Nihlus had never been onboard human vessel for this long before, and he was finding it difficult to adjust. On a turian ship, one could usually find a willing partner to unwind with at the end of a long day, which was more or less expected. He'd been on the giving and receiving end of his share of bedding requests, and it had made deep-space missions much more bearable. These humans, on the other hand . . . he had no idea how they stayed sane with their puritan regulations and sterile working relationships.

There were some, however, who could have a sexual encounter without bringing emotional baggage into play. He just had to flush out who they were and hope they weren't opposed to turians. That list, he gathered, was ridiculously small and the chances of him finding anyone on the Normandy who was up for a one-or-two-night-stand was about equal with the chances of having an intellectual discussion with a thresher maw.

Five days in, they were still tooling around the galaxy, putting the new ship through her paces. It was a gorgeous ship, to be sure; the jewel in the Alliance's crown, and it would have made the Hierarchy proud, too, had it been the turians' to keep. The all-human crew was more than capable, and the pilot had obviously been all but living inside a simulator for the past few months given how familiar he was with the controls. Nihlus had also been keeping an eye on Shepard, the resident Staff Commander, and her ability to inspire loyalty in a short time frame was unmatched. He'd never seen someone able to get so many under her command to follow her not just because they had to, but because they wanted to. She would make an excellent Spectre, if she was up for the task. He'd already laid out the next few assignments he wanted to take her on and, with any luck, she'd be a full-time operative within a month.

This morning, he'd had to go immediately to a briefing with Anderson, but had the next hour or so to be idle in his cabin. Anderson had very courteously offered his own quarters, and the pair of them took turns sleeping. The crew, he gathered, would not have taken kindly to the presence of a turian in their quarters any more than he would have been comfortable sleeping defenseless among them. This way, he had a space to himself to rest, and do . . . other things. It was one of those other things that occupied his mind today, and he tried not to look hurried as he made his way to the captain's cabin.

He took his time taking off his armor, his three-fingered hand moving over the catches and stopping every so often to tease the softer flesh between his plating. It had been too long since he'd indulged, and as he stripped out of his undersuit his blood began to heat with anticipation. He stretched languorously down to unhook the suit from his spurs and remembered the simple pleasure of having an audience during this part. Nihlus had never been one to just jump right in—he preferred to draw out the foreplay and drive his partners crazy before finally, finally sliding into them, into her . . . all soft skin and quiet moans, and thick red hair on the pillow as he thrust deep into her—

He stopped suddenly, surprised at where his thoughts were taking him, but just this once . . . it couldn't hurt just this once. He straightened up, now fully bare to the cool air circulating through the ventilation systems. The bed was harder than he'd expected from humans, but it was comfortable just the same as he slid up to lean against the wall, massaging his waist and the inside of his knee. His thoughts drifted until he was back where he'd left off, undressing the commander with care, following his touch with his tongue, savoring the slightly spicy taste of her sweat as she whispered his name—

"Nihlus, I was wondering if I could—oh, god."

His eyes flew open and he snapped his legs shut, but the gap between his thighs was too wide to conceal what was going on between his plates. Shepard stood in the doorway with a forgotten datapad in her hand and shock on her face, and Nihlus was just trying to figure out how to salvage the situation when her face changed, shock replaced by something much more . . . provocative.

"Am I interrupting something?" she asked, waiting for him to kick her out. He eyed her cautiously, hoping he wasn't misreading her signals, and moved his knees an inch apart. Her gaze fell to his legs, her eyes heavy-lidded and very interested in what he had to offer. Oh, this was a most welcome development, he thought.

"I was just thinking about you," he said, dropping his subvocals a few pitches into a low bass rumble that would have made his intentions obvious had she been a turian. She stepped inside and set the datapad on the table, but made no move to come closer.

"Were you, now? And what kinds of thoughts were you having about me?" She settled into a metal chair and folded her legs under her, looking at him like she wanted nothing more in the world than to cross the room and eat him alive. "I don't suppose they involved gunfire and dead bad guys, did they? Although, if that's what creams your Twinkie, who am I to judge?" Her lips curled up in a small smile, and Nihlus felt his own mandibles widening in response. He let one leg fall open to the mattress and she bit her lip.

"No, you weren't in your armor this time."

"So, what was I doing in your little fantasy, then? I want to hear all about it," she said, touching the buttons on her shirt, "in great detail."

He shuddered, and his other leg dropped to the bed. With one hand he traced the skin of his stomach, and with the other ran his finger up the slit in his plates. They were loosening, becoming more pliant, and he dipped one taloned finger inside to coat it in his own juices before returning to stroking himself.

"I started by taking off your shirt," he said, and she started opening her uniform top, watching him as she deliberately undid every button. "Your neck was so tempting that I had to taste it, and take in your scent." She tilted her head back and rubbed her neck, running her fingers down her throat to the cups of her bra. Nihlus gulped and continued, sliding his fingers through the moist outer folds of his sex as they parted under his touch. "And then, once I had your shirt off, I started working on your pants."

"I really like where this is going," she said huskily as she stood to take her pants off.

"Oh, you have no idea." That got a throaty, sexy laugh from her and he groaned, fingering himself. He could feel his stiffening cock beginning to emerge, and he had to reach deep inside himself to tease the head. By the Spirits, she was turning him on so much. He wished she would just come over and touch him already, but this game they were playing was much more exciting than he'd imagined. Of course, he always did like an audience.

"What did you do to me next, Nihlus?" she asked, and slid her fingers just under the waistband of her panties. "Tell me."

"You put your arms around me and did that thing that humans do . . . with your lips . . ."

"I kissed you?"

"Yeah, that. You kissed me and whispered, 'I want you to touch me.'"

"I sound really sexy."

Nihlus' mandibles flared and the warmth between his legs ratcheted up suddenly as his cock slid out from its sheath. Shepard watched, fascinated and lust-addled as he made a fist around his shaft and stroked himself slowly. Her eyes shut as her hand disappeared into her underwear and she started touching herself, and he could see the wet spot on the crotch of her panties pulled tight around her knuckles. He wondered what it would feel like to be inside that wet pussy of hers that smelled of something dark and unnamable, musk and sex.

"So," he continued, his subvocals flanging, "you laid down on the bed—"

"This bed?"

"Yes, this one." She nodded and she put two fingers inside her while she watched him. They were across the room from each other, but it felt incredibly intimate all the same, making eye contact with her while she pleasured herself. "And I, ah . . . took your panties off to look at you." She sighed shakily and pulled her hand out to pull her underwear down and off, tossing them over to him. He took them and rubbed the fabric between his fingers, then brought them to his nose to take in her scent. His cock throbbed in his hand and he let out a moan as she started touching herself again, only this time he could see exactly what she was doing, and what she was withholding from him. He wanted to bury his face in her sweet cunt and lick her until she couldn't speak anymore, but that would be for another day.

"Did you touch me, Nihlus? Did you put those big, rough, turian hands on me?" she swallowed hard as she rubbed the little bud at the top of her sex, panting as she did.

"All over you, Shepard." At the sound of her name in his mouth, her hips bucked and she thrust her fingers into herself with a cry. He felt his climax coming closer. "I was touching you and tasting your skin, until you begged me to fuck you—"

"Yes—"

"And I pulled your legs up around me, and when I slid into your wet, aching body—"

"Oh, Jesus, I'm so close." Her fingers moved faster inside her and she had to lean back against the table, her foot up on the chair, opening herself to him. He fucked his hand and used the other to dip into his slit and press against the wet flesh there. He was close, too, but he kept his eyes on hers, willing her to wait for him.

"—and you felt so good, so fucking good . . . Shepard, I . . . oh, Spirits-" He let out a growl and doubled over his hands as his orgasm hit him like a freight train, and he heard Shepard moaning and gasping through her own. He forced his eyes open and found her still watching him, her green eyes intent on his body, and his hips jerked as he coated his stomach in cum. He kept stroking himself, lighter and more slowly than before, until the last of the aftershocks passed and he fell back against the wall with a sigh.

When he looked back up again, Shepard was buttoning up her pants, her uniform shirt hanging open over her breasts. Nihlus looked down at his hand and saw that he was still holding her panties. "I think you forgot something," he said, waving them at her, but she just smiled at him and walked casually over, folding his fingers around the small swatch of fabric.

"Keep them. It'll give me an incentive to come back again." Her cheeks flushed pink and she added, "If you want me to come back, that is."

"I do." Nihlus stood, still nude, and put his arms around her, drawing her in against his body. She went willingly, and stood up on her toes to place a kiss on his right mandible. He helped her finish buttoning her shirt, and she left him, with just one backward glance before the doors slid shut behind her.