NSFW

There was precious time for romance in the weeks since Natsu and Lucy's relationship developed from friends to romantic couple who kissed a lot. Hardly any spare moments for more than the odd stolen kiss or whispered endearments. The two of them carried on, mostly, in the way they always had. Bickering and teasing while executing a flawless efficiency of teamwork. They had spent so much of their time together, and so often with pushed boundaries of intimacy, that their secret relationship went unnoticed by the rest of Fairy Tail.

When a break finally cleared their schedule of fights and thwarting villainous story arcs they made sure to remove themselves from any obligation that might keep them apart. Lucy, now fully swept up in firsts and beginnings, was alight with that soulful romantic passion she had always longed for in her novels. She had planned that first free day to the fullest, accepting no arguments, and heaping a serious load of expectations onto overwhelmed Natsu.

Natsu was currently awake and shuffling around the home he shared with Happy with a morning stupor still glazing his eyes. He plucked fresh articles of clothing from the cleaner piles—Lucy insisted that he not wear what he went to bed in—and then he moved on to splashing water on his face just to wake himself up fully. Next he would have to figure out some sort of gift for when he met Lucy at the ungodly hour of 8 am.

"Natsu?" Happy yawned, watching him loaf about their space with one eye open. "Wha'ch'ya doing?"

"Getting ready," he mumbled, more zombie than person.

"Why? It's…it's so early." Happy's curiosity was enough to drive him from his comfortable ball of covers.

"Meet Lucy."

"Oh." Happy stretched his limbs, then started when Natsu sent a tower of dishes crashing to the floor. "Hey, what's Lucy want you for at this hour anyway?"

Natsu yawned. "Promised day with her. Said meet her at 8."

Happy snickered. He was the only other member of Fairy Tail that knew Nalu was official. Natsu had only managed a few days before he cracked and told him everything. He never wanted to keep that kind of secret from Happy, anyway. Lucy hadn't minded.

The fresh breeze outside helped sober Natsu as he walked into town. He went through his list of acceptable gifts in his head, trying to pick out what would be easiest. Getting her something off the list she wrote for him seemed more mechanical and scripted than truly romantic. Lucy assured him it was nothing to do with her lack of trust that he play the boyfriend role properly. Dating was harder than he imagined, but if he wanted to continue kissing Lucy then he'd have to comply. Or…

Natsu stopped on his walk, looking past the worn dirt path to a hilly expanse of wild grass dotted with flowers.

Or maybe he could meet her halfway.

Lucy's list included 'buy a bouquet of romantic flowers' but these were more his style. He could pick as he walked. He wandered off the trail, kicking at the grass and wetting his shoes in morning dew, and stopped when he saw the right flowers. Because he couldn't just pick any flowers, only ones that told him 'Lucy' when he saw them. He snatched up a few pink ones because he liked when she wore pink. Then one with a really yellow center because it was the same sort of yellow as her hair. Then one lone flower, with no others to match, because he'd always felt Lucy was uniquely Lucy, with no one to match.

The handful he gathered wasn't very neat. The steams were different lengths and not all of the petals were pristine, but he arranged them in his fist and recounted the reason he selected each one and it felt like the right sort of gift to give a person you cared a lot about. He was busy grinning over his selection of wildflowers when he pushed right through her door and into her apartment.

"Hey, Luce, I pick—"

A shoe hit him in the face, stifling his greeting and sending him flying backward. He hit the ground hard and clenched tighter around the flowers as he fell. Some of the stems broke.

"I told you, you can't just go waltzing into my apartment. Is it so hard to knock first?" Lucy's hands were covering what her clothes hadn't managed to reach yet, in her present state of dress, and her cheeks were pink.

His grin turned crooked and vaguely predatory.

"Don't you dare." Lucy warned. A torrid of fantasies had skipped through his mind. None of them involved leaving this apartment for a long time, probably the rest of the night, but Lucy shuffled away to finish dressing. He pouted.

"Why not?" He called after her, getting up from the floor to plop onto her bed, "I thought this was our day. Doesn't that mean I get to choose too? I vote we ditch the clothes and hang out here for a bit and you let me try—"

"No! We've done…a lot of that sort of thing already. I just want a real date like a normal couple. I picked out a special outfit and everything. I didn't want you to see it before I was ready. So whatever thoughts made you grin at me like that will have to wait."

Natsu crossed his arms. "Yeah, well, maybe we're not like a normal couple. Maybe we're better because we don't have to do dumb things like making me knock before coming into your apartment. I never used to."

"Yeah, and it was a problem then, too," Lucy mumbled. "Look, just turn around or close your eyes for a second. Okay?"

Natsu fell backward onto the bed, throwing an arm over his eyes as he huffed loudly and dramatically.

When Lucy announced she was ready he sat up and a good amount of his exasperation flowed right out of him. She was posing shyly, waiting for his opinion.

"Damn, Lucy. You look amazing."

She shook her head, but she was smiling. "Thank you, I—wait," her eyes shifted to his hand, "Did you buy me flowers?"

Eyes riveted to her outfit, Natsu held out his gift. "Nah, I picked these for you. I picked out all the Lucy flowers I spotted on my walk over here."

"Lucy flowers?"

His gaze raked down each curve, over every edge of the short black dress hugging her body, lingering on the low cut, the way the straps of heels curled over her ankles, ideas popping into mind on how to work his hands into each and every crevice—

"Natsu?" She snapped her fingers in his face. "What are Lucy flowers?"

"Hmm? Oh." He shook his head, though he still stole the odd glance or two, and answered, "They're the ones that reminded me of you. Ya know, like pink because you look good in pink. That one has the same yellow as your hair."

Her eyes watered and he stopped naming the reasons for each flower, suddenly worried he got this very wrong.

"I, uh, I'm sorry, Lucy. Did you really prefer I buy you flowers?"

She shook her head, single tears breaking free to roll down her cheek.

Natsu scratched the back of his head. "Then, uh, then why are you crying?"

She flew at him, arms gripping tight around his neck, knocking him backward onto the mattress. At first, he thought she was attacking him for making her cry with his silly idea, but then her lips were making a wet smacking sound against his cheek. Over and over she kissed around his face until he caught her round cheeks, wiping at the tears with his thumb, and smirking.

"You've got terrible aim, Luce. You keep missing." He guided her down and found that her tears lent a new level of wet to kissing, but if they were happy tears then it wasn't so bad. When he brought his hands down over her bare shoulders, anticipation churning inside him, Lucy pulled away.

She pushed herself up on her arms, grinning as she scolded him for being too eager for things that would have to wait until after their proper date. She wormed her way down his lap, off the bed, leaving him with a very frustrating tightness in his pants. Who wrote the rules for this dating thing? What were they thinking, skipping the good stuff?

When he sat up, Lucy was setting her flowers into a vase and picking out a spot to place it. He watched her fret about, clutching the present lovingly to her chest, and his frustration eased. If she was happy, then, it was worth waiting.

The rest of their day went, to Natsu's surprise, like any other day. They hung out. They walked to shops together. They ate at a café for lunch. He teased, they bickered, it was actually fun and enjoyable. The only change Natsu could discern was that with nothing to hide outside of Fairy Tail and their work, they could indulge in extras that were definitely a bonus to the friendship they shared before. Instead of walking from shop to shop beside Lucy, Natsu held her hand. When the impulse struck him, he could lean in and kiss her. He could put his arm around her or play with her hair or let his hands wander over her clothes, though she scolded him for getting too adventurous in public, he was at least willing to admit that, once again, he'd been wrong about dating.

For dinner they spent more time laughing than eating, sharing bites of food and splitting a dessert. Sure, they'd ordered a second one right after because Natsu was still hungry, but it was fun all the same.

When the sun started to set they strolled, hands linked and arms swinging, back to Lucy's apartment. A block from her home, when she complained of her feet aching in her heels, she hopped onto his back. Which was innocent enough, except she kept running the tip of her nose up and down his neck, occasionally flicking out her tongue to tease him. Oh, and he was going to get vengeance for it, too. She was strict about what they could and couldn't do 'in public' so dropping her in the street and tearing through her clothes was apparently 'not allowed' but once they were through that door…

He kicked her door in, ignoring the resounding crash and the shift and tremble of objects disturbed from their peace. Lucy slid off his back and he twisted, moving as he closed the door with one hand to pin her with his body against it. He propped up a hand on either side of her head, grin twisting to mischievous.

"Do I get to kiss you for real now?" His nose nudged hers, his tongue darting out over his lips. Pay back or no, he'd wait for her permission before enacting any sort of revenge.

Lucy arched her back against the door, biting her lip, sending a fluttering look under her lashes at him. "Well…"

He growled, teeth clenched, head hovering over her mouth, a low primal sound. His fingers clawed at the door, leaving faint impressions. He was so close to her that with each breath her breasts scraped across his chest. He was on a hair trigger, waiting for her to release him, a tremble working though his limbs.

Finally, finally, Lucy tipped up her neck and let out a breathy 'kiss me.'

Except he didn't.

His eyes were dark, shadowed by his hair, his grin bordering on devilish as he reached around her arched back for the catch of her barely there dress. He eased it open. He caught the zipper in his fingers and worked his arms down the length of her body, pulling back when she attempted to steal a kiss and his free hand pressed firmly over her stomach to hold her back.

With the zipper down, the dress peeled away without resistance, falling open to reveal one breast and then the other. Lucy waited. Very still. Her breath measured. Anticipating something? He worked the dress down her hips, using all his energy to keep his movements calm and slow, despite how much he wanted fast and frenzied. He followed the dress down. Bending to help her work one leg free and then the next. Her shoes followed. He heard her huff in frustration.

And her smell was everywhere. The scent of her skin, her perfume, that unmistakable scent uniquely her that he now associated with arousal. He was on his knees, Lucy still pressed against the door, and the only garment left on her body was tiny, flimsy, and lacy. They had teetered on this edge before. Only a few times, but enough that he knew he couldn't yet take initiative.

His hands moved back up her thighs, gliding over her hips, making a distinct show of where he wished to move his hands next.

Her breath caught, drawing his eyes up, her gaze finding him over the swell of her chest. Honestly, this view was just an added bonus. Her legs started to tremble and he stilled them with his hands. The question lingered between them, he wanted permission and was waiting for her answer. Then, with her hands clenched behind her back, she nodded.

Using that same restraint—which was honestly going to have to end soon, or he'd only be torturing himself—he worked tight fabric down her legs. That smell was going to drive him crazy. His pants were unbearably constraining, but he hadn't the patience to stop and deal with that at the moment. There was no real knowledge here, Natsu was working on pure instinct and, if he was honest, just a driving impulse that had screamed in his blood since that first night he'd ever kissed her. Taste.

He let his fingers move first, easing her legs apart—only a little, she seemed to not want him to go too far—but enough for him to slide fingertips between them. Lucy shuddered, inhaling sharply, but Natsu was honestly lost in the way the following sensations dominated his every urge and instinct. Warm, wet. He worked his fingers deeper, along the seam of soft, tender skin and then back and forth, in a studying motion of absolute wonder that this was not only good for him, but that Lucy was starting to slacken with the pleasure of it. Her legs drew apart without prompting. Her breathing grew more ragged, more uneven. Little sounds and catches punctuated each easy slide of his hand, when he crooked a finger she nearly fell onto his hand, knees weak, but he did not relent. Because this was payback and he was enjoying it too much.

His hands continued a thorough exploration, curling up and into her briefly—an experimental idea that very quickly stole any continued discovery as her reaction and dear God, that incredible feeling of muscles clenching down over his, turned into hand pumping in and out, not too fast, but enough to get her breathing quickening, for her hand to come around and grab a handful of hair, and for this action to lead to another impulse he'd been fighting way too long.

Lucy had worked her legs farther apart, her muscles loose enough for him to work one leg over his shoulder and press his face in close, a trial lick drawing an unrestrained cry from Lucy and alighting his senses with a new level of oh-hell-fucking-yes. He kept up the motion with his hand while exploring with his mouth. This was the taste that had been driving him crazy and now that he knew what it was, resistance would be near impossible. Thank every deity in existence that Lucy was enjoying this because stopping would have taken a level of restraint he wasn't sure he possessed. And while this new aspect of 'romantic couple' was infinitely satisfying, he began to feel that darker part inside him stir.

He wasn't being gentle or careful now, he was devouring, burying his face as far between her thighs as he could reach, her hands braced tight and encouraging in his hair. And fire worked up his throat. Smoke plumed through his nose when he took a breath and he was about to draw away for fear of hurting her when her fingers turned violent against his scalp, her grip forcing him deeper, her muscles clenching hard and fast, her moans growing loud and praising. Then he didn't need to pull away, she drew back, panting as her legs quivered and her body sagged against her front door.

Natsu used his sleeve to wipe off his face, the fire receding but not gone, it still licked at his chest. Lucy was staring straight ahead, her fingers twirling in the ends of her hair. Somehow, it clicked as he let his eyes wander up her naked body that everything so far, even with all that he just learned, it still wasn't enough. There was still some aspect of this intimacy thing that he hadn't gotten to touch yet. And he was still painfully tense. Wired and coiled tight.

Lucy finally spoke, her eyes drifting to him in a brazen way, a side of her he hadn't met yet. It was enough to throw him off and halt his spiraling thoughts. "That was amazing."

He basked in the praise. "So, that means I can do it again?"

"Yeah. Definitely you can do that again." She pushed herself away from the door, padding across the floor to where he was still kneeling before her. She threaded her fingers under the collar of his shirt and hauled him up. Natsu let her move him, mesmerized by that coy, confident gleam in her eyes.

"Lucy? Everything okay?" The fire was dying fast, confusion and a touch of concern clouding any other emotion.

She guided him toward the bed with her hand. "Shh," she said, "Don't ruin it. I'm feeling…good." She started to work off his clothes. Shirt and then belt, then pants and shoes. She crawled up to meet him on the bed, straddling his body with hers. "You're my best friend, Natsu. I enjoy spending time with you and even when we fight, I wouldn't trade it for anything."

This speech was nice and all, but it was distracting as hell that her chest dangled over his, breasts occasionally bumping into him, her naked thighs squeezing his waist. She'd left his underwear on, but that wasn't enough buffer between her movements and the amazing friction it created.

"And today I realized, I've been trying to control this too much. You were right, we're not like normal couples. We're just us and we can do this however we want."

"Uh…kay…" He swallowed, fire reaching his throat from the erotic position of her on top of him.

"And what I want right now, Natsu, is to be with you. To really be with you." She bent down and kissed him. Not with passion or even as a chaste peck, but a tender, slow kiss that worked into his soul, that made the fact that she was naked and he was almost naked second place. She pulled away, smiling. "I love you, Natsu."

Had that ever been a question? When he thought about it, no, never. He lifted his hand to cup her cheek, grinning a lopsided grin, toothy and genuine, and said, "I love you too, Lucy. That's never been a question."

"You…never?"

"No. Sure, I didn't always love you quite like this. Ya know, with all the added bonuses, but I guess that just means that love changes to whatever you want it to be."

Lucy stared for a second, her face pinched with thought, before she said, "You surprise me sometimes. Like the flowers this morning. I underestimate you."

He laughed.

And Lucy laughed too.

And they laughed together. Bodies twisting so they were side by side. Limbs entwined, occasionally shifting for a comfortable angle. Until laughter turned to lips meeting. And they rolled again, so Natsu was on top, and their kissing turned heated, demanding. Lucy's legs parted, drawing him closer, a sort of disjointed grinding starting that felt more like teasing.

They stayed like that for a few minutes. On the edge of another leap, both of them holding their breath before jumping. That burning, dark, demanding voice was starting up in his head. But he tempered his muscles, slowed his breathing, and then Lucy was working off his boxers and he had to hold his breath entirely.

"Natsu, hey, look at me." Lucy guided his face until he was forced to look into her eyes. His were black, a deep, full black. He was hovering over her body, arms shaking, that wet heat beckoning for him to roll his hips forward, but he resisted. Barely.

"Hey. I told you it's okay, but do you want to stop?"

He shook his head. Then groaned. "I just don't want to hurt you."

She paused, searching his eyes and then she smiled and curled one leg around him. "Do you trust me?"

"Yeah."

"Then just let me lead." She pressed, drawing him closer, until their hips mashed together in a very pleasurable way, though not quite hitting the mark. They were touching in every conceivable place now, and Natsu felt control slipping from his grasp. He began to grind into her with his hips, so gently, because he really wanted to pull away completely and that was all he could manage. And he lifted his head as flames brushed past his teeth, bursts leaking between his lips. He was sitting straight up now, directing the worst of it at the ceiling.

He started to shake his head. Bail. He needed to bail. It was the last thing he wanted to do, but he needed—

Lucy's hands drew down his hips, dipping between them, until her fingers touched on straining, too hot skin. And he couldn't pull away. He couldn't move. He just closed his eyes as her fingers did a quick test feel up and down the length of him, then gripping gently so when she lifted her hips, they were joined in the most intimate sense. And his breath left him, the fire appeased enough that he could lean back down over Lucy so he could touch her and hold her and kiss her while they worked up a rhythm and pace of hard and slow, both of them slipping away into pure sensation until they came crashing down one after the other.

It was a long time before they left that bed. It was a long time before they slept. And over the weeks and months and years they figured out how this sex thing worked, at least for them. That they liked to go slow and casual, with laughter and giggles, but that sometimes they liked rougher and harder, with a little fire involved. When their first daughter was born, they'd been a little too enthusiastic about a hard won victory. The second daughter a result of planning, one of those times when they laughed the whole time and fell asleep in each other's arms. And they never quite fit into a 'normal couple' but they were unwaveringly happy just as they were.

THE END

A/N: Okay, so I am horrible for neglecting this for so long. I'm sorry about that, but here's the end. This is the more 'porn' type chapter I'd been building toward, but I don't write porn well so hope it was bearable to read. When I finished I realized there's a chance Natsu was shown as a morning person in canon, but I don't know so whatever. I just wanted to give you guys some sort of firm end so it wasn't hanging forever. Hope you all enjoyed reading. Hope they weren't too OOC with this latest chapter as my memory of this show is slipping away.

Thanks for bearing with me guys. ^_^