Sensory Overload

Chapter 14

As she walked up the stairwell to her apartment Lucy grabbed for her keys which were clipped to her belt. She was very aware of Natsu's playful mood as he chased up on her heels as they ascended the stairs. His mood changed to a different kind of playful as she stood in front of her door finding her apartment key. He snaked his arm around her waist and firmly pulled her closer into his well toned body, his free arm he reached up and he gently removed the hair from her neck and he inhaled deeply. He whispered into her neck "Hurry up Luce."

Lucy was instantly flustered and distracted, she seemed to lose the ability to put the key into the door. He let out a low and lazy chuckle "what's wrong? Having a hard time?" tugging her in a little tighter to himself, with gently roll in his hips he grazed his lips against her ear and breathed "I know I am." He could feel the quiver in her body and he gave himself a mental high five because he knew he got her.

At this point she almost lost all ability to function and her reason was quickly vanishing into a lusty haze. 'Damnit, he's not even trying that hard and I am losing my shit.' she steeled her mind from his flirtatious actions and got the door open with an exasperated sigh. She hurriedly walked in and broke herself from her distraction 'this is gonna be harder than I thought.' She walked with purpose over to her desk and grabbed her chair, effortlessly she carried it and placed it in front of the couch. She looked at the man in front of her and pointed to the chair she placed "Sit."

Natsu strode over to the seat and did as he was instructed. He watched as she went ahead and sat on the couch across from him which was much to his dismay, very far from him. "But you're all the way over there." he said with a pout.

"Exactly!" she had a small look of triumph "We need to talk and I can't have you being all close and sexy. Only when we are finished do you have permission to move from that chair. Got it?"

"Yes my Mistress" he gave a sly grin. He watched her shift uncomfortably, satisfied with the reaction.

"Shut it! Just because you spell out that you love me on the bar at the guild does not mean you get a pass straight into my pants. So please..." she was starting to falter and looked down at her bandaged hand as she realized that it was only this morning that she was one hundred percent convinced her love was one sided. Things escalated quickly and before she could allow herself to yield to her desires she needed to know what he actually truly felt. She needed to be sure that he wasn't riding and acting on her wave of emotions.

Natsu felt the shimmering waves of doubt and insecurity, he wanted to play dumb and tease her but he knew that now was not the time. He wasn't sure why she was feeling this way but he knew that as much as he wanted her physically right then and there he had to push that away. She was right, they needed to talk, he needed to know why she guarded herself so much about this. He decided that he would show his seriousness by starting the conversation. "Why did you hide it for so long?"

She looked up at him being pulled out of her downward spiral of thoughts "Hide what?" she wasn't entirely sure she knew exactly what he meant.

"You love me, it's been that way for a while hasn't it?"

She shifted under his gaze and inhaled sharply "ya" she let out her breath with a hint of a self deprecating chuckle "ya I do."

He studied her face trying to read her, realizing she still was not answering what he wanted to know the most "Why haven't you said anything before? Why did you hide it for so long?"

Something about his question spurred one of her own "What make you think it's been for a long time?"

He leaned forward in his chair resting his forearms on his legs, clasping his hands he fiddled with his fingers. "Lucy, I know you better than you think. You've been an open book to me. Nothing was ever held back between us. You may have been more reserved with others, but not me. Then I noticed you were slowly pulling away a part of yourself. You've been that way for a while now. Call it a slayer's instinct, but I knew there was a part of you that you were hiding from me. It wasn't until this link magic happened that I figured out what it was." he gave her a sheepish but encouraging smile "Don't keep guarded from me... please."