From miles and miles away, Zeref felt Lucy call him like she was whispering directly in his ear. Days apart had only made their connection stronger. It was maddening.

Lying on his small cot and staring up at a nondescript ceiling, he felt everything she did. Her agony. The hope she felt when she thought she was going to find release with Natsu. The terror that swallowed her up when she realized that he only actually made things worse. And finally, the quivering, sobbing mess she was when the magic went tearing through her.

In its wake, she begged for him again, pulling at the magic zealously.

A small, too-pleased part of him was glad that she longed for the comfort only he could give. Closing his eyes, he allowed himself a bit of guilty pleasure and peered through the body of one of his shadows into Lucy's bedroom.

She was absolutely naked, lying on her bed with her legs spread, her fingers working over her center quickly, head tilted back, mouth parted. The image punched through him, forcing him out of the shadow and back into his own body. His skin was hot all over, between his legs got painfully hard.

Lucy, sensing he'd been there, redoubled her efforts to get him back.

She was insistent and horribly difficult to dismiss. Zeref breathed evenly and tried to tune her out. You can't go. You made a promise, so stay away from her.

It was working.

Sort of.

The longer she pleasured herself, the more agitated the magic became, the closer it cinched them together.

He gritted his teeth and prayed that it would fade. It didn't.

Something had changed in the girl, some threshold had been crossed and he felt her like a hot poker beneath his skin. She wasn't like any of his other demons; he didn't know how to push her out of his head or how to field the want that bloomed inside of him, foreign and tempting. He closed his eyes and pressed his hands against his lids until he saw bright spots.

Don't pay it any mind. What an impossible suggestion. From so far away he felt her need. She was frantic and frustrated and wanted something, or someone, to ease that frustration. He knew it could be him. Should be. She was his creation, after all, right? Another pulse of magic had him wondering if it was going to be a matter of want soon, or if she'd drag him there against his will. Taking his hands away from his eyes, he grasped his fingers into a tight fist, a furious growl growing in his chest. Even imagining ignoring her was torturous.

You gave Layla your word, he reminded himself. Yet, that was starting to mean very, very little. The last few days, Lucy occupied his every thought like a beautiful and terrible blight, working to decay his resistance. When he agreed to give her the magic, he knew there would be some connection between them, but nothing like this. Layla had died before he could see it in her, so he had no idea what to expect.

Lucy pulled at him again, stronger than before. In retaliation he thrust back a vast and surely excruciating amount of energy and felt every moment of it. The instant it contacted her skin and shot inside, it bounced around and brought her such intense pain. Then, surprisingly, that pain turned to pleasure and she fell helplessly into orgasm. He gasped and sputtered, his own body responding in kind. It was so unexpected that he only lay there for a moment, his skin covered in goose bumps, his mind relaxing and opening the channel between them. He could feel how much she wanted him, and even worse, how much he wanted her back.

No more, he thought with a clench of his jaw. This has to stop. It was never supposed to get this far. The magic was supposed to kill her like it had her mother. Failing that, he expected her to crumple under the knowledge that she was changing into such a dark creature and take her own life.

He had been wrong. Lucy was stronger than that, stronger than he had ever imagined. Knowing that only made him want her even more. No living creature should ever have that much control over him. Frustrated, he threw the blankets from his body and stood, thinking that there was a simple solution to his plight. Lucy Heartfilia needed to die. If he killed her then he would be free. She would stop haunting his thoughts and tempting him every moment of every day.

Shadow swirled around his body and took him to her, murder on his mind.

Feeling him in her heart like a sweet poison, Lucy thrust her fingers through her hair, hopelessly tormented.

Anything. She'd give anything to see him. The fallout from the use of his magic left her hungry for him in the way a junkie hungers for their addiction. Back between her legs, her fingers teased and prodded. It wasn't enough. Her skin was crawling. There was a pressure building in her chest, though she didn't know whether it was because she wanted to laugh, or if she wanted to cry. Or maybe she wanted to come again and scream until her throat was raw and bloody. Who could tell anymore?

The very instant he gave up his resistance and travelled to her side, she knew. Within seconds, he formed from the shadows in the corner of her room, a murderous look on his face.

Before he was even fully formed, Lucy was up and out of bed, crossing the room fearlessly and wrapping her arms around his neck. He didn't even get a chance to draw a breath when she crushed her mouth against his.

He tasted like everything wretched in the world, like hate and self-loathing, like despair and pollution. He tasted like perfection.

Zeref felt paralyzed until Lucy's tongue flicked out and slipped between his lips. Then he let out a pained, fraught moan and returned the kiss, knowing that it wasn't at all real but, for at least the moment, not at all caring. This contact eased the burning he'd felt in his chest since he'd given her that magic all those days before. Finding her arms, he pinned them to her side and kissed her the way he wanted to, long and slow. Lucy simply let it happen, reveling, and almost felt like a real person again. It wasn't until she started yanking at his clothes that he broke the kiss, chest heaving, and gathered a disgusting amount of magic in his hand.

"Are you going to kill me?" Lucy asked.

Her voice didn't waver. It turned husky. Like the thought appealed to her. Zeref's skin got hot again. She's not supposed to enjoy it. She's supposed to be frightened. He moved his hand to her neck and squeezed. "Yes."

Lucy met his gaze, trapping him while she wriggled under his hold, fingers slipping under his shirt, seeking his body. He jolted on contact and breathed too heavily. Is this what Natsu felt? Lucy was a siren, her skin pale and luminous, her eyes dark, dark, dark.

Kill her before she can open her mouth again, before she can wrap you up and trick you. The magic pulsing in his fingertips was in tune with his heart. "I'm sorry," Zeref told her and meant every word. Just because he meant it didn't make what came next any less avoidable.

Threads of blackness seeped from his body into hers. Her eyes closed, her muscles quaked, and a moaning sigh dropped from her lips. She whispered his name again and again, each time reverently. Her limbs shook, her fingers quested, grasping into his shirt and roving down to his hips where they dug into his skin. She was orgasming again.

Realizing this, Zeref's lungs got tight. Gods. Kill her now. But instead of killing her, his traitorous body pulled her closer so he could breathe her pleasure in. Her skin hummed under his hands; he couldn't resist shoving more magic through her and was rewarded for his efforts when Lucy leaned into him, moaning his name against his mouth.

This is better than killing her.

Eyes still half open, he kissed her hard, unable to look away. He wanted her to shiver; he wanted her to moan on his tongue. More magic rolled off of his skin and into hers. In seconds, her whole body was quaking again with intense pleasure. Sobbing, she grasped his shirt and started tugging.

"I've—"

The girl caught his mouth again, cutting off his words. Zeref fell victim to her tide for another beat. Stop.

He yanked back and squeezed her ribs hard enough that she winced. "I've come to kill you, Lucy."

It took all of her energy to lift her eyes to meet his unsteadily in the darkness. "So you said. I won't stop you." Maybe she was a fool for daring him to strike.

Her throaty voice serrated his skin. "I know." Unable to help it, he flicked his tongue over her lips.

When he made no move to carry out his threat, Lucy screwed up her courage and pulled the thin cloth covering Zeref's chest. Tonight, he was dressed all in black, was cloaked in it and lived in it, and yet, for all that, he wore pyjamas, just like a regular sort of person. It was so… human. It only made her feel crazier.

The top button on his nightclothes popped open, revealing the pale and toned chest beneath. Threads of darkness wrapped around his body, ribboning his skin; it was cold against her palm. With the first button undone, she moved faster, working on the others. Zeref still didn't try to stop her, but she had the distinct feeling that he was drawing up the will to strike. With every passing second the air in the room became more charged.

The danger only made her more excited. On tiptoe, she found his mouth and kissed him fervidly while her fingers finished their work, getting his shirt completely undone.

Arduously, Zeref broke their kiss; Lucy kept her mouth on his body. From his chin she worked all the way down his neck, over his collarbone, and then started on his chest, migrating south with an impatient and scalding hot mouth.

Zeref took her hair in his hands when she got to his bellybutton. "Gods, Lucy." He said her name darkly. "I'm thinking about killing you. Aren't you frightened?" Did she not understand?

"No." Every kiss was light and teasing, designed to make his head cluttered. She got to the waistband of his pyjamas and slipped her tongue inside the edge. Zeref groaned and tightened his hold on her golden tresses, then found her breast with his free hand. She gasped and shook and shivered; he'd just barely touched her.

Finding his tongue again he said, "You should be." There wasn't a time he could remember where someone hadn't been afraid of him.

Maybe Mavis.

He ground out her memory like ash under his heel and squeezed Lucy tight enough that she yelped; it turned into a moan. Her mouth closed around him through the fabric of his pants, teeth nipping none-too-gently.

Lucy carefully listened to Zeref's breathing change; a random and mean thought flitted through her head: this could have been you, Natsu. If only she didn't kick him out. If only she didn't want to take him apart,

Piece

By

Piece.

Looking up the line of his body, Lucy asked, "Do you think there is something wrong with me?"

Zeref petted her head and thought about snapping her neck. It would put her out of her misery before it could ever really get started. "Everything is, Lucy. You're falling apart, right at the seams"

Falling apart. "Will it hurt?"

"Only for a moment until either you die or you forget what it's like to be so human," he mumbled, not too sure which he'd prefer.

She waited to be scared. Nothing. Wrapping her fingers around his body through his pants she asked, "And afterwards, if I don't die, does it feel good?" She thought yes, that darkness was like a familiar lover that knew her better than she knew herself.

He grasped her hair harder, tension building low in his belly as she pumped him. "Good and terrible." There wasn't any lying about that. Lucy used her tongue and rubbed it over the tip of his erection. Groaning, he grabbed his pants and pulled them down, down, down. As soon as he was free he felt better, less restricted. Lucy, breath erratic, wasted no time taking him into her mouth and he felt better still. Her tongue was cold like winter, her movements uncoordinated, she moved so zealously.

Words streamed out of Zeref's mouth; he didn't even know what he said while she sucked. Praises? Maybe. Curses? Absolutely. Encouragements? She needed none, sliding him deep into her mouth and humming.

He groaned and pulled her hair, being rougher with her than he'd planned. Long seconds passed with him so deeply inside her, she didn't breathe. Her fingers grasped weakly at his thighs and Zeref, remembering himself, let her lean back. She gasped loudly, taking in deep lungful after deep lungful of air, then went back for him. This time she did it to herself, taking him in as deep as possible.

Watching through his lashes only made Zeref harder. Lucy's breasts swayed softly, her mouth made the most alluring, sloppy noises, she crooned. Zeref felt everything tighten. Not yet. Not yet. Reaching down, he found the tips of her breasts and pinched hard until she gasped. "You shouldn't want to belong to me."

Lucy took her mouth away from his throbbing body and said, "It's all I think about."

His skin jumped involuntarily. Don't listen. Walk away, there's still time. "You don't mean that." He waited for her to agree, to come to her senses, but Lucy merely peered at him steadily, her answer clear enough on her face. She meant every word.

He growled, more magic spilling from his skin, and tugged harder on her hair, using the leverage to pull her up from the floor and corral her to the mattress. There he pushed her back roughly, enjoying the way everything bounced just right when she fell, and spread her legs with hands that shook. Crawling between them, he crushed his mouth to hers and kissed her hard, putting into that motion all of his frustration. Lucy tilted her hips, making his erection brush over her center, and sobbed.

Zeref grabbed her hips. "Lock your legs around me."

Lucy was struggling to find the dexterity to obey when a clattering noise startled her. Opening her eyes wide, she peered through the darkness towards the window and felt ice drop through her veins.

A cap of messy hair was silhouetted against the moon.

Fuck.

There was no doubt in her mind that he saw more than enough to condemn her.

Before she could say a word, her intruder turned and slipped back into the night.

Seemingly coming back to himself, Zeref swallowed, throat bobbing, and put some distance between their hips. "If I'm all you think about then why does that have you so distraught?"

Lucy's heart hammered in her chest. The ever-present darkness retreated. She put her arm between herself and the black wizard, covering her breasts. "I—"

"I think it's time I go," he cut in.

Lucy trembled. "Wait—" Fear was bleeding through. What was she doing? Did she have a death wish? She invited Zeref into her home... Zeref was here, atop of her, and had been pawing her so desperately. She shivered but not because she was cold.

He didn't try to kiss her or touch her again, simply stood, sort of fixed his clothes, and melted into the shadows.

Lucy waited for the tears.

Her eyes were dry.