Summary: OC (Natalie) seeks to awaken the dragon. (NSFW)
Notes: This is my entry for Day 6 of Ride or Die Appreciation Week! This takes place about five years before Ride or Die begins and is written by request for the always wonderful cora-nova. I’m planning on writing more Teppei x Natalie in the future, so if you enjoy this, please check back! Fair warning, this is pretty smutty.
Natalie leaned back in the desk chair, staring at the pile of invoices and receipts in front of her. Damn him and his refusal to upgrade to a digital system, she thought. Natalie sighed and sat up, examining the mess of an accounting ledger in front of her when she heard a slight knock on the office door.
“Yes?” she asked. The door cracked open a little, the clanks and whirs of the garage wafting into the silence of the office.
“Can I come in?” Teppei asked.
“It’s your office, you don’t have to ask,” she said, amused by his formality. For a man who virtually owned the streets of Los Angeles, he was more reserved than Natalie had expected him to be. Then again, she’d only known him for a few months–how well can you really know someone in such a short time?
How well can you really know anyone?
Teppei entered his office and carefully shut the door behind him, enclosing them in the quiet of his office. Natalie watched as he crossed the room, coming to stand beside her to look over her shoulder. He often reminded her of the dark, still water of a pond, almost eerily calm and still despite whatever else might be happening beneath the surface. When he reached her, Natalie was surprised to feel his fingers ghost along the back of her neck. Teppei didn’t often initiate affection and even though they were only a few months into this relationship, she found herself pouncing on every example, every moment she could grasp as proof that this wasn’t all in her head. He could be more elusive than a dream you can’t quite remember upon waking and Natalie sometimes felt desperate to stay asleep before the dream dissipated like smoke between her fingers.
“How bad is it?” he asked, gently tracing this thumb along her spine.
“I’m not going to lie, it’s pretty bad,” she said, turning her attention back to the papers scattered across the desk like fallen leaves.
“Can you fix it?”
“Of course,” she said confidently. Natalie glanced up at him and he smiled, leaning down to kiss her. She closed her eyes and felt her pulse quicken when his lips caressed hers.
“Thank you,” he said when he straightened up again, sitting on the edge of his desk. She reached over and took his hand, winding their fingers together.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you only asked me out because I’m an accountant,” she teased. He smiled again and raised her hand to his lips, kissing her palm.
“First, I didn’t know you were an accountant when I met you,” he said, lips brushing the inside of her wrist. “Second, you asked me out.”
It was true, she had. Natalie had never done that before and wasn’t entirely sure what had possessed her to do it then. She wasn’t a particularly bold person by nature, but there was something about Teppei Kaneko that made her want to be bold.
When Natalie left the grocery store, the Santa Anas were in rare form as they blew through LA. The air whipped at her red hair as she hurried through the parking lot, anxious for things to be still, even just for a moment. She quickly unloaded my bags into the trunk of her car and shut the lid before guiding her cart to the nearby corral. No sooner had she let go when another cart shot by she, chaotically propelled by the wind through the crowded parking lot. Without thinking twice, Natalie jogged after it, picking up the pace when she realized it was headed straight for an older, vintage car at the end of the row. As the cart neared the car, the driver’s door opened and a tall man stepped out just as Natalie grabbed the cart, inches from the gleaming bumper. She sighed with relief and tightened her grip on the handle.
“Cart get away from you?” the man asked.
“No, mine’s back there, this one was just feral in the parking lot,” Natalie said as she attempted fruitlessly to push the hair out of her face.
“You chased down a cart that wasn’t yours?” he asked curiously.
“Well, yeah,” she said defensively. “I didn’t want it to hit anyone’s car.”
He regarded her quietly for a moment and despite the blustery winds around them, Natalie felt still when she met his gaze.
“What’s your name?” he finally asked.
“Natalie. Natalie Scott,” she said.
“Thank you for saving my car, Natalie Scott,” he said. She watched him watching her for a moment and he looked like he wanted to say more, but didn’t. He started to walk away towards the grocery store and for reasons she couldn’t explain, she couldn’t just let him walk away.
“What’s your name?” she asked, still holding onto the cart. He stopped and turned back to look at her. Natalie noticed the sleeves of his long sleeved black shirt were pushed up, revealing an intricate network of tattoos. Near his collar, ink bloomed across his skin, hinting at more beneath the fabric.
“Teppei Kaneko,” he said. Natalie assumed he probably wanted to leave and get away from the weirdo in the parking lot, but there was something about him that drew her like a magnet and she just couldn’t let him walk away.
“Do you want to get coffee or something?” she asked, cheeks burning as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Of course he doesn’t want to get coffee with you, stupid, she scolded herself.
“Yes.”
“Wait, what?” Natalie asked, surprised and unsure if she’d heard him correctly.
“Yes, I’ll get coffee with you.”
“I’m sorry, is it totally weird that I just asked you that?”
Teppei shrugged. “Maybe. But I want to go anyway.”
“And third…I’m glad you asked because I wasn’t brave enough to do it,” Teppei admitted as he kissed the pad of her thumb, a smooth contrast to his own hands, worn rough with hours spent under the hoods of cars. His eyes slid down her arm to meet hers and he smirked. “The fact that you’re an accountant happens to be a fringe benefit.”
Natalie playfully smacked him in the thigh and he grinned.
“What happened to whoever did your books before I showed up?” she asked.
“He’s not around anymore.”
“Not around as in he works somewhere else now or he’s not around in a six feet under kind of way?” she asked. She was mostly joking, but his face remained impassive, an impenetrable fortress.
“Come on,” he said as he stood, tugging gently on her hand to pull her to her feet. “It’s getting late and you deserve a break.”
“I’ve barely gotten started,” she protested as she let him help her up, leaning into him as he slid his hands around her waist.
“Fine, I could use a break and you’d be doing me a favor,” Teppei said. “Please.”
“Well, when you put it that way, how can I say no?” Natalie asked.
He studied her for a moment, a small smile on his face as he brushed the hair back from her face. Then he led her out of the office and although he wasn’t making contact with her, she could feel his presence beside her like a physical touch.
When they reached Natalie’s apartment, the sun had nearly dipped below the horizon and she had barely closed the door when she felt his hands on her waist, his breath on her neck as he stood behind her. She closed her eyes, warmth flushing her skin as his lips and fingers left heated pathways over her body. Everything about Teppei was so intense and being with him, even the slightest glance or brush of a touch left her breathless. Natalie reached up behind her, fingers threading through his hair as he kissed the curve of her shoulder, hand barely slipping beneath the hem of her top.
“Is this okay?” Teppei murmured when his fingers grazed her skin.
“Yes,” she breathed, pressing her hips back slightly into his. He rocked back against her and Natalie put her free hand against the back of her front door to steady herself.
“Come with me,” he said, his voice low. He led her into her bedroom and turned to face her, kissing her deeply. Natalie lost herself in the feel of his mouth as his hands roamed her body. Then he took a step back, eyes dark with lust. “Take off your clothes.”
Holding his intense gaze, Natalie slowly pulled her shirt up over her head and dropped it to the floor before she reached behind her back to unhook her bra, sliding the straps from her shoulders. She heard his small, sharp intake of breath and she took a step closer, not quite touching him.
“Touch me. Please,” she whispered.
“I will,” he promised as he pulled his shirt off over his head. “Take off the rest of it.”
Without stepping backwards, Natalie reached behind her to unzip her skirt, arching her back slightly as she did so that her hardening nipples brushed against his chest. With his shirt off, she could see his tattoos exposed, the koi fish that swam up his arm to the Dragon’s Gate before it earned its reward to become the dragon on his chest, the guardian he wore on his skin.
She slid her skirt down over her hips, hooking her thumbs in the waistband of her panties to pull them down as well before kicking them away when they fell to her feet. Natalie then stepped out of her shoes and stood before Teppei, aching to touch him and to feel his hands on her, but she waited for further instructions, fire coursing through her veins.
Teppei leaned his temple against hers, his voice soft, yet strong in her ear. “Lie down on the bed.”
Natalie turned and slowly climbed onto her bed, taking her time as she made her way up to the head of the bed. Then she lay down, settling back against the pillows as she met his intense eyes again. She loved any time they were together, but the times like this, times when he took control, those were the times she loved best.
Teppei knelt down at her feet, kissing the inside of her ankle. He took his time traveling up the length of her leg, his hands and tongue tracing slow pathways that made her bite her lip as she tried to stay still. When he reached her inner thigh, he slowly retreated to her knee before making his way back up. She felt his warm dragon’s breath on her bare skin, his mouth nearly touching her where she wanted him most, but then he backed away, kissing his way down her other thigh.
“Please…” she begged, heat cycling through her as if each kiss he lay on her skin was laced with fire.
“Soon,” he said, his words a warm buzz against her leg as he made the slow descent to her other ankle before rising again, his firm touch a perfect complement to the softness of his mouth.
When he reached her thighs again, Natalie threaded her fingers through his hair, her body pulsing with want, with need. But he only let his lips brush against hers before he moved away again, this time kissing her hip bone as his hand splayed across her stomach.
“Teppei, please,” she begged again, the crackle of heat within her so great that she could barely think straight.
“Soon,” he said again as he kissed his way up to her breasts, taking one of her nipples in his mouth. She arched her back into him as he flicked his tongue across the sensitive skin, gently rolling the other one between his fingers before he moved over to lavish attention on it as well.
Hands still woven through his hair, Natalie tugged Teppei’s face up to hers, kissing him desperately. He gripped her hips as he gently rocked against her, reminding her for the first time that he was still wearing his pants. She reached down and fumbled with the buckle of his belt, finally yanking it free so she could unzip his pants and slip a hand inside, taking hold of him. He groaned at her touch, hips bucking slightly into her hand as she caressed her hand along his length. A few moments later, he pulled away from her, trailing kisses down her jaw, through the valley between her breasts, and across her stomach before he settled between her legs. Natalie closed her eyes as he lightly grazed his nails across the warm, wanting skin of her inner thighs. Through the haze of desire steaming her mind, she had a momentary idea that she was a sacrifice, willingly offered up to the dragon. She knew she would likely be burned, reduced to nothing but ash, but it was a sacrifice she wanted to make over and over again until she combusted into smoke, slowly dissipating into the sky.
Teppei finally brought his mouth to her, his tongue flat. Natalie heard him moan softly in satisfaction as he tasted her, his tongue tracing slow, deliberate patterns along her folds. She knew that no matter how wet she was, she was no match for his fire, and she didn’t resist. Natalie tugged his hair, pulling him closer and Teppei obliged, increasing the pressure. Heat coursed through her and she knew it wouldn’t be long before she burst into flames. She felt the tension build, burning coals igniting, but just before she caught fire, he backed off, kissing her inner thighs. Natalie took a deep breath, willing herself back from the edge as her hands twisted in the sheets of her bed.
As soon as she’d gotten herself under control, Teppei returned to her, this time slipping a finger inside of her as he caressed her with his tongue. She moaned, desperate for more, and this time he obliged, adding a second finger. Her hips involuntarily rose off the bed as he slowly pumped his fingers in and out of her, unable to keep still.
“Tell me what you want,” he said, his voice low and thick with lust. His words vibrated against her skin and she could feel how close she was.
“Inside me. Now. Please,” she begged, her voice cracking with desperation, too far gone to form a complete sentence.
Natalie watched with hooded eyes as he removed his pants before kneeling between her legs again, pulling her hips up to his. Teppei locked eyes with her, heated hands firmly caressing her skin. He lined himself up at her entrance and paused, waiting until she was ready. She nodded, unable to form the word, and he slowly pushed inside of her, his searing eyes connected to hers. Natalie moaned at the sensation, eyes closing as her shoulders arched off the bed.
“Look at me, Natalie,” Teppei said, his voice gentle but firm. She opened her eyes.
Teppei set a measured, steady pace, calloused hands holding her hips against him, and she could feel the smoldering heat within her that needed only the slightest kindling to set it ablaze. She matched his movements, rocking against him as his fingers dug into her soft skin. Natalie reached up, hands desperately grabbing at his painted forearms.
He began to increase his pace, thrusting harder into her, each push setting off a shower of sparks within her. Her moans grew louder and her eyes started to close again, but she forced them open, unable and unwilling to tear gaze away from him. She opened her mouth to tell him she was close, that she was there, but the words wouldn’t come as her body ignited and she was consumed by fire, her ecstatic cries enveloping them as she burned and burned and burned. Teppei leaned down, his thrusts more erratic now as he buried his face in her neck, lips kissing the sweat from her skin as he came, claiming her.
Their movements finally slowed and stilled, both of them breathing hard. Part of Natalie was surprised to find she hadn’t turned to ash after all as she brushed the damp hair back from Teppei’s face and kissed him tenderly. He responded in kind, his touch gentle as he ran his fingers down her body as the cooling air settled on their skin. Finally, he pulled away and lay down beside her, gathering her in his arms. She nestled beside him, fingertips slowly tracing the tattoos on his chest as he kissed the top of her head.
As she drifted off to sleep, the last thing Natalie remembered thinking of was a phoenix, emerging from the ashes, intertwined with a dragon.
Click here to support me on Patreon and get writing tips, prompts, and exclusive content available only to patrons!
I can’t guarantee that supporting me on Patreon will cause you to have endless good hair days . . . but I can’t guarantee that it won’t either.
