In Heat: Dragon Slayer Mating Season

Chapter Nine

"Sting, where are we?" Yukino asked, watching him arrange some blankets around on the floor, occasionally kicking some leaves aside.

"I'm making a den for us," he replied. They were inside a small treehouse, high up and lost deep within the forest. Well, Sting claimed they weren't lost, but they might as well be in Yukino's opinion.

They had zigged and zagged in order to lose the people on their tail, but now they were stranded far away from everyone. She shivered a little. She didn't know if anyone was coming for her, it was just her and Sting.

He looked at her, and she shivered again, but this time she shivered from the intensity in his gaze and warm haze invading her mind again. Yukino bit her lip. The way he looked at her...

It was like he wanted to devour her.

He stood slowly, and sauntered close to her. She stood perfectly still as he moved behind her, pulling her back to his chest by the hips. His warm breath on her neck made her shudder in delight.

"I feel like I'll die if I don't taste you," he murmured. His lips skimmed the side of her neck, and she gasped at the contact. The cloud of haze in her head grew thicker,  and she was unable to focus on anything but tilting her neck so he would do that more.

He traced kisses along the trail of her neck, before she felt his tongue tracing that same path. She moaned at this, pushing herself closer to him.

Wait, wasn't she supposed to be fighting him? The minute she remembered, his hands began to skim the side of her body, coyly sliding up her belly to her chest. The light squeeze he gave made her forget instantly. His tongue continued to drive her crazy, and he focused his attention on her shoulder.

"This is where I'm gonna do it, when you're ready," he said, as his warm breath on the cool trails of saliva made her shiver.

"Do what?" She sounded whiny to her own ears, perhaps she was feeling a bit desperate.

"Mark you," he replied, kissing the spot. "Everyone will know that you're mine."

"When will I be ready?" she asked, trembling. His arms wrapped around her waist, and he nuzzled against her neck, scenting her.

"When you're begging me to do it."

-

"So did you find any clues to where Rogue and Kagura might be?" Lucy asked Sawyer, who had returned from scouting the area.

The man shook his head. "I wasn't too sure what to look for, besides shadows."

Meredy and Cana, who were listening with rapt attention, groaned at this.

"I did find a cave that way," he said, pointing to the west. "But I'm not really sure if that will be useful to you or not."

"It's worth checking out at least, isn't it?" Cana supplied, looking miserably at her empty flask. "Maybe we'll find something on the way."

"It's better than nothing," Meredy agreed. "Sawyer, why don't you join the rest of the guild for now. We've got this."

He nodded and took off, and the three girls looked at each other. "Now what?" Cana asked, looking around as if Rogue might be hiding in any shadow.

Lucy sighed. "This is going to be difficult. Kagura can handle herself, but I still hope she's ok."

The three starting trudging in the direction Sawyer had pointed, looking out for caves with creepy shadows coming out of them.

"How's Juvia?" Meredy asked as they searched.

"Oh still trying her hardest to win Gray's heart," Cana said with a smirk. "The boy is in deep denial though."

"Ever since Lyon decided I was cute he won't leave me alone," Meredy giggled. "I suppose I understand how Gray feels, but I don't know, I'm starting to think I should just see where it goes..."

Lucy and Cana squealed. "You like Lyon back?"

"Hmmm maybe," she said, coyly. "But we're getting off-topic here. If we continue to make a bunch of noise Rogue will find us before we find him."

"Oh yeah, good point..." the other two murmured, having forgotten themselves for a moment.

"Creepy shadows, here we come!" Cana warbled, seeming a tad afraid.

-

Erza and Jellal were flabbergasted. They had found a cabin in the woods in the direction Wendy pointed them in. They came closer to investigate, peeked through the window, and then accidentally got an eyeful of Erik and Kinana.

"They uh...seem to be mating," Jellal said, a tad stupefied and backing away from the window. Erza nodded, doing the same thing, her face as red as her hair.

"It at least appeared to be consensual," she replied back. Kinana did seem pretty enthusiastic to be participating.

"So what now?" he asked, still retreating a distance, hoping not to spark Erik's aggressive urges by being too close.

Erza followed, a thoughtful look on her face. "Well, I suppose it would be dangerous to interfere at this point. I certainly don't want to intrude on the middle of...all that. Maybe we should try to help find Yukino or Kagura at this point."

"You're worried about Kagura, right?" He asked, looking a little morose.

She nodded. "She's like a little sister to me. Of course I am worried about Yukino, as well."

As they were walking, Jellal handed her a communications lacrima. "Why don't you contact your Master, to update him on Kinana?"

"Right!" Erza quickly dialed the Master, and he appeared on the screen looking tired and worse for wear. "Master?"

Makarov took in Erza and Jellal standing together. "Have you been able to find Kinana?"

Erza blushed deeply again, and Jellal eyes trailed off to look at some very interesting trees. "We did Master, but we think it might be too late. Kinana and Erik were....uh...being intimate."

"I see," the Master said, looking more and more tired. "Did she uh....look ok?"

"She appeared to be enjoying herself," Jellal said quietly, as Erza nodded weakly.

"This isn't ideal," Makarov said finally, after a long silence. "Laxus, Natsu and Gajeel escaped this morning."

"WHAT?"

Makarov nodded grimly. "Laxus carried off Mirajane, and Gajeel and Natsu ran off. Gray and Juvia were both injured trying to stop them."

"This is really bad, Master!"

"I know, Erza. Now can you tell me, are you still with Lucy? I have a feeling Natsu is coming for her as we speak."

Erza paled. "No, she's tracking Rogue. He and Sting attacked our camp yesterday and took Yukino and Kagura."

Makarov rubbed his eyes in frustration. "These damn kids..." he muttered. "It's just setback after setback."

"We'll go find Lucy," Jellal said earnestly. "If she is tracking Rogue,  we might be able to save Kagura too."

Erza nodded. "Let's go then!"

-

Natsu ran through the forest at full speed. He had one thing on his mind, the trail of the scent he was following, and who it belonged to. He felt like he'd die if he was unable to see her, and smell her and taste her.

He growled in frustration as he continued to track her faint scent.

"I'm coming for you, Lucy!"