Shepard waited until Liara had already stepped into the elevator, eyes still frosty after their argument in the cargo bay before she hurried to the emergency hatch and climbed steadily up the ladder. It was going to take a lot of coaxing to win Liara's forgiveness, and a place in her bed, but she was up to the challenge.
She bolted to her cabin's door and leaned against it, studiously casual despite the rapid beat of her heart. She could hear the elevator clattering up the shaft; one of these days she was going to ask Tali to have a look at it, elevators were supposed to move faster than this she was sure.
The doors slid open and Liara stepped out, rubbing her forehead miserably; Shepard felt a pang of guilt, she really hadn't considered that Liara would be so troubled by her antics. She keyed in the entry and the cabin door opened; Liara glanced up in surprise, the frown momentarily wiped from her brow.
"Shepard! But you were…" She glanced back at the elevator, squinting in thought.
"Emergency ladders; faster than our elevator, probably safer too."
"Safer." Liara's voice was flat, "That's rich, coming from you."
She breezed into the room, activating her surveillance feeds at the terminal she had set up in the corner and scanning the footage until she found Beni trotting through the CIC.
"I keep meaning to tell you how creepy it is that you keep closer tabs on this ship than the Illusive Man ever did." Shepard tried for humor, but it fell a little short; it was kind of creepy after all.
"With one toddler asari on board and human child in command I find it necessary just to keep up."
"Ouch. I guess I might have deserved that a bit."
Liara wasn't paying any attention, she had brought up a text and her bright eyes darted across the page as she scanned it.
She looked stiff; Shepard wasn't sure how much of it was temper and how much resulted from standing in the same position for hours each day; being the Shadow Broker was time-consuming, even with Feron's help, but she needed to take a break.
Shepard stepped forward and rested her hands on her shoulders, Liara shrugged her off impatiently, "Not now, dearest."
Uh oh. If she was bringing out the endearments then she must really be annoyed; "dearest" was the second most dangerous only preceded by-
"Jane darling, if you are not going to help then at least do not hinder."
Shit. That one.
Shepard moved away, pacing over to her bed and flopping down onto it. Silence from Liara's direction. She hadn't seemed this angry back in the cargo bay, what could have happened between then and now?
She pulled her boots off and tossed them across the room; usually that would earn her a stern glare… not so much as a twitch in her direction. She peeled off her socks and left them lying on the floor… not a word.
Suddenly she was struck with the idea for a new game; how much could she peel off before Liara began to take notice? Inquiring minds wanted to know. Liara would be so proud of her dedication to the scientific method. Brilliant.
With a final glance to her bond-mate to ensure she was distracted, Shepard undid a button of her shirt, eyes fixed on her mark. Another. Another. She really didn't have the patience for this. Shepard quickly undid the rest of the buttons and tossed the shirt aside. She was wearing a black bra today, one of those sheer lacy affairs that drove her crazy with their itchiness and Liara wild with need.
Liara glanced up briefly at her chuckle, her eyes rested on her lover's breasts for only a moment before she turned back to her work. "Shepard, unless you are getting ready for bed you may as well put the shirt back on. I don't have time."
"Alright." Shepard shrugged fluidly; she didn't miss the way Liara's eyes darted to her cleavage at the gesture. Victory was in sight; it was only a matter of time now that she had caught Liara's attention for even that brief moment.
Her hands glided up the sides of her ribcage, muscles tensing at the stimulation; she shrugged her shoulders and the straps slipped down her arms; she pushed the front-clasp together and thought she could hear Liara stifle a satisfied sigh when the material fell away. She stretched her arms above her head ostentatiously, breasts lifting with the motion, nipples peaking in the chill.
"Shepard. Stop."
"What? I'm getting ready for bed."
"At two in the afternoon?"
"I never said I was going to sleep." Shepard smiled roguishly.
Liara shook her head, her lips thinning in annoyance; she wouldn't have commented if it wasn't distracting her a little bit. It was a good start.
Shepard lay back on the bed, circling the button of her pants, tugging at the material. She slipped the button free and slowly unzipped her pants, sliding them down her hips as she arched suggestively. This time she heard a definite gasp from Liara when she finally noticed the panties she had chosen to go with the ensemble, lace covered in silken patterns, suggesting more than concealing.
Shepard was both pleased and disappointed when Liara didn't immediately stop her work to inspect this new development, her fingers slipped beneath the edge of the lace to push it down her legs caressingly. She kicked the scrap off her foot and watched it fall to the floor distractingly. Liara's eyes flicked from the floor to her surreptitiously, her lips pursed as though she was holding back her words. Well, if she wasn't going to play…
She glided her hands up her taut stomach to her her neck, tracing her callused fingers along her collarbone and down to her breasts; she glanced to Liara and smirked, there was no disinterest in that gaze now. She traced circles around her nipple, catching it between thumb and forefinger, pinching until she could feel the edge of pain before soothing it with a few teasing strokes. She glided her hands over the curve of her breasts and beneath them, running her nails along the flesh there.
Shepard caught Liara's eye and smiled, her pupils were going dark with need and she hadn't hardly begun yet. She brought her fingers to her lips, tongue snaking out to wet them, running over and between, nipping at her fingertip; goosebumps rose on her skin when she trailed the wetness down the firm line of her stomach, circling her navel for a moment before descending ever lower.
Liara stepped out from behind the terminal, fingers playing with the clasp of her dress, breath coming short at the sight before her.
Shepard moved a flat palm down to the crease where her legs met her torso, ghosting a thumb along the protrusion of her hip-bone. Her muscles grew taught in response, legs twitching spasmodically and light ripples running across her abdomen. It had been Liara that first showed her what a sensitive area that could be; fitting that it should be turned against her now.
Shepard spread her folds with two fingers, teasing her nub with a third in short sharp strokes.
"Stop." There was a new quality to that tone that marked it as less of an admonition and more of a sensual demand. She smiled tauntingly as she drew the wetness from her center to spread it about her nub, rocking into her own touch.
Her eyes fluttered shut as she reveled in sensation, only to fly open again when she felt a firm grip clamping on her wrist. "Stop, Shepard. I didn't give you permission to touch, and I think you've defied me enough for today."
"Defy is a pretty strong word; I circumvented, and it was only a little thing."
"You tried to take our daughter out in that rolling death-trap; worse, you would let her- Never mind; we're not discussing this now."
Liara caught her hands and twined her fingers with Shepard's, drawing them away from her body as she straddled her partner, skirts rucked up to her knees.
Shepard tilted her head to receive Liara's kiss, slow and lingering despite her obvious frustration and rapidly abating anger. She felt the tension easing from her lover's shoulders, her kiss growing softer still as time went on, comforting almost. Liara grew weary of the restraint, forcing her mouth harder against Shepard's until her teeth cut her lip, tongue pushing into her mouth to take selfishly. Shepard wasn't about to complain.
She disentangled her hands from Liara's, grabbing at her skirts and pushing them farther up to her hips, gliding them beneath to draw her closer, massaging the small of her back soothingly. Liara rocked against her hips, twisting and grinding firmly against her. Shepard fought to keep her breathing even, thrusting her hips in time to Liara's movements.
One hand traced up Liara's back under the fabric of her dress as the other clasped her hip; she rocked up, twisting to trap Liara beneath her.
"Let me." Shepard pressed Liara down into the mattress, moving down her body slowly, letting Liara feel her heat as she glided across her skin, pushing the dress farther up so that she could spread her lover's legs.
"You're so tense lately; I'm worried about you. It's alright to take some time off every now and again, even for you."
Liara hissed, "Easy enough for you to say now, I remember having to remind you of that a few times myself."
"And a wonderful job you did too; let me return the favor."
It was clear Liara wanted this to be a fast release, less about pleasure than simply relief. Shepard was determined that today she would learn a lesson in patience. Wasn't that what asari were famed for anyway?
She leaned down to press an open-mouthed kiss to Liara's stomach, tongue tracing patterns across the tensing muscles there. Liara rocked up into her, nails catching in her hair as she tried to push her lower. Shepard pressed a palm to her lover's heat, inviting her to rock against it for the friction she needed.
"Go ahead. Get yourself off. How long has it been now?"
Liara glared at her, "I have better self-control than that, Shepard."
Shepard chuckled, "I think that's your problem precisely." She pressed her fingers into her lover slowly, barely more than the very tips and Liara whimpered in disappointment.
"Show me you want it." Shepard whispered, her thumb tracing down the line of her sex teasingly.
Liara rocked into her, feet pressing into the mattress for leverage, taking Shepard's fingers as deep as they would go. She panted softly, head falling back against the bed as she tried to focus only on the sensation. Shepard smiled, watching the tiny pucker beneath her brow as she closed her eyes and moved faster.
"You're trying too hard; why don't you let me just do the work?"
Liara grabbed for her as she moved away, but Shepard hushed her with reassurances whispered softly against the skin of her thigh just before she pressed her lips to it. She looked down the length of her body to catch her lover's eyes as Shepard spread her folds and pressed the tip of her tongue delicately to Liara's clit.
She bucked, praying that Shepard would be kind and finish her quickly; it must be true that the eyes were windows to the soul, even without the meld Shepard seemed to catch on fairly quickly. She licked her way up from the bottom of her slit, pushing her fingers into her unexpectedly, her tongue pushing in not long after. Liara forgot to breathe when Shepard brought her other hand up to rub against her nub roughly. It was too much, Liara's back nearly arched off the bed when she hit her peak, panting and gasping shamelessly.
She lay back, curiously unsatisfied despite that, still feeling tense and on edge, but then she felt Shepard's hand massaging her stomach once more.
"Once more." She whispered, not quite asking permission, but Liara nodded nonetheless.
Shepard stripped the dress from her body, casting it aside carelessly and gazing down at her warmly, "You're so beautiful."
Liara sighed contentedly, "Almost as beautiful as you, beloved."
Shepard turned her onto her stomach slowly, "Far more, in fact."
Liara trembled as she felt Shepard's tongue trace along the back of her neck, hands kneading into that tight knot that had been building in her lower back all day. Her hips straddled her, pinning her legs there as her tongue continued its meandering journey, small kisses pressed here and there along her spine.
Liara sighed deeply, relaxing into her lover's touch; she jumped when one of Shepard's hands glided over her hip, pulling her a little off the bed so that she could slip a hand beneath her, teasing at her sensitized flesh once more.
She groaned feelingly, rocking against Shepard's hand once more, drawing her in and lifting her hips still further when Shepard's thumb found her clit.
It was a slow, languorous climb toward her peak this time; Shepard whispered words of love in her ear between feather-light kisses and intimate touches. Liara trembled beneath her and Shepard finally drew back, catching her lover's eye once more as she settled on the pillow beside her. She was alarmed to see the gleam of tears.
"What is it? Are you alright? I knew something was wrong-"
Liara brought a finger to her lips, tracing the seam softly. "Nothing is wrong, everything is fine."
"Fine." Shepard's eyes widened in something approaching panic, "Just fine?"
"Perfect actually."
Shepard smiled in relief, "I take it this means I can share the bed with you while we nap?"
"You can stay here all night."
Shepard began to smile, but Liara's smirk troubled her.
"On the condition that you won't try taking Beni out in the Mako without seeking approval from me first."
"How do you intend to ensure that?"
"My creepy surveillance equipment may or may not have recorded this entire encounter, and I may or may not give it to Joker to show to the crew if you try that again. Are you familiar with the story of Schrödinger's cat, Shepard?"
"One of these days I am going to get the best of you in a spectacular way. It may not be now, but one day I will."
Liara snickered softly, rolling into Shepard's arms and pressing a quick kiss to her lips before curling into her side, contented for now.