Authors Notes: Thanks to Moony for saving my bloody sanity.

When forever starts

Sparatus sat himself on their bed, while he waited fro Shepard to get dressed. They went to his, now their apartment, where she had a whole wardrobe full of outfits, all paid for by him. He loved to spoil her, spending more on her than he ever did himself. She never asked him for anything, that is probably why he spent so much on her. She worked so hard for people and got very little in return, so he showered her with gifts to show that he appreciated her. But all she ever wanted was his time and love, of which she returned in spades. Now he was on the edge of being open about his love for her, for a human.

He looked up as the door to the bathroom opened, revealing a truly stunning sight. Shepard walked out, wearing a floor length, white, long sleeved gown with a plunging neckline that showed off a teasing amount of her cleavage. Her long back hair, half pinned up with gentle curls flowing down her back and over her shoulders. Her eyes framed by smoky blacks and greys, lips natural with a shine. To Sparatus, she really was a work of art; a true masterpiece.

Shepard waited, hands on hips, tapping her foot in impatiently for him to say something. He was staring at her like it was first time he'd ever laid eyes on her. "Dess?"

"Yes?" He breathed out, very unlike a turian.

"What do you think?"

"You look…..amazing."

"This dress has a treat for you."

"Oh?" He was intrigued.

She turned to the side, revealing a slit in the dress, up to her thigh. "Easy access for you."

In a instant he was in front of her, gripping on to her hips."I like this dress," He whispered in her ear before letting his hand dip inside the dress to caress her thigh.

She gasped at the contact, leaning her body into his, reaching up to caress his fringe. "Dig a little deeper," She breathed out.

He did as she asked, slipping his hand in between her legs. He groaned loudly as he found the treasure within. "No panties. You tease," He growled.

"We're gonna be late." She pulled away from, moving to the mirror to check her hair. "Come on, handsome."

Shepard took a seat in the passenger seat of his sky car, doubt suddenly creeping into her. They were about to go very public with their relationship and she worried about their careers. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Having doubts?" He questioned.

"Not about us. But we humans are still very unpopular with some turians. This could go very badly for you."

"Let me worry about that. What is it that you humans say? "They can like it or lump it." Is that the saying?"

She laughed, leaning over to press a kiss on to one of his mandibles. "That's the polite version."

"I love you, Lexi. I want people to know about us."

"Ok. I just want us to both be a hundred percentage sure about this"

"It'll be fine." He soothed as he landed the sky car. "Half of the room will too busy staring at you to care about our relationship."

Shepard threw her head back in laughter, "Yes, because I'm so nice to look it."

He chuckled as he got out of the car, extending his hand to her, "Even better to touch."

She took his hand, using his help to climb out the car. Her stomach flipped at the idea, that in just a few minutes, everyone would know about their relationship, opening themselves up to criticism. Sensing her apprehension, he pressed his head forward against hers, his hands pulling hers against his chest. "It'll be fine." She nodded, allowing him to lead her to the Presidium ballroom.

The ballroom was vast, decorated quite beautifully with ornaments and flowers found typically on Palaven. Music played, gently echoing through the room, but still quiet enough for people talk. She had heard the music before when going through Garrus' music collection. He had given her access when she mentioned she wasn't sleeping well and it really did help her. They walked down the stairs joining the throng of high ranking turians, catching the end of harshly worded whispers and more vocal opinions. Despite that, Sparatus could help but feeling smug as he had the most beautiful woman in existence on his arm.

They found their seats and to their relief, saw familiar faces sat at the table. Primarch Fedorian was sat to the left of Shepard and Victus was sat to the right of Sparatus, with Oraka, Corinthus, Pallin, Nihlus and some others taking up the other seats but one. "Evening, gentleman," Sparatus greeted. "No women on the go, Septimus?"

"Not right now. What about you?" Shepard knew if turians had eyebrows, one of Oraka's would have been fighting with his hairline.

"No one of that nature," Replied Sparatus smoothly, sounding for a moment like a politician.

Oraka's mandibles flared for a very brief moment. "Well, I hope whomever you've brought knows what she's getting into."
"I think she's well aware of that," Said Sparatus sternly, glancing for a moment at Shepard. "We've discussed the proper protocol."

She said nothing during the exchange, she knew that Sparatus was still technically married and for him to show up with a date was a very delicate subject that could not be taken lightly. She did not want to make his life any more difficult than it already was but it irritated her that they had to do things the turian way, which meant a great deal of subtlety and rules. If it were up to her, she would sit in his lap and kiss him,

just to tell the galaxy to screw off and leave them alone. She did, however, understand the importance of this new relationship being introduced in the public eye. That did not mean she was happy about it.

Sparatus found himself getting lost in Shepard, not paying much attention to his surroundings. She was busy charming everyone on their table, even General Aelianus, his long time rival and staunch anti human campaigner. It awed him at times, how she managed to charm people so easily. He also wondered what he did to get so lucky, to have a woman like her. Such a beautiful, fiery, confident, intelligent and giving woman. For the first time in his forty five years, he finally had the love he so badly craved. He was pulled out of thoughts by a short jab to his right hand side. He turned to Victus, annoyed at the interruption, "What is it?"

"You might want to stop the gazing at Shepard," Victus warned.

"Why?" Victus nodded in a direction behind them, Sparatus following his eyes. His blood ran cold when he saw his family sat at another table, all glaring at him. He was scared, but not for himself, after all, he'd been victim of their abuse for years. He was scared for Shepard's safety, regretting being so open about their love. His entire family despised humans, objecting greatly against Shepard's induction into the Spectres. They were vile people, who would think nothing of making an attempt on Shepard's life. He quickly pulled on Shepard's arm, making a move to stand up, "Lexi, we have to go."

"Why?" He was about to reply when he realised it was too late, they were walking towards him, venom in their eyes.

"Well, Decian, how lovely of you to join your fellow Turians," Said his wife as she came to a stop just short of Victus' chair. "It is a night of honor for our people for once, rather than one for those pink pyjacks."

Sparatus saw Shepard's eyes harden. "Yes, it's nice that our people are being recognized," he agreed. "But, times are changing and before long we might just see ceremonies that honor all species, rather than just one."

His wife snapped her mandibles. "You'd like that, wouldn't you Decian? Then you could flaunt your whores no matter where you were."

"At least he wants to flaunt me," retorted Shepard with a devious smirk.

"Yes, the little human whore. You arent his first whore you know."

"Arent you pregnant with another man's child?" Shepard stood up, putting herself between Sparatus and his family.

His wife snarled, clenching her fists. "The child is Decian's."

Shepard huffed out a laugh, "Errr, its not. I've seen the emails between you and the General." She crossed her arms over her chest, cocking a hip to the side. "You've been banging General Blasius' son for years. Kinda ugly for turian, don't ya think?"

Another older female stormed forward, forcing Sparatus' wife out of the way. "Decian! You are a disgrace to our family and to all turians," She spat. "Cavorting with this human whore. You were mistake that your father and I have been paying for, for over 4 decades. I should have aborted you when I had the chance!"

Shepard was ready to launch herself at the woman when Primarch Fedorian stood up quickly, stepping before her. "That is enough!" He shouted, instantly commanding the quiet in the room. "Decian is a good friend of mine and I like to think Shepard is too. I will not sit here and have them disrespected in such a way."

"Primarch? Are you speaking in defence of this…this human?" General Eranius Sparatus spat.

Shepard left the room as Fedorian ripped the General a new one, off in search of Sparatus. She reasoned that he left the room as his mother reeled off her diatribe towards him. Eventually she found him leaning over a bridge on the presidium. "I hope you don't intend to jump off that bridge. Life would be lonely without you." The noise he made in response nearly broke her heart.

"She wished she aborted me." He pushed his voice in his hands, letting out a low whine. "Am I really that awful?"

Shepard moved in front of him, between him and the railings of the bridge, cupping his face in her hands. "No, no….no. You are a wonderful man, Decian. They don't see what I see, but when I left, Fedorian, Victus, Oraka all stood in your defence. They care about you, I love you. Fuck those vile bastards. They don't deserve you."

"Why are you with me, Lexi?"

"I have a thing for super sexy turians."

He let out a small chuckle, wrapping his arms around her. "There's only one, right?"

She smiled, pressing a light kiss on his mouth plates. "Right. Forget them Deci. You have people around you that care very much about you. We are your family."

He pulled her tight against his body, his face nuzzling her neck. "Spirits, let me keep her forever," He whispered into her hair, barely audible to her human ears.

He heart gave a little flutter when she just about heard his prayer. If he wanted her forever than he could have her, but that was a discussion for another time. All he needed now was to feel loved and wanted. "Lets go and shoot things at the combat sim."

"Only if you keep the dress on."

She barked out a laugh, pulling on his hand. "Ok, but you gotta give me something."

He swatted her ass, making her giggle, "Keep it on and I'll get you off, while you shoot."

The look that he gave her made her weak at the knees. The very thought of them screwing in the combat sim made her blood heat up. "Luckily, no one will be there to witness."

"I'd prefer if they were."

"My, my, Councillor. How bold you have become."

He moved quickly, pinning her against the wall. "That is your influence, Spectre."

"Good or bad?" She bit her lip, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

"Good, but oh so deliciously bad." He pushed her arms above her head, holding them with one hand as he fumbled out with the latches of his pants, furiously pulling them then pushing them down, freeing his throbbing erection. Pulling her leg up to his hip, he entered her quickly, using the wall to support her body.

Shepard felt like she was floating out of her body as her lover pounded into her. She was vaguely aware of the possibility people could catch them, but she just didn't care. They could stand and watched if they wanted. She bit into his neck as he made hard, shallow thrusts, making him groan loudly.

He felt the sting of her bite, sending tingles of electricity throughout his body. His knees buckled as she constricted around his length, the waves of her orgasm tipping him over the edge towards his own completion. With a guttural roar, he came inside of her, filling her with his seed. When she let go of the grip she had on is neck, he pressed his forehead against, eyes locked on to each other as they returned to reality.

"Well that was quite a show," A voice pulled them from their post coital bliss.

Sparatus turned to see his brother leaning against a railing, obviously having watched them for a while. "What do you want, Iden?" He moved in front of Shepard, giving her privacy to sort herself out.

"Decian, aren't you going to share? You were always taught to share." Iden sneered at his brother while darting his eyes towards Shepard.

Sparatus growled at his brother, a feral warning not to approach his mate. "Stay away from, Lexi."

"Lexi. Hmmm, Lexi. How did you get a woman like that, little brother?"

"I'm warning you, Iden."

"It's only a matter of time, little brother. They all leave you for me eventually."

Shepard moved beside Sparatus, taking his hand, "You are vile piece of shit."

"Dont be mad, sweetheart. I'm sure I can give you a better time than he can. Poor little boy that mother should have aborted."

Shepard saw red, moving swiftly, punching him in the face, watching as he fell backwards. "Listen to me, you steaming pile of stale varren shit. You will never be half the man that your brother is. Now go back to that sorry excuse for mother and tell her, I'll fucking kill her if she ever talks to my Decian that way, again." She shook with rage as she resisted the urge to tear him apart. "In fact, if any of you even look at him again, I'll kill the fucking lot of you." She turned on her heels, walking towards Decian, leading him to where their sky car was parked.

Most of flight home was in silence as Shepard let her anger dissipate. He squeezed her knee affectionately, waiting until she responded with a smile. "I love you."

"I love you."

That night, they made slow and gentle love. It was that night they knew that this was forever.