Chapter One

(Edited: 4/15/18)

The events that would change humanity and the sangheili's relationship for better or for worse, started one afternoon during lunch on the UNSC ship Imperium. Soldiers were eating with other staff members and there was a mixing of races, specifically of human kind and that of the sangheili.

The sangheili were very different compared to the humans. Standing and sitting, they towered over their human companions, had two distinct sets of mandibles, and powerful digitigrade legs. They could jump cliffs, over chasms, and kick opponents hard enough to break bone. Sangheili were tall, but also strong. Far stronger than even the best of humanity, save the strength of the mysterious Spartan class.

Overall, everyone, and certainly those who have seen them in action, are glad to have a reasonably sized force of sangheili serving on Imperium, on humanity's side. After so much strife and war with more than one alien race, it's a comfortable situation when you finally can make allies of those who were once, and in some cases are still known as, 'elites.'

All of these sangheili soldiers have strong sweeping legs, two large sturdy splayed toes, and generous muscles in the shoulders and at the torso. They look just as sleekly dangerous outside of their regal looking armor, and their musculature is obvious, even from a distance.

This was the one trait that medic, petty officer Sheila Cast noticed more. As did all the other women at her table. Currently they were staring two tables away from their own as a human man openly challenged a sangheili to an arm wrestling competition.

Either the man was just being friendly, was really overconfident about his own strengths, or just wanted to see more of the sangheili alien, because instead of just pulling up his sleeves, he threw off his whole shirt. It was completely unnecessary, but it was done. Two women in the group shared smiles. Sheila just held back the urge to roll her eyes. Just another guy trying to look macho. That was nothing new.

Then the sangheili followed his lead, which no one honestly expected, and Sheila started looking a bit harder at the scene. Her female companions were doing the same.

The woman sitting closest to Sheila sat up straighter in her seat. "Oh, wow." Private Nancy Dodger said. "That's…a lot." She wasn't the only one looking stunned. The other women were staring too, it was hard not to stare.

"How many abs does he have?" Emilee Stewart, a lieutenant whispered loudly to no one in particular, leaning up in her seat to get a better look. She wasn't the only one, the whole cafeteria's population seemed intent on watching the action. "What the actual fuck. That guy is huge…"

The sangheili in the spotlight grunted as he stood up, his shoulder muscles rippling fluid under dark brown, almost black skin. As he stood up his long neck rolled into his shoulders and there was a satisfying popping sound as he flexed, his long fingers sending lines dancing across his muscular arms. He definitely had more abdominal muscles than a human. They were many sets, and as he stretched they twitched to life, and the movement swam across his torso like wind on water.

"I've never seen any man with that much muscle." Nancy mumbled into her sandwich, blue eyes staring wide eyed at the alien.

"That's not a man." Nina Scott made a show of wrinkling her nose, the usual prissy, obstinate private with a knack for sleeping around the ship. She put on a disgusted face, but Sheila wasn't buying it. Nina was just…Nina. She would say something and then contradict herself later, or just decide to care about something, or someone, and then act as if it never happened the next day. There was also this aura of trouble that Nina incited in others. Sneaking around to meet with her casual boyfriends had almost gotten them all in trouble several times. Sheila only really put up with her drama because she promised Nina's brother, Nathan, that she'd keep an eye on her for him.

Sheila stared back at the scene taking place, feeling something like excitement run through her. This was the first time she had seen a sangheili without a covering on, skin bared from head to hip, and she found it all fascinating. He was fascinating…and certainly well developed. There were whistles and cries of disbelief as the sangheili male leaned over the table, his long arm up and ready, muscles already bulging in preparation.

"I do believe he's going to be missing an arm." Emilee laughed. Sheila was a bit nervous about that, the sangheili tended to get a bit carried away sometimes. She recalled the incident in the bathroom last week and shivered. Apparently because women didn't serve very often on sangheili war ships, they hadn't realized there were gender separate bathrooms.

She smiled when she remembered walking in on the alien. He had turned the faucet on over the sink too roughly and it had burst and flooded the bathroom. He had been struggling and cursing with the knob still in his hand when she had walked in, struck dumb by the sight. She had quickly called in a janitor, though the sangheili kept insisting he fix the problem himself and the two had argued over the tools.

Currently the human man, Private Theodore Brown, was staring in awe at the arm in front of him. They could see him swallow a knot from where they were sitting, an uneasy smile on his face, "Just remember big guy, I'm smaller than you are."

The sangheili snorted at that, leaning forward to scrutinize him with shiny dark eyes, "Why have you challenged me then if you were expecting to lose? You are fickle creatures."

"Hey, hey." The man frowned, putting his arm back on the table, hand open and ready, "Don't have to insult me."

"Let us begin then." The sangheili seemed to smirk, his mandibles tucking in on the top, and the bottom flared expectantly.

Begin quickly became the end as the man made a sound like a screech as the sangheili drove his arm down onto the table with a thud and a crack was heard across the room, "Mother fucker!" The man screamed as he pulled his limp limb to his chest with his other arm, "You broke my arm!"

Sheila stared in horror at the white bone that had pierced through the side of the man's arm and at the blossoming red stain rapidly flowing out to stain his white skin, "Oh shit."

Nancy had made a horrified sound, both hands clasped across her mouth as Emilee and Nina just stared in shock at the scene before them.

Soon after there was a loud outcry of foul play and it was human versus sangheili as shouts went up. Soon enough Sheila had leapt up from her place at the table followed by her friends, with Nancy timidly making up the tail of their group. Sheila always tried to be the referee between parties, she just felt a sense of responsibility for everyone. Mom once teased that she had motherly traits, and was always trying to take care of people. Wherever it stemmed from, Sheila just couldn't stand by and watch these men beat each other up over what was probably just an accident.

She felt a bit unsure about that notion when she neared the arguing group and saw the sangheili looking very unconcerned about the man who was now leaning over the table, weeping over his broken arm.

"Childish." The sangheili snorted, his brothers gathering at his back and to his sides, an intimidating looking group, more so together. "You were aware of our differences, of my kind's superior strength. You insult me by challenging me and expecting anything less than what I am. You shame my worth as a warrior. I met the challenge you placed before me, and you have no one to blame but yourself for your failure." The alien looked down at the human with something like pity, his head shaking from side to side idly.

No one seemed to appreciate his honesty, and utter lack of responsibility for his actions, and you could feel the tension in the air like static. Sheila jumped a little as a voice shot up from the crowd vehemently, "You fucking bastard."

Another man stood up and placed a hand on the injured man's shoulder, "You didn't have to break his damn arm!"

"I cannot help my own strength." The sangheili argued, and the women paused as the alien stretched out his arms, his abs stretching out across his torso as he leaned backwards, "He would be wise to keep his challenges within his own species. No human is half as strong as a sangheili. Our females could sweep you underfoot."

At this, Sheila was surprised to see the sangheili look towards their group, the only women really left in the cafeteria at this point. The other group had been sitting off by the exit and had quickly fled with some male friends when the fighting had started. She felt a shiver of something…unease maybe?-as the sangheili's eyes scanned over their party. His friends did the same, and suddenly their mandibles began to flex in their alien dialogue.

They spoke in smooth deep tongues, and Sheila wasn't sure what they were talking about, the only thing she was sure of was their gaze. Every sangheili in the group was eyeing them with interest, and she could hear Emilee swallow hard next to her at the realization.

The sangheili male stepped up to them suddenly, and Nina squeaked something in response, stumbling to hide behind the taller form of Emilee who was frozen with apprehension, "Females." His tone rumbles in a way that is very inhuman, as if it there is a thrumming underneath his words. He speaks with a rich baritone, "Are you impressed by my form?" He flexed his neck muscles as he leaned forward, the lights above catching on a pebbling of skin.

They were more than a little stunned by his bluntness, and no one could speak to answer. Sheila was at the front of the group and more directly placed in front of him, but she quickly stammered something incomprehensible and shuffled backwards into Emilee who didn't say anything in response, merely stepping back and to the left looking ready to turn tail and run.

The male made a sound like an actual purr and stepped forward gracefully, one great leg parting the group as he strode forward. He leaned over Sheila's much shorter form and looked down at her with smoldering brown eyes. She felt trapped in his gaze, in his shadow. She felt a strange stirring inside. Fear maybe, or something else? She tried to swallow in the dryness of her throat her heart beating steadily faster in her chest as their eyes met again.

"You are intimidated by me?" The sangheili laughed with a deep rumbling sound in his chest, mandibles flexing, she could feel a small wind, as if he was breathing them in, "Don't worry little females, I won't hurt you." Sheila couldn't hold back a short breathy gasp as his hand suddenly crept down her cheek to roll long leathery fingers down her neck. "You're soft, such a delicate creature."

She was trapped in his gaze, and voices erupted in both anger and alarm behind her, though they were lost in a fog at the back of her mind. Sheila couldn't look away from the alien, she seemed stuck in the dark mire of his eyes. She felt a blush come over her cheeks as she dropped his gaze only to have her eyes scale down the entirely of his intensely masculine form. Sheila snapped out of her daze when her gaze began to linger dangerously past the sangheili's hips.

Her heart was a pounding stream in her ears, and her cheeks felt hot and flushed. Feverish. She felt sweat cling to her fingers as she tucked them to her chest, and sought to look away from him. Unbidden to her own will, her head turned back up to the sangheili's face by his hand catching her gently by the chin. She couldn't speak, couldn't look away. He said something in that darkly alien voice that made her shiver before she suddenly found herself being pulled back from him.

It was Nina, who had mustered up the courage to grab her by the arm, an uncharacteristically friendly notion.

"What the fuck is going on in here soldiers? Can you lack wits enjoy a meal together without acting like ornery temperamental teenagers?" An angry commanding voice erupts over the arguing that had started up again.

Commander Chelsea Beretta pushed through the crowds and they parted for her like the red sea, voices falling into silence as the imposing woman made her way over to them. Commander Beretta was tall and very muscular for a woman, with thick shoulders and a lithe figure, and the brightest palest blue eyes anyone had ever seen. Her red hair was cropped on her head, a flash of scarlet against a cryo complexion. The scar across her lip made her frown an almost menacing sight as she regarded the group, "Somebody better get to explain this shit before I have you all scrubbing the lavatories until dawn. I don't want to hear any whining, give it to me straight." She crossed her arms over the gray of her uniform and gazed around at the crowd.

A human man spoke up, his voice almost a shout, the same one who cursed at the sangheili earlier, "That split lip bastard was manhandling a woman and he broke Theo's arm."

Sheila blinked in surprise at the unexpected accusation and swallowed hard as heads suddenly seemed to turn in her direction, "I-."

Beretta towered over her suddenly, the woman dominating her in height by a full two feet. Wide green eyes met Icey blue as the woman regarded her with narrowed eyes, "Did this sangheili threaten you without any provocation on your side Ms. Cast?

Sheila hated being put on the spot and felt as if she was the one being punished. The sangheili male behind Beretta did not speak, just merely looked at her with something akin to amusement in his expression. Sheila quickly looked down at her feet feeling guilty for reasons that escaped her, "No Commander. He did break a man's arm, but he challenged him to a contest."

Beretta looked surprised, then laughed heartily. She turned to look towards the injured man who was trying to wipe the moisture from his eyes quickly with his free hand. It wasn't working well, "It's a good thing you didn't challenge him to a genius contest private, or you would have lost. I have no sympathy for you." The man seemed to wilt under her gaze as she glared his way, "What the hell are you sitting around for? Get your ass down to the med bay." She turned to look at Sheila who couldn't help inhaling sharply at the sudden movement her way, "You're the only medic here, so show him down Ms. Cast."

As Sheila helped the quiet man with his arm as they walked away she could hear the commander bark out another laugh, "I get it! Cast! She'll fix you up real good private, you're in good hands. The rest of you can finish eating, and if anyone has a problem with someone else then their nose can make friends with a corner in my office, am I understood!?"

"Yes ma'am!"

Beretta turned to leave, and her gaze locked onto the sangheili at the front of the group. They did not speak, but merely bowed their heads in acknowledgment of her rank, and allowed her to pass. She gave them a long knowing look before parting their group.

The head sangheili looked towards the exit, but his eyes did not follow the commander but lingered instead on the female with the yellow bob of hair hanging from her neck.

00oo00oo00oo00

Later that night Sheila finished brushing her teeth and slid into the bottom bunk under her top bunkmate Emilee. The other girl was currently combing out her curly brown locks, cursing every so often when she ran the comb over a snarl, "Sheila you're so lucky your hair isn't shit. This ship is so dry I have to use artificial tears. My hair frizzes up like we're in the tropics."

Sheila laughed, "You might have allergies. I'm pretty sure Nina has a bunch of plants somewhere."

Sheila watched the mattress above her bunch up in the middle as Emilee curled up in a fetal position on it, the brush flying over the rail above to land on the thin carpet, "That would explain a lot." She heard the other woman yawn, "Sheila, I'm going to hit the hay, I'm exhausted. I still can't believe what happened today. What idiot challenges an alien that size to an arm wrestling contest?"

"He's always been a bit immature." Sheila replied, yawning, arms outstretched across the pillow on her belly, "Did you see how ripped he was?"

She could hear the awe in Emilee's voice, "I've never seen that many muscles on anything before. He was tight."

There came afterwards a thoughtful silence. Emilee broke it a long minute later.

"Sheila?"

"Yeah?"

"Were you scared?"

Sheila sat up a bit on the mattress, pushing her head up on her pillow, "What?" She was confused.

"When he grabbed you? The alien?" Emilee elaborated.

Sheila grew quiet, her forehead furrowed. She hadn't thought about it until now. All she had been thinking about was how hard she had to scrub her uniform to get Theodore's blood stains out of it. That sangheili had done a number on that arm, "He didn't grab me."

He hadn't grabbed her, but he had touched her. Touched her in a way that had startled her greatly and still made her question her inaction. She had made no attempt to separate herself from the sangheili, instead she had stood still as his fingers had drew careful lines down her cheek to the dip under her chin, to roll down the slope of her neck. Sheila told herself it had been shock, but now she felt confused again as she thought back to earlier that afternoon.

"He touched you, everyone saw him." Emilee said, "He looked like…"

Sheila frowned at her friend's silence, "Like what?"
"Like…he was going to devour you."

"Thanks, now I'm going to have nightmares." Sheila couldn't help the burst of laughter that cut free, and Emilee snorted and joined in a moment later. The two women continued laughing, though they weren't sure why, maybe it was because they were tired from running drills earlier. They finally calmed themselves a minute later and then heard a knock at the door. They shared a glance before moving to answer it.

They weren't usually surprised to receive a visit from Nancy, she would visit time to time and they had gotten used to her presence after hours. The girls would talk mostly, about nothing too important, just idle chatter. This time however, Nancy didn't seem like herself. The usual chipper woman with a positive demeanor was not greeting them or telling a random joke or bit of gossip she had heard lately, she just merely stood there. Quiet. Her dark blue eyes seemed to have trouble focusing on their faces, and she looked through or around them. Fingers nervously played with the silver rosette of her necklace.

"What's up with you?" Emilee asked before Sheila had a chance.

"What?" Nancy looked confused, her pale face suddenly cast in a rosy tint, "I-I'm fine. I just wanted to stop by and see how you girls were doing."

Sheila frowned, trying to find answers in the woman's demeanor. She couldn't see any signs of illness. Her clothes were tidy, whole. No sense of drama. She just seemed distracted, maybe a little anxious?

"We're fine. I'm going to bed. Monthlies always wear me down."

"As long as you're not bitching at me, I don't mind the snoring." Sheila joked.

"Shut up Cast."

They looked back to Nancy, who still looked out of place, her fingers sliding up and down on the chain of her pendent, "I guess I'll head to my room. Nina's probably wondering where I went off to."

"Are you sure you're fine?" Sheila crossed her arms, fixing a severe stare at the other girl who seemed to balk a bit, stepping back into the hallway." Sheila was a no nonsense kind of woman went it came to anyone's health. She wanted to be sure everything was okay. The woman didn't look sick, but some people were better at hiding things than others.

"Yes." Nancy spoke the word like a shout, and the woman seemed to notice her volume and inhaled sharply, "Sorry, I should go."

Sheila quickly grabbed onto the other woman's arm, "Wait, Nancy."

Nancy flinched at her touch but smiled at her, "Yes?"

"If you need anything I'll be up."

"Thanks." The woman looked distracted and Sheila frowned at the sudden blush that came over Nancy's cheeks, "Night Sheila."

She watched Nancy walk away until she disappeared around the bend in the corridor and followed Emilee back into their room.

"Oh-kay, something's up with that girl." Emilee said as she climbed back up onto her bunk.

"She doesn't seem sick does she?" Sheila asked, feeling a little concerned, "I mean, she was a bit red."

Emilee yawned as she stretched. She dropped back onto her mattress with a short sigh, "She seemed kind of embarrassed to me. Maybe she met up with some guy and wanted our opinions? She probably just lost her nerve at the last minute. I don't know, I wasn't aware she was that adventurous."

"Fraternization rules are a bit don't ask, don't tell, really." Sheila yawned again. Stressful war times had made a lot of changes in military settings. When aliens wanted to burn your worlds to extinction, then it became clear that some things in life were necessary, or people weren't going to be mentally able to process anything without going mad. Less stress, better soldiers is what it came to.

"That's why we have Nina to tell us all about it." They both laughed at that, because it was true. Nina enjoyed talking about her sexual adventures. It was often too much really.

The legs draped over the top of the bunk disappeared from sight. Sheila could hear Emilee settling onto the mattress above her, "I'm beat, see you in the morning."

"Goodnight."

Sheila spread out onto her mattress listening to the hum of the lights above them as they slowly flickered off. She thought about the sangheili then. The darkness of the room made her think of the sleek dark blue-gray of his skin, and the black of his eyes. He had been quite a menacing figure and she felt a chill dance down her spine at the thought of facing something like him in the war. They had long since became allies since the end of the human-covenant war, but that once upon a time they had been enemy combatants. Genocidal, and absolutely merciless. She had been fortunate to have seen no warring like that. She and her friends were pretty green, and she had just been promoted in her first medical rank last month. The only action she had seen was a wannabe terrorist trying to hold up a financial institution on her shore leave. Luckily the police forces there had no problems forcing him to surrender.

She thought back to the sangheili. She just couldn't shake the feeling, the memory. The way the alien had touched her. It had been exploratory but it also had felt meaningful. As if he was relaying a message in the way his fingers traveled across her skin. It had embarrassingly even affected her in a place she had long forgot about, since a tragic relationship long past. Even now she felt a sort of coiling in a private place that both confused and excited her.

She wanted to smack herself, wanted to thump her head into her pillow over and over to shake away these nonsensical thoughts. Sheila was almost numb with the realization.

There was just something unnaturally attractive about sangheili men. She wasn't sure if it was the muscles, or just the exoticness. Sheila had tried not to think about what had happened in the cafeteria, but here, alone, in the darkness with her thoughts and a gentle snoring up above, she had nothing else to think about.

Sheila twisted in her sheets and released a tired breathy moan into her pillow. She had never once felt an attraction to anything alien before. This had all happened after that sangheili had touched her…had stared into her eyes, had touched her almost possessively. There was something in that contact that she found immensely attractive.

She could die of shame at the thought. She knew how xenophobic her parents were, how most of the human crew were…she wasn't sure there was room for such thoughts, on this ship or on any human planet. Hell, even on Sangheilios this was probably an idea that bordered on treachery. If anyone found out about it on this ship, they would probably hang her by the neck with her own bed sheets.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Sheila tossed her sheets off her now hot body, brushed a palm over the perspiration dotting her forehead. Now she was probably looking feverish. At this point she might as well had stayed up to read. It wouldn't do to bother Emilee with her issues though. No woman on her period of all things, would appreciate it. Men had no idea how easy it was being…men, when it came to biological influences.

After struggling with trying to sleep, to ignore her panicked thoughts about aliens, the fact that she hadn't had sex in eleven months, and her sudden thirst…she decided it would be best to deal with at least one of those problems.

Sheila slipped on her shoes and left the room to find a water fountain. She didn't bother changing. It was midnight and she doubted anyone would care about her underdressed state, or even see the tank top and her flower print sleeping shorts. She was also too hot to care. She hoped Beretta wasn't around, she always liked to force dress rules on them, even in casual situations. Sheila was also not interested in the idea of pushups this late at night in the state she was in.

The woman started down the corridor and found the fountain at the entrance to one of the woman's lavatories. She bent down, sweeping her mane of frazzled blonde hair over her shoulder as she began to drink. When Sheila stood up however, she froze in place.

She had heard a sound. No voices. The woman realized that they were coming from inside the restroom. Sheila wasn't usually curious about what went on in the lavatory, but there was a male voice in the mix. An unfamiliar voice.

As Sheila neared the door she heard a sound that made her rethink opening it for a good whole minute. She couldn't help but utter a soft curse under her breath. Really? Fucking in the bathroom? Classy. Sheila didn't know the rules on fraternizing on a training ship, but decided she didn't care. She was too curious for her own good. The sounds that were coming from inside the room definitely sounded breathy.

Or someone was having an asthma attack. Fat chance.

Preparing herself for whatever she would find within, the woman swept a strand of hair off her brow and slowly, carefully, opened the lavatory door a crack. She had to bite back a gasp at what she saw.

Nancy…Nancy was sitting with her back pressed against the mirror on the wall, her bare bottom resting on the open counter next to the sinks. Her knees were apart and revealing more of the woman than Sheila wanted to see, but what was between her legs was even more surprising.

A sangheili's mandibles swept across the hair tangled between the woman's legs to brush against her bare thighs. Nancy was wet down there, it was easy to see, and as Sheila looked away, abashed, unwillingly her eyes found the sangheili who was kneeling below the woman. She watched an alien erection, veiny and purple in color, slip into sight as he moved to stand. It was glossy wet in the stark white light.

Nancy made an unintelligible sound, something like a whimper, as the sangheili brought her hands up over her head to press them against the glass of the mirror as he stood to full height. The mirror itself was fogged with their breath, and coated in smears from the woman's fingers. The alien drew his mandibles against her neck, the woman's legs hanging out from both sides of his torso. Her feet contorted, and Nancy moaned and flexed her spine against the mirror as the sangheili growled something into her ear and suddenly seized her throat in the whole of his fanged mandibles.

Sheila couldn't look away. Couldn't scream…even as she imagined his fangs tearing her skin to ribbons to allow rivulets of her life blood to slip out onto the tile floor. Instead, he held her there, and she couldn't see if the woman was bleeding or not, she was too far away.

Sheila felt her heart hammering in her chest as she watched the alien draw a hand down the woman's chest, fingers playing over Nancy's pale pink bra to sweep at the nipples peering through it before trailing down the line of her naval.

The sangheili's hand crept lower until he had cupped the woman's sex in the full of his hand. His hand was so large that he cast the woman in a modest light, though the look on the woman's face was anything but so. Nancy's eyes seem to roll back into her head as the male flexed his mandibles at her neck, only to pull back and sweep them under her ear to tangle in her hair.

"Untainted." The sangheili had spoken. His voice deep, betraying his lust with the tilt of his words, the depth of his tone. He drew his mandibles over the woman's bare shoulder, "My pretty one." He growled low into Nancy's neck, and the woman whimpered.

Sheila wasn't sure what he meant by untainted, but then she realized she did know. Almost everyone on the ship had been privy to Nancy's diary. She wasn't sure why the woman had kept one around, but it had ended up being a regretful decision. A bitch by the name of Edith Darrow had gotten ahold of it and had made sure it became public news. It was a low and immature, and had stemmed from jealously. Nancy was very pretty, but most people hadn't known, until that day, that she was still very much a virgin.

Nancy had been mortified, but the gossip had died down pretty fast when Beretta had gotten wind of the gossip and the commander had decided to more Darrow off the ship on a reassignment.

No one was sure if it was a religious or a personal problem that made Nancy a virgin, but she very much looked like she wouldn't mind losing that part of herself in a heartbeat with how she was currently contorting on the countertop.

Sheila was embarrassed, shocked, but she found she couldn't look away. Instead she watched how the sangheili cradled Nancy in his hand, how his other hand pressed one arm against the glass as he bent down to bite her gently around the neck again.

Suddenly he drew back and Sheila held her breath as she watched him stand. His erection was brilliant and wet, and she felt for certain that as she watched him regard the panting woman on the sinks with an almost predatory gaze, that Nancy was about to lose her virginity.

Instead, he surprised her…and intrigued her. The sangheili pushed forward and pressed his erection bodily against the woman's belly. Nancy uttered an achy moan and pressed one cheek into the mirror, fingers sliding against glass as he painted her, glistening, with his cock.

The alien organ shone with the sangheili's fluids and soon he was brushing it across her knees, behind her calves and slipping it down her belly and under her breasts.

Sheila swallowed, her throat dry. Her heart pounded so hard in her ears she was afraid they'd hear it. She felt ready to sprint away, to dive into her bunk and pretend this was all just some weird wet dream. Instead, she lingered, she stared, even licking the sudden dryness of her lips.

Sheila tried to imagine what it must be like. To be delicately, but determinedly marked with the sangheili's wetness. The way he drew it across her and under her, it was so possessive. Sexy. Sheila couldn't help but feel a twitch of arousal as she continued to watch his interaction with her friend.

Suddenly she heard footsteps somewhere down the hall and released the door. Sheila flinched reflexively at the soft noise the door made as it closed, but from the sounds within, it was clear that they hadn't noticed.

The woman quickly moved down the corridor towards her room. Just as the steps rounded the corner of the hallway, she had already stepped into their room and had closed the door. She leaned against it bodily for a moment, trying to catch her breath. She hadn't ran, she had walked quickly, but Sheila found herself panting like she had dashed down the hall.

After a while all she could hear was her own soft breathing and Emilee's soft snores in her own bunk. Sheila moved to slip into hers, quickly pulling her sheets up to her breasts. She felt dizzy, confused, aroused.

Never in a million years had she even imagined…there was no way she was going to be able to meet Nancy's face tomorrow. All she could imagine when she thought of her friend was the way her face had looked when she orgasmed. Definitely not the most conversational face.

Suddenly she recalled the scene in the cafeteria. The sangheili's voice rumbling in a warm heat, his breath fanning her face, sweeping her bangs over her brow. He had smelled like something spicy. His fingers had made her feel just a shot, as breathless. She was sure that the sangheili in the bathroom was part of that group, he had looked familiar, but she had a hard time telling them apart anyways. The leader of their group however.

He had been taller, stronger and a darker shade. Sangheili were all various shades of brown and black, and he had been the darkest. Sheila recalled the way his eyes caught her own when he had looked at her, so black, his gaze had been like a dark pool, bottomless. She had not seen the reptilian pupils at their center that she knew were there.

An hour of restless thinking and Sheila fell into an uncertain sleep, her expression changing with the events of her dreamtime. Her lips opened slightly during moments of her sleep. A sound like a muted moan, her legs twisting in the sweat of her sheets…

Sheila trembled as she felt a dark sangheili's mandibles pushed themselves around her neck.

Okay, this came into being because I was very much interested in some adult Halo content and couldn't find what I was looking for. This is going to be smut with some plot, probably. Or just smut. Hopefully well written smut.

Fair warning, it's going to get naughty. Mature elements, content, kinkiness. Probably a lot of kinkiness. Eventually maybe some non-consensual, darker parts-and by the way, I don't know crap about military affairs, etc, I pulled most of this out of thin air. So kind of AU I guess. If mistakes, I apologize. You can suggest edits if you are feeling helpful. ;)

(P.S the name is to hint more at the content, but it's not following anything specific. I flipped through –that- book by the way…curiosity…it was terrible. Sorry, just my opinion. Like what you will.) :P