Per the usual, I am in no way affiliated with Hiro Mashima, the creator and manga-ka of Fairy Tail. These are his characters that I have hijacked for the sheer purpose of indulging in works of fiction about them.

EDIT: forgot I had included my notes in the very beginning. ... Oops.

A Taste of Flame

The forests just outside Magnolia, thick with vegetation and teeming with wildlife; they have made for excellent training ground for the mages of Fairy Tail and today was no exception. Just a few years ago, the two combatants were mere children who explored these same forests together. Now, they attacked each other in nigh reckless abandon, eager to test their own limits and push the others.

For Natsu, he was having the time of his life, even as her sword thrusts came dangerously close to his chest. He wouldn't tell anyone but his favorite spars were against the crimson haired mage before him. While Gray was always an equal, Erza Scarlet, the Queen of Fairy Tail, was always someone for him to surpass. Even when he knew that his overall strength was equal to hers, he never once relented on his quest 'to beat Erza'. Even when he had the upper hand, she would exploit some hole in his defense, or adjust an old technique and pull out the win. For that reason alone, she was the best challenge he could have. That and she was absolutely beautiful when engaged in a fight. Yes, this is how Erza Scarlet should be – a crimson haired angel of battle. And he, the creature of legend set to do battle against her always – a proud, strong dragon. He sniffed and rubbed his finger against his nose. A bit poetic, if he did say so himself.

Erza was vaguely aware of Natsu's thoughts of her in a fight. She could hardly keep a smile from appearing on her face even as he kept nimbly out of the reach of her sword's edge with his lithe movements. She also saw their battles as playing out like the stories of hero knights fighting against dragons for the honor of their country. But he was never a 'mere beast' in her eyes. No, dragons were strong, courageous and noble creatures that would stand by you even if the world turned its back on you. To fight against one, she would consider it an honor. She didn't know how or when it began but a thought surfaced within Erza Scarlet – how would it feel to be a dragon? To be the creature of legend that would strike terror into the hearts of people from villages to entire nations? To fight according to pure instinct, fang, and claw instead of sword and armor? To bend the very elements to your whim with a mere breath? To shatter the skies above with your roar and set the earth trembling with a step? To smash through any defense, to shrug off any blow, to be a force of nature personified – that was a dragon.

She raised her blade up in front of her to block a strong fist from Natsu, his face closing into a few inches from hers. "You're spacing out Erza," he grinned, the growl in his chest teased her ears. "Ya sure you want to do that?" She didn't answer immediately but she let the sword go and threw a hard left at Natsu's head. He ducked then leapt back as the light from her Re-Quip magic enveloped her. To his surprise, she had changed into that weird eastern-looking outfit that she loved when she wanted to attack all out. Of course the flame motif was not completely lost on Natsu. "Hah, decided to try it my way for once?"

Erza smirked, feeling something new and terrible rising up within her – and it felt glorious. "Yeah, I think I'll try it your way for once," she told him as she raised her eyes to meet his.

"Alright, try this on for size! FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" The torrent of flame scorched through the air and enveloped the female knight in an updraft inferno. While normally Natsu would have been at least grinning at defeating his opponent so easily, Erza was never such an opponent that one Roar could do her in. Besides, that strange scent around her caused him genuine worry. Something was happening to her and he didn't know what. His ears picked up on an unusual sound coming from the heart of the flame at the same time, the fire itself was growing smaller and smaller. Straining his ears he recognized that sound.

SLLUUUUURRRP

Natsu's eyes bugged out. She was eating his fire!? HOW!?

The flame eventually died away, the last tendrils flowing up into Erza's open mouth, disappearing down her gullet. Her stomach felt incredibly warm, almost burning but it did not feel uncomfortable – almost as if she was meant to do this all along. She opened her eyes and nearly laughed at Natsu's shocked expression. She imagined that's how many a fire mage looked when he did the same with their magic. Glancing down at her hands, Erza was pleasantly surprised to see that her fingernails had grown considerably. If she didn't know any better, she'd say that they were claws. Her hair had become unbound and flowed freely around her instead of hanging straight down as it used to. And this surge in power… it was the most incredible thing ever! She threw back her head and let out a fierce yell…

Natsu held his arms up to block the wall of sound that came out of Erza's mouth. The hell? That wasn't normal – that more like a roar! And the way that flames sprang up around her was definitely not normal for her either. His nose picked up instantly on her rapidly changing scent. It definitely was becoming different, yet very familiar at the same time. As he watched, two white wings made of flame slowly manifested from Erza's back; her hair becoming fuller and cascaded wildly around her shoulders. Her forearms bore scales and claws, as well as her cheeks, neck and forehead. And her eyes were just like his when he was in…

"Dragon Force…"

Erza ignored the young man in front of her in favor of looking all around first. The world around her sprang to life in a way she never thought possible – the colors were clearer, the sounds were ten times more distinct, and her bare skin felt the light breeze much more sensitively than anything she had ever experienced. And the different scents that reached her nose… She smiled as the scent coming from Natsu reached her and she was able to place it with a word – curiosity. Pure curiosity. "Dragon Force you say," her voice had taken on a much more guttural quality that she rather liked. "Is it always this amazing?"

"Yeah," he answered automatically, "But how did you do that? You're not a Dragon Slayer!"

"I don't know, Natsu," she told him honestly, still looking at the scales on her hands and forearms. "…but I can't say that I don't like it." She gave a shrug. "I guess I've always wanted to see just what it was about your magic that made it so special and now," her grin showcased prominent canines, "I wouldn't want to give this up for the world."

"You can't steal my own magic," he snarled, his stance growing deeper as he prepared to leap at her.

"Why not Natsu," her voice purred, causing him to twitch. "You tasted delicious by the way." Her eyes flared and her grin got wider. "Give me more…"

"I don't know how, but you can't be as strong as me now!" With a leap, he was upon Erza in an instant, a fist careening directly at her temple. I got her!

SMAK

His fist met her meaty palm just a few inches from her head. Behind her, they both heard the damage that the shockwave did to the surrounding ground but neither one cared at the moment. "Wow, that was amazing," she smiled, closing her fingers around his fist. "That was the Iron Fist, right?" Before Natsu could pull his fist away, her fingers dung into it with near bone-crushing force.

Natsu didn't even register her strike as he was sent flying back through a tree, snapping it a few feet above the base. "Haaghh!" He winced as he stood up, rubbing his jaw from where her own fist impacted. "Tch! How is this happening?" He didn't have time to react before something heavy impacted his torso and he was sent skidding, tearing a trough through the earth for a good twenty feet. He tried to get up but Erza sat down on his chest, pinning his arms beneath her knees, hands on her hips as she looked down at him. Natsu wasn't one to scare easily but this was definitely freaking him out.

"I win, Natsu," she murmured in that weird way that certainly made a part of him react in a slightly embarrassing way. "But really, why are you afraid?" She sat up and replaced her knees with her hands, holding him down as she moved her knees to either side of his waist.

"I've…I've never seen this before," he admitted, a blush staining his cheeks as he tried not to look at her swaying breasts, a fact that certainly did not go unnoticed by Erza.

"Aw, don't be afraid Natsu," she cooed, running a finger across his cheek. His scent was positively mouthwatering to her now. "You know I don't bite..." She leans her face down next to his and her tongue dances against his earlobe, "Hard." She began to roughly nibble along his neck down to his collarbone, enjoying his shuddering body underneath her.

"Erza...st-stop this... You don't do this – AAH!" Her teeth sunk painfully into his ear for a moment before she released the cartilage and gave it a deceptively gently lick.

"No," she whispered with authority. She raised her head to look down at him with an intensity neither had felt before. "You're mine, Natsu Dragneel. You have always been mine." She nuzzled her nose against the crook of his neck with a deep, rumbling growl, taking his scent in as deeply as she could. "No one else will have you... You. Are. Mine." With that, she claimed his lips, immediately letting out a contented sigh. Her free hand ripped his jacket from his chest and indulged itself with running over his chiseled abdomen. Her new claws at the end of her fingers lightly scratched at his skin, causing him to buck his hips up against her slightly. She rewarded him with another purr and grinding her own hips down upon his. She broke her kiss to look down at him, her luxurious red tresses falling down around him like a curtain. "Do you understand, my Salamander?"

He stared up at her, his eyes already feral and gleaming. "…yeah," he hissed, his cheeks stained with embarrassment as he felt his arousal peaking from beneath his trousers.

She gave a light smile before violently switched her hands to hold his wrists back above his head and squeezed his jaw with her other hand, a dangerous growl emanating from deep in her chest. "Yes, 'what', my dear Natsu...?" It wasn't enough to get him to say it, she needed to make him believe it – believe that she was his completely and that nothing else in this world would matter to him. That she was his to command and in turn, she was utterly his in both body and spirit.

His lips curled back over his teeth in a snarl but she held him solidly beneath him, hissing back at him in return. He finally relented and eased the tension in his body. "Yes... Mistress..."

Her eyes flashed amber and bared her fangs at him before lunging down and pressing them firmly against his throat. She could feel him sucking in a breath and she closed her jaws around his trachea hard enough to leave indentions of her fangs in the tender skin as a warning. "No...! That is not good enough!" Her desire to dominate, to bring this strong man to heel beneath her was the only thing keeping her from sexually taking him right now. He needed to know just who she was to him and she needed to hear it, to feel it in her soul. "Who am I to you, Natsu Dragneel... What is it that you call me?"

He turned his face to look at her more fully and a tremor of delight ran through her own body. Even now, he was still defiant. Even now, he kept his pride as a proud Dragon. "You're Erza the Titania..." She lowered her face to his, so that their noses were barely brushing against each other.

"A mere 'Queen of Fairies," her voice was thick and low with scorn. She bit him again, harder this time, savoring his skin with her tongue up to his ear. "I think not, Natsu." Another delicious shudder from his body and she situated her hips down on his again before she rose up, slamming his head against the ground with frightful force, her bared fangs snarling just centimeters from his face. "Tell me, who am I, Natsu!" Her snarl echoed throughout the clearing. She felt him moving beneath her and this time, she could not stop him from forcing his arms loose and sitting up, their bodies pressing against each other.

"You… are a Dragon...and a Queen." His eyes flashed red as his arms wrapped around her body. "You are…my Dragon Queen! None else shall have you for you are mine! Every part of you is mine and all of what I am is yours! We will be together for this life and hereafter!" The sheer strength of his declaration caused her melt against him, her lips hungrily devouring his as the last of her willpower gave way to the surging inferno of desire within her body. His clawed hands easily did away with the remains of her clothing, laying her bare to the world but she did not care. She wrapped her strong legs firmly around his waist as she straddled him, his hands seeking purchase in the soft, springy flesh of her breasts. The warm wet tongue of her lover on her nipple sent a different sort of tremor down her spine all the way to her toes. A playful hiss escaped her lips when his fingers pinched and rolled her other nipple and he began to alternate between them.

"Yes, YES," she gasped in delight. "Taste me, all of me..." Erza threw her head back with a cry, her hair spilling out behind her as he continued his attentions to her chest. Her hips began to grind wantonly against his, feeling a new, yet familiar presence held in his trousers. How often had she seen that part of him whenever they took baths? Now, the sensation of its rigidness pressing against her abdomen was enough to overpower all her other senses.

She gripped his hair and pulled back, catching his lips in yet another wet, sloppy kiss before pressing her shoulders against his body, forcing him onto his back. She pulled away from the kiss, a trail of saliva connecting their tongues for a few moments before it broke, and began to slide herself down his abnormally warm body. Not breaking eye contact, she quickly shredded his pants and grasped his engorged shaft firmly at the base. His eyes fluttered and he sucked in a quick breath as she began to move her fist up and down.

"So big," she purred, continuing to make her way down until her head reached his waist and she looked upon him, her eyes widening in delight. It was magnificent. The length, the width, the heat – everything about his engorged member was perfect. She moistened her lips with her tongue as she let her head drift instinctively down towards the bulbous head.

"I wonder if this tastes like your fire," she giggled as she lightly blew her breath teasingly along the underside of his shaft, causing him to fall back with a pained groan. She did not hide the wicked grin on her face as she began to ease her lips over his flesh-

WHUUMP!

The young woman gave a start as she found herself in a very confused and very disoriented heap on the floor of her room. It took nearly ten full seconds for her brain to register what was now happening: she was definitely inside a building, her room to be exact, there was no Natsu present despite how hot she felt, and she certainly wasn't about to take a certain male appendage into her virgin mouth…

Erza's face and most of her upper body became as red as her name implied as she looked at the tall mirror over to her right. She immediately noted that her pajama top was undone, baring her breasts to the world and her pants had somehow been pushed down past her hips, almost to her knees along with her panties... The realization that she had been having a rather intense wet dream of her Fire Dragon Slayer worked almost as well as a cold bucket of water. She rolled over and pushed herself up into a seated position, not bothering to glance at why her entire left hand and crotch felt equally sticky.

"...what is going on with me," she grumbled, pulling sides of her pajama top together over her chest. "First the guild hall, now this...?" She pushed herself to her feet, pulling her pants up as she did so and happened to glance ruefully at the cartoonish flame design on them. For whatever reason, she remembered that she bought these particular pajamas because the flame printed reminded her of Natsu.

Erza sighed as she walked shakily to her dresser and pulled out a change of underwear and clothes for a bath. Perhaps they reminded her a bit too much of him, if this was any indication. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, her fading blush still prominent on her face. "Why am I suddenly thinking of Natsu like this?" Did she think of the young mage as something more? She never really gave their relationship a second thought, at least consciously. Was this some weird attempt at her sub-conscious to get her a man? Shaking her head she picked up the novel that she had been reading the night before and placed it on the head of her bed. On a whim, she glanced at the name before grabbing a towel. "A Taste Of Desire…"

Her cheeks reddened again as her mind was filled with the lingering scenes of her intense dream: how she bit and nibbled at Natsu's tanned skin, her hands rubbing up and down his chiseled chest and abs in wanton abandon, and the scent of his arousal filled her head as she inhaled deeply, preparing to take his length into her thro–

"AAAAAHHHH! Cold bath – Right Now!"

Aaaand DONE! Wow, this … this took entirely too long. Worst part is I knocked this out in a single night thanks to a timely bout of inspiration and a night job that keeps me at a computer for eight hours. So you might have seen a change or two in the story title and yes, I title dropped the name of the fic in this chapter. I have a few other topics lined up – and hopefully it doesn't take YEARS for the next chapter to shove on down the line. And if Natsu seemed OOC in one or two places, this is Erza's dream and Erza's weird like that because of all the romance novels she reads so yeah. :p That's how I'm explaining that one.

I would also like to apologize for any 'denied gratification' that I may have caused during this story but yeah, dreams kinda work like that don't they? XD There is kind of a point to all of this – originally this wasn't going to be borderline smut but … things happen. That and deny it or not, Erza is one perverted girl. Don't believe me – watch OVA #9. Prepare to be shocked and appalled. …or turned on. Depends really.

Thanks goes to YAXON for indulging my messages dealing with my hourly brainstorms of new stories and dangerous and sometimes humorous trips into my headcanon farm of Natza plot bunnies.

Let me know what you think. Hopefully you've liked the chapter but if you didn't, it's okay too.

Keeping the dream alive, one chapter at a time. /micdrop