A/N: Well, this went in a direction I wasn't expecting.

This chapter contains sexual content, including mild bondage.

Consider yourself warned :)


"Is this the last box, Li?"

"It is, thank you."

"Hey, maybe next time you move, we could just use biotics to get everything where it needs to be." Shepard huffed as she carried the last box down the stairs. Liara smiled, listening to Shepard grumble something about the various ways to use biotic abilities. She took one final look around the loft-style bedroom; the fish tank had been emptied, and her Prothean relics are stored safely away, ready to be transferred to a museum on Thessia. Heading down the stairs, she looked on as Shepard moved some of the boxes around in the kitchen in order to make it easier to finish loading them up. Liara still couldn't get past the normalcy of the day. She had woken up in Shepard's arms, kissed her goodbye as she headed off for a run, had her wet clothes laundered, and prepared and made breakfast. And now she was watching Shepard – the same Commander Shepard that had spoken to a Reaper, charged into many a Geth Prime and laughed when they exploded, and decimated a Collector base in the Galactic Core – move around in such a normal setting. It has truly been a spectacular morning. But the thought was always there, the little gnawing at the back of her mind, that this was short-lived. That maybe the next Geth Prime wouldn't explode. That the next mission wouldn't end in success. In a few hours, Shepard would be off to save yet another person in need, and Liara would go back to her ship with just the company of Feron and the info drone.

"… and maybe by that point, Kaidan will be less of an ass and he could help too. Three biotics would make quick work… shit, Liara, are you ok?"

Liara looks up and catches Shepard's eyes, tears threatening to fall. Shepard takes a step towards her, but Liara is already moving, throwing herself into Shepard's arms.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Shepard asks with concern, as she draws Liara into a hug. Liara buries her face into Shepard's neck, willing the tears and feeling of panic to go away.

"I'm scared, Shepard." Liara feels Shepard sigh, as she murmurs a gentle 'I know'. Liara recognizes, without a shadow of a doubt, the love that Shepard has for her. She felt it in the meld they shared, she sees it in the way Shepard looks at her, and feels it in the way she's touching her now. But she cannot banish the dreadful feeling of history repeating itself.

"Love, I can't promise you that every mission I take on will have a positive outcome. You know I can't. But I can promise you that I will fight as hard as possible to come back to you. Death couldn't stop me, so I'm fairly certain that nothing else can. And besides… the thought of how mad you'd be if I died again should be enough to keep me out of trouble."

"Shepard, it isn't something to make light of."

"You're right. I guess I just have a different perspective of death nowadays. But seriously, a thousand blood-raging krogan couldn't keep me from coming back to you. You're going to drive yourself insane if you worry like this."

Liara pulls back slightly to make eye contact with her lover, and notices something in her eyes she hasn't seen before; a true belief that Cora Shepard is impervious to everything and anything. A pure confidence in herself and her abilities, and an honest and complete love for Liara. Something clicks in Liara's brain. A subtle change in the way she sees Shepard. The awareness that Shepard views herself like this bolsters Liara's confidence. Fate couldn't be that cruel. She has to believe in Shepard, and trust her as much as Shepard trusts herself.

"You're right." Liara says, the look of realization evident in her eyes.

Shepard's lips quirk into a smile.

"'Atta girl. I knew you'd come around."

Liara looks fondly into her Commander's eyes, and as if magnetically drawn, her lips find Shepard's. A passionate kiss envelops them both. Liara's hands tangling into Shepard's hair, she gently tugs as she bites Shepard's lip. A sharp intake of breath is reciprocated with a nudge backwards, as Liara pushes Shepard closer to the counter. Untangling her hands from her hair when she feels the resistance of Shepard's lower back making contact with the surface, Liara runs her hands down Shepard's arms, gently removing her hands from her hips and placing them on the countertop.

"What're you doing?" Shepard asks curiously, raising an eyebrow as she breaks the kiss to come up for air.

"Finding a new use for biotic abilities." Liara replies slyly, as she generates a small stasis field around one of Shepard's hands, temporarily binding it to the countertop. "May I?"

Shepard's eyes dart to Liara's, and her mouth drops open slightly. "Yeah… you certainly may."

Liara generates a second stasis field around Shepard's other hand. Moving further forward, standing between Shepard's legs, Liara leans forward to kiss her neck as her hands move to undo her jeans. Liara feels the rapid pulse just below the surface of the skin she is kissing, and trailing downwards, stops just at the top of the tank-stop Shepard is wearing. Achieving her goal of undoing the jeans, she moves her hands below the waistband, making contact with Shepard's skin as she slides them down her legs. Now kneeling in front of her lover, Liara looks up with a mischievous grin on her face. She sees Shepard swallow hard, and notes the rapid rise and fall of her chest.

Starting at her calf, Liara trails a line of kisses up to Shepard's knee, to her thigh, to her hip bone. Her right hand is following the same path on the other leg, leaving behind a trail of goose bumps. With one hand on Shepard's hip, Liara deposits a single kiss at her core. Shepard's hips involuntarily move, seeking more of the contact. She draws in a breath, muttering a single expletive.

"Fuck."

Liara smiles wickedly, running a finger along the top of Shepard's underwear. She can see Shepard struggling against the stasis fields, testing their strength; they are not that strong, as most of Liara's concentration is elsewhere. She knows Shepard could break them if she really tried. But she seems more than content to leave them be, as Liara starts to move the underwear out of the way. Liara kisses each portion of skin revealed as the garment is removed, purposely avoiding the one thing she knows Shepard wants.

It isn't until the underwear is completely out of the way does Liara concede. Running her tongue along Shepard's sex causes the exact reaction she was looking for; another expletive, followed by a soft moan escaping her lips. Encouraged by the sound, Liara repeats the motion, this time focusing on one single spot for a moment longer. Revelling in a taste that is so similar to her own, Liara's tongue begins dancing in small circles, slowly stoking the fire. She can feel Shepard's legs trembling, but she knows it isn't from any type of exertion.

Shepard's hips are now moving in time with Liara's motions, her forearms straining against their bonds. Liara places a hand on Shepard's hip to control the movements, and the fingers of her other hand join her tongue. Running two fingers along the soft folds, Liara can feel the silky wetness, and slowly slides them inside her lover.

"Fuck, Liara." Shepard exclaims, the rise and fall of her chest increasing rapidly, the muscles in her legs tensing as a fierce need starts to build in her belly. Liara times her movements so that every circle, every flick of her tongue, is interspersed with a thrust of her hand. She can feel the momentum causing Shepard to come close to the edge, and as Shepard throws her head back and begs her not to stop, Liara increases the tempo. Within moments, she hears her lover cry out as her body tenses around her fingers, soft pulsations sending ripples of desire through Liara's own body.

Liara stands up as Shepard's breathing slowly starts to return to normal. She removes the stasis fields and watches Shepard's half-lidded eyes come into focus.

"That… that was… something else." Shepard manages with a soft exhale.

"Well, you were muttering something about various uses of biotic abilities earlier." Liara responds coyly as she leans into her lover, kissing her on the cheek.

"Yeah. I guess I was."

Shepard takes Liara's hand in hers, and bringing it to her lips, kisses her palm. Her green eyes dancing mischievously, she looks into Liara's.

"My turn."