AN: My first romance fic! I'm desperately in need of feedback/criticism for this one, so let me know if I pulled it off or not with a review :) Also, for those of you who are following "Fractured"... I'm working on it, I promise. School's been crazy but hopefully I will have more time to write in the future. On a side note, is anyone else besides me pissed about the Mass Effect 3 delay? (it's okay Bioware we still love you).
I should also mention that I do not own Mass Effect.
Shepard woke with a start, sitting up jerkily. She regretted it instantly, black dots swimming before her eyes. She was about to lay down again, but found a data pad jutting into her back. All the clues pointed to the fact that she'd fallen asleep while working. Not the first time, and not the last. She rolled her shoulders, cracking her neck on either side. Work could wait. At the moment, Shepard wanted to feed the fish.
There was a knock at the door, even though it was automatic. "Commander?" Shepard smiled. It was Garrus.
"Yup. Come in," she said enthusiastically, hitting the feed button. Garrus entered, hovering in the doorway for a minute. He couldn't help but notice the way the cowl of her hooded sweatshirt settled around her neck, exposing the vulnerable hollow of her throat. Mind out of the gutter, Vakarian.
"What's up?" Shepard asked. She started tidying a few things up, bending over to give Garrus a good look at her neck and... other places.
"I, uhh, wanted to..." For Spirit's sake, you're not a hormonal teenager. Get it together. "A few people just asked me where you went."
"Crap. Sorry. I fell asleep going over some reports. Why? What's going on?" Her spine straightened, and she'd unintentionally stiffened into a rather militaristic posture.
"Nothing, nothing. Calm down." It was almost comical the way she snapped to attention, but Garrus got the feeling that she needed to cut loose, let off a little steam. Lately, he'd also been wound pretty tightly. "I told the crew that you were working, and shouldn't be disturbed for a few hours."
"A few hours, huh?" Her eyebrow tilted up. "That's quite a long time. Whatever shall I do with myself?"
"Let's make a blankett fort," Garrus suggested. He wouldn't fall into his commander's lap – shit I meant trap - so easily. He was going to make her work for it.
"Okay." Dammit. He didn't actually want to make a fort, something Shepard was probably very well aware of.
She strode over to her bed, once again bending over too slowly to not be planned, to remove the sheets. After tugging at the corners, she twisted around to look at Garrus. "Are we gonna do this or not?"
Garrus hadn't had sex with his commander nearly enough times for that to be a casual thing to ask. "W-wha..." he stammered out.
"Grab the other corner, dummy." The way she was poised made her hips look really, really supportive, even with that damn hoodie on. He'd have to rectify that in a moment or so.
"Right. Okay. Got it." Garrus went around to the side. "Hey, have you seen -"
Shepard didn't wait to hear any more. She pounced on him from behind, catching him off guard and taking him down easily. To her delight, he made an adorable surprised sound, half way between a mewl and a growl. "What's that, Vakarian?" She pinned him to her mattress, straddling his waist to hold him in place.
He cocked his head to look at her, blinking one avian eye. "Was that really necessary, Commander?"
She looked deep into his eyes and said, "Absolutely." She leaned down to press her mouth against his, asserting control by seizing the back of his neck and gripping it tightly.
Garrus allowed her to continue for a moment before speaking up. "Okay. My turn."
"Your turn what?"
"To be on top." As the dominant partner in their relationship, Garrus felt just wrong being on the bottom. It was like they were going against the natural order of things. Sure, being a turian/human couple was a bit out of the ordinary, but even so, there was a certain way they were supposed to proceed.
Shepard snorted. "Yeah, right. You're like a thousand pounds heavier than me. I'd be crushed." For the time being, Garrus decided she could do things her way. Besides, the way they were going wasn't entirely unpleasant, anyway. With her thighs clamped on either side of his hips, he was starting to feel a little constricted, but with one hand, he took hold of the back of her leg, the other reaching around to get some ass, effectively forcing Shepard to yield some control.
At Garrus' touch, Shepard felt a tingling sensation creep up from her stomach, giving her butterflies and another wonderful feeling she couldn't quite describe. What she could put to words was her desire to get out of her sweatshirt. "Help me get this off," she demanded. She felt Garrus' hands on her bare abdomen for a second, running over her skin, before he tugged it up and over. The material of her t-shirt rode up, exposing her ribs and the bottom of her bra. Garrus sat up, but Shepard pushed him back down.
"Easy, cowboy. We've got all the time in the world," she said, blocking his hasty advance with a coy smile.
Damn this woman, Garrus thought. Unable to remain on the bottom any longer, he grabbed Shepard by those marvelous hips of hers and flipped her onto the mattress. Knowing that he wouldn't be met with some sort of resistance, he locked his shins over her thighs and held her arms down, forcing her deep into the thick comforter of her bed.
She looked surprised, but a devious smile came over her face. "You want it rough, Vakarian?"
"If you can handle it." Garrus knew that there was nothing like a direct challenge to really get his commander's blood flowing, on the battlefield and off. He put his mouth to her neck, biting some and kissing some. The rise and fall of her chest quickened with the increased pace of her breathing, and the hot puffs of air on the side of his head nearly made him lose it. Garrus felt her muscles harden and contract, squirming beneath him as she tried to work herself free. "Having a little trouble there, Commander?"
Her response was to buck her hips upward, grinding against Garrus for an amazingly short second, yet somehow still long enough to make his mouth feel dry. The sensation made his muscles spasm, giving Shepard just enough time to free herself from his hold. She twisted out from underneath him, and, moving faster than he would have thought possible, climbed on top. The commander had him belly-down on her bed, and she took complete advantage of the situation. She grabbed one of his arms and pulled it behind him, twisting it beyond the point of discomfort yet not quite to painful. On either side of him, Garrus felt the commander's muscles flex as she held him in place. He found himself appreciating her athleticism, the lean curves of her body and how she was the hybrid of a super model and a killing machine. The best of both worlds. "You know how good I am at getting myself out of a... tight spot."
Garrus chuckled, but it turned into a groan when Shepard pulled back on his arm about an inch, crossing the line into decidedly painful. He tilted his head, resting it on Shepard's pillow. "Well played." It came out slightly muffled.
Her knees squeezed the sides of his hips. "Mmm, can't really hear you from down there." She leaned forward and laid her chest on his back to get in close. She ran her tongue over the sensitive skin below his fringe, teasing him mercilessly. Oh Spirits. She has no idea what she's doing to me. On the contrary, Shepard knew exactly what she was doing. She'd read Mordin's pamphlets, though she would never own up to it. She had actually found them quite informative. At any rate, she always liked to know her opponents before going into battle. This was no exception. She'd gotten the upper hand on Garrus, and now he had to deal with it.
She gave him another lick, this one closer to his jaw line, and she felt him shudder beneath her. Her laugh was tinted with what sounded to Garrus like malice. "Let me up, woman."
Slim fingers kneaded around his throat, reminding him of how vulnerable he was. Shepard's way of proclaiming her dominance, no doubt. But Garrus wasn't going to give in that easily. She rocked forward, giving Garrus' arm a good yank as she did so. "Speak up, babe. You're mumbling." She had his arm wrenched back almost far enough to dislocate it. Those taut muscles of hers rubbed against his backside, the sensation a welcome contrast to the arm lock she had him in.
The mixture of pain and pleasure was mind-blowing. Garrus gasped into the pillow, trying to get some air into the lungs that Shepard was crushing. Before she could inflict some new kind of deliciously agonizing torture on her victim, Garrus rolled to the side, toppling Shepard and releasing her grip on his arm. She gave a high-pitched yelp and scrambled to recover, but Garrus wasn't having any of that. He hooked one of his legs around both of hers, binding them together and providing no chance of escape. However, he did let her arms free. "Not so high and mighty now, huh?"
She cocked one eyebrow to the side, a half-smirk playing over her lips. "Please. We're just getting started. There's plenty of time to even the score." Her hands were at the top of Garrus' pants, fingertips brushing across his bare skin for a moment before they moved upwards and started undoing his shirt from the bottom. He tore his gloves off with his teeth and tossed them to the other side of the room, then shrugged out of the bulky piece of clothing. Giving her just enough room to lift her back off the bed, Garrus helped Shepard out of her own t-shirt.
She paused, drawing a sharp breath and focusing her gaze on the other side of the wall. Still self-conscious about the scars. They were slightly more healed from the last time Garrus saw them, but the rifts were still noticeable, the weave of cybernetics glimmering orange from between the spaces. Careful not to cause her any pain, Garrus ran a talon along her rib cage, tracing the longest of the scars. "Is it just me, or have you put on a few pounds?" Human women like jokes about their weight, right?
Shepard knew he was purposely avoiding the scars, trying to make it seem like they were nothing to him, even though the obvious flaw would've sent other men running. And she loved him for it. A laugh bubbled up from her chest, rippling under Garrus' touch, before loudly echoing off the metal walls. "Yeah. Like six."
"Geez. You've really let yourself go. You should go on a diet. Or get some exercise. Work on your flexibility a bit," Garrus said, hoping he wasn't overstepping his boundaries. Shepard gave him a scathing look of mock offense, but then let her hands rest on either side of Garrus' waist, showing that there were no hard feelings. She liked the way his plates were rough and uneven to the touch, intimidating and unapproachable at first, yet pleasantly firm under her grip.
Garrus bent down and kissed her collarbone. His mouth felt like suede over her skin. The mere contact of it with her skin was sensational, and the way he was nuzzling against her neck... it was almost too much to handle.
Shepard tried unsuccessfully to come up with a witty reply. "I, uhh..." Her breathy sigh turned into a soft moan.
Garrus chuckled, the dual tenors of his voice making Shepard's knees feel weak and disconnected. "I believe you humans have a saying: cat got your tongue?"
That suede mouth of his had made its way up to her earlobe. He gave it an affectionate nip then followed up with gentle, apologetic licks.
"All the tongue I'm getting comes from this ruggedly handsome turian who's an insanely good kisser."
Appealing to my ego. She knows me so damn well. Garrus rewarded her compliment with a tender kiss on the mouth, plus another one on her forehead, very possibly one of his most favorite spots on Shepard's body. Though, there were a lot of those.
Garrus shifted his weight to the side, allowing one of Shepard's legs to slide free. Guiding her to make sure she didn't try and usurp his hard-won dominance, he gripped her thigh and let her wrap it around his back. He settled into her, his knee resting between her legs so that they fit together like two puzzle pieces. Shepard found it funny that her body could fit so comfortably into a turian's, while she'd never been able to get the angles and positioning right with her human partners. There was something to be said for the way their figures seemed to fold into each other.
Changing things up a little, Garrus nudged his knee upwards, rubbing against her hard for a moment before retreating. Another one of those little moans escaped her.
"Oh, God," she whispered. "Do that again."
But he didn't. He slid in marginally closer, applying constant pressure with his leg, but Shepard wouldn't stand for it. Her hips rolled into him, demanding, begging for more. Garrus withdrew a bit, eliciting a noise of frustration from Shepard. "Patience," he told her, speaking into her neck so that his mandibles skirted across her skin. Her throat felt fluttery. She was right where Garrus wanted her. Teasing her further, he ran his hand over her stomach, pausing to lightly press into her breast before trailing along her arm. Almost as if he were tickling her, he traced over a few scars on her wrist before entwining his hand in hers, which had been previously clenched in a fist, knotting and twisting her sheets. The gesture was meant to relax her, but her fingers clamped down like a vice around Garrus' own.
That was all great, but Shepard could hardly stand how slowly Garrus was taking things. They never spent this much time on foreplay, partly because they never had that long to be together, and because Shepard was a very, very impatient woman in pretty much all aspects of her life. But now that Garrus was in control, he was setting the pace. It seemed to Shepard that he was purposely dragging things out just to get under her skin.
Well, she'd had enough of his dastardly scheme. With the leg she had circled around him, Shepard pulled Garrus into her, driving their hips together. Their collision sent an ardent tremor shooting through his groin, awakening a carnal lust inside him. He let out a surprised grunt, but managed to keep her from going any further out of bounds. More roughly than he'd been previously, he threaded his hand through her hair, grabbed hold, and tilted her head back. She gave a startled whimper, which Garrus quickly stifled by delving into her mouth with his tongue, pulling on her hair to tip her head back and pushing deeper. She felt breathless, but since he wasn't relinquishing the domain of her mouth, she flared her nostrils and inhaled deeply, suddenly finding that Garrus' potent, masculine scent made her want to tear the remainder of both their clothes off and finally get some damn fulfillment.
Garrus sensed her impatience, and debated for a moment whether or not he should rein things in and slow down once more, or to go ahead and proceed as Shepard so desperately wanted. He chose the first option, lifting himself off Shepard's body and pulling away slightly.
She wasn't going to let him get away with that, not after he'd strung her along this far. She grabbed the back of his head forcefully and pressed their foreheads together. "Take your pants off before I strangle you with my mind." Her voice was husky with neediness and lust, sentiments that could only be sated by what Garrus had to offer.
A fact he was well aware of. Garrus was smirking. "Say please."
"If I have to hold you down and do it myself, I swear on my shotgun that I will."
That was a serious promise. But Garrus didn't submit. He couldn't. Not when he'd gotten her this far. "You won't have to. Just say it."
"Fuck you. Now fuck me."
"Come on, Commander. It's easy. One teensy little syllable is all I ask."
The expression of aggravation faded from her features, and Shepard leaned forward, placing those soft, red lips of hers right on the side of his face, barely touching. "Officer Vakarian," she began, her voice high and breathy and vulnerable-sounding. Garrus was ridiculously turned on. He loved it when she called him that. "Will you, for the love of all that is good in this galaxy..." He was suddenly aware of Shepard's hand sliding along his stomach, then lower, just between his legs. He felt his control slipping away to the incredible things Shepard was doing with her fingers. "... take off..." Garrus leaned into her, finding it difficult to remain upright, "... your mother-fucking pants?"
Wondering how it would infuriate her, Garrus took their competition one step further. "You didn't say please."
Shepard had half a mind to punch him as hard as she could in the throat, but realized it would be quicker to just give in. "Please?"
Garrus was silently grateful that she'd finally submitted, because he wasn't sure how much longer he'd be able to hold out. He lifted off her for a moment, the pants removal process sped up by Shepard's fervent assistance.
"Your turn," Garrus said, seizing the material around her hips and helping her shimmy out of them. He slid them off her feet, but instead of resuming his previous position as Shepard had expected, he grabbed her leg and gently kissed the inside of her ankle. For Shepard, the build-up was unbearable. As Garrus worked his way upward, leading a trail up to her thigh and running his hand over the back of her knee, where he knew she was ticklish, Shepard found herself clenching her tongue between her teeth to keep from screaming out in a mixture of avidity and ardor.
His breath was even and warm on her skin, quite unlike her own erratic pattern of trying to hold the air in before letting it out in a huff. She felt his rough tongue on her leg once more, moving in closer and closer...
Shepard yanked him up. "We're gonna skip that bit today," she said. Then, through gritted teeth: "Please."
Garrus grinned. "Affirmative, ma'am." He nuzzled her, pushing her back onto the pillows by giving her a forceful kiss on the mouth. Slowly, almost more so than Shepard could stand, he settled forward and into her. He barely crossed her threshold before retreating. The pressure inside Shepard built up insurmountably, Garrus' steady, even thrusts doing nothing to sate her. In fact, he was only intensifying her lust, her need for that ultimate consummation. She tried to ride out the waves of teasing pleasure and wait for the moment when Garrus would break down and fuck her already. Attempting at regaining some semblance of control, she grabbed his arms, which were on either side of her, and dug her nails into him, not caring if she drew blood. Garrus slipped inside her a little deeper, faltering as the masochist in him flared up.
Once Shepard had a taste, she wasn't willing to relinquish the progress she'd made. Before Garrus could resume his aggravatingly measured rhythm, Shepard bucked her hips upward, forcing his cock further inside her. She heard him growl, a low, gravelly sound emanating from the depths of his throat that made her impossibly wetter and more flushed.
"Just do it already!" she gasped, her voice sounding quite unlike it usually did. The climax throbbing inside of her was about to burst, making her head pound and her skin grow sticky.
Garrus could also feel the moment approaching. He was amazed at himself for keeping his tame pace, instead of seizing Shepard and entering her fully, as the primal side of him screamed to do. He grabbed either of her thighs and straightened slightly, getting the perfect angle. And without waiting another second, he plunged into her completely, holding nothing back.
Shepard barely managed to stifle her ecstatic cry, emitting a half-squeal, half-gasp instead. Bright spots of color danced before her eyes and her ears started to ring like there was a fucking symphony of angels on her shoulder. The shudder that originated in the base of her spine felt like her world had been caught in an earth-quake, at about a strength of six million on the Richter scale. Garrus gave a little slack before ramming back into her with violent passion. It was like he had filled a hole inside her that she hadn't even known was there, an abyss so immense, one that Garrus had somehow caused to overflow. He thrust forward again, and this time, Shepard didn't attempt to restrain her exclamation of euphoria.
At the rate they were going, it didn't take long at all for Garrus to reach his max. He leaned heavily against her, one hand firmly planted on her hip, the other looped back around her neck, and pulled her up towards him, pressing down at the same time. He moaned at how outrageously awesome it felt. Shepard apparently shared the same sentiment. She heaved into him, catching his mouth against hers for a moment before letting his name roll off her lips in a captivated whisper: "Garrus."
That sent him over the edge. Shepard felt him stiffen against her and an intense burning sensation spread through her like wildfire. Nerves electrified, her back arched and her fingers curled, absolutely petrifying her with animated rapture. Shepard felt like sobbing. Her heart was pumping over time and the rush of blood in her body was making her head spin. It was a feeling so unique, something only Garrus could give her, so different from anything a man of her own species could provide. Or maybe that supernatural euphoria didn't stem from the fact that, to her, Garrus was an alien; perhaps it signified the pure symbiotic connection the two of them had found.
Panting, Shepard breathed her lover's name again. If they weren't meant to be together, Shepard decided that there was no such thing as fate after all.
Still on top of her, Garrus propped himself up on his elbows and brushed Shepard's hair back from her face, sticky with sweat. Her delirium was evident by the stars in her eyes, sparkling on the surface of her blue-gray irises. She blinked a few times, and Garrus realized that there were tear tracks on her cheeks. "You okay?" he inquired softly.
She nodded, eyelashes fluttering as she let her eyes close. Insistently, Garrus nuzzled her cheek, drying a few stray tears with kisses, wiping others away with the back of his hand. Shepard was so stirred by the tenderness of the gesture that it almost brought on a new flood of tears. Exiting slowly, Garrus rolled off her, settling in by her side. He turned to look at her, reaching around to lay his arm across her shoulders. He lightly traced little circles on the skin of her arm, sometimes throwing in the odd smiley face or star pattern. "Glad to hear it, Commander."
The mattress gave in as Shepard scooted closer to Garrus to rest her head on his chest, encircling his waist with her arms. He was warm, still flushed from their love-making, and the steady, rhythmic pace of his heartbeat and breathing that had recently infuriated Shepard was now a huge comfort to her. After a moment, he took his cue to start stroking her hair, which he had learned long ago was something that she was immeasurably fond of. It was so soft and strange and dissimilar to the fringes of turian females, which was something that wasn't half as pleasant to stroke as human hair. Specifically Shepard's hair. Inhaling deeply, Garrus caught the distinct scent of sex and sweat that radiated from both of their bodies.
He held her face by the chin and tilted her mouth upward so he could lean in for a kiss. She tasted salty and sort of sweet at the same time, like a chocolate covered pretzel. Eagerly returning the kiss, Shepard slid upwards, moving closer and putting her hand on the back of Garrus' head. But before they could lose themselves to physical desire once again, Garrus pulled away. "Get some sleep, Shepard. You've had a rather, umm, eventful day."
She gave a soft laugh, letting her fingers ghost over the scars on the side of his face and the tips of his mandibles. "Wonder whose fault that is," she murmured. But he was right: she was drained, and a good hour or two of sleep would make for probably the best afternoon of her two lives.
In response, Garrus kissed the top of her forehead. "Yeah, yeah. Stop complaining."
The commander did as she was ordered, settling back into the pillows. "Are you -... will you be here when I wake up?"
Garrus nodded and slid under the blankets next to her, finding her hand amidst the sheets and taking hold of it. "I promise."
"Okay. Good. That's good." She was about to drift off into sleep when she felt a sharp pain between her shoulder blades. "The fu...?"
Garrus looked over at her questioningly. Irritated, Shepard searched for the cause of her discomfort, chucking it across the room when she located her offender.
Stupid data pad.