If you are reading this without also reading my other story, Surprise Guest, you are about to be very confused. This is just a collection of alternate versions of some of SG's chapters, since I'm keeping the sexy scenes out of that story to allow my younger readers to stay onboard.

For those who are also following that version, welcome to our first alternate chapter! Since this one is where all the sexy times happen, I've also loosened my hand on the swear words as well, so be ready for that. It's been a bit since I've written sex scenes, so don't hold back on your feedback, all criticism is welcome!

As always, happy reading.

Alternate version of CHAPTER 55:

"Natsu, how much farther?"

"Not far." Natsu hugged her a little closer. "Are you cold?"

"No, I'm warm enough. It's…"

"The height?" he finished for her

Lucy nodded, her hands firmly over her eyes. "Even though I'm not looking, it still sort of feels like my stomach is down on the ground, you know?"

"I could do the spell I did last time we flew if you want," Natsu offered.

"No, it's okay," she said. "I'd like to try and get used to it."

Natsu grinned. "Get used to it, huh? Does that mean you'd like to go flying more often?"

Lucy could hear the smugness in his voice so she peaked between her fingers to confirm. "I'm not saying it's the greatest way to travel or anything, I just think I'd be a fool not to take advantage of the opportunity."

He chuckled. "Sure."

"Oh shut up." She moved her hands back. "Are we almost there?"

There was a pause. "Yeah, but it looks like I'll have to set you down somewhere else for a bit. It snowed last night so I have to clean up again."

Clue one: they were not in Magnolia. Clue two: they were outside. "Okay."

Natsu landed carefully and set her on her feet. "Stand right here and don't move. I don't want you to trip."

Lucy lowered her arms to wrap them around herself. "I will stay right- ahh!"

"Keep your eyes covered!" he said as his hands frantically covered her face.

After she pushed his hands away, she put one of her own back over her eyes. "I had my eyes closed, Natsu, calm down."

"Sorry…" He planted a kiss on her forehead. "I just don't want to ruin the surprise."

"I won't look, I promise, just hurry up so I don't get cold."

"You got it."

Lucy wrapped her free arm around herself as she waited. She could hear movement and some sizzling, but she realized after a while that she couldn't hear much else. It was too cold for animal noises, and she couldn't hear any car noises or any other noises from town. "How far away from home are we?"

Natsu's voice floated back to her. "I think it's a few miles from Magnolia. I'm not good at converting to your realm's measurements."

After a while, Natsu's heat announced his arrival and his arms came around her again. "You ready to move?"

She nodded and he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted back up, landing again after only a few seconds. "Alright, let me move over here… okay, open your eyes."

When Lucy finally let her hands fall, her knees instantly threatened to give out from under her. "Natsu…"

Suddenly he was there again, his arms wrapped around her to keep her steady. "Do you like it?" She couldn't seem to find any words, or even nod her head as she looked around.

It was the clearing.

It was her mother's clearing.

Natsu had melted all the snow so she couldn't have mistaken the space if she wanted to. The willows' limbs were longer than she remembered and the grass was all a pale green from being buried in the snow, but the three flat boulders were still in the same place and the bald patch in the middle had some grass on it, but it was still mostly worn down where they used to spread out their blanket.

Lucy's heart threatened to explode as she fought to sort through the emotions rapidly flowing through her. "Natsu… you found it…"

"It wasn't easy, but I did! I had some trouble with people roaming around at night seeing me, so it slowed me down, but I wanted to make sure I got you something awesome. Do you like it?"

Lucy nodded rapidly as her vision blurred. She couldn't manage to hide the tears as she quickly turned around and threw her arms around him. Being there, where she had once spent so much time with her mother, was overwhelming and she desperately wanted a few moments to collect herself.

She felt Natsu shift uncomfortably as she locked him in a death grip. "Luce, are you sure you like it? You're crying."

Once again, Lucy nodded her head and did her best to sort through her emotions so that he could feel how happy she was. "I… I am, I promise… I'm just… I'm feeling a lot of emotions all at once."

"Oh." He didn't do anything else, just continued to hold her while she gathered herself.

After a while, she finally managed to pull herself together. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I understand. I'm glad you like it." When she leaned back, he reached up to wipe the tears away from her eyes. "We can stay as long as you like, by the way. I can keep you plenty warm."

Lucy nodded and then looked around her. "We'll have to come back some time when it's dark out. Mom and I use to come out here to look at the stars, so I'd like to do that again."

Natsu looked above him at the clear blue sky. "I didn't think about that… damn it."

"It's okay, really. Just knowing where it is is an amazing gift. I love it."

"Well, we could wait or…" He looked at her again. "Do you trust me?"

The answer came out of her before she could even fully think it through. "Of course."

Natsu nodded and then gently pulled her face to his chest. "Close your eyes and don't move, okay? I've never done this before with someone else and I don't want you to get to jostled too hard."

Lucy pressed herself back against him and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. Once his arms were around her again, he began to murmured quietly. Lucy couldn't understand the harsh words, but as he spoke, the air around them began to vibrate. A buzzing sound built up in her ears and her body began to shake. Lucy grit her teeth a little and tried to hold steady, but she didn't have to try long. The noise and movement all stopped simultaneously and Natsu sighed.

"That was easier than I expected."

Lucy slowly pulled away, in case it was too soon, and when he didn't stop her, she tilted her head back and opened her eyes. As she looked around, she realized everything was very dark, until she looked up.

Hundreds of stars sparkled overhead, dozens of constellations that Lucy recognized blinking at her as though they were saying hello. "How?…"

"It's very limited, but I can jump through time a little." Natsu wobbled a little as he pulled away. "I moved us forward a few hours so you could see the stars."

Torn between being impressed and a little annoyed that he hadn't asked first, Lucy slowly looked around them as Natsu sat on one of the boulders. In the dark, the clearing looked no different than the last time she'd been there. That Natsu had put in so much time and effort to find this place for her again… Lucy didn't know if she could repay that kind of debt.

"You know, this is an awfully impressive first gift," she said, trying to make a joke around the lump steadily growing in her throat. "How are you expecting to top this one?"

"This isn't your first gift," Natsu argued.

"It is since we started dating," Lucy said. "You just set expectations awfully high."

Natsu blinked a couple times looking worried, before he scoffed. "I'll worry about it once you manage to catch up."

Lucy's eyebrows shot up. "Catch up?"

He gestured around them. "It's going to be awfully hard to give me something this good. Until then, I think I'm winning this gift giving thing, so I won't worry about topping it."

"I think I can surprise you," Lucy said with a smile before she slowly spun around to look at the surrounding trees. She paused with her back towards him, her head tipped back to stare above her at the stars.

"Natsu?"

"Hmm?"

Lucy licked her lips. "I… you know what this place needs?"

"What's that?" he asked.

"More memories." She clasped her hands behind her back. "I want to make more memories here. With you."

"What did you have in mind? We could hang out and look at the stars if you'd like. I'd love to hear the stories you've been taught about them."

"I'd like to do that, too." She turned so she could look over her shoulder. "That's not the kind of memory I had in mind, though."

"What would you like to do?"

Lucy struggled not to hesitate as she spoke. "I'd like to… do stuff with you."

When she looked his way again, Natsu was squinting at her, obviously confused. "I feel like I should understand what you're trying to say, even though it's so vague."

"I want to… do stuff with you," she said again.

Even in the dark, she could see when the gold entered his eyes. His voice was just a little deeper when he spoke. "Things that couples would do, you mean? Things the would require… a bed?"

Lucy nodded as she spun to fully face him again. "I don't want to go all the way, not yet, but I want to… do other things."

"From what I've seen, don't most people wait until the third date to kiss? Isn't 'more' a little too soon?"

Lucy shook her head slowly. "It doesn't feel too fast, not with you. It feels… right."

Natsu's eyes practically glowed in the dark as he slowly got to his feet and moved to stand in front of her. Lucy's breath puffed out in front of her as her mouth fell open. "I don't really want to undress you outside where it's so cold and open."

Lucy chuckled quietly. "That's not very adventurous of you."

Natsu's fingers slid along her jaw, causing her eyes to flutter closed as he tilted her head. "The ground is hard."

"Magic us up a bed," she breathed.

Natsu sighed against her cheek as Lucy's hands moved up his sides, finding his skin under his shirt. "I don't want you to get cold."

"That can't possibly happen if you're with me," she whispered. When Natsu's nose skimmed her own, Lucy opened her eyes and lifted onto her toes so she could kiss him. The growl in his throat made her smile, and when his arm wrapped around her, she knew she'd won as he held her head still for his lips.

As he ravaged her mouth, the only sounds in the space were her moans and sighs and his harsh breath.

After some time, her jacket was yanked from her body, and she was lifted into the air, only to have her boots roughly pulled from her feet. "Luce… you'll have to make sure I don't hurt you. Or do anything you don't want me to do."

"You can't hurt me," she said as she dug her fingers into his hair. "I don't think you have it in you."

"Just… promise me you'll stop me if you don't like something."

His tone was pleading, so she pulled away to reassure him again, but got distracted.

All around them, candles floated in the air. A large mattress, covered in pillows and blankets, had appeared in the middle of the clearing. As she continued to stare wide eyed around them, Lucy was suddenly flung into the air. She landed with a giggle on the bed and was instantly covered by a shirtless Natsu. He leaned down and lightly kissed his way down her jaw. "You're wearing an awful lot of clothes," he whispered. "How much of it would you like help removing?"

Lucy moaned quietly when he nibbled on her ear and then laved it with his tongue. "I- I think I'd like most of it off." Gods above, she was still in her pants and shirts and she was already more turned on than she'd ever been in her entire life.

When Natsu's body heat suddenly became more intense, she opened her eyes and saw that her sweatshirt was gone. "How'd you do that?"

"Don't worry, it's on the ground. I just didn't want to try very hard to get it off." Natsu's hands were slowly sliding around the top of her pants.

"Do you… do you plan on taking all my clothes off like that?"

Natsu chuckled. "No, I want to enjoy taking off the rest."

Lucy stuck her lip out in a pout. "You know, I'd like to do that to you as well, but you've already taken your shirt off."

Natsu pulled back, and with a grin his shirt reappeared on his body. "By all means, master, do to me what you please."

Lucy narrowed her eyes at the challenging glint in his eyes, so in a move that only worked because she surprised him, she rolled him over and straddled his waist. Natsu grinned up at her in response to her smile. "I think I will, thank you."

His muscles were hot and hard under her hands as she slowly ran them up his abs, raising his shirt inch by slow inch. Half way up, Natsu made a move to help her, but she quickly grabbed his wrists and held his arms down at his sides. "Uh uh," she admonished him. "You keep your hands to yourself. This is my turn."

A growl was Natsu's only response as the gold in his eyes increased slightly. His breathing became more labored as she went back to work, but he did nothing to rush or help her. With her eyes firmly on his, she leaned down once she'd revealed his chest and showered kisses over his exposed skin. Natsu's nostrils flared and his hips rolled as he watched her, his hands fisting into the blankets as she licked carefully at his nipples. He groaned as his head sank into the pillows, not sure how such a move could make him feel so much.

Lucy made a note of his reaction before she finished taking off his shirt. When she tossed it onto the ground to join her own, Natsu flipped her onto her back again. "My turn," he growled as he grabbed the hem of her shirt and shoved it up.

The heat in the clearing amped up as Natsu's mouth found the skin of her stomach. Lucy closed her eyes as she reveled in the attention he gave her body, not sure she'd ever had such an intense focus on her before.

Natsu spoke between kisses and licks, struggling to find the words. "Luce… I don't know what I'm feeling right now… I can't seem to control my body." He drank deep the smell of her skin as he moved back towards her neck. "Stop me if you have to. Hit me, kick me, whatever you have to do. I don't know… if I can control myself. I've never done this before so I'm only working with instinct." He buried his nose in just over the vein in her neck. "And with your smell in my nose… I can't seem to think, only act."

"I highly doubt I'll need to- ahhhhh." Lucy gasped as her shirt was suddenly ripped from her body and Natsu's mouth latched onto her left breast. His canines poked at her skin, possibly into it, but Lucy didn't care. Pleasure- hot, heavy, overpowering- pulsed through her body as Natsu's hands and mouth desperately roamed over her body.

When his mouth found hers again, she met him kiss for kiss as her muscles melted in the heat he was producing. When he finally pulled away to breathe, she opened her eyes and saw that his had changed.

Instead of the usual rings, the gold and onyx were swirling together. Lucy wondered if that meant the dragon and Natsu had managed to share the space inside Natsu's head, but before she could think about it further, Natsu's hands grabbed the top of her pants and yanked, tearing them from her body as well.

Lucy wanted to be upset, but she figured the clothes were a small price to pay for the intensity of the feelings surging through her as Natsu continued to touch and tease her. His lips, his hands, his body… it was all so much more overwhelming than she'd imagined.

She decided not to worry about it, even as her bra fell to the same fate, when Natsu's naked skin finally met her own. "Gods, Lucy, I don't know if I can get enough of you…"

His hands squeezed her breasts as he returned to kissing her, but after a while he pulled back to watch what he was doing. He jiggled and squished her breasts, rolled and tweaked her nipples, all the while staring intently as he worked.

"You're… you're staring," Lucy finally gasped out.

"I can't help it. I wasn't expecting them to be so much fun to play with." He cocked his head to the side, and then leaned down to pull one of her nipples into his mouth.

Lucy's accompanying gasp was the loudest yet as her back arched off the bed. Natsu looked up and watched her reactions as he experimented, rolling his tongue around her nipple and then sucking it firmly into his mouth while his fingers played with the other one. The way she squirmed beneath his touch and the sounds she made were so hypnotizing to Natsu, he lost track of time as he played, moving back and forth between her breasts.

Eventually, Lucy managed to lift her hands and weakly tried to pull his mouth away from her skin. "Natsu… I want…" She moaned as he pulled on her breast, slowly releasing her nipple.

"You want what, master?" he purred as he nuzzled her chest.

"I want more…"

"More? More of what?"

"More," Lucy groaned. It was so frustrating. She was an adult, she should be able to ask for what she wanted. The problem was that Natsu needed her to use words that were a bit more explicit than she was comfortable using. If she wanted this to go where she wanted, though, she'd have to find a way.

Inspiration struck as he lightly ran his fingers over her breasts, his eyes focused on the responses her body gave him for his touches. Lucy grabbed his hand and put it around her wrist. When his eyes met hers, she knew he understood so she thought about what she wanted.

Natsu got flashes of images and feelings, a mishmash of things that Lucy couldn't find the words for, and yet knew with certainty that she wanted. He grinned when she finished, her cheeks an adorable shade of pink as she avoided looking at his face.

"I think I understand now." He kept his hold on her wrist and raised it to his face, where he skimmed his nose along the inside of her wrist. "Do you have any idea how addicting your smell is, Luce?"

She shook her head as he placed her hand against the back of his neck. "Well it is. The more I breathe your scent in, the more intoxicated I become and the more I crave it." His lips crashed down onto hers again, effectively distracting her from her embarrassment and stoking the fire of her desire even higher.

When she tried to roll him over again, he resisted. He pulled back slightly and tsked at her as he gave her skin small pecks while traveling slowly down her body. "This is my turn, Luce. You told me what you wanted, so I want to deliver."

"Part of what I want requires that I be on top," Lucy responded. Before she could fight back, Natsu grabbed her hands and fisted them into the blankets near her hips.

His eyes twinkled as he grinned up at her from his position near her naval. "It's my turn right now. You'll just have to wait." He licked a circle around her belly button. "I was patient for you, so it's your turn now."

"Fine," she said as she adjusted her head on the pillows so she could watch him. He returned his attention to her body, sliding his hands along the soft skin of her legs as his mouth peppered the skin above her underwear and then below it across her thighs.

Natsu groaned as he paused and breathed in deeply. "Fuck Lucy, you smell exquisite." His hands were tense as they carefully parted her legs, bending them at the knee and widening them as far as they would go. When he ran his nose lightly over the damp material between her legs, she was able to watch the shudder that passed through his whole body.

"I'm sorry Luce," he said, his shoulders shaking as his body tensed. "I don't think… I can hold myself back…" Natsu leaned forward and in less than a second, ripped through her underwear and ran his tongue completely over the heart of her desire. His accompanying groan was nearly drowned out by Lucy's shocked gasp.

"Fuck you are delicious." He leaned forward again and began to lick and suck at her with no mercy.

Lucy's body arched immediately as she became overwhelmed by the sensations created by Natsu's mouth. It was so much more intense than she'd expected. As she thrashed, unable to fight her body's reactions, Natsu's hands grabbed onto her hips and held them steady a few inches above the bed. Between the movements of his tongue and his hot breath against her flesh, Lucy quickly raced towards the orgasm she craved.

"Natsu," she gasped. "I'm going to- ahhhh," Lucy's head flung back as his tongue finally found the little bundle of nerves that would send her spinning into the abyss.

Natsu tried to respond, but he couldn't pull away long enough to ask what she was going to do. The way she bucked when his tongue ran over a small nub near her entrance had him enthralled, so he continued to tease her flesh, returning every so often to that little nub so he could make her whole body jerk as she gasped and whimpered.

"Natsu…" she whined. She didn't know how he'd done it, but he had already figured out how to get her close and then pull back before she got off and it was absolutely maddening. "Please…"

"Please what?" he asked before returning his mouth to her skin. "Fuck," he groaned against her. "I can't get enough of your taste, Luce."

"Let me cum," she groaned as he sucked that sensitive nub of nerves into his mouth. Forget embarrassment. She was so lost in wanting, there were no words she couldn't say in that moment. "I want to get off, now Natsu. Please stop teasing me."

"I didn't realize I was," he said then gave her another long lick. "I was only enjoying myself. What do I have to do to make you cum?"

"The spot you keep flicking and then leaving. That. Do that. But keep your tongue there. You'll know when aaaaaaAAAAAHHHH!" Lucy's thrashing doubled as Natsu's tongue did exactly as asked. His tongue drew circles over and over again between short swipes until, with a surge, Lucy's body bowed back and she screamed as her orgasm ripped through her body.

Waves of intense pleasure rolled through her as she tried to breathe through the sounds escaping her mouth. She was so overwhelmed that after a while all she could do was chant Natsu's name while she thrashed. When she finally couldn't take anymore, she reached down and shoved Natsu's mouth away, ignoring his growl as he tried to lean forward again.

"I… I can't…" Lucy gasped as she tried to pull the meager air around her into her lungs. "Break… Need a break… Please."

Natsu's head was spinning but he desperately tried to reign himself in as he watched Lucy struggling to get her breathing under control. He could feel her juices all over his mouth and chin, and her smell was lodged in his nose. The more he stared at her naked body, and the more he smelled her arousal, the harder it was for him to pull back.

Lucy finally reached out blindly and grabbed his hand to tug him up to lay beside her. Initially he fought her, but after a while he was able to convince his body to follow her request and spread out by her side.

Her breathing had nearly leveled out by the time he was able to speak again. "Did I perform adequately, master?"

Lucy chuckled a little as she finally opened her eyes to look at him. The gold and onyx were still evenly mixed, but the gold was literally glowing as he looked down at her. "You did perfectly," she said, "and once I catch my breath, I get to take my turn."

"I could do it again," Natsu offered. He would love to be able to return to the sweet nectar between her legs.

"I need a little break before I can do that again," she said. She rolled onto her side, her body instantly distracting Natsu, who reached for her once more. Lucy grabbed his hand when it squeezed the flesh above her hip. "Behave, it's my turn next."

"You might want to get started before I lose the ability to listen to you," he said as his hand ran over the smooth curves of her body.

"Roll over," she said as she rose up onto her knees. Natsu didn't resist as she pushed him onto his back, instead focusing on the sway of her breasts as she moved to straddle one of his legs.

"I don't know why, but I have a strong feeling that I'd like you to be in that position while I'm not underneath you."

Lucy grinned as she kissed his chest. "I imagine you'll figure out why some day, don't worry. For now…" She led his hands to the blanket at his sides. "It's my real turn."

When Lucy's hands moved to grab the button of his jeans, the bulge beneath his pants began to strain against the material. "Luce…"

"Don't you dare magic these away," she warned. "I want to remove them myself."

Natsu focused on his breathing as his arms shook from the strain of keeping his hands to himself. Lucy slowly unzipped his pants and then pulled them down his hips. When she sucked in a breath, he risked looking at her. "What?"

"I just wasn't expecting you to go commando," she said.

"I don't understand, but I won't ask right now."

He closed his eyes as Lucy grinned up at him and finished pulling his pants off. When they'd been flung to the side, Lucy sat back to get a good look at him. She could see how hard it was for him to hold himself back from touching her, so she tried to be quick.

His skin was tan from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet, and she couldn't help but admire the shadows cast by his muscles as they flexed. When her eyes finally fell on his erection, she couldn't help the shiver that went through her body. He was large, larger than her last partner, and she worried slightly over the potential pain when they eventually went all the way.

"Lucy," he hissed. "If you don't do something, I am going to have you on your back again whether you want to be or not."

Lucy tsked as she crawled closer. "If you want to know what I'm doing so bad, why don't you open your eyes?"

"Because seeing you naked above me is almost worse than having your scent in my nose. I won't be able to hold myself back."

Lucy took pity on him and wrapped her hand around him, slowly running it up and down. Even with that small motion, Natsu hissed out a breath and groaned as his muscles flexed even tighter. "Fuuuuuuck Lucy, what are you doing to me?"

"Just touching you," she said as she squeezed and slowly ran her hand up again.

"I get that but-" his breath came out in a hiss. "That feels incredible."

Lucy continued to lightly stroke him as she lifted her head to look at him. "Natsu, when you said you'd never had any interest in this sort of thing, were you saying you've never done any of it? Like you've never… you know." She gestured at her hand. "You've never done this to yourself?"

"I've never cared to try," he said, then groaned as she squeezed the base of his erection. "I'm reconsidering it, though."

Lucy chuckled. "If you think this is good, just wait."

Before he could say anything else, she leaned forward and closed her mouth around the tip of his erection, making him groan. When she lowered her mouth and then sucked, he nearly flung himself off the bed.

Lucy released him and gave him a moment to collect himself before she returned to her work.

Natsu couldn't believe how amazing it felt to have Lucy's mouth on him. Her hand had been great, but this… He couldn't imagine it getting any better. That thing in his head was becoming a problem, though, as its presence made it twice as hard to keep his hands to himself.

You mind not making my life harder for a little bit? he thought. Lucy began to play with his balls as she moved her head up and down, and all thought ceased. His hands, against his wishes, came up to tangle into her hair. To Natsu's relief, they didn't try to move her head, only hang on as she continued to move.

"Luce, something is happening," he whispered before another groan echoed through the clearing. "I- I can't stop it. I-" His body bowed and he growled as he came in her mouth.

Lucy had to struggle a little to keep her mouth around Natsu as he bucked underneath her, but she managed to hang on until he settled, his muscles twitching slightly as a quiet groan left his mouth. When she finally pulled away, she made sure to finish swallowing before using her free hand to wipe off her mouth, her other hand continuing to lightly fondle his balls.

"Luce… That was amazing. I don't even know what it was, but it was incredible."

"That's what you did to me," she said as she finally pulled away with a last lick and squeeze. She crawled up his body and snuggled against his chest. "And that's only one way to do it."

"I want to do all of them." The words shot out of his mouth, barely understandable as he wrapped his arms around her. "Every single way. Human way, anyway. Demons do some weird stuff that I wouldn't put you through no matter how good it felt."

"Aw, but what if I want to try some weird demon stuff?" Lucy pulled back in time to see his eyes flash entirely gold before it faded to that thin outer ring she'd become so familiar with. "What about being adventurous?"

"Some things should be left to the real demons," he murmured. When he rolled over, Lucy suddenly found herself wrapped up in her dragon demon hybrid and a thick, warm blanket.

"Um, Natsu?"

"Shh." He nuzzled his nose into her hair.

The air around them became warm and heavy and Lucy's eyelids drooped despite not being tired a moment prior. Natsu sighed before reaching up to tuck the end of his scarf around her neck as well. "Naptime," he whispered.

"Shouldn't we go home?" Lucy asked groggily.

"Naptime," Natsu insisted before the air grew even heavier.

In seconds, Lucy's eyes closed and she fell asleep, safe in the arms of her dragon mate.