."

"So..." Levy started.

"My mother was human. A master Metal Mage." Gajeel turned to his back and tucked his right arm under his head and used his left to pull her against him. "My father was the previous Lord of the Metal Dragons. Basically the strongest of Metal Dragons and a descendant of the first Metal Dragon."

"So you're a prince?" Levy smiled.

xXx

"King." Gajeel corrected. "My line is royal. Laxus's too, but he doesn't act like the King of the Light Dragons. I think we've been friends so long he defers to me by nature now. Granted, Metal Dragons have always won in challenge between Kings. Anyway, my mother wanted to join my fathers kind when her own clan banished her for even thinking of having relations with a Dragon. My father linked his soul to hers, changing her from a human to a Dragon like him. Tainted blood, but she was a Dragon."

"So wouldn't you have tainted blood?"

Gajeel shook his head. "No, both my parents were Dragons when I was conceived and born. My blood is pure."

"So I'll be dating a King of Dragons." She hummed as she settled in against him.

Gajeel felt her relax and a minute later, she was dead asleep.

Crawling from her reserve like that had taken all she had.

If he hadn't been able to pull her out with words, he might have been the first Dragon to ever lose his Mate to the Aether like that.

She would have been pulled under forever, staring blankly at nothing with the Magic in her eyes, as her body slowly rotted around her.

He'd seen it happen to a man once and his wife had broken down, unable to pull him out.

Gajeel had barely gotten there in time. He'd begun to rot from the inside.

He had used a combination of the Dragon Aura and the same coaxing he'd used on Levy.

She was immune to his Aura, so he had prayed he could pull her back. Because if he couldn't he'd get on his knees and beg Laxus to bring her out of it. And the world be damned if no one could.

Mira had already been Magically trained, so Laxus didn't need to worry about her.

But Levy had been born on the human side and her gifts hidden from her.

He had no doubt her parents never told her because she was safer that way.

All escapees hid their children like that.

Some just got lucky and had an innate talent with their Magic like Gray.

Others never found their Magic and it stayed locked in the blood for generations until a kid tried to unlock it and either sank or swam.

Sadly, Levy seemed to be a sinker. But he'd teach her to swim in the Magic from the Aether.

He eased away from her enough to work her jeans off and folded them neatly.

He deftly unclipped her bra and set both things by the edge of the bed.

She didn't even wake.

He reached for the shirt he'd left on his bed earlier that morning and eased Levy's sweater off to trade it for his shirt.

Seeing her small, perky chest turned him on far more than Lucy's rack.

And while she was short, she had just enough up top to keep him interested and enough to her ass to hold easily.

She was perfect.

He shed his shirt and jeans, leaving him nude.

Levy had been embarrassed when she had realized he slept like that the other day, but after he explained that he hated feeling restricted in his sleep, she had let it go.

Last night she had blushed, but she had just kept her back to him.

Until he woke and found her curled against him like a sleepy kitten.

He kind of liked it.

He checked the piercing in her navel, still debating what she should have there.

Definitely something small, but shiny.

He pulled the blanket over them both.

He turned to nuzzle his face against her soft hair.

He'd been so close to losing her today.

No one but him would ever be teaching her how to tap into whatever Magic she had.

It scared him far too much for comfort at the thought of losing her.