"Ya' know, you're lucky I'm a demon. What kinda weirdo goes and drains their mate, who they just met, dry?"

The blonde doesn't say anything, and instead just groans and face plants into his chest, in what he assumes is in embarrassment. He snorts, letting out a chuckle at how peculiar this girl is.

Until he heard a gentle snore that most definitely did not come from him.

"Yer kidding." He says out loud, not really expecting an answer as he lifts his head again. His mate was weird. Not only did she tackle him to the ground to drink his blood, she also decides to promptly fall asleep?

The ache in his neck had faded so he leans his head forward to inspect the blonde, who he didn't even know the name of, feeling the electrifying feeling of the mate bond run through his body.

He eventually sits up and pulls her body against him on instinct, feeling the bond between them solidify as her smell wafts up his nose. His eyes almost roll back in his head at how sweet and delicious she smelt, like s'mores but with a tinge of spice. He licked his lips, almost tasting her in the air and grits his teeth to reign himself back.

Of course, his mate happened to be ignorant to his turmoil as she snored away.

Grumbling to himself, he knew Gajeel was going to kill him for bringing a random girl home but he wasn't about to leave his mate behind. He knew he should've just woken her up and asked where she lived, but something told him that she wasn't going to wake up so easily.

Also, his heart and mind screamed to keep her close. He didn't want to part with her, and knew it was selfish of him as he stood up with the girl in his arms. He stared down at her peaceful, sleeping face, long eyelashes tickling her cheeks and a cute nose resting above her lush lips. Lips that were a barrier to the sharp teeth that was buried in his neck just a few seconds earlier, and a rosy face that had his mind screaming, 'cute'!

He knew, as cheesy as it sounds, that he wanted to be near this beauty until the day he died.

The pink haired man began his walk towards Gajeel's apartment complex. Boy, he did not expect his trip to Magnolia to start with such a bang.

His heart pounded erratically. In all honesty, he was elated, bursting with joy and newfound lust. The love of his life, his soulmate. Someone that was supposed to fit him in every sense of life was now laying in his arms. He waited years and now he couldn't wait to actually talk to her. A lopsided grin grew on his face.

He was so giddy, he felt like a kid opening presents on Christmas. But a hundred times better.

Some young adult man opened the door for him so he could enter the building. He gives him a curt nod as a thanks. The pink haired man went up to the fourth floor in an elevator, ignoring the perturbed stares of two elderly women as he walked by with an unconscious girl in his arms. When he stood outside of room 405, he didn't bother knocking and went to kick the door down, before pausing with his right foot in the air.

He looked back down at the sleeping blonde, realizing he didn't want to wake her up.

Instead he lowered his foot to tap the door with the same foot, and stopped the minute the girl started shifting in his arms. He got lost staring at her face, feeling like he was in a dream. He only realized how long he had been staring at the blonde before Gajeel barked at him from the now open door.

"Natsu! Oi, Salamander!" Natsu whipped his head up at his cousin with a scowl, before seeing Gajeel's face drop his glare to turn into shock.

"Is that Bunny Girl?" Gajeel grunts, mostly to himself. Natsu felt a sharp spike of jealousy run through him as his grip tightened on his mate, tucking her closer to his body as a growl left his mouth without his consent. He didn't know why he was so incredibly pissed off, but he knew he didn't like how Gajeel knew his mate before him.

Gajeel smirks, looking like he knew something Natsu didn't know and the salmon haired Halfling glared daggers.

"I found her, collapsed in front of yer apartment." Natsu told him through gritted teeth, omitting the part where she pinned him to the ground and drank all he had to give. Gajeel's eyebrows (well, more like metal studs) darted downwards and Natsu frowned. His cousin actually looked…worried?

Irrational jealousy flared in him again but he shook it down, knowing that Gajeel had Levy. He just – fuck, he just didn't want anyone around his mate!

It was the mate pull, and boy was it getting to him. Every older dragon and demon in Natsu's life told him about it. Both dragons and demons have mates – a twist of fate by the Gods to keep two of the rowdiest creatures in check. Natsu just so happened to be both.

The mate pull was always the weakest when your first met your mate, but progressively your attraction to each other gets stronger as time goes on, thus strengthening the effects of the mate pull.

Despite all the warnings he got growing up, if the mate pull was supposed to be weak now, Natsu doesn't know how he's going to handle being around her later.

Gajeel jerked his head towards the inside of his apartment, signaling Natsu to bring the girl in. The was his cousin's new apartment so he scanned the area, surprised to see how clean it looked. Everything was tucked away neatly, the countertops of the kitchen and the table in the far left corner of the room was spotless.

Gajeel was the type to leave his shit around and not give a fuck at all. Natsu would've snickered on how much Gajeel's mate was already affecting his cousin, if it wasn't for the sleeping, blonde stranger in his arms.

Natsu gently lifted her higher in his hold, readjusting so he could nestle her head to rest on the crevice of his elbow. She lets out a little, relaxed sigh that has his whole body humming in delight. The idea that he was bringing her comfort and peace was an addicting feeling that he quite liked.

"W-what's her name?" Natsu cursed himself for stuttering as he followed Gajeel down a short hallway, before coming across two doors next two each other. Gajeel doesn't comment on his stuttering but he does flash a taunting smirk. Natsu simply glared in response.

"Bunny Girl's name is Lucy." Gajeel paused, wanting to see Natsu's reaction.

Natsu's eyes seemed to glaze over as he thought over her name. "Lucy." He tries it on his tongue, and finds that he really likes it. It just seemed to fit her.

He then looks down at the blonde – err, Lucy – and realizes that it most definitely fits her. Natsu didn't know why, but his heart felt like it was soaring. "Lucy." He repeats it again, a little lower.

"Ulck." Gajeel disrupts Natsu's little moment to look at him in utter disgust. "I wanna punch that sappy look off your face."

Natsu whips his head around to glare at his cousin once again. Before he could shoot out a witty comeback, Lucy started to squirm in his arms again, quickly pulling his attention back to make sure his mate was comfortable.

Gajeel watched Natsu with disgust.

"Mavis, was that how I was when I first met Levy. I actually feel bad for Bunny Girl." Gajeel grumbled to himself, sliding a hand down his face in frustration. "Listen, this is your room for the week," He points at the door on the left, before pointing to the door on the right ", and this is mine. You can keep Bunny Girl in your room until she wakes up."

Natsu nods and enters the room after Gajeel opens the door for him. He looks around at the simplistic layout. There was a queen sized bed with the headboard against the farthest wall, facing the closet beside the door. A nightstand was beside the bed with a small lamp on it.

Natsu walked towards the bed before shifting Lucy in his hold so he could awkwardly hold her with one hand. With his other hand free, Natsu moved the sheets downwards to tuck her in.

While he placed her on the soft mattress, Gajeel grunted from behind him, something about how Levy's going to freak the fuck out when she finds out about Lucy.

Natsu gently rests the blanket to cover his mate's neck, wanting to stay but also not trusting his self-control tonight. He huffed a sigh filled with regret, turning to look at his cousin with discontent written all over his face. "I'll sleep on the couch."

Gajeel snorted. "You fucking better."

They walked back out to the living room and Natsu still won't let go of the fact that it was so unusually clean of his cousin.

Natsu bounced on his feet. Before he felt tired after the draining train ride that almost had him puking on his seat buddy, but after the mate pull sparked to life, he was too energized to sleep. For more reasons than one.

He fell back onto the couch; a loud thump was heard as he landed. He rested his head on the soft material as he stared at the ceiling.

"Gajeel." Natsu started.

"What?"

"I think I'm in love and we haven't even talked yet."

Gajeel scoffed, shaking his head before heading to the kitchen. Natsu heard him rummaging through the fridge as he spoke. "You haven't seen nothing yet, Salamander. The mate pull gets physically painful pretty fucking fast. You two will be going at it before this week ends." At Gajeel's words, Natsu's vision blurs as he considers his cousin's words, at how absolutely celestial it would be to have Lucy slowly peeling back her clothes in front of him and – "Don't even think about it, you dumb shit. I won't have anyone treating Lucy like that."

The half dragon and half demon shut his eyes closed, willing himself to not act like a pubescent teen. Which was easier than he thought since Gajeel was here. Any thought of his annoying ass cousin was enough to wipe any lust he felt at that moment. The majority of it, anyway.

"Trust me. Lucy is…innocent. Too innocent sometimes." Gajeel saw Lucy as a sister, and fucking hated any looks that were sent her way if they weren't friendly. She was always clueless to the attention she drew in from males and females. "But she's also been through a lot." Gajeel explained, not wanting to go too in depth because in the end, that was Lucy's story to tell.

"I get it. And don't tell me she's innocent. It makes me want to corru-"

"Fucking gross. You don't have to elaborate."

Natsu lets out a breathy chuckle. "I don't know how long I can control myself. It's been less than ten minutes since I've met her, and I'm already – argh!" Natsu ruffles his hair aggressively, leaning forward on the couch. He heard the sound of Gajeel shutting the fridge shortly afterwards.

"Yeah, you're both dragon and demon. I'm only dragon so it was easier for me, but still fucking difficult. I don't how but you gotta find a way to control both sides of ya'." Gajeel walks back out with a cold water bottle in hand. "You thirsty?"

Natsu's tongue swiped his teeth, considering the dryness of his mouth. He nodded, "Yeah."

"Well too fucking bad." Gajeel opened the lid and quickly chugged the entire bottle down. Natsu growled, knowing he fell right into that one.

"Okay, well fuck you too."

Gajeel crumpled the water bottle in his hand, the sound deafening at that time of night. He threw it in the recycling bin before crossing his arms and leaning on the wall. "Fair warning, if you don't treat Bunny Girl right I'm going to kill you."

Gajeel said that so fiercely that Natsu felt like his cousin would actually commit murder. And for once, Natsu was okay with it.

"I barely know the girl but I actually agree with you." Natsu responded honestly. Fuck, he was never like this with anyone before.

The metal dragon smirked evilly. "The mate bond is definitely far worse for you. I hadn't entered the emotional stage until my third day. First few days I just wanted to fuck her."

Natsu grimaced. Gajeel shrugged.

"So tell me, why did Bunny Girl collapse?" He raised an eyebrow at his pink haired cousin. "And don't lie. That scar on your neck hasn't completely faded yet." Natsu turned rigid and slapped a hand where Lucy bit him, feeling a phantom pain in that area.

"Ah, yeah. She…drank my blood." He hesitated. Gajeel made a 'tch' noise, shaking his head. His unruly black hair waved back and forth with his movement.

"Levy told her to feed! Bunny Girl is always doing this shit. Worrying Levy and all."

Natsu knew it was Gajeel's way of showing his worry. And that annoying jealousy was back, painful enough were it felt like his heart physically hurt. The pinked haired Halfling went to bunch the shirt above his heart, wincing as he tried to will back the demon and dragon within him with clenched fists. If Gajeel noticed, which he surely did, he made a wise choice to not comment.

Once he finally settled down, Natsu sighed in relief, releasing the bunched shirt to scratch the back of his neck.

"Mavis. Feeling jealousy from the mate bond hurts like hell." He hissed out a breath. Gajeel nodded, sharing a look of understanding because he really did know exactly what Natsu was going through.

Suddenly, he realized something. His piercing green eyes widened in alarm.

"Wait, shit." Natsu whisper-yelled, making sure to stay quiet enough at this time of night. "You set me up with that blind date tomorrow." Gajeel looked at him, expressionless.

"So what?"

"So what? I just met my mate, I don't need no date. Fuck, why'd I ever agree to that? Can you cancel it?" The urgency in Natsu's voice had the gears in Gajeel's brain working, thinking of mischievous ways to mess with his pink haired cousin.

"No."

They both blinked at each other. "No?" Natsu almost growled. The raven haired man rolled his eyes.

"No. You agreed to it, you gotta deal with it."

Natsu looked like a strange mix of distressed and pissed off. "Shit, Gajeel, you really gonna do this to me?" His cousin nodded. "At least give me her number so I can call her and cancel."

"Nah, I don't have her number. Levy set the date up and she's busy tomorrow. She'll probably put her phone on silent so I wouldn't be able to get your blind date's number in time before your date tomorrow morning." Gajeel blinks blearily at Natsu, who wore a dramatic pout on his face. Natsu was too kind hearted to ditch someone like that. Gajeel knew his idiot cousin was going to meet his blind date and reject her there, which was perfect, seeing as Natsu's blind date was actually his mate.

Should Gajeel feel bad about messing with his cousin and Bunny Girl?

Nah, he doesn't give a fuck at all. In fact, he found it quite funny.

"Gihee." Gajeel hid a wide grin by turning around to walk to his room. "I'm gonna sleep. Have fun with your date tomorrow."

He could hear Natsu swearing under his breath but Gajeel ignored him in favour of the warmth of his comfy bed.

Gajeel laid down, considering Natsu and Bunny Girl's situation. As much as he pretended to be annoyed at the two, he solemnly decided that they indeed would fit well together. Which pissed him off just thinking about it.

Eventually, the scent of a certain pixie laced in his sheets lulls him into a peaceful slumber.

The next morning, Lucy woke up as if she was sleeping beauty herself. She opened her eyes and the world seemed to screamed sunshine and rainbows to her. She never knew how groggy and weak she was almost every single day of her life, until she woke up feeling like she was running on adrenaline after winning the Olympics.

She sat up and looked at her hands that were no longer a dusty, greyish pale. Now they were pulsing with life. She flipped her hands around to look at her palms. They weren't bony and weak anymore, they were healthy and coloured. This was definitely a weird thing to think about, but Lucy thought her hands actually looked pretty.

The constant hunger that became a dull pain at the back of her mind was completely gone. Without that distraction, her mind felt crystal clear. It felt as if there were earphones plugged into your ears since you were born, blaring white noise until it became all you knew, and when you took them out you could finally hear the world for the first time.

Lucy felt like she was reborn.

Her face hurt from grinning, but then quickly dropped when she thought about how she became healthy.

She drank…oh my fucking Mavis I fed off of my mate. Lucy began to mildly panic. I fed off my mate. And he's a demon with really nice tasting blood. Yes, she was excited to have met the supposed love of her life, according to Aquarius and her 'mate' talk with Lucy. But what if he didn't…want her after what she did to him? What if I hurt him badly? What if he never wants to see me ever again?

Before her mind could run off any farther, she took a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before exhaling. Lucy needed to calm down and not get ahead of herself.

She started by looking around the room, scanning where she is. After recognizing the layout, she quickly realized it was Gajeel's new apartment and was glad she woke up somewhere familiar.

Wait…but how did she get here? She remembered collapsing outside of his apartment, and she doesn't remember ever telling her mate where to go after that.

Lucy looked around the room to find the time. She couldn't find a clock anywhere and decided to get up to see what's going on. Her feet touched the warm, carpeted floor as she shuffled towards the door.

She passed by a mirror attached to one of the closet doors and saw her messy self in the reflection. Her blonde hair was tousled and her silk, pink shorts and tank top were disheveled. If my mate is here, should I be more presentable?, she thought to herself. Her hands flatten out the texture of her clothes and attempt to untangle her hair. Huffing after she looked somewhat collected, Lucy turned away from the mirror.

She creaked open the door and walked towards the kitchen, hearing the sound of a sizzling pan with a familiar smell wafting through the room.

Lucy poked her head around the corner and watched Gajeel frying bacon and eggs.

"Hey."

Gajeel glances behind him, expecting Lucy after sensing her smell coming closer to him. He turned his gaze back to the pan. "Bunny Girl." He said gruffly.

Luce walked out from behind the wall and sheepishly stood behind Gajeel, eyeing his attire. He looked ready for work. Must be almost 9am.

"So…" She was expecting to get scolded by him to be honest.

"Don't pull that shit you did last night ever again." The raven haired man huffed. Ah, there it was. "Levy told me you were fine. Clearly you fucking weren't." Lucy blushed in embarrassment. She really did think she was fine at the time she told Levy and Juvia though…

Gajeel and her were unexpectedly close after Levy introduced him to Lucy. They often bickered but slowly bonded over the silent pact to protect Levy at all cost. It came to the point where they saw each other as brother and sister. Or at least to Lucy anyway. Gajeel wasn't going to admit it any time soon, but she was sure he felt the same way.

"Sorry, Gajeel." She pouted as Gajeel ate the eggs and bacon straight from the pan with a fork. He grunted in what Lucy thought was an acceptance to her apology and watched him throw the pan in the sink with a loud clatter, making her wince at the noise.

"Well, I heard you fed from my stupid cousin." Gajeel almost growled. Ah, so that's how I got here, Lucy thought to herself. "I can't believe you and Salamander are mates. I'd rather die if I found that out."

Wait.

She was mates, with Gajeel's cousin. Talk about a coincidence!

Speaking of her mate, Lucy frowned. "Uhm, is he…" She looked around the kitchen, before a loud snore rippled through the air, coming from the living room. Lucy uncharacteristically snorted. "I'm guessing he's still here?"

"Yeah." Gajeel grunted. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and went to the door to put on his shoes, Lucy following close behind him. "Good luck with that hothead. Don't do anything nasty in my apartment." Lucy blushed madly.

"I-I-" Gajeel smirked at her stuttering. After slipping on his shoes, he turned to look down at the small blonde with mischievous interest. "I would never!" Lucy finally got out.

"Gihee." He chuckled, before the smirk on his face became downright evil. "Oh, and don't forget about your blind date." Gajeel peered at the clock beside his front door. "It's at ten right? You got an hour. Did ya' forget?"

"W-wha?" Gajeel saw the growing panic on the blonde's face and he actually laughed out loud. It was clear the vampire had let that small detail slip from her mind.

The raven haired dragon didn't say anything else and closed the door on a gaping blonde, heading off to work.

There was a brief silence before the noise of someone shifting snapped Lucy out of her stupor, and brief anger and frustration filled her. She completely forgot about the blind date! Darn it, she had to deal with that before getting to know her mate. And, her first encounter with her mate was surely going to be an awkward thing to talk about. Ugh, why is her life like this?!

Lucy kicked the door, not too hard because it was a new apartment but she still wanted to vent! A growl almost ripped out of her throat, something she learned from a certain iron dragon. "Stupid Gajeel!"

"Am I interrupting?"

Lucy froze midway through another kick to the door before turning to look at the man in front of her.

Her breath caught as she eyed him. His pink – wait, pink? - hair was equally as disheveled as Lucy's when she first woke up. His hand ran through the salmon strands, exposing his forehead and drawing her gaze to his sculpted face and sharp jawline. She saw his muscles flex as his body stretched and oh Mavis.

Lucy's eyes trailed down to the scar on his neck to his toned chest, seeing another large scare on his waist that was strangely endearing. He was shirtless, and freaking ripped. Her eyes started picking up on the faint 'v' line near the edge of his boxers but her eyes snapped back up his face with an audible squeak.

"P-put on some clothes, you butt!" She shrieked, covering her reddening face.

"Hmm?" Natsu winced as his sharp ears didn't appreciate the loud noise so early in the morning. He looked down at himself, not seeing anything wrong. "I mean, everything important is covered."

"A shirt." Natsu had to strain to hear her, even with his dragon hearing.

"Huh?"

"A shirt please!" She whimpered, and this time Natsu laughed heartily. Gajeel wasn't kidding about the 'innocent' thing. He went back to the couch and grabbed his white T-shirt, throwing it on quickly. Natsu spent a couple seconds watching his mate squirm beside the front door, facing away from him. His eyes trailed down the slightly tangled blonde hair, to the delightful curve of her back, and the -

Holy shit.

Wow, Natsu didn't know he was an ass man until this very moment.

Looking to the side with a blush on his face, he coughed awkwardly. "Uh, you can turn around now." The strain of reeling back the dragon and demon inside of him was evident in his voice.

To Natsu's entertainment, Lucy turned around cautiously with a very red face, much like his.

"H-hi." She says, eyes darting everywhere but at Natsu. He almost swoons at how cute she is.

"Hey." He replies, a bright grin widening on his face, and Lucy feels herself becoming more comfortable around her mate at his smile. "I'm Natsu Dragneel, Gajeel's cousin. The person you fed from last night."

He watches her blushing face shift to nervous concern.

"I-I'm sorry! I haven't had blood since I was born basically and the hunger pain was getting to me. It hurt really bad, to the point where I couldn't even think right. And if you know me I always overthink things, you know? So I ran from my home to go to your cousin's to get help but honestly I wasn't even aware of how I got there. And then I collapsed, and you smelled good." She paused to take a breath. "Like, so good. And I couldn't help it and oh Mavis, I'm really sorry. I know it doesn't excuse me for what I did, so if you hate me that's fine. We can just start off as friends. Or maybe not, if you don't want to. I'm okay with anything because in the end I bit you and –"

"Woah, woah." Natsu laughs at her rambling. Lucy's face couldn't get any hotter as she covers her face with her hands once again.

"I'm sorry. I get nervous around new people." She mumbled through her fingers.

Oh god, Natsu almost couldn't handle this. His heart hurt incredibly bad at how much affection he felt for this girl. The mate bond had already felt like it increased tenfold in intensity since meeting her yesterday. The demon was screaming at him to corrupt her, and make her only think about him. The dragon inside him was possessive, wanting the same thing and finding her sweet scent absolutely alluring.

And she was barely doing anything! Other than looking incredibly cute in front of him, but his wilder side viewed her in a much darker light.

"It's okay." The strain in his voice was evident, and he coughed again to get rid of the raspiness. "I don't mind at all! It's kind of an odd thing to meet my mate like that, but it makes things fun. I don't mind that you're weird."

Lucy's eye twitches at being called weird, but she guesses that's what she deserved for what she did to him.

She responds with a simple, "Okay," and finally removes the hands covering her face.

"So, what's your name?" He asked. He already knew since Gajeel told him, but he wanted to hear her say it.

She looked at him warily. "My name's Lucy."

"Great! Nice to meet you Luigi." Natsu grins, purposely messing with her.

His bubbly personality eventually gets her to relax. "It's Lucy…" She corrected, thinking it was an honest mistake on Natsu's part.

"So what are you? You don't smell human, and you did kind of drank my blood last night. Not a very human thing to do." Natsu asked curiously.

Avoiding Natsu's eyes, she rubbed her fingertips together in nervousness. For some reason she felt self-conscious. Lucy answered, "I'm a purebred vampire."

He raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

Lucy didn't expect that response, and ends up snapping unintentionally. "What do you mean, 'you sure'?"

He chuckles. "You don't smell just vampire to me. I would know, I've met a fair share in my life. You smell good. Which is normal since we're mates and all. But you smell good because of something else you are." He stops to ponder as Lucy's mind reels at the new information. "Are you a succubus by chance?"

"No, I'm just a vampire." She frowns. At least, that's what she had been told her entire life. Lucy really didn't know what to do with this new information. The fact that he could smell her strongly and the fact that he didn't believe she was a full vampire.

"Well, it's fine. You can tell me later when we get closer to each other." He said that so matter of factly that it made Lucy's heart pound in her chest, embarrassed. "Anyways, I'm half demon and half dragon." Natsu tells her. She nods, fascinated at meeting another supernatural being. She considers what he said and frowns.

"I've never met a demon. Do demons have mates too?" She asked him. Natsu plopped down onto the couch where he slept last night, and patted the seat beside him. Lucy bit her lip and shuffled towards the couch.

"Yeah." He groaned, seeming upset.

"O-oh." Lucy knew the mating thing must be hard for him. She's been trying to hide it, but the mate pull for her was making her…feel things she's never felt before. And vampire mate pulls were supposedly not as intense as other creature's.

Lucy only knows that she wants to be near Natsu as much as possible.

"That must be hard. For vampires it's not that bad. I just get the sparks when I touch you and stuff." She said, now sitting beside him. Lucy reached out a hand to demonstrate and grazed his knee gently with her fingers.

Lucy felt pleasant sparks run through her arm. Natsu on the other hand, abruptly jolted away from her and let out a pained hiss. Her eyes widen in shock.

"Oh Mavis, I'm sorry! Did I do something not, uh, good?" She wanted to smack herself at how her vocabulary flew out the window the minute her nerves got in the way.

"No, no." Natsu heaved. "It felt good. Too good." He hesitated before saying that. Lucy didn't know what to say and simply blushed as he settled down back a little further away from her. "Maybe I shouldn't have asked you to sit near me."

"Yeah…"

Natsu tries to elaborate. "It's just, demon and dragon mate pulls are pretty strong. 'Cause we're more destructive by nature so we need something to calm us down and all. The thing is I'm both, so it's really, really intense." He tried to choose his words carefully, knowing what Gajeel meant by how Lucy was innocent. Natsu didn't want to scare her off but he did want her to know that the inevitable was going to happen.

"Is there any way I can help? I'll do anything you want." Lucy suggests.

Oh fuck him.

She didn't even know how her innocent words affected him.

Lucy saw the pained look on his face, and quickly retracted her words, thinking she offended him. "Or not! It's just a way to apologize for feeding from you and a thank you for bring me to Gajeel's place." She explains in a hurry.

Natsu knew he had the rip the bandaid off. Or else, she might not know what might happen to her if he couldn't control the inhumane side of him.

"You do know what sex is, right?" He watched with great enjoyment as he saw the blonde's eyes widen and her splutter comically. Natsu let out another laugh, surprising himself at how much joy he felt from being around her.

"Of course I do!" She shrieks and he winces as his ears picked up on the sound. "But, you're not asking me to do…" She couldn't even say the word.

"I mean normally I'd wait much longer before I do that type of thing." Natsu answered sincerely. "I want to get to know you first and make sure you're ready. But I'm not kidding when I say the pull is intense. I wanna let you know in case I ever lose control. I don't want to surprise or scare you, but I don't know how long I'm going to, well, last."

Lucy shuffles beside him, looking uncomfortable but not disgusted. Aquarius did warn her about it, but she didn't go in depth. The bluenette told her that it was much better to accept the feeling. Never in the world had mates never matched well together, so Lucy shouldn't worry too much about it.

Even if the mates were human or weren't originally supposed to have a mate bond, it all turned out to be okay. If creatures that do have mates, such as dragons and demons, have a mate that don't have mates, such as humans and pixies, both parties still feel a portion of the mate pull.

It sounds confusing, but basically if you happen to have a mate, you will both feel a portion of the bond, no matter the species you are.

If humans can handle werewolves, then Lucy, a vampire, can handle a demon-dragon hybrid. Hopefully.

She takes a minute to process what Natsu said, wrapping her head around the fact that she might lose the v-word within the next month.

But, surprisingly…she wasn't completely against it. Sure she was shocked but her body was telling her that she wanted something for a while. And slowly, despite not being often exposed to this topic, she was wise enough to connect the dots this morning. Her body was craving her mate.

Yes, she was completely flushed from head to toe at that idea. She could barely talk about this type of thing with her closest friends! But Lucy steeled her resolve. Lucy Heartfilia has been through hell and back. She was not going to have something like this scare her off! Especially when it's someone like her mate.

Natsu on the hand, watched with amusement as Lucy was in thought, going from biting her lip in anxiousness to perking up in determination. She suddenly whipped around to look at him.

"How long do you think you have until you lose control?" She asked him so bluntly that even he blushes. Natsu thinks about it for a bit, but in all honesty he already knew the answer. He had been thinking about it all night, and judging by how her smell swamped all his senses and her body was all he could think about in his dreams last night (and now), it wouldn't be long.

"Maybe three days…max."

Lucy blinks at him.

"Oh."

She thought she would have a lot more time than that.

"Plus, when you're wearing something like that in front of me, it's kind of hard not to want you." Lucy watches Natsu's green eyes glaze over, turning almost red as he slowly eyed down her body. The silk clothing did little to hide the expansion of her breasts and the strong curve of her waist. Not only that, Natsu knew she took care of herself. Her arms and legs were well toned, and the small outline of abs was evident from the thin strip of skin peaking from her slightly raised tank top.

For Lucy, it was such a heated, intense stare that it had her squirming, a weird feeling boiling in her stomach. Instead of looking away, her eyes were glued to the dazed look on his face. He looked…addicted. She looks down to glance at his plush lips.

She's only ever kissed someone once, and it was with Dan. It just felt weird and bland. Her two friends encouraged her to get a little experience before finding her mate, and Lucy quickly regretted that decision.

But now, Lucy found something stirring within her. Something that most definitely wants to kiss those lips of his. She found herself debating jumping him or holding back.

Lucy quickly realizes, that this was a terrible time for her mate pull to suddenly increase in intensity.

Lucy started breathing a little heavier, feeling the effects swamp her entire being. A weird ache formed near her belly, and the bottom half of her body felt oddly…warm. She felt like she was craving something.

And Natsu fucking noticed. Judging by the swamp of her delicious smell circling the air around them, he started to scramble back as her eyes locked on him with intent. Shit, this wasn't good.

Lucy didn't even have to ponder her decision anymore. It was like her mind switched the minute she made eye contact with Natsu, and she was faintly aware that he might be correct about her being not fully vampire, as she lost herself to her instincts. Lucy basically pounced onto Natsu, pushing him hard against the couch that had a shocked gasp leaving his body.

She found that she quite liked that sound.

Without any hesitation, she sat on his lap, eliciting a sharp inhale from Natsu. And surprisingly enough, Natsu was the one who latched his lips to hers first.

The sparks were instantaneous. Fireworks lit up her body and she felt wired. Everything within her screamed that this was even better than blood, or maybe, this combined with blood could be explosive. That idea excited her to new heights.

Pure bliss was all the two mates felt as they shared their first kiss, their lips roughly pursing against each other with awkward fervor. Lucy's inexperience was endearing to Natsu, liking the idea of being the one to teach her physical intimacy. It made him feel powerful and feed the fire of his inner demon and dragon.

He guided her with tilts of his head and pulling back where necessary, and was greatly pleased as Lucy quickly adjusted. Gods, it was so passionate.

Natsu didn't care whether she was succubus or not. She had him roaring with lust no matter what she did.

Natsu found himself slipping into his darker desires and lose any semblance of rationality over the two creatures within him. That small string of control unraveled faster and faster as every touch of her body lit him on fire. She tasted and felt absolutely ethereal.

Shit, gotta push her away before…before... He lost his train of thought as he indulged in the flavour on his lips, savouring the incredible taste of s'mores and spice. So goooood, his mind chanted over and over before he caught himself losing control again.

Oh Mavis, oh Mavis. He needed to stop and - oh fucking hell.

She started grinding – what –

A little whimper left her mouth shortly after she moved her hips against his, and the sudden burst of pleasure sparking through Natsu's entire body had his eyes rolling back in his head, as an inhumane growl left his mouth. The demon and dragon in him crawling out faster than he could hold them back.

He pulled briefly to hiss out a strained, "Fuck it,".

His right hand tangled in her messy hair and the other violently gripped at the curve of her waist, pushing her towards him violently, feeling only her, her, her. He thrusted upwards and shit, control was the last thing on his mind as that feeling sparked through him again.

Pleasure. It was pure pleasure.

Natsu flipped them around so Lucy was pinned on the couch, not ever leaving her lips or the delicious feeling between their hips. He grinded roughly against her, any idea of being gentle lost as guttural groans left his mouth and into hers, silencing the gasp that left her lips.

He never felt something so amazing in his life. The mate bond made him utterly crave this beautiful girl in his arms in every sense of life.

Lucy's body reacted much like Natsu's, loving the feeling of him towering over. It made her feel safe. It made her feel good.

So good, so good, so good.

She raised her hips to seek this new, delicious feeling as she quickly caught on that kissing was much, much better than she ever thought possible.

Their teeth clacked, but instead of stopping them, it spurred the two on with renewed intensity. Lucy was learning and was mostly acting on instinct. Her mind and reasoning flew out the window as all she could think about was the pink haired man above her who was all muscle and tasted delightful.

Natsu on the other hand, was going to die from bliss.

He removed himself to pepper harsh, open mouthed kisses on her neck, aiming to leave a mark as his inner dragon and demon purred. Licking and sucking a burning path that had Lucy's body quivering under him.

"A-ahh-" His cock twitched at her high pitched and he nipped at her neck, thrusting harder against her. "Ah! Natsu!"

Fuck. Fuck.

He loved this. He was addicted.

He couldn't get enough of her smell, lapping to soothe where he bit her. He skimmed his nose up her neck, inhaling pure heaven. The scent of spiced s'mores, a combination of two smells that he never thought would be so extremely delectable. With a hint of metal and –

Wait, shit. Metal.

He wrenched away from the blonde, breathing heavily as his chest rose and fell against Lucy's. Natsu looked down at her, seeing her lidded eyes and faraway look as she continued to raise her hips against him.

Shit, shit, shit. Think of Gajeel. Think of Gajeel and, and…and his dick!

Natsu scrambled up off of his mate and ran to stand far away from her, running a hand through his hair to calm down as he paced the living room with shaky legs.

"Calm down. Calm down." He chanted to himself, and ignored the unsatisfied feeling between his legs.

Lucy's hazed feeling left her groggy. Eventually it faded as Natsu's chanting stopped sounding so far away, and she registered what she just did to him. Instead of panicking like she usually did, she reacted by curling in on herself on the couch, shocked and more importantly, embarrassed that she had initialized the whole thing. She didn't where it came from. Why did she just jump on him like that?

Stupid mate bond!

Lucy was still curled up but turned to look at Natsu's jumbled state. Guilt flooded her body. "I'm sor-"

Before she could finish her apology as Natsu expected, he cut her off. "No, that was good. It was amazing. Fucking everything I wanted in life. I wanna do it again, every single day and just-" He took a sharp inhale and Lucy stared, shocked at his confession. She thought she was coming onto him too hard, but he seemed just as affected as her.

"But we gotta do this later, because I was stupid and I have to, uh…" He didn't want to tell her he was going on a blind date. "I have to meet a friend in half an hour, and I can't ditch so let's talk about this later, yeah?"

Lucy nodded. "I have to actually meet someone at ten too." She sighed. "We should probably get ready."

The awkwardness and sexual tension between them was profound, heavy in the air as they shifted around with unsure movements.

"Gajeel has extra toothbrushes and stuff for when I come over. You can use them, if you like." Natsu tells her, breaking the silence between them.

"That would be great." She replied, a little too hastily. Natsu went into the washroom first, opening the draw that held the toothbrushes and handed one to Lucy. She wasn't sure if she should just leave to let him have some privacy in the washroom, but they both were running late so they brushed their teeth together. It was strangely...domestic.

"Oh, shoot." Lucy swears to herself. "I don't have any clothes to wear."

Natsu would've offered, if it wasn't for the fact that he didn't bring clothes either. Usually when he came over, he'd have extra clothes he'd left behind at Gajeel's. But metal face fucking threw away his clothes when he was moving, and only texted Natsu about it when he was already on the train.

"Ah, I'll just find something in Gajeel's room." She says mostly to herself, but the image of her wearing another man's scent, especially a dragon's, shot a spike of incredible anger through him.

He grabbed Lucy's arm and pulled her to him before she could leave the washroom, a growl leaving his throat unconsciously. She gasps, feeling the familiar, pleasurably sparks run up her body, reminding her of their position earlier.

"N-Natsu?"

Mavis, he loved her voice and how she said his name.

"Don't." He grits his teeth in anger. "You wearing another guy's shirt. Don't think that would be a good idea." Natsu pulled back before he could get carried away with the feeling of her in his arms.

Lucy nodded mutely. "I'll just wear Gajeel's girlfriend's clothes." She tells him, blushing. She really wanted to stay and get to know Natsu, but they were running late on time.

They took a couple minutes to freshen up on their own, and when they both emerged to put on their shoes, their eyes couldn't stop flickering at each other. Eyeing the way Levy's small, stretchy black shorts spanned tautly against Lucy's hips, he felt every fiber in him crave his mate. She still wore the pink pajama top, but with a cameo green jacket on top.

Natsu wore the same outfit as he did coming to Gajeel's apartment. A white shirt that did little to hide his strong body and black, loose shorts that had Lucy biting her lip. It was almost summer, so it was quite warm outside, but she was starting to feel warm from other things.

She never knew her body could react this way around a guy.

Lucy looked at the clock, seeing that they had ten minutes left to get there. It was a short walk thankfully to where she was going. To a small coffee shop called 'Chiisana Kissaten', as Levy told her the day before.

This was her game plan. She was going to go and politely shut down her blind date because she found her mate. Levy did say he was a supernatural creature so he would understand.

"So, where are you going?" Natsu asked her, trying to smooth out the tension between them again. She appreciated his efforts.

"Chiisana Kissaten. It's a coffee shop. I've never been but I know it's close by. Apparently they have really good chocolate chip cookies." Lucy tells him, trying to keep her voice level despite the unsteady thumping of her heart.

"Really? I'm actually going there too!" Natsu said cheerfully, tension already forgot at his bubbliness. Lucy finds that she likes that a lot, that he could be so carefree about everything. She started to feel comfortable around him again, almost forgetting about their little session before hand.

Key word; 'almost'. Lucy blushes.

They started walking out the building and down the street. Natsu was good at filling in silences, rambling about his life and family. Something Lucy enjoyed greatly.

She laughed as Natsu recounted Gajeel and his childhood. Gajeel apparently had a stuffed bunny when he was a kid, which Lucy found hilarious, and Natsu accidentally burned it while learning how to use his newfound powers. He was a fire dragon, and that thought fit Natsu perfectly.

"He cried. I'd rarely see that fucker – I mean, Gajeel," He smiled sheepishly at Lucy. She waved him off.

"I've known Gajeel for quite some time. I won't cry if you swear around me." She huffed, acting annoyed. Natsu grinned.

"Whatever you say, Luigi."

Lucy smacked Natsu's arm. "It's Lucy, gosh darn it!"

Natsu found private joy in hearing her try not to swear.

"So anyways, I rarely saw that fucker smile as a kid, so the fact that I saw him have any other emotion other than pissed was a once in a lifetime thing!"

Lucy snorted. "The fact that you made your cousin cry made you happy?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. He nodded enthusiastically.

"Yup! So I asked his dad if we could throw him a 'Congratulations for Showing Emotions' party. He said no, which sucked. And when Gajeel found out we fought. Obviously, I won." Lucy rolled her eyes at that. "So if you ever want to get under Gajeel's skin, or see him tear up even just the slightest bit, bring up the bunny story."

Lucy nodded, amused that Gajeel was still affected by the bunny story. But childhood trauma, no matter how small, always stays with you, she guesses.

"Good to know." She giggled. Lucy watches Natsu's eyes grow wide in excitement as he looked somewhere in front of her.

"Woah, is that an arcade?" Natsu ran a couple steps ahead to peer into a glass window. Lucy catches up and looks inside, awed at the flashing, bright colours and various games littered throughout the large building. That looked…fun. She's never been to an arcade before, but it seemed like something she could get behind.

She found that she'd much rather go here than to her blind date.

"We should go sometime!" Natsu says cheerfully, looking at Lucy with expectation. "Please Luce? It'd be so fun!"

Lucy bristled at being given a nickname, but oddly enough, found that she liked it. Luce…maybe she could get used to that.

Looking at Natsu's awestruck face, she couldn't help but think of him as a little kid. She giggled at his childishness.

"Sure." Lucy agrees and Natsu beams.

They continue on their walk, before Natsu launched on another story about his other annoying ass cousins. They apparently all fought all the time, physically too, which worried Lucy but he explained it was friendly competition. He found everyone in his family annoying except for one sweet, little girl named Wendy.

Lucy found that she actually wanted to chime in and tell him about her life. She felt a need to talk about her mom after he went off on how much he looked up to his dad. Igneel was his name. Apparently he trained Natsu to control the demon and dragon within him, and how to be a trustworthy man. He couldn't imagine a life without him.

He smiled as they walked, thinking about his adoptive father. Lucy finds herself smiling along with him.

"My mom was everything to me." Lucy began, and she was pleasantly surprised at how attentive Natsu was. She expected him to cut her off but he chose to listen instead, seeming to genuinely care about what she had to say. "She taught me so many things, like how to read the stars, and how they'll always be watching over us and guiding us through our lives." She looked up at the blue sky absent from clouds, not seeing the twinkling lights but knowing they're there.

A contented smile rests on her lips.

"Whenever I have a rough day, I always remember that I have those who care about me, watching over me. It makes me feel at peace." Lucy turns her stunning smile from the sky above towards Natsu, and his heart stutters to a stop. "I can tell you about them one day, if you want. The stars, I mean." She tells Natsu. He simply stares at her in awe as she shined like a star herself.

Mavis, since when did he become so cheesy?

"I'd like that." He responded, breathlessly. Eventually they crossed a street in calm silence and came across a small café, with a sign that had the cursive letters, 'Chiisana Kissaten' on the front.

"We're here." She said, anxiety slowly getting to her. She hadn't thought about it before, but she realized that since Natsu was here, he was going to see her reject her date.

Ignoring the thought of that embarrassing encounter that was about to happen, they both ordered something small in the meantime. Lucy got a cookie, wanting to find out just how good they are, and Natsu got hot chocolate. She commented on the fact that he was having hot chocolate at the start of summer, but he shrugged.

"Dragon things," he said. She almost snorted out loud.

They chose to sit at a little booth, getting comfortable in their seats. They talked idly as they waited for someone to look like the description their friends told them about their blind date.

Lucy was expecting someone flashy, as her friends described him. She should be able to tell right away when he walked in, since the café was so small and didn't often attract people 'like him'.

Natsu on the other hand, was looking for a blonde girl that was more reserved and quiet.

No one in the café fit that description, other than the person the two were with. Everyone else here was older, with greying hair and boisterous talks about the weather. After a while they both frowned.

"What time is it now?" Lucy asked Natsu. He goes to check his phone.

"It's 10:20 ish. They should've been here twenty minutes ago." He huffs. Natsu wanted to be polite and reject her in person, but that person didn't even show up!

Lucy blinked, considering her and Natsu's situation and an exasperated sigh came out of her mouth. How could she be so clueless? Of course!

"Natsu…what are you actually here for?" Lucy asked him, and the fact that she seemed to know Natsu's real reason for being here has his heart accelerating. He gripped the mug in his hand tighter.

"Well actually," He curses, knowing he's caught. Natsu blushes. "I accepted a blind date yesterday. But I didn't expect to meet my mate - err, you - or anything." A look of realization dawns on Lucy's face, but he seems to misread it and begins to look frenzied. "I'm not cheating on you! I was coming to reject her!" He says it too loudly and some people look his way.

Lucy giggles at his turmoil as his ears turn a bright red.

"Natsu, it's not cheating. We're not even dating yet." She smiles mischievously, somewhat reminding Natsu of Gajeel, before stuffing the remaining bite of her cookie in her mouth. Hmm, she thinks to herself. These cookies are really good.

At her words, he was about to deflate when she said they weren't dating, but after hearing the 'yet', his excitement blooms.

"Yeah?"

Lucy swallows her bite. "Yeah." She confirmed with another giggle. "I was actually going on a blind date too! To, reject him, of course. But I don't think I will." Lucy gazes at him with a cute smile, but Natsu's heart stops.

"Y-you won't?" His voice cracks, sounding and looking like a kicked puppy.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "I won't, idiot! We're both expecting a blind date at the same time and the same place. They didn't come late, we're each other's blind date."

Natsu's eyes widen as realization dawned on him. Oooh, duh.

"Shit, you're right." They looked at each other in silence for a bit, before laughing out loud together. The people around the glance at the two mates again but they both don't seem to care. "Mavis, I'm going to kill Gajeel for messing with us." He grins, cracking his knuckles.

Lucy snorts, and Natsu finds the little noise amusing. "Make that the two of us. I'm going to tell Levy all about that bunny story you told me." He grins.

"So…" Natsu starts before chugging the rest of his hot chocolate and slamming the mug on the table. He wipes his lips with the back of his hand. "Wanna go to that arcade?"

"Heck yes!" She cheered.

They both smiled at each other, pure joy radiating from the new mates. Natsu stands and hesitantly sticks his hand out towards Lucy, heart thumping in his chest as the beauty in front of him smiles. A blush grows on her face as she gently places her hand in his from her seat, the sense of an incoming, exciting adventure runs through her entire being.

He pulls her up and she giggles as they dash outside of the store, towards the arcade.

Lucy knew her life was only going to get better from here.

Thank you again for reading this far!

lol and also im here to apologize for this boring ass fic i wrote

I don't like how it turned out buuuuut I'm glad I finished it! I appreciate any constructive criticism. Be harsh, 'cause I know this was shit lololol

But if you did somewhat enjoy this fic, thanks a ton :) And those of you who leave comments under my stories, ya'll are the reason why I love writing.

ok i'm done rambling byyyyye

~CatAttemptsWriting