Jellal slid from the driver's seat of his department issued car late on a Sunday night and attempted to stretch. His back screamed in protest and he lamented not taking his own vehicle to the convention instead of the city's. A four hour drive at the end of a day that had already been long was bad enough, but the padding on the seats of this particular car was an embarrassment to the force, in his opinion. As he trudged up his front walk and into the house he pulled his phone from his pocket.

Jellal: I'm home.

Erza: Wow! A day early! How did you manage that?

Jellal: An unfortunate driving experience. Come over?

Erza: Are you sure you don't just want to go to bed? I won't be in the way?

Jellal: Never. Meredy has been at Ultear's all week and no one was expecting me home until tomorrow. Please?

Erza: I'll be there in twenty. Try to stay awake ;)

He tossed the phone to the bed and stripped his clothes off to try and shower away the back pain, and remnants of road travel. Law enforcement conventions were held annually and as a Lieutenant it was expected of him to be present. They were long and boring and the coffee was always an inhospitable sludge.

At least now he had someone to come home to besides a sleepy daughter who couldn't be expected to listen to his griping or understand any of his complaints. Not that he planned on spending his night with Erza whining about his job. He'd missed an important milestone while he'd been away and Jellal intended to make up for it.

A week after he and Erza started dating, they'd agreed to put off sex for two months. Being with her was an intense head rush and it was easy to get swept away, but he didn't want their relationship to be based on surging lust. He enjoyed her company and they decided a two month waiting period – just to make sure they could stand one another fully clothed and sober – would be in order. The two month marker had come and gone on Friday.

Her knock on the front door sent a prickle of anticipation down his spine. She greeted him with a tight hug and he inhaled the scent of her hair. Damn, he loved her hair. He especially loved when she tied it up in a knot and absently twirled wisps around her fingers as she attempted to concentrate on something. His sister teased him relentlessly at the hard way he'd fallen for Erza, but Jellal knew she wouldn't bother to say anything at all if she wasn't happy he'd met someone.

"I missed you," she whispered against his lips.

"I missed you, too. Longest week in recent history."

"Let's get you to bed. You look like you're about to crash where you stand." She tugged on his hand and he followed her to his bedroom. He waited as she changed into a t-shirt he recognized as his. He didn't mind the theft, and honestly didn't think he would ever feel the same way about the Magnolia PD gym shirts again. "Did you know," Erza began with a grin. "That I took a course in massage therapy in college?"

"I didn't."

"Roll over and I'll rub your back for you. If you go to sleep tensed up like that you'll be so much worse in the morning."

Jellal stretched across his bed and felt Erza crawl over him and straddle his hips. Her warm fingers expertly worked the muscles in his lower back and there was no stopping the groan from escaping his throat. She laughed softly at his responses.

"Does that feel alright? Let me know if I'm hurting you."

"No, this is pretty much the best thing ever. You've got strong hands."

"Yeah, well, I also started out kneading a lot of dough by hand."

He sighed loudly but tensed a little when she scooted up and on to the bare portion of his back. The lace of her panties, and the way her thighs spread over him caused a new sort of tension.

"Erza," he murmured.

"Hm?" She didn't stop her movements. Jellal reached behind him and wrapped his arm around her waist to bring her down to the bed.

"I think that's enough of that."

"Did I hurt you?" He smiled and brushed wayward strands of hair from her face.

"No. My back feels great." Erza wrapped her arms around his neck. "Did you know Friday was an important day?"

"A very important day that you missed, Lieutenant Fernandes." She grinned up at him and dragged her leg up and around his hip. "I hope you have a compensation plan." Jellal squeezed her waist through the fabric of her (his) shirt.

"Oh, I do. I could go over the specifics with you or…"

"I'd rather you just show me," she whispered before he took her lips in a kiss. Jellal pressed his body against hers and slid his hand beneath the shirt. Her thigh and stomach were firmer than he'd imagined, but her skin was incredibly soft. When he grazed the underside of her breast, Erza gasped and he smiled. His fingertips traced over the mound of flesh and she tugged on the hair at the nape of his neck when his palm settled over her hardening nipple.

Erza surprised him by pushing him back into a sitting position and pulling the t-shirt over her head. She straddled him once again, though this time in front instead of behind, and kissed him forcefully. His hands roamed over her back and when they found her breasts again Erza arched into him and sighed. Jellal broke away from her mouth and moved to her neck. She shuddered and whimpered as his tongue flicked out to taste her.

"Go easy on me, okay? It's been a while," she breathed. Erza grabbed his hand and pushed it to where he expected the waistband of her panties to be. Instead he found a ribbon knotted into an enticing bow. He tugged on the ribbon and slid his hand between her legs.

"We'll have a warm up first, how's that?" She squirmed against him and he could feel the muscles in her thighs quiver as his fingers grazed over and through her wet folds before slipping inside. Jellal secured her against his chest and watched her eyes flutter closed and her teeth sink into her bottom lip. Her hands clutched at his shoulder and tangled in his hair. The tension broke across her features when he curled his fingers up and forward and pressed the heel of his hand against the very center of her desire.

Erza smiled at him when she regained her breath and he kissed each of her flushed cheeks before taking her mouth. She let him lay her back down on the bed and settled herself beneath him.

"You are very good with those fingers," she mumbled as she pushed his shorts over his hips and hooked her legs around his middle. Jellal groaned against her lips when he felt her hand close around his erection and stroke him steadily.

"Erza," he panted. "It's been a while for me, too. You'll kill me before I ever get inside if you keep doing that."

"Death by hand-job isn't something I want to explain to your fellow officers." She rubbed the tip of him over the length of her wetness before positioning him at the entrance. Jellal slowly pushed into her and his head dropped onto her shoulder. She was warm and soft and despite being a grown man – and not a virgin – the pressure surrounding him was nearly enough to send him over the edge. It would be a very poor showing to last less than a minute the first time they were together.

Jellal pulled all the way out of her and swiftly thrust back inside. The sounds she made as she pulled her legs higher around his waist were absolutely sinful. He didn't want to just pound away at her but god it was so hard not to.

"I know I said to be gentle but I won't break in half, Jellal. You can –" He picked up a quicker rhythm and Erza broke off mid-sentence. She twisted her hips and found a place that elicited the most beautiful gasp he'd ever heard from the mouth of anyone. He slid his hand down to grip her thigh to hold her in the exact position and the way she trembled uncontrollably was a clear signal that she was speeding towards the edge of a cliff.

He honestly tried to hold out but when Erza reached between them to help herself along he lost his oh-so-fragile control. The second he felt her clench wildly around him he let go and spilled into her. She was breathing heavily and one hand was still clutching a handful of his hair.

"That was –"

"Incredible?" Jellal offered.

"Yeah," Erza sighed and her arms fell onto the mattress. He winced as he pulled out of her and tried to lower himself to the space beside her without betraying the stiffness that had returned to his back. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine."

"Liar. Did your back flare up again?" He grimaced sheepishly at her. "The sex could've waited, you know."

"I don't think it could've." Erza leaned forward and kissed him softly.

"Come on, then, back into the shower with you. I can't have the guilt of ruining all my work earlier eating away at me." She pulled him out of bed and he couldn't help but notice how absolutely perfect her ass was from behind. He chastised himself mentally with a reminder that he didn't have to sample the whole dish in one night. Erza could be unwrapped slowly.

At the moment, though, she directed him under the hot spray and positioned herself behind him. He leaned against the tile and let her work some kind of magic with her hands.

"I think you're probably better with your hands than I am," he murmured.

"That's a pretty high compliment considering what you just did to me in your bed." When he felt like he could move again without punishment, Jellal turned and pulled her into an embrace. "Feeling better?"

"Oh, yeah." He kissed her and his lands traveled down her backside to the perfect swells he'd admired on the way into the bathroom. "You're amazing, Erza."

"And you're delirious with fatigue, sex, and all this steam," she teased.

"I'm not… well I am all those things, but you're still amazing." He wanted to use a word much different than amazing. One much stronger and more significant, but it was far too soon to throw around words like that. He'd save that one for later.

He settled on the bed still feeling stiff, but in a whole lot less pain than before Erza forced him into the shower. She crawled under the sheet next to him and kissed his chest.

"Better?"

"Much. Thank you," he whispered into her damp hair. She yawned and wrapped one arm around him before nodding off. Jellal lay awake for a few minutes more contemplating his incredible stroke of luck in finding this woman. Out of all the people in Magnolia he'd managed to connect with her and be turned completely upside down. Maybe he would get even more lucky and she'd make him something flakey and chocolatey for breakfast.

"Go to sleep," she sighed. Jellal chuckled and kissed her forehead. He wasn't ready to scare her off with a declaration of love out loud, but he was pretty sure that's what he felt. He wondered how long he'd have to wait before he could have her beside him every night. Would it be too much of a giveaway to ask how much longer she had on her lease? Probably.