Chapter Ten

The bed felt different under Lucy's body. It was warm, uneven and hard. She yawned and rubbed her cheek more against the hard surface. Trying to recall the last thing she could remember, Acnologia trapped her on top of him. Her eyes popped open. The room still held light from the fire. The shadows of the flames danced along the cave walls.

She was sprawled out on top of the dragon shift shaper. Her legs entangled with his, her cheek resting against his wide muscled chest. She stiffened, then pushed against his chest but it felt like she was pushing against a mountain. His thick arms wrapped securely around her waist, refusing to let her go.

Attempting to speak, her mouth felt like a desert. "Can you let me go?"

"No."

She tried again, but a little differently. "Please let me go."

The word "please" seemed to work. He loosened his grip around her waist, giving her enough movement. She pushed herself up on her elbows.

"Did you sleep?" she asked him, curious all of a sudden. The sharp angles on his face remained perfect, his light blue hair, although wild, wasn't a disarray like her long blond hair.

"No." His chest rumbled, making her body shake.

"Really?"

"I don't need to eat and sleep as you humans do to survive," he said. The sound of his voice seemed to go through her. Not fighting to keep looking at him, Lucy laid back down. Her cheek rested again on his chest.

Unknowingly, her fingers ran across his shoulder -slightly noting he wasn't wearing his cape or his odd necklace. He captured her hand and brought it to his mouth. Stunned, the blond waited for his next move. He sucked on her forefinger, causing her to gasp.

Was he licking her?

Still feeling shocked, Acnologia suddenly shifted her until her private area was aligned to his. The evidence of his arousal jutted long and thick under his pants. Her moan broke her from her stupor. She wiggled, trying to get away. All she managed to do was rub their bodies together.

"Stop," she choked. He wasn't in his right mind. There was no way he would want to be intimate with her.

In the midst of sucking her finger, he paused. His breath brushed sensually along her soft skin. "Why?"

The look of desire showing clearly in his green eyes as he gazed at her cause a pleasant sensation to shoot all the way down her body to throb between her legs.

She gasped. "This isn't right!"

"I smell your arousal. Your body wants me." His lips moved along her finger.

Then his mouth skimmed down her hand to stop at her frantic pulse beneath her wrist. His tongue darted out of his mouth to trace the vein. The emotion he stirred in her made her jerk.

"This is moving too fast! It's too much!" she panicked with a way to reason with him. Her skin prickled, and she felt like she was going to burn in flames. She struggled in earnest -despite her lust- to get away from him. For a moment his arms tightened on her. Then he let her go.

She toppled over backwards from him. Her busty chest heaved, and her eyes squeezed shut to keep the erotic image he made from her mind.

It wasn't fair that such a good looking male like him could be desirable. He should be outlawed.

"You want me." His words were simple, but there was a complexity behind it.

"But this... our..." The celestial mage stopped speaking words. She didn't know how to describe their relationship.

One moment he was going to kill her, the next she was to serve him and now... Why did their relationship change?

So she asked him what was bothering her. "Why?"

"Why?"

Her question was a good one.

He could feel the want in her. Her magic spiraled out of control and he was the one to calm it. And her body responded to his touch.

Curiosity was maybe his reason. His lips tilted upward.

He wanted to test his limits with her. Since discovering he wasn't repulsed in the simple action of touching her, he wanted to see how far he would go with her.

And unexpectedly his body reacted to her.

Sensing her distress and smelling the change in the air, he moved toward her so that his body pressed to her back. He put his arms over her, his being bigger and darker than hers. She trembled from their close contact. He lowered his cheek to the top of her head.

Again, he didn't feel repulsed. Instead he felt something stirring in his chest. His eyebrows tugged together.

In the past, his human days, he had many lovers. Their faces he could barely remember. He didn't bother to learn their names. It was simple straight forward sex with no complications.

Then his bloodlust took over and slaying dragons took the humanity from him. He became a dragon and the beast in him didn't need anyone.

The blond exhaled, her shuddering calling to him.

She was complex. The fact that he could touch her, tolerate her, and feel her magic within him made her different.

He considered what to do, discarding one thing after the next. "Please explain to me what you're feeling. I don't understand."

She let out a long breath while shaking her head.

He moved his lips closer to her ear. His voice was quiet. "I have lived a long life being cruel and calculating. I protected what is mine and living in this solitude. I am a predator and I am not sorry for what I am. But I did not mean to distress you."

She was quiet. Her shivering stopped. Her magic calmed under her skin. He felt when she leaned her head back against his shoulder. He moved so that she rested in the hollow where his neck met his shoulder.

"I'm yours, yes, but what we did, it's moving too fast," she said.

"But you want me." He stated a simple fact. And he learned he wanted her too. What else did they need?

"It's not just about sex," she admitted. She was getting to the point he needed to know more information about. "There's more to it."

"Like what?"

She stilled. Instead of being disappointed, he found himself chuckling.

"You're happy?"

"You're different. I'm not bored."

She tried to pull away from him but he refused to let her go. "I'm so delighted that I can entertain you," she said sarcastically.

He pulled her closer, his nose burying into her hair while he inhaled deeply. He could get used to her magic and her natural scent.

She sighed, her body going limp. "You're complicated too. You scare and intrigue me at the same time. I feel attracted to you but sex is another thing. There is a certain level of trust I have to have before I can choose to be that vulnerable."

"What you feel is real and what you choose to do about it is all on your own."

Moving her hair out of his way, he put his lips to her neck. Her pulse fluttered like a butterfly. Her breathing hitched. Then he bit her, causing her to yelp before he soothed it with his tongue. His arms tightened around her flaying body before letting her go. She turned around, panting, her hair disheveled, her brown eyes wide. She looked delicate and delicious. His body tightened.

He ignored it. "I will go get some food."

She nodded. She tucked some flyaway strands behind her ears. "Yes. How long did I sleep?"

"The whole night." He turned away, fighting the urge to go back to her.

"I'm going to bathe and then change my clothes," she said as she hurried limped down to the section of the water in the cave.

Acnologia angled his head as he watched the celestial mage leave. He didn't like the image of her walking away.

Yes, the human girl was an intricacy to him. Now that she was his, she admitted to being his, he was going to learn all that he could about her. She would come to trust him, tell him her secrets and not be afraid of him and then she would fully be his.

His lips stretched on his good-looking face. She didn't know what she got herself into. Good. It was better that way.

Lucy made sure to have her keys with her. It was more than a habit, her keys were her reassurance. Especially with the stuff that happened between her and Acnologia.

She made it to the steaming water. The cave was definitely a treasure trove for the dragon shape shifter. Hot springs, books, jewels, gold and a great living place all in one. No wonder he was territorial over the place. His dwelling ground had everything and well, she interrupted him.

She stripped from her dirty clothes, noting that Virgo would take them and replace them with new clothes. She left them a heap on the ground and stepped into the hot water. The hot liquid soothed achy, tired places as she sat but she hissed when it hit her abraded knees. She rubbed her arms. A flash of light was her only signal and Virgo was there to help her.

When she felt better, she stepped out of the hot spring. Virgo left the toiletries she needed. She finished put on what she needed and left her stuff for Virgo to pick up.

'Thank you,' she mentally sent out to her spirit. Her maid spirit was very reliable that Lucy couldn't imagine her world without her loyal spirit.

She carefully made her way back to the bed she and Acnologia shared. Her cheeks heated at the thought. The bath was her run away from him and what they momentarily shared but she had to face him again.

She swallowed when she saw him stretched out on the rumpled blankets. He made the space look cramped. She paused, nervously watching him. His eyes were closed, one hand was behind his head. The other was resting limply at his side.

He still didn't put on his cape or his necklace but Lucy wouldn't complain about the great view she was getting. His chest was bare. His ribs rippled, his dark nipples puckered against the cool air. His hair was damp as though he had taken a bath too.

He seemed to capture the room with his presence. He was too overwhelming that she couldn't bring herself to sit next to him. Instead she settled with kneeling at his feet. The food he commented on getting rested on a plate by the fire. She took it and ate quickly and quietly.

"Lucy," he said. He took and a deep breath and sighed. Her dark eyes darted to him. He said her name. She licked her lips. "I like your name."

His comment made her heart fluttered. She put her empty plate back beside the fire as a distraction.

"Uh... thank you."

As if he could hear her heart panicking in her chest, he goaded her with his next question. "Why do you sit far from me?"

"Well, umm... I'm trying to give you your space." She left out the fact that he was territorial.

In a heartbeat, too fast for her to follow, he launched at her. He pulled her to him and launched them back on the makeshift bed, with him landing first and then with her falling on top of him. He let out a laugh, a deep one coming from his abdomen. In another heartbeat, he grabbed her arms and rolled her over his body until she was under him. She squeaked. His green eyes turning golden and the eyes of a dragon were staring down at her.

'Oh shit!' she mentally thought. She should have stayed longer in the hot spring.

"I'm sorry." The apology left her mouth as a habit. The blood drained from her face as she froze.

"For what?"

She swallowed while her heart still thumped fast in her chest. "For..." She licked her lips, stalling for time to find the right words to appease his beast. "D-dis-turbing you."

Laughter rumbled through him causing her body to shake. How did one act around a dragon? The people who knew weren't around. She closed her eyes, scared to open them.

Instantly, he stopped laughing. A calloused hand rested on her cheek. It was so long it covered the length of her face and partially her head. "You're mine."

She opened her eyes and her lips trembled. "I know." She sacrificed what was left of herself for friends' freedom.

His eyes focused on her lips making her inhale deeply. His thumbs stroked over her parted lips. "Good that you know." His smile was breathtaking and yet dangerous at the same time. "You're mine. I will keep you. And as such, I won't hurt you. I will protect you. You can come into my space anytime."

Her eyes widened at his declaration. Did he understand what he was saying?

"I think you're not in your right mind."

"That makes the both of us." His mouth curled upward. He lowered his face making her body tense. "You're safe."

No she wasn't. If he so much as touch her once more, she was going to burn alive.

"Just one more taste," he whispered. His hot breath made her skin tingled. Wanting to please him despite knowing the danger, she nodded and his mouth covered hers. Her eyes fluttered closed. His lips, warm and firm, feathered lightly against hers. Pleasure coursed through her, making her tremble. Her mouth opened and he licked at her bottom lip before nibbling. His breathing deepened. Her fingers traveled up from his jaw to tangle in his hair. He opened his mouth and dove his tongue into her mouth and everything spiraled into a new course. The pleasure became more intense that Lucy lost control of her body.

She could only feel as he angled her head to get better access to dig deeper into her mouth. His body hardened as she clung to him. A hard thigh drove in between her legs and pushed up against the area that had grown wet in response to him. She made a muffling noise as she kissed him back, her response growing excited. He growled and pushed harder with his thigh, deeper with his tongue.

He found the right spot as she gasped and arched her pelvis. Both her arms desperately wound around his neck. One of his large hands moved down her back until he cupped her rear and pulled her up to him. She gasped. His other hand curved around her neck, holding her against his body. He found a wicked rhythm with mouth and thigh and it was torching her alive.

They were both caught up in the moment. Her hands running over his bare shoulders. She made mewling noises as he moved against her. His nude torso was all over her. His thick erection pressed against her hip. She wanted to feel all of him, him moving over her, him inside her.

'Oh my gosh.' She needed to pull away. It was like awakening from a dream. A pleasant yet fierce one. She yanked her mouth from his and inhaled deep breaths into her starving lungs. "Stop, please. It's too much."

He reared back his head and hissed. She was crushed against him, his body strung tight.

His golden gaze burned on her, letting her know he was still in his dragon mode. The blond turned and buried her face against his hard, bunched biceps. "I'm not ready," she whispered.

"You're hurting," he snarled.

"No." She peeked at him. He was looking down at her, the planes and angles on his dark face cut sharp. "I need time. Please." She found herself using that word a lot to him as though she was trying unconsciously to teach him the meaning.

The tension in his body began to ease. "Time, I can give you."

She smiled, eyes crinkling at him. "You make it sound like I will be here forever."

"You can."

The blond girl gaped at him. Then she shook her, the smile returning on her pretty face.

"You're kidding."

"Kidding?"

"As in joking. Not really meaning it," she said while her smile still stayed in place.

He studied her while the dragon in him receded. Her ivory skin, flushed cheeks, swollen pink lips from being kissed so thoroughly made her look beautiful. She was a rare treasure.

"You're beautiful."

Her jeweled eyes rounded. She looked away, her cheeks reddening more. She buried her face against his chest while hugging him. His body stiffened. He couldn't remember anyone hugging him. Not his family or his past lovers. He wrapped his arms around her before letting go.

He rolled off the make shift bed and rose fluidly to his feet. The blond blinked at him. His lips tilted upward when she wobbled onto her feet. A surge of pride building in him that he alone could make her lose control.

He moved to the other end of the cave, picking up his necklace from one of the treasure chests and putting it over his head until the chain rested on his muscled chest.

"Does that hold sentimental value?" she asked pointing to the chain.

He glanced down, holding one sharp object in between his fingers. "Yes. These are the teeth of the dragons that have fallen in battle."

He tilted his head to carefully watch the expression on her face. She didn't seem shocked. Instead she closed the distance between them, her hand reaching for the one he held.

"There are so many of them."

"They represent all the battles I won."

She looked up at him, her brown eyes inquisitive. His lips stretched on his face by her look. She was truly something.

"You want to ask something?"

"H-how did you come by so many? There aren't many dragons left."

"I'm the last one."

He heard her intake of air. "Does that mean-?"

He put a hand under her chin, his thumb slightly rubbing back and forth on her cheek. The fact she didn't wince at his touch meant she was trusting.

"I have lived a long time, Lucy. I have killed many dragons to become what I am. I don't feel sorry for the things I have done because I'm a predator."

"How long?"

He lowered his head until his forehead touched hers. "A long time. I lost count."

"When you said I'll be staying with you-."

She couldn't finish her sentence but he knew where she was trailing. "You being a human means nothing." His hand drifted from her chin to her throat. His fingers wrapped against her fragile skin. Deliberately his thumb put pressure on her pulse where he bitten her earlier. It was suppose to be a little bite, enough that his fangs nicked her skin but not hard enough to bring about blood.

"There is a way you can live a long time," he expressed. It was a secret he learned from the dragons, a type of secret that Zeref wanted, which was why the war happened four hundred years ago.

Her mouth opened, an "oh" forming and he just brought his mouth down to hers, kissing her. Now that she was his, he would work with keeping her by his side.

A/N: Yep, this is the chapter I promised to focus on Acnologia and Lucy. The rest of the gang will come in the next chapter. Thank you for reading and please comment.