**NSFW! (Admit it, you've been waiting to see this one.) NSFW!**
Chapter Twelve: Always With You
It had been a long, quiet night after the Leviathan team returned to the Normandy. A hot shower, a hot meal, and ten hours of uninterrupted sleep had come as an unexpected blessing for James, and he savored those first moments of waking with Kat curled up next to him. He left her in the mess hall with Liara before heading to bed, and passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow. That she had been able to join him without setting off every mental alarm he possessed spoke volumes about their comfort and compatibility with one another.
Propping himself up on one elbow, James looked down at her while she slept. The traces of worry and exhaustion had melted away, and a lock of hair had fallen across Kat's cheek. Gently, he tucked it back behind her ear and pressed his lips to her temple. Deciding it was better to let her rest while she could, he moved to get out of bed, but before he could rise, James felt her hand wrap around his wrist.
"Don't leave," she whispered, voice husky with sleep. His gaze fell on her face again, and her eyes were dark with desire. In a flash, he returned to the bed, Kat's head cradled in his hands and his mouth hovering near her ear.
"Dios mi," he managed to breathe out as her arms wrapped themselves around his neck. "Never, mi corazón. Never."
James took his time to kiss her. Slow, sensual, bone-meltingly thorough, and Kat matched his pace with perfect accuracy. Self-control had never been in his arsenal, but for her he would use it. She was his lifeline. The future he was fighting for. And if he couldn't tell her with words, James knew he could find other ways to show her just how serious he was about her.
Moving one hand down to her hip, he lifted her slightly and rolled across the bed to shift her above him. James felt her feather-light kisses along his neck, trailing up to his ear before she gently nipped at his lobe and traced her tongue across the shell. He couldn't stop the groan from escaping any more than he could resist lifting his groin in response. Kat certainly wasn't going to make an easy time of taking it slow, but he was determined not to rush.
She began to sit up, running her hands down his bare chest before grabbing the hem of her shirt and lifting it. James' hands shot out, stopping her before he saw more than the slim lines of her abdomen, but skimmed his fingers underneath along her ribs. "We have the time, Katherine," he pleaded, brushing the pad of his thumb over the light scar she had received a few weeks prior. "Let's make use of it."
Her expression softened as she reached up to brush her fingers along his jaw, then leaned back in to resume the trail her lips had been making across his neck. Slowly, she moved down across his chest, teasing his nipples and lightly tracing the lines of his tattoo with her nails. Further down, to his belly. Then further, her tongue dipping into his naval. James' breath caught in his throat. Was she going to...
But, no. She didn't. Her mouth veered to his right hip, nibbling at the bone, causing him to buck and squirm at the unexpected jolt of pleasure it caused. His member throbbed inside of his shorts, begging to be touched, but Kat skirted around it as if she knew that by giving attention to it, James would lose all semblance of self-control. He bit back a groan, which resounded as growl deep and low as it rumbled through his chest. As she slowly made her way back towards his head, he saw the corners of her lips twitching and he knew that he was gone, completely and utterly head-over-heels for her.
In a rush of impatience, James lifted Kat into his lap as he pulled himself to a sitting position, tangling a fist in her hair and ravaging her mouth. Gently, he began to lean her back, allowing his lips to follow the same path on her that she had taken on him. James covered one breast with his hand, kneading and squeezing while he captured the pebbled nub on her other between his teeth. When he pulled away, James blew lightly over the damp spot on her shirt, eliciting a squeal of anticipation from Kat. Chuckling, he continued to move down, lapping at her belly button, biting her hips, both of which caused her to arch herself towards him.
James could feel the heat radiating from her core. Could smell her need for him. It was heavy and intoxicating, and he simply couldn't resist running his tongue across her over the thin fabric of her panties. He wanted a taste. Just the tiniest little taste of her...
Katherine bit her lip as James began to slide the undies down her legs, pressing kisses to the insides of her thighs as he did so. He hovered over her sex, breathing onto it and teasing her sensitive clit with one...two...three quick licks while she keened with building desire. As his mouth began to move up her torso, he ran his thumb across her opening, wetting it before continuing where his tongue had left off. By the time he had lifted the shirt over her head to suckle on the breast he had ignored on his last pass, Kat was a writhing mess of sweat and skin beneath him.
He had nearly forgotten about his own state of dress until he felt her feet deftly tugging at his shorts since he was too tall for her to reach them with her hands. James chuckled, moving to assist in her efforts before returning his full attention to her face. He ached to be inside of her, but he wanted to be certain she knew he was in this for the long haul. Kat's eyes danced with need and something else that he dared to believe was mirrored in his own expression.
"Hacerme el amor, Jaime," she pleaded in a gathered breath. "Please?"
"Always, mi corazón," replied James, pressing his lips fiercely against Kat's as he sat them both back up. "Te amare siempre."
Terrified of hurting her, he wanted Kat to take him at her own pace. As she straddled his hips, James buried his face in her neck, resisting the urge to sink his teeth into her flesh when the first touch of her folds enveloped the head of his shaft. She eased herself onto him a mere inch at a time, rising, then taking one more. It was almost painful how tight she was around him, but with each rise and fall she accommodated him until finally he was fully sheathed and had begun to slowly move his own hips.
Time slowed. Or sped up. James couldn't tell for sure. He moved with Kat in a rhythm that nobody else had ever come close to touching. They shifted seamlessly to having James kneeling over her, hands at her waist with her ass off the bed while her shoulders supported her weight. And then he was down with her, torsos sliding together, mouths colliding in heated and desperate kisses. Tension built in them both, and James was desperate to hold on until he knew for certain that she had reached climax.
He read the signs the moment Kat began to peak. The catch in her breath. Pupils dilating to pinpoints. And the guttural scream as she clutched him around the shoulders when the first tremor began. It was the most intense experience James had ever encountered. He clung to Katherine, riding the waves and pumping against her walls before his cries joined her own and he released himself deep within her.
He couldn't see. He couldn't breathe. For seconds afterward, there was just a blissful completeness that consumed the both of them in the aftermath of their lovemaking. But it was James who managed to move first, lifting himself the barest of inches to look upon the woman he would never tire of seeing. Her brown eyes danced as Kat lifted a hand and cupped his cheek.
"Siempre, mi amor?" she asked. He absolutely adored that she used Spanish for pillow talk.
"Always, Katherine," James confirmed. "Si esta guerra me mata, me voy a morir amándote."
Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes at his words, and he wiped them away. They knew the risks. They knew the reality. And still they chose to be together through it all. James planned to cherish every moment with Kat. No regrets.
If this war kills me, I will die loving you, he had told her. But the whole truth was that he would love her until he died, even if they survived the Reapers.
Garrus couldn't sleep worth a damn. Heather had been gone more than the two days she had been anticipating, and there hadn't been a peep from Omega the entire time. She always kept in touch. Always patched him through on the missions he didn't accompany her on. And this one shouldn't have been any different.
Damn Aria and her promises. She was the worst crime boss of them all, manipulating Heather into helping take back the station in return for supplies and soldiers for the war. Not that they didn't need what she offered. And Omega certainly needed to be taken out of Cerberus hands. But still...damn Aria.
Maybe a shower would help. A long hot soak to relax his body and wash away some of the worry. Rolling out of bed...Heather's bed...their bed...Garrus made his way through the cabin towards the wash room. He slept nude...hell, they both did...so there was no worry about littering the floor with his clothes. His talons clicked on the metal floor, echoing strangely as he entered the bath.
He had barely closed the door to the shower and turned on the water when he heard her come into the cabin. It wouldn't have been anyone else. Couldn't have been. Nobody else would dare without announcing themselves first. Not unless EDI had been hacked...
"That you?" he ventured, knowing that if it had truly been someone else, there wouldn't be a response.
"Yeah," she replied, her voice heavy with weariness and tinted with grief.
"Do you need me to..." Garrus started to ask, troubled by her tone.
"No, stay there. I'll be in as soon as I dump my stuff down the chute."
"I never got a message that you were returning," he ventured. Maybe she had just wanted to sneak on board and go straight to bed. It's what he probably would have done.
"I told EDI not to alert anyone. Not you. Not Hackett. I know everyone would have questions and I just..." she paused just long enough to open the door, then continued once she was under the stream of water next to him. "I wanted to see you first. To touch you. To know that you're still here. With me."
For a moment, Garrus was speechless. What in the name of every possible deity had happened on Omega that had caused her to return home in such a state? A flash of light on the mirror caught his eye as he completed the thought, and he spun Heather around with her back to his chest as they looked into it together.
The sight took them both by surprise. There had been vids and holos of the two of them everywhere in the galaxy, not as a couple, but as battlefield comrades. Side-by-side, armed and armored. But they'd never seen how they looked together as a romantic pair. They were different, but they fit. Her soft, pale flesh against his pebbled leathery skin. Her golden brown eyes locked with his blues. Both well-honed and scarred soldiers of their respective species. Garrus would never again understand why anyone could consider them mis-matched. He had never seen a sight so beautiful in his life.
"I'm here," he told her. "With you." As a point of emphasis, he leaned in to nuzzle the side of her neck. Not a sign of sexual intent, but rather one of comfort. Garrus allowed his subharmonics to rumble a bit, hoping to console whatever was troubling his lover. When she finally broke his gaze in the mirror, Heather turned into him and he held her against his chest. "What happened on Omega, Heather?"
"We took the station back..." she replied, leaving it open-ended as she searched for words. After a moment, Garrus had to prompt her to continue.
"And?"
"And the cost was more than Aria thought she'd ever have to pay."
Garrus frantically tried to remember if there was anything Aria held more dear than Omega itself. Not resources. Not eezo. Not even her gangs...
"Oh. Oh, shit!" he exclaimed softly as the thought settled. "Nyreen?"
"Yes," came her muffled response.
And as the water pelted them from the shower above, Garrus held his lover...no, my mate he insisted...while she finally allowed herself to mourn the casualties of war.
*Disclaimer* You know the drill. Bioware. Blah blah blah.
A/N: So, maybe this should've been just Kat and James. Or maybe just Shepard & Vakarian. But both couples are at a turning point in their relationships, and I felt both needed to be heard in this chapter. Also, my Spanish is rusty. If it's screwed up, blame Google Translate. Oh! And read my new story, "Rallying Point" featuring Major Coats. And... and... and... Thank you, as always, for the great response. I love you guys.
