I realized there has been a decided lack of fluff in the stuff I have written so far. The matter has now been remedied. Enjoy some fluff.
Inspired in part by art from Joe Black. Google for the original at Deviant Art with Romance-on-Omega-Thane-and-Jane-336765802. Although I set it on Illium instead of Omega.
"Flying"
"I have something I want to show you," he'd whispered last night. "Take the noon skimmer to Nos Sedna. I'll send you something in the morning." No amount of cajoling would convince him to reveal more, and he was unfortunately immune to tickling. He had been gone when she woke in the morning, Life Support empty and even his tea mug cold.
His present turned out to be the sexiest set of black leather pants and jacket she had ever seen, coupled with a turquoise blue silk tank shirt that set off her eyes and complexion beautifully. The pants looked painted on and had taken an embarrassing shimmy to get them up, but when they were on, she couldn't help but smile at what she saw in the mirror. She had curves. Gone was the Commander, and in her place was someone who looked like she lived for adventure of a different sort. Less life threatening and more life affirming.
The leather pants were buttery soft against her skin, and the silk was so soft and fine it felt sacrilegious to wear a bra underneath it, but given that she had no idea what they were going to do today, it seemed the prudent thing to do. Unlike Thane's jacket, hers was form fitting, hugging her close. It stopped just at her waist, so a flash of turquoise showed when she moved.
Almost her entire life had been lived in uniforms or sweats, and she'd always treated fancy clothing as a ridiculous waste of time and credits. There was only so much room in a military footlocker, so why waste it with frivolities like this, but now, running her hand back and forth over the leather, feeling how sensuous it was under her hand and how it made her feel, she was seriously reconsidering that decision.
Disembarking the skimmer, she took her time walking along the seawall, watching the birds swirl and dive into the ocean after the shimmering green fish. The weather was much cooler than in Nos Astra, and she was glad for the warmth of her jacket. She took a deep breath of the salt-tinged air and relaxed against the rail. This was a rare day off, and she intended to enjoy every second of it. For this one short day, she refused to think about the mission ahead or the difficulties she still faced in getting her crew and ship ready. Today she would pretend she was one of the people she saw walking along the seawall, enjoying the day and their families, concerned with nothing more than living a good life.
Nos Sedna was a sleepy town, and even here by the port, traffic wasn't particularly heavy. Most tourists preferred to stay in Nos Astra. The majority of traffic was heavy trucks hauling cargo and foodstuff, so the rumbling sound she heard was so out of place that she turned around to try and find the source. Her eyes picked it out almost immediately. It was a sleek black motorcycle that purred like a leashed predator as its driver weaved in and out of traffic. The driver's silhouette was achingly familiar, and she wasn't surprised in the least when Thane stopped the bike in front of her.
They stayed like that a moment, each assessing the other and liking what they were seeing. "Nice bike," she commented.
"You are beautiful, siha," he said as a rare smile touched his lips. "Seeing you like this is a memory I shall cherish."
She grinned as she leaned in and kissed him. "You are such a flatterer." She got on behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I didn't know you had a bike," she yelled over the road noise.
She felt his shrug. "Rented. I did some work here years ago. Motorcycles and skimmers are the most efficient way to travel the coast, and skimmers are too easy to track." They reached the edge of town and traffic eased up on the highway that ran along the coast. Between the wind and engine, it was too noisy to talk, so she relaxed against him and watched the scenery roll by. The ocean was tinged green and silvery fish frequently jumped from wave to wave, chased by hungry sea birds. The other side of the highway consisted of low rolling hills, carpeted with drifts of orange and purple flowers that blazed in glorious color under the warm sun.
They rode for well over an hour and the coastline gradually became hillier, forcing the road to curve more and more. She realized Thane had a love of speed, twisting the throttle and accelerating rapidly anytime the road straightened out. She blinked out of her semi-trance when she felt him brake and pull into an overlook. The silence was deafening at first, then as her ears adjusted, she heard the waves crashing against the rocky shore below them. The birds wheeled overhead, cawing raucously. She slipped off the bike and walked to the edge of the overlook. There was no barrier to keep people away from the cliff's edge, and she could see how erosion had carved out a part of the edge some years ago. The road was empty and had been for kilometers.
Thane followed and wrapped his arms around her, cradling her back to his front. Together they looked out over the ocean, silently enjoying the view as well as each other's company. Eventually, Thane spoke, his rumbling voice quiet and vibrating through her body pressed up against his chest as she was. "I miss the ocean," he admitted. "It was ever present for most of my childhood. On Kahje, Irikah chose an apartment that overlooked the ocean, and on sunny days, it looked something like this. For too many years, I have been living surrounded by concrete and plas-steel, thinking only of contracts and targets. When I accompanied you to Nos Astra the other day, I looked out over the skyline and was struck by the fact that I had never taken the time to enjoy the view. It was beautiful. And so I wanted to share the ocean with you today, to ensure we both took the time to enjoy something that is beautiful."
She leaned her head back on his shoulder and considered his words. "This is wonderful. I spend so little time planetside that I usually never have time to look for places like this. Thank you for showing it to me." She felt him smile against her cheek as he turned to nuzzle against her hair. The wind had tossed it into knots that would take forever to comb out, but she didn't care right now.
"I assume Mordin spoke to you as well, siha?"
She felt her cheeks blush even in the cool air. "Um...yeah. It was an...interesting conversation." She couldn't keep her growing attraction to Thane a secret and even their notoriously distracted salarian doctor had finally taken note and offered her some friendly advice, as well as educational pamphlets and vids and offered to mix up any creams or ointments she might need.
He laughed softly and hugged her tighter. "For me, as well. Did he warn of potential hallucinogenic effects?"
She nodded, a goofy embarrassed smile on her face. "He certainly made it sound...intriguing."
He turned her around in his arms. They were almost the same height and seeing the emerald glints in those fathomless black eyes took her breath away. "I confess, I had another reason for asking you here today." At her questioning look, he smiled and continued. "I thought we could...experiment, in privacy and without the duties of command hanging over your head."
Oh goodness! Her stomach dropped to her toes, taking any remaining air in her lungs with it. She realized she had been staring into his eyes for an unaccountably long moment, thinking about his perfectly shaped lips. He leaned in and nudged his patrician nose against hers. "Yes? No?"
"Yes," she sighed against his lips. "I like the way you think, Sere Krios."
"And I like the way you feel pressed up against me, siha. The leather suits you well," he complimented as his hands stroked down her side and settled on her hips.
"So like a man," she teased. "I compliment you on your brain; you compliment me on my body.'
He pulled her hips tight against his. "I have already spent many evenings exploring the delights of your nimble mind when we talk. Today I want to explore the rest of you."
She laced her hands behind his neck and pointedly looked up and down the long, deserted roadway. "Really? Here?"
He laughed. She loved how relaxed he was today. The normal stoic calm was nowhere to be seen, and he seemed delighted to let his hands explore the curves of her lower body. "Not everything. I prefer to save the best for a more intimate setting, but today I intend to discover just how sensitive you are to my hallucinogen." He dipped his head and brushed her lips with his. "This might take a while," he warned before he covered her mouth with his.
She met him eagerly, learning the shape of his lips with her own. They were as perfect as she'd imagined, soft and with an odd ridge in the middle. He started off slowly, placing soft kisses on the center and then each corner of her mouth. They spent minutes just exploring the various ways two sets of lips could meet and touch, slowly and without words discovering how much pressure each preferred, the way to hold your head just so.
His mouth opened against hers, urging her to do the same. She discovered that a drell's tongue was wider and rougher, with small bumps she could feel against her own. He had a spicy taste, like cloves and bitters. He nipped her tongue with his teeth as one hand slip up underneath her jacket to press against the small of her back. Before she had realized it, his hand was caressing the bare skin of her back and she had straddled his leg. His other hand cupped her behind, pulling her tight against him. The leather felt incredible against her skin. It was practically a second skin on its own, letting her feel his hand stroking against her and his leg pressed between her legs as if the leather wasn't even there.
She didn't know how long they had been kissing when he pulled back slightly. She moaned in protest at losing those wonderful sensations. She stared at his face, entranced, and reached up to trace the lines where his face plates met at his lips and back to the fringe. That led her to trace her fingers along the edge of his fringe back to where it disappeared under his collar. He had never been so beautiful, here with the sun shining gently overhead, hearing the ocean and birds around them. This was how she wanted to remember him. Not as an assassin, dealing death from the shadows, but as a gentle lover whose biggest concern was finding the perfect weekend bike ride for himself and his girlfriend. Maybe in some other life this was who they were, not soldiers in a deadly war, but simply two people who met and fell in love and had a perfectly normal, boring, and wonderful life.
"I said, have you noticed anything?"
"Huh?" He was smiling at her. She had a feeling he'd asked her that a couple of times already. "Oh. Um..." She looked out over the ocean and watched as the sparkles from the water jumped up in the air to chase the birds around. Up on the hillside, the flower drifts were undulating and mixing together in a way she was pretty sure they didn't normally. "Maybe a little. You're gorgeous," she told him. That was the most important thing right now. "You move so fast, you know that? And strong," she added, squeezing his shoulder through his coat. "I love that you're strong" A stray thought crossed her mind that she was being far too free with her words, and if she wasn't careful, she might admit more than she was ready to.
However, Thane effectively knocked that thought out of her head when he reached down and picked her up with his hands cupping her bottom. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and somehow she ended up pressed up intimately against him. Sex with their clothes on, she thought briefly. "I think you are definitely affected," he rumbled. "We should see how much more severe it could be. Just to be sure."
"Uh huh," she agreed breathlessly and pulled his head toward her. She wasn't in the mood for slow and gentle anymore. This time, she took charge, devouring his lips with hers, pushing for more. To her delight, he responded in kind, meeting her kiss for kiss. His hands kneaded her backside and she realized she was rocking against him. He'd said he wanted to leave something to explore more privately, but the way their leathers fit, not much was left to the imagination.
Her skin felt electric. The silk of her shirt whispered against her skin, and she was really regretting putting on a bra that morning. The way her leather pants clung to her legs felt like an all over sensual hug that never stopped. The world narrowed down to the incredible man in her arms as she dropped her head and kissed and bit her way along his jaw. "More," she whispered, pleading with words and touch.
When he set her back on her feet, her hands went to the intricate buckles on his jacket, but his hands covered hers and held them still. "Not here," he whispered against her ear and then bit down gently on it, drawing a low moan from her.
"I don't care," she whined.
He laughed softly. "I do. I can think of many better places than a somewhat deserted highway, and you deserve nothing less." He stepped back, and she could see how he was affected. His inner eyelids were nictitating much more frequently than usual, and even through the thick leather of his pants, she could see evidence of his arousal. Without a bit of shyness, she placed her hand over it, feeling the heat and thickness. He swept her close again and growled low against her neck. "There's a small town up ahead, and the Normandy isn't scheduled to lift until tomorrow evening. Do you need to be back tonight?"
She blinked rapidly and chewed on her lip as she thought. "You probably should have asked me that earlier," she told him slowly. "Because right now, the Normandy can sit in port for the next month for all I care."
His answering smile was nothing short of devilish. "Then let it sit, although I promise to have you back to it tomorrow. Come. It's another hour north." He led her by the hand back to the bike, and she couldn't get rid of the grin on her face, although it probably made her look completely goofy.
She climbed on behind him, wrapping her arms tight against his midsection. The motorcycle roared as Thane sped back onto the highway and ratcheted the throttle forward. She laid her cheek against his back and looked out over the ocean. Sea birds were diving into the water and the fish were flying through the air, performing a delicate acrobatic display. The sparkles from the water were lifting off and darting between both birds and fish. She sensed there was an underlying pattern that was extraordinarily complex, but all she cared for was the beauty of the interplay between these avatars of nature.
She lifted one arm out straight with her hand parallel to the ground and felt the air push it up or down depending on how she tilted her hand. Her hand flew up and down, mimicking the birds and fish over the ocean as the road rolled by underneath. She was flying, the only thing keeping her tethered to this world was the solid warmth of Thane in his leather jacket. This day was absolutely perfect, and she admitted to herself that she loved the man in front of her. For now, there was only today, only Thane, and only the sense of flying that he had given here. For now, that was enough.