A/N: Just a little something that popped in my head when I saw a post somewhere about someone complaining about someone diverting a turian lover's fill with something else. I decided to throw a little turian loving out there for those Shakarian shippers out there.

Disclaimer: Mass Effect belongs to Bioware, I'm only playing with their universe. I do not own the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. I do it for the love of the game, the world, and the characters; and because they stuck with me long after I turned the game off (and back on, and off, ad infinitum).

Cover image used in accordance with terms of Fair Use from source: Mass Effect Wikia ( wiki/Mass_Effect_Wiki).

Calibrating Dreams

When Garrus pulled the pillow to his body, the purring groan that escaped his lips made her smile as she leaned against the model case at the top of the stairs sipping her coffee. He'd been making that sound off and on for the last hour or so, and a deep down she really wanted to know what he was dreaming about. Though there was a part of her that wondered if she might rather not know. Could be he's thinking about calibrating that goddamn gun, that would certainly work a number on your ego.

She shook it off and finished off her coffee as she padded to the bathroom for a shower. It surprised her to find him still asleep and curled around her pillow twenty minutes later. She mussed her short black hair dry with the towel as she padded across the room. When she reached the bed she wrapped the towel around herself and tilted her head as she watched him. The smile that curved her lips was soft and she pressed her fist to her lips to stifle the giggle when he started nipping at the corner of the pillow, humming contentedly.

She leaned over the edge of the bed and ran her finger tips from his forehead back along the fringe, the hum intensified. Maybe he's not dreaming about the Thanix after all, she thought as she repeated the movement. The third time she pressed her entire hand along the same path with just a little more pressure, leaning a little closer and whispering his name.

Hugging her pillow more tightly to him, he bent his head toward it and growled a little more deeply. It was cute and all, but the sounds he was making were working on her the way they usually did. Except the object of his attention was not her. She stood there and glared at the bed a little surprised that she could be jealous of a sack of feathers.

"Vakarian!" she called sharply.

He looked a little surprised to see her standing beside the bed, rather than next to him. He looked at the pillow clutched to his chest them back at her. Apparently, she'd shocked the turian into a stupor for the moment.

"Please tell me that when you moan like that in your sleep you're not dreaming about calculus," Shepard chuckled as she leaned over him.

Garrus cleared his throat and placed her pillow back on her side of the bed as he leaned up on one arm. "I was not moaning."

"Oh yes you were. Would you like me to play the audio?"

"You taped it?" he asked scandalized.

"Of course not," Shepard assured as she sat on the side of the bed. "So was it the calibrations?" she asked with a playful glint in her eyes.

How the hell did you end up with such a tech head? It was a question she asked herself a lot. She was a soldier, through and through. All guns and firepower. More than once she'd been likened to a plate-less krogan. She was all about face-to-face physical confrontation. But Garrus brought something out in her. He could take her rough side and roll with it. But he could also make her purr like a kitten. Vakarian was the only man that ever made Shepard feel like a woman, feel soft and demure, despite being six-foot-one.

"You really think math could make me moan?"

"I've heard you practically orgasm when that gun is set just right," she argued with a smile.

Garrus let the tip of one digit trace little circles on the inside of her knee. "Okay. Then do a little math with me Shepard."

He scooted a little bit closer to her, looming over her, only the way he could. The circles continued as his other hand moved up her arm. "I was sprawled across the width of the bed, right?"

"Uh huh," she replied softly.

"When did the moaning start?"

"About an hour ago."

"Before or after you got out of bed?" His arm moved across her shoulder lightly.

"After."

"Mmm." His eyes watched the backs of his talons slide up and down the side of her neck. Then he wrapped his hand around the column, making the same motion.

"When I came back up from the mess you started manhandling the pillows," she offered.

"I see," he replied, his voice thick with the low reverberation that always swore she could feel in her gut.

His hand moved across her chest and untucked the towel, flipping the ends away to reveal her warm flesh. Until a talon swept against her labia, she hadn't realized that the circles had moved up her thigh. The little gasp of surprise the touch inspired made him hum in approval.

"So, you were saying," he continued, eyes locked on hers as his hands touched her lightly-one between her legs, the other dancing lithely across her torso.

"You…" Shepard licked her lips, fully aware of the speed at which she was breathing. "You were nuzzling it and purring."

"Ah. And did I do anything else?"

Garrus was toying with her. Shepard knew it, and she didn't care.

"You bit it."

"Really?" he asked with a telling flutter of his mandibles. "How did I bite it?"

Her head fell back in a deep gutteral sigh when a digit slipped into the wetness between her thighs. It barely entered her, just enough to tease before he drew it back to the apex where it circled the hood and moved back downward. The motion was slow and tortorous.

"Excuse me, Commander. In order to make an accurate determination, I will need you to disclose all pertinent information."

Shepard took a ragged breath and bit her bottom lip as she looked back at him. "Nipping. Light little bites."

"Any tugging at all or purely biting?"

How can you be so goddamn calm?

It's like he saw the question in her eyes, because as if in response the digit thrust into her deeply, curling before he removed it again. Her breath quickened in response.

"Just biting." She swallowed hard and licked her lips as her eyes fluttered. "I didn't see any tugging. I don't think."

"So let me get this straight," he began, amusement ringing clear in his voice. "Biting, no tugging, right?"

Shepard nodded, breathing heavily. Her hands were tightly gripping the sheets as she leaned back ever so slightly, while his hand moved expertly between her thighs. The other ghosted across her chest, shoulders, and purposely avoiding her breasts. And with his last question, she thought she understood why.

Garrus nodded. "Like this then?" he asked leaning forward, and nipping at her right nipple. She couldn't help but gasp each time he bit it lightly. He looked up at her for a moment. "Or was it more like this?" He moved to the left and with each bit he gently tugged before releasing it. That motion made her body react and her hips ground against his hand.

"Hmm. Interesting. Should I demonstrate again?" he queried. Vakarian didn't wait for a response, but repeated the actions again. Alternating the bites and salving each with his careful tongue.

"Garrus," Shepard begged breathily.

He leaned up and loomed over her again, his mouth inches from hers, his bright eyes locked on hers. "I was asleep. Purring, as you put it, and biting your pillows. And you think I was dreaming about calculus?"

She smiled and tried to chuckle, but it was too desire laden to sound anything akin to the intended sound. "I was rather hoping it wasn't, but a girl has to think about her ego."

He pressed his mouth to hers and she moaned heavily at the feel of body against hers. As his hand moved with renewed purpose his mouth traveled down her neck to her chest again, nipping at her skin along the way. The turian was intent and even her hand stroking along his fringe didn't deter him. Her body tensed and his mouth returned to hers as he continued to play her body to a forceful climax. Shuddering beneath him, Garrus pressed his forehead to hers, staring into her eyes until they fluttered closed involuntarily, as she moaned, "Vakarian."

Garrus nipped her on the neck before her hands cupped his face and pulled his lips back to hers. "I still don't know why you always call me that then?"

She smiled softly. "Everyone calls you Garrus. Only I ever call you Vakarian."

"You're right," he agreed.