Red & Blue 2 : In Search of Shelter

by Bryoche

WORK IN PROGRESS : I am currently working on this story. 5/6 Chapters are complete. This is the continuation of the story "C-Sex : Blue & Red" featuring the same duo of character. Set during the events of Mass Effect 3, in between the Cerberus Coup and the Fall of Thessia, this is the story of a human meeting back with his alien lover. Chapter 3 and 5 of this story are very NSFW !

5. Part V - Crucible

Part V - Crucible

After he finished drying up his ruffled beard, he wrapped the damp red towel around his waist, as a small measure of modesty, before finally leaving the oppressively steamy bathroom. He was surprised by the chilly temperature of her apartment, and he hurried toward the nearby bedroom as his goosebumps formed on his skin. He passed the threshold of her darkened room and, as if a ghostly tendril was pulling at his very core, felt like falling back in time. He recognized the subtle smell of her room, one that was going straight to his head like a narcotic.

A slightly metallic tinge mixed with the perfume of a lived-in bed. Somehow, the smell of burnt copper, like the one from spare thermal clips, also hung slightly in the air.

Warm. Welcoming. It smelled like her. It smelled just like he remembered.

Her bedroom windows gave a view on a shadowy part of the ward, and through slitted blinds was mostly filtering the vivid neon colors of nearby holographic advertisements. Golden orange from Rosenkov Materials turning, into the harsh pink and indigo of Mako-51 Holographics Design, and morphing anew into the spring green of Tidal Hydroponics, and everything was bathing in the same dark blue, purplish color of the surrounding Widow Nebula. The lights were being reflected on some of the hard edges of her furniture, highlighting the modest and utilitarian decorum of her room in dancing colors. On the corner of his eye, he caught the aquiline silhouette of a turian frigate model, where a discreet point of blue light indicated where her portable laptop resting place.

And in the angle of the room, forming a wide diagonal rectangle towards him, was the bed that was linked to many honeyed memories. It was a little too narrow and led to being pricked in the middle of the night by his sleepy lover spikey bits, but it was a comfortable bed. He recognized the two oversized pillows and the smaller, tougher, squarer one that s he liked to use as a headrest. Finally, sitting cross-legged on the middle of the quilted duvet, was the ruler of this small domain. Her.

He sighed, basking in the eerie atmosphere of her bedroom. Her place felt like a peaceful and bittersweet sanctuary.

Yet... Something felt strangely amiss. A piece of the puzzle that he barely remembered but yet was sure it was not there. A frown fell on his face, what was missing to this place?

"Looking around?" she asked, tilting her head slightly on the side as she watched him tour the obscure room.

"Reminiscing."

He could easily make out the outline of her naked figure. The ridges and harsh edges of her collarbone and mask-like face were backlit by the vivid, colorful lights. Her eyes were marked by two green gleams turned toward him, contrasting with the dark color of her markings that streaked her face. A bright golden sparkle, located on the inside of her open thighs caught his gaze.

There it was, the last piece of the puzzle.

An eye. On her thigh.

An ember shining in the dark. Filled with the rage of a million raging stars.

It was adorning the dour face of a krogan plushie, his miniature fists balled out at righteous anger at being cradled and hugged so close to his turian lover. His blood-rage angry face made a comical contrast to his situation, as if he was boiling with infinite furor at suffering the highest form of disgrace possible for a stuffed toy: hiding a turian girl's womanhood from a lecherous human's wandering gaze.

The picturesque sight burned itself in an instant in his mind, branding his memory with a new image that he knew he would remember for years to come, if they came. He chuckled heartily, suddenly wondering if he should light up his Omnitool so that he could immortalize this moment in holographic data.

"What is it ?" she asked with a frown, squeezing the plushie a little closer to her.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." he answered, "You're just being... The cutest girl in the galaxy, that's all."

As an answer, she gave him an affectionate look, mandibles yawning slightly open as the edge of her mouth curved into a smile. She lowered her gaze, her fingers fidgeting around the small Krogan plushie.

"Thank you." she said in a soft, low voice. Still seemingly unaccustomed to the spontaneous display of affection, as befitting of her strong, tough and stubborn turian spirit. She let out a quiet hum and her mandible clicked back against her jaw. Then, she raised her head to meet his gaze again.

"You are... cute too." she followed, her tone almost comically matter-of-factly.

"Aw." he cooed, walking to her bed to let himself fall backward in it, his body bouncing back on the soft and taut mattress.

"What is it? Are you mocking me?" she pouted, seemingly disappointed in his lack of reaction.

"Not at all. And I'd say it's even cuter when you let yourself be cute and all. If that makes sense." he said, closing his eyes and knitting his fingers together behind his head.

"Hm... Let go of the tough and stubborn turian front is what you're implying?" she asked without malice.

He stayed silent a few seconds, taking in her words and choosing carefully how he wanted to answer. He opened his eyes and craned his neck on the side, catching the glint of her eyes.

"You know..." she began gently, squeezing the Krogan plushie against her belly, "I feel like you're the first guy I can be... mellow with."

She let herself fall backward on her bed, lying side to side with him, her head turned towards him.

"And you make me want to be mellow with you." she added, a discreet smile upon her dour mask-like features, clutching her angry-looking plushie close against her.

Two thin black pupils, surrounded by emerald green were looking straight at him. Through him. His throat felt strangely tight and warm upon hearing her words and a strange, fuzzy-feeling knot felt like blooming in the back of his brain. He felt overwhelmed by the kaleidoscope of lovey-dovey images his mind was conjuring, by the desire to cuddle and kiss the woman who was lying by his side.

"Well, look at that." she cooed with a chuckle, "At a loss for words? Not used to a girl getting mellow with you? I'm glad I managed to make you feel how you make me feel."

He swallowed, feeling a distinctive warmth in his cheeks, and could only blurt an embarrassed "Huh."

She let her arm slide on her side before tapping the heavy duvet with her long talons. By instinct, he freed one of his arms and laid it across hers.

He felt her hand brush against the back of her own. Her long slender fingers searched for his, for an opening, and interlocked with his own fingers.

Her grip was both firm and delicate.

Reassuring.

Affectionate.

It seems that in war or love, the Turians always opted for the all-out offensive option that left little room to answer. He closed his eyes and breathed in the peaceful silence.

It felt perfect. A precious moment of respite that somehow instilled a strange sense of vertigo. He grasped her hand a little tighter, and she answered with a soft squeeze. The ridges on her nose opened each time she took in a long, deep breath.

"It feels like it's been so long since we just... laid down." she whispered, closing her eyes and coiling herself against his side.

He hummed back, suddenly feeling the weight behind his bones and the soreness in his muscles. The sinking texture of her mattress invited him to surrender himself completely.

"We're going to fall asleep in no time like that." he smiled, barely swallowing back a yawn.

"Oh... No way." she protested, rubbing her eyes vigorously with the back of her fingers. "We've just been napping."

"Maybe it's... catching up to our body or something."

"What would be catching up?" she asked, turning her shoulders to rest her chin on his chest.

He frowned, but his thoughts kept escaping him, slinking away under the heavy haze of creeping exhaustion.

"I don't know." he mumbled back, swiping away at his eyelids. "Do you want to do something...?"

"Hmm..."

She rocked on her side, flicking the little black bracelet on her wrist to switch her Omnitool on. The sharp orange glow of the holographic tool spread across her features, shining back in her eyes. From the tip of her talons, she flipped lazily through different extranet applications that his unfocused, slowly nodding off mind couldn't recognize.

"You want to watch something maybe? A holo or..." she trailed off, her gaze sharpening on the transparent face of a well-dressed turian, posing in front of a planet.

Or the news, she meant to say.

His throat tightened and he grimaced at the sudden return to the dire reality that was their own. How was a simple concept of "the news" capable of summoning a cohort of ghosts to haunt the back of his mind? Like a runaway gear, his imagination instantly conceived the wave of bad news that would hit them if they would even glance at the news.

Planets. Cities. Capital ships. Solar systems.

Often accompanied with the word "lost" or...

"You want to watch my favorite holo?" he heard her chirp, her voice suddenly pulling him back to her own gravity, to the comfortable and safe world delimited by her bedroom boundaries. She shuffled her body slightly upward, leveling her shoulders with his, while her long fingers tapped away at her holographic device.

"Hm. Yeah. Of course." he nodded, unsure if what she asked was even a question. "What is it ?"

"A Turian holo about the life of a famous fighter pilot, during the early part of the Unification War." she explained excitedly, the previous exhaustion in her voice disappearing quickly, "You've got to see how they managed to capture the low-atmospheric fights, and the dynamic re-entry in the eye of a red giant... Oh... And the soundtrack !"

"Huh. Sure !" he chuckled, watching her fiddle with her omnitool. He could easily see through her that she wanted escapism as well, and the way his tall, stoic alien lover talked so passionately about this holo made him really curious about it.

Although, he hoped that the quality of the acting would be on par with how spectacular the special effects would be. Turians in generals had quite the reputation to have a peculiar way of acting.

"Let me just... I'm sure they've got subtitles for earthborn humans. Ah, here they are."

With a final tap of her talon on a transparent key, the omnitool linked to the mural projector to draw an elongated holographic screen on the opposite wall. The title of the holo appeared with dramatic fanfare, all written in stylized turian characters. After fumbling a few times behind her back with her numerous pillows, she nestled herself against him, hooking her arms around his and laying the side of her head against his temple. The spiky end of her mandible poked against his cheek, but he didn't mind.

The situation somehow made him feel like turning back time. A swirling tentacle of nostalgia took hold of his heart as the memory of watching together countless turian dramas and war movies played back in his mind.

"Play." she simply announced, flicking her wrist to make the glowing tool disappear from sight. Then, she grabbed the edge of the bedsheets and pulled them to cover both of their naked bodies.

The movie opened in media res, on an impressive scene depicting the burning hull of a turian fighter entering the green atmosphere of a planet. The reactor coughed heavy black smoke that shimmered to shades of orange and red.

Through ragged breathing, the calm voice of the turian pilot simply called out predicted coordinates of his crash. The long enunciation of numbers and degrees stopped when the wounded ship disappeared in a massive, swirling greenish cloud. As the scene slowly faded to black and the distant, muffled sound of an explosion resonated, the disembodied dour voice of the turian pilot called out.

"The Spear has betrayed us all."

Cut to a holographic representation of the planet, sparkling with little digital blips around its edge and circle by small, colorful geometric shapes representing frigates, cruisers, and dreadnoughts. A dour-faced turian was studying the virtual planet, frowning quite heavily and disapprovingly at what he was seeing. He turned his head to the side, and an even more dour-faced turian appeared on screen.

"Commander. The Sword has disappeared from our sensors."

The severe commander clenched his mandibles shut. Then, suddenly, the lighting of the scene changed from colorful to an impressive chiaroscuro of red lights and black shadows. Alarm drones blared in the background as the view panned on a line of turians marines sliding into the seats of their battle stations.

"Commander! The separatist fleet is on the move!"

"Multiple missiles incoming at coordinate -"

"Superiority fighters are being scrambled!"

Zoom on the commander's face. The harsh contrasting lighting that framed his face gave him an intimidating, theatrical look. His eyes squinted to a thin line as he looked to the side.

"Peace was never an option." the dour commander said, in a low and solemn voice.

He couldn't help but grin at how turian holo's were always so... turianesque. Always so serious and theatrical, especially when it came to war holos. And as most of the turian movie-making was revolving around the themes of war, battles, and displays of well-oiled military might, it was easy to peg turian culture as being somewhat of a one-note.

His eyes felt heavy and tingly. Tiredness made it hard to concentrate on the various scenes of a dour commander giving serious orders to straight-laced soldiers, even if the backdrop was an epic space battle.

"I wonder if he re-enlisted." she muttered, her eyes riveted on the screen.

"Who?"

"The commander."

"Hm?"

"The old actor that plays him was a retired general. He often said that if the Turian Hierarchy would enter another major galactic conflict he would gladly resume his position in the military." she explained in a detached voice.

"Interesting." he said, squeezing his eyelids shut to try to shed the exhaustion away.

"Hm mh... He studied acting and tee-ah-tree on Earth, you know. In a country called Russia, if I remember correctly." she followed, a hint of pride in her voice.

"It's pronounced theatre, you know..." he said, rubbing the side of his head against hers. "Don't Asari have theatre too?"

"I don't really know." she shrugged, "Human theatre is more fun from what I read."

He chuckled, and sighed, trying to focus his dwindling attention back on the movie. In the dimly lit hangar of one of the turian cruisers, a heavily armored turian was closely examining an assault rifle. As somehow expected from a turian holo, the scene seemed to tarry on...

Close-ups of the way the turian gunner fiddled with the thermal clip ejection port. Zoom on his three-digits hand fitting snugly against the handle and trigger. Slow pan of the conspicuous "Armax Arsenal" branding on its side. The turian gunner raised the weapon to his red-light holographic visor, ready to unleash hell on an unseen assailant. He wondered if Armax Arsenal was even a thing at that time when the turian colonies were rebelling. The product placement was glaringly obvious and tacky, but the way it was played deadly seriously was somehow... charming. Before a single word was uttered by this new, undoubtedly designated hero he had been completely defined by his weapon and posture.

"Look at that. It almost feels like an Armax advertisement." he mumbled aloud, a little smirk in the corner of his mouth.

She turned her head to him, searching for his eyes. Her angular features were highlighted by the changing colors of the room, but her eyes were hidden in shadows. "And? What do you think about Armax Arsenal?" she asked in a low, flat voice.

He frowned, somehow disconcerted by her question. He knew from that peculiar tone that she wasn't looking for a quip as an answer, but an honest, heartfelt statement. There was no wounded pride at play, but something that felt more desperate. But then, it hit him. He remembered what she told him in the shower. About her contact at Armax. About their possible, hopeful way out. The turian weapon manufacturer not only supplied holomakers with perfect replicas of their weapons... but had become a symbol of hope in the heart of his lover.

"I think that Armax Arsenal is always a good bet." he whispered to her, smiling, before laying a kiss on her forehead.

Her mandible let out a discreet click, but her expression did not change. She simply nestled her head back against his and squeezed his hand in hers.

Back in the holo, the dour-faced commander was in a deep one-sided discussion with the designated Armax hero. The mission briefing was enlivened by numerous views of solar systems and turian clan markings overlaying each other. Over the most prominent one, one could see the back and fringe of a black-armored turian with a stylized spear drawn in white chalk over the heavy metal armor, all shrouded in threatening shadows and contrasts. Words like "traitor", "defector" and "separatist" were uttered by the dour-faced commander in a dull, dispassionate tone.

"Now that's a bad guy." he asked with a small smirk.

"Hm. It's a little more complicated than that." she answered back.

As the spear-marked turian slowly turned his head back, the view suddenly focused back on the blue eye of the Armax-hero. A heavy frown set upon his plated brow and a distinctive clutching to his mandibles. The word "mentor" and "teacher" were then uttered by the dour-faced commander.

"Oh, interesting. So the good guy was the student of the bad guy?"

"It's still a little more complicated than that. This isn't one of those Blastos holos, you know." she sighed with a prideful huff, "There isn't really a good guy and a bad guy in turian war stories. It's... more complicated."

He felt a small level of guilt at having pigeonholed the turian holo as a run-of-the-mill entertainment. There was probably a good reason why it was her favorite holo, and he knew she was always the more cultural-savvy between the two of them.

"Hm... Didn't the unification war end very badly for the separatist colonies?"

"Yes, but this is not the story of the unification war, it's the story of one soldier, and where his loyalties truly lie." she softly said, framing the word loyalties with a slight emphasis.

Now he understood why that movie was important to her, more now than ever.

He squeezed his arm around her shoulders and laid a kiss on the side of her mandible. She let out a little content sigh and relaxed a little more inside their embrace. Under the sheets, their legs were playing a slow and cautious game of entangling and untangling themselves, avoiding spiky bits and uncomfortable angles.

The holo continued on, on a somehow slow and contemplative rhythm that sometimes felt glacial. There was something truly beautiful about the way the vibrant, colorful atmospheric phenomenons were transcribed in the holo. But even as the golden-colored trail of the hero's fighter ship skewered through green-hued storm clouds, his concentration was slowly failing him.

Slowly, gently, the spectacular landscapes became simple colored blurs. The music and dialogue began to sound distant and, in fact, he couldn't quite easily understand the sense of the words that were used anymore.

He closed his eyes, but he was unable to pry them back open. The last thing he felt before falling backward into himself was his jawbone finally relaxing from being tensed up for so long.

And then.

Darkness.

---

... He pulled at the metal plate that was bolted against the wall.

it fell into his hands easily

revealing a strange garland of blinking lights

gleaming through the fog

where he would find the right wire, this time.

He slid his hand in between the vine-like coils and cables

What was he looking for?

Something thin and strong under his palm.

Pull on it.

A hiss

He pulled back his arm, a red snake coiling around his arm.

Not venomous.

The odd reptile slithered over him.

A slow, grating undulation

scales flaying his skin open

blood waterfalling from his frayed veins

the pitter-patter of crimson droplets.

Not good.

Shake the arm

strike the snake

pry its coil away

if he bled out now, he wouldn't be able to find the right wire

it was around there, somewhere.

MUSIC filtering through the fog.

The wall around the power transformer was bleeding smoke and black oil

had to hurry now

but how did the snake reach his left arm?

He plunged his wounded hand amidst the wire jungle again, searching for it

for the right wire

it would solve it, he was sure of it.

He searched and searched, watching his blood seep freely

dyeing the snake's scale in an inky shade.

What was that MUSIC he could hear?

It did not belong here.

Where was this wire?

It did not belong here.

The MUSIC was becoming clearer, and the snake body went up in smoke.

How did this happen?

Where was he?

---

Suddenly propelled back behind his body, he squinted before slowly opening his eyelids.

A hard metal ceiling.

Shades of darkness slowly changed from dull orange to deep inky green.

He was on his back, with an oversized pillow nudged behind his head and the thin bedsheet tucked just under his armpit. He shivered, but not because of the ambient temperature.

A discreet tune hummed in the background. Long, gentle waves of synths and vocals. A slow song that was filling the room with a melancholic mood.

He breathed in deeply, which made him draw a long yawn. Waking up was always a hurdle, but waking up without the blaring of an alarm always made him confused and disoriented. For how long had he been asleep? And why did it feel like he managed to get actual sleep, for once?

Deep, restful, and peaceful sleep. Something that had become quite rare.

She had probably something to do with this. Her mere presence.

Funny. The first bubbles to surface in his awakening thoughts were always about her.

He glanced at the shadowy silhouette to his side. Her willow body laid bare across the other side of the bed. Her head faced away from him, toward the window from which the dim light of the street filtered through the steel blinds. She was sleeping on her belly, with the thin bedsheet crumpling in the small of her back. Her arms were hugging one of the giant pillows tightly against her, letting her head rest at a comfortable angle.

Just above her head, on the nearby nightstand, rested the krogan plushie. The stuffed toy's silhouette stood out from the dimly lit yet colorful background. Its orange eye glowing in the darkness, returning his gaze with the same unflinching, unyielding pride.

What a faithful guardian. He briefly thought.

He turned on his side and slowly, carefully wriggled his way to her side, pulling his own pillow along the way. He gently laid his arm across her back, tugging her body into a shallow embrace.

"Mmh."

She twitched at his touch and let out a heavy sigh. She craned her neck to turn her head toward him, before letting her chin fall lazily onto the pillow. Her plated brow had fallen low, and her mandibles yawned briefly open. Her green alien eyes gleamed in the half-light, the feline-like vertical black pupils now widened and round. She looked at him in silence, studying his features in her usual sullen expression.

"Didn't mean to wake you up." he whispered, curling his fingers to gently scratch at the taut groove in the small of her back.

"Mmh... wasn't sleeping." she mumbled back, her husky voice trailing on the last word.

"Something keeping you up?" he asked, letting his finger run along the lower ridge of her chest plating

She gave him a long gaze. Her mask-like figure was even more inscrutable in the dark. She inhaled deeply and simply stated. "Thinking about things."

He frowned. An ache of concern growing in his heart at the toneless sound of her voice. His throat felt dry.

"Thinking about what...?" he whispered again, trying his best to put on a gentle smile.

Another silence. Another long, strange look from her dour expression.

"You." she started, her mandible clicking against her jaw, "Me. Us. Where we are. What we are. What to do..."

He pressed the palm of his hand against the flat of her shoulder blade and gently thumbed at her plates. He could feel from the distant and exhausted tone of her voice that the things that kept her awake were not of the easily dispelled kind.

But he needed her to know that she wasn't alone in the dead of night.

Not anymore.

He nudged his body against her side and put his head on the edge of her pillow. So close to her that he could feel the warm air she blew, and hear the way her gulps cut off her breathing.

"You fell asleep so quickly. You missed all the good parts." she quietly admonished, not taking her eyes away from his anymore.

"I know. I'm sorry." he answered, offering her a guilty smile. "I won't fall asleep next time."

"Mmh."

Silence again. The kind of silence thick enough to gain a presence, a body that grows heavy and moody. There was darkness in her eyes. A kind of forlorn tension.

His fingers kept tracing along the ridge and grooves of her backbones, fingertips brushing against the coarse texture of her plates.

"I can't sleep very well." she whispered, squeezing her oversized pillow a little tighter against herself.

"T's'okay."

"Wish I could just... turn off my brain. Take my hands and... rip those thoughts away." she mused, tapping on her plated brow with the tip of her talons.

He raised his hand behind her nape and tenderly brought her head towards him, planting a soft kiss on her mandible. She let out a quiet, strangled whine at his delicate touch, and dug her head deeper inside the pillow.

Half her face disappeared inside the red synthetic fleece, making her remaining visible eye gleam all the brighter, gazing up at him with the same piercing look.

He gave her a concerned stare, thinking hard on the words he could use to cheer up his loving, lovely, and lovable alien partner. He wanted her to smile, now more than ever, and if he could steal a smile or a laugh out of her melancholic mood he would try anything.

But the jokes and disarming quips were in short supply in front of that lonely eye, peering straight through him from the comfort of a fluffy red pillow.

"...'want." she mumbled, her mandibles scratching against the fabric.

"Hm? What is it?"

"I-I wanted..."

She trailed off, her words dying in her throat in a strangled cough.

"Do you need something?" he asked, letting his hand cascade along the ridge of her spine.

"Mmh hmm."

She straightened her back and raised her head from the pillow, diverting her eyes away to look at nothing in particular on the plasteel headboard. Her mandibles quivered against her jaw in a subdued chattering before relaxing.

"What is it? Want something to drink from the kitchen?"

"No, not that, idiot." she huffed, a little indignant, mandibles tightening again against her jaw.

He rose from his side, resting on his flank with his head propped up on the palm of one of his hands. He had stopped caressing her back and was left hanging at her words.

She glanced at him silently from the corner of her eyes, in that cold, almost judgemental way she sometimes did when she expected him to read her thoughts. But then, her expression mellowed instantly and she snuggled her pillow against her body.

"I want to make love with you." she said impishly.

He gulped hard and felt a strange knot in his throat. Her words had just filled him with a strange warmth. Her whispered voice roared straight through his heart.

Make love.

A very human expression. Pleasant. Sweet. Rife with powerful imagery.

And the fact that it was her saying it made those words all the more precious.

Her whisper still echoed in his head like shivering thunder.

"Oh..." he mumbled, reeling from her adorable proposal.

She released her pillow to lay on her side, facing him. Her mask-like face betrayed no wild emotion, but he knew her enough to notice the fluttering of her mandible, and the way her green eyes darted over his body with keenness.

"... Oh!" he chuckled, feeling the tip of her taloned hand brush against his flank, slowly trailing down his hips and thigh. She craned her neck toward him, her slowly closing as the warmth of her breath fell on his lips.

And he understood.

He answered the familiar limestone-like texture of her mouth with gentle, shallow kisses. His hands slid across her slender flank and belly, disappearing under the thin bedsheet. Touching, kneading, mirroring her own delicate caress. The thin line of her mouth opened to let her tongue shyly greet his lips, and the palm of her hand rolled against the width of his thigh, sneaking slowly toward his sex. He twitched when he felt the sharp end of her talons skim against testicles, and he held his breath when the tingling feeling was replaced with the warmth of her palm. She let the round lumps roll between her fingers, playing with them through considerate, affirming squeezes.

Through gentle caresses, he and she began to feed into each other's tenderness. Even with one of his arms squeezed under her slim waist and the mattress, he had enough room to

make a slight detour from her back and knead at her firm, enticing rump. Her thighs opened slightly in a silent invitation, and he let the fingers of his free hand slide across her upper thigh, arcing over her flared hipbone to slowly caress down the gentle curve of her mons. Down there, he touched an unseen, tantalizing heat.

A kind of warmth that only encouraged more gentle exploration.

She let out a pleased moan when he ran his fingertips along the line of her slit. At first, a slow, smooth motion across the soft and pliable outer skin, before following with a quicker trail along her shy folds. Her muscled thighs fell around his hands, catching his wrist prisoner and engulfing his fingers in pure warmth. As they exchanged kisses and caress, letting their sighs breathe and die on each other's tongue, their bodies began to writhe and coil under the covers. The palm of her hand was now firmly squeezing around his hardening shaft, slowly moving up and down. He would answer her ministrations with quick, circling strokes at her sex, before turning his fingertip's attention to the little, hardening nub of flesh crowning her slit. A gentle squeeze between his index and middle finger was enough to make his alien lover twitch and yelp, whereas a long and smooth petting led to an adorable, pleased purr. He let his mind drift away, guiding his motions through the tune of her voice and the clicking of their linked lips, humping his hips against the tight clutch of her slender hand.

As sensual as their mutual pleasuring was, the awkward angle of his wrist was beginning to put a painful strain on him. And as much as he loved the feeling of her fingers around his manhood, he would have to act before an unwelcome cramp cut his ministrations short. He slid his hand from between her thighs and grasped at her flared hipbone, nudging her body to twist on itself.

"Mmh?" She broke the kiss and gave him a dozy look.

"Turn over. Let me... Hm." he mumbled, sliding his hand under her thigh to pull it over, hoping to find a way to lead her to turn her hips over.

"Oh. Mh."

She understood his intention and followed the impetus of his hand, turning her entire body over until he was embracing her from behind. She shifted the position of her pillow and let out a soft groan. A gentle tug brought her hips snuggly against his. His free arm hooked over her hipbone and he splayed his fingers across her lower abdomen where they would travel downward again in a long, gentle stroke. Closing his eyes to better enjoy the firmness of her muscle, he felt the palm of her hand encompass his and hurriedly push him down, between her thighs.

He touched her honeyed warmth again, and he smiled.

Her long fingers shadowed his, pressing him tightly against her, guiding his motions against her dampening sex. His head was nudged against one of her flat shoulder blades, but he still laid soft kisses against her rugged bone-like plates. As his fingertips skimmed across her wet cleft, he felt a longing squeeze from her hand on his arm... Two of his fingers hooked, and then he was caressing her in the most intimate way.

"Mmh... Aah… Anh..." she quietly let out, her hand pressing tightly against his, between her thighs.

Such sweet sighs. He thought, eager to hear more of this mellow tune.

A blistering, comfortable wet snugness was drenching his fingers. Her hips followed the undulations of his come-hither stroke, making her stiff rear grind deliciously against his rigid sex. A sudden buck from her back sent hard plates bumping hard against his nose, but he didn't mind. He closed his eyes, bathing in the sensation of exploring his lover's body in its most intimate place. At first, his fingers pumped in and out of her eager sex tenderly, but her own motions drove him to delve in with more hunger and passion. His alien lover was now eagerly grinding his shaft between the split of her sweltering glutes and his lower abdomen.

"Hrmm…! Rhaa. Rhm."

She had hidden her head inside her pillow, drowning the sound of her grunts and syncopated breaths against the red fabric. Her thighs spread wider, offering him more reach with his intimate caresses. Her hips waved to and fro, slowly dancing to the rhythm of his fingers nestled in her innermost warmth. An adventurous third finger attempted to join the duo inside her blistering folds and she writhed ever so delightful against his body. Now, he was beginning to need her in full. A white-hot desire to sheathe himself in her, to be welcomed inside her warm and wet tightness.

With his hands on her waist, his uncontained excitation heaved her sideways, rolling her on her belly with his body mounting her back. She mewled in surprise, and her mandibles fluttered briefly against her jaw, but she did not protest. Her legs opened slightly around him, her taut rear flattening pleasantly under his hips. The sultry and inviting dampness between her thighs was making for an exquisite invitation...

He grabbed his shaft in his hand and gently pushed his hips forward, making the tip of his manhood greet the soft and silky warmth of her fold in a shallow, lewd kiss. She was glancing hungrily back at him, head half-buried in her pillow, before her heavy brow suddenly fell and her mandibles tightened back against her jaw.

"Hrm... Khr...! Wait, please." she whimpered, her body suddenly tensing up under his.

He froze in his track, her whispered plead breaking through the fog of lust that had started muddle his thoughts. He brought his body back from, pushing on his elbow and shoulder and putting his weight on his knees as her body wriggled away under him.

"Everything alright?" he whispered.

"It's good. It's okay." she said, whipping her hips to make her body twist on the bed. "We're doing great... It's just... Hrm."

Almost brought by a familiar reflex, his eyes drifted to the nearby nightstand, and he remembered. He remembered the little treasure trove of dextro-levo friendly lubricants, scented gels, and anti-chafing prophylactics that she had quietly amassed when they started together. Back when they played, and fumbled, and had to make that special kind of complicated chemistry between turian and human actually work...

A glowing orange eye was gazing back at him from the dimly lit nightstand.

There was a silent, white-hot rage burning in that eye.

The Krogan plushie. Watching.

Chaperoning.

"Huh. You need some... lube? Or no, wait. Y'want me to put on some dextro-levo protection for you, love?" he mumbled. Sweeping his eyes and his mind away from the unwelcome mental image.

She let out a raspy chuckle.

"No, idiot!" she said, with affection, "All's right! All's good. Except maybe..."

He looked at her quizzically, hovering over her body on all fours. Her long-fingered hands fell firmly on his hips, and a firm push of her legs against his knee tripped his balance and made him stumble on his side. He blinked and let out a choked groan, and in an instant he had been pushed flat on his back, his head sank in the mellow fabric of her oversized pillow. As she moved to straddle him, the bedsheets twisted a little more around their bodies. He let out a laugh and felt the palm of her hands give an assertive push against his chest.

She was looking down on him with a frantic quiver to her mandibles and a lurid glint in her eyes. That was the look he was looking for, that mightier-than-thou attitude...

"There. Now it's even better." she said with appreciation, lowering her body to make him a prisoner of her thighs.

"Shoulda guessed." he grinned, sliding his hands over her muscled legs, admiring her alien physique. "You always liked it better on top, innit?"

She peered with a raised plated eyebrow before bringing her face so close to his that he could breathe in her fiery breath.

"No, love." she cooed, brushing her words against his lips. "I always liked it better when I could see you... When I can look into your eyes..."

And for a moment, all that he could see was her two deep green eyes and how the emerald marbling around her wide feline-like pupils never looked so beautiful.

She smiled, closed her eyes, and kissed him.

And just like that, he knew that he fell for her a little more.

"And let me tell you..." she sighed, her pointed tongue darted past his lips and quickly retreated after greeting his own.

"I want this... Whole."

A quick peck against his cheek.

"Raw."

A sharp nibbling bite to his ear.

"Real."

She nestled her head beside his, and what followed was the delicious feeling of her wet slit nonchalantly rubbing over the length of his shaft. Each slow stroke soaked his sex with more of her maddening wetness. Bringing her hand down low, she grasped him carefully between her long fingers to better guide, to better adjust...

She inhaled sharply and straightened herself back up, just in time for him to see her hips sink straight down unto him and engulfing his sex and senses in her pure sultry warmth.

"I must admit... I like being on top of you." she purred, looking down on him, mandibles yawning wide in satisfaction.

"Always liked being in control, innit?" he grinned, watching her shake her hips to catch the few remaining inches of his manhood inside her.

"Mmhmm. Maybe a little." she replied, narrowing her eyes on him voraciously.

Her hips then started to ride him in a gentle, steady rhythm. He ran his hands over her taut thighs, and he appreciated the feeling of her muscles tensing and relaxing under his palm. He grabbed her flared waist to better follow her momentum, nestling his thumbs inside the crux of her hips. She straightened herself upright, letting the palm of her hand fall upon his own as she rocked herself back and forth.

In the dim light of her bedroom, her towering figure had become a beautiful sight. Each motion of her body brought along a few chirpy hums and sighs as his shaft gave shape to her snug, soaked sex. The dim orange light and her shallow undulations made the shadows dance across the intricate frame of her alien body. Her hands had fallen back on his body, her taloned fingers firmly splayed across his body.

"Umn. Hrm. Rrh." she growled.

"Roh. Hm."

But then, a peculiar buck of her hips brought a new angle that made her usher a high-pitched "Ah-arhn!", an adorable if restrained moan, the kind that made him hunger for more... To drink in full of her sweet voice. And for her to freely let herself moan, or whimper, or cry out...

"Rha. Mrh. Ah!"

"Hrg !"

He himself let out a grunt at the now-increased tempo of her lascivious ride. The waxing motions of her hips had grown stronger and faster, as did her sighs and groans and the lewd slick sound that was coming from under the cover. He greatly enjoyed how she spiced her series of quicker to-and-fro with a few long gyrating motions, ones that would make his shaft stir ever so delightfully inside her.

In fact, he could feel how her waist and thighs grew tense and firm under the palm of his caressing hands. She craned her neck away, closing her eyes as she shook her hips fiercely upon his lap, halting her movement for a brief second to stir and savor a peculiar angle before rocking herself with even more vigor.

"Rhhn. Rrhh! Mmrrrh!"

She was stifling her groans through clenched mandibles, and her movements were becoming more volatile, more aggressive. Her slender waist was dancing like a wild flame, but even as she bounced and gyred her hips eagerly upon him, she seemed somehow... frustrated.

It was as if she was unable to scratch a peculiar itch, or sate herself in a good rhythm even for all her enthusiasm at impaling herself over and over upon his shaft. He recognized a sort of quiet despair behind the strength of her motions. From her tensed expression, she was slowly shutting him off from their lovemaking to instead ride him mechanically. As much as her sex grew hotter and wetter with each stroke, a part of him wanted for both of them to slow down and savor this night.

He bit his lips and thrust his hips upward while giving her firm rump a hard pinching squeeze, hoping to break her ruthless stride with an unexpected attack.

"Mrrh-arh!" she winced, arching her back and falling inside his lap.

"Heh, ahah." he chuckled, clutching her flared hips to guide her to a slower, shallower rhythm.

She threw her head down and gave him a harsh look, an annoyed furrow upon her brow. Her mandibles twitched in visible frustration, and she fought against his hands to regain her quick tempo and aggressive amplitude.

"Mmh. Rha... Rhaaa...!"

She was back to riding him roughly, taking hold of his wandering hands to firmly pin his wrist on each side of his head and lowering her body upon him. There was a distinct, delightful pleasure at seeing her be so domineering and so... selfish. Yet, he felt uncomfortable at seeing her locking him out of their coupling, at the sight of her somehow masturbating herself so feverishly.

Made prisoner by the weight of her body and the unrelenting bounce of her hips upon his lap, he braced himself the best he could, concentrating on reading her emotions instead of savoring the pleasure.

"Grrh!" she heaved, swiveling her waist to make him reach somewhere deeper and wetter inside her sweltering sex.

"Ow! Owow!" he softly yelped, a jolt of white pain briefly zapping through his spine at being wrenched at an awkward angle.

"Hah...? Ah?" she sighed in surprise.

Briefly unfocused, she hoisted her hips a little too far, making his erection slide out of her to flop back uselessly against his abdomen.

She opened her eyes, locking gazes with him again and looking both concerned and frustrated...

But she still managed to reconnect back to him.

Back to the moment.

"That hurt, you know." he chuckled between two wheezes.

Her eyes widened and her mandibles briefly twitched, betraying her fluster.

"Huh...! Ah!" she sighed, releasing her grip on his wrist, arching her back and moving her legs backward to pull away from him. "I'm so-"

Now free, he easily snared her waist between his arms to pull her close, cutting her escape short in a tight hug. She lost balance, hands falling on his shoulder and the ridged crest of her ribcage armor scraped harshly upon his belly.

Her face was hovering over him, so close that could taste her quickened breath fall on his lips. Her deep green eyes darted around, confounded and attentive, the little inverted V of her mouth still stuck slightly open in surprise.

"Shhhh. No worries. It was fun to watch you go wild."

"I... Huh... Hm."

She trailed off, but her mandibles spoke for herself by yawning shyly open.

"You okay?" he asked with a comforting squeeze.

She frowned a little and clenched her mandibles shut, visibly at a loss for words. The moment trailed on in relative silence, and he could feel her barely relax between his arms. Her talons curled around his clavicles, but he gave her a warm, reassuring smile, and did not let go.

Her edginess, as adorable as it was, was also a testament to her vulnerability.

This night wasn't easy on her, and she was letting her pride and stubbornness get the better of her.

She attempted to drown the darkness that beset her by force, only to sink deeper into it.

She had to let her burden rest. Stop fighting and let go.

Let him guide her back to the surface.

"You okay?" he asked again, with the same comforting squeeze.

She nodded yes, having calmed her senses and caught up her breath.

Gently, he pushed on his side and a free elbow to turn both of their bodies over. She offered no resistance and followed his impulse, simply rearranging the pillows behind her head and back with one hand. He moved to lay over her, pressing his belly against hers and trapping his erect shaft between them. He put his weight on his arms and knees, now on each side of her willowy figure. She welcomed him between her open thighs, kicking her legs under the bedsheets to untangle her shin spurs from the sticky fabric.

"Keep going ?" he asked in a whisper, with his lips barely brushing against her neck, leaning his weight on one side and taking his slick shaft in one hand.

"Hm mh." she hummed affirmatively, hooking one arm under his armpit and sliding the other down low. Her two long fingers ran around her puffy, soaked vulva to softly spread her sex open in an unambiguous invitation.

"You're cute." he said, laying a little peck on her neck and gently prodding her entrance with the tip of his shaft.

"Hm... mh." she sighed, holding her femininity delightfully open for him to kiss and poke, teasing her with the promise of penetration.

"I love you." he cooed, pushing himself inside her shallowly and retreating right away, letting but his glans taste the warmth and wetness of her folds.

"Hmmm... Hrrrm." she groaned, absentmindedly grinding her hips against and making his member rub and push against the swollen, hard little numb that crowned her vulva.

"Love you lots." he teased again, pushing his shaft with short thrusts against her sensitive fleshy nodule, attentive to the way her mandibles twitched every prod or so.

"Stop... teasing." she bemoaned, throwing an annoyed gaze at him "I want you... inside me."

Her words sent a shiver down his spine. Her legs batted around him as she lifted her hips to chase after the relief he denied her so cruelly. She craned her neck downward, watching intently as her slit connected with the tip of his shaft. All that was needed now was but a single, gentle push...

"Love everything about you." he whispered to her, moving his weight back on his arms and making a shallow thrust of his hips, just enough to taste the warmth and wetness of her entrance.

She let out a short frustrated "Haaa..." sigh, which trailed off in a soundless, sharp inhalation as he pushed his hips forward and smoothly penetrated her in full. A slick, lewd sound accompanied his movement, and soon the satiny, moving flesh of her sex took shape around him, offering but a hint of delightful resistance and submerging his senses in her cosy heat.

He had but readjusted his weights on both of his arms and gave a little hump to sheathe himself fully inside his lover. It felt torrid. It felt tight. It felt...

Good.

"Hrrm. You're mine now." she purred deliciously, her flanged voice taking the tune of throaty satisfaction.

She locked both of her elbows under his armpits, her long fingers curling up on the edge of his collarbone, securing his body in a snug embrace. He lowered his head to nudge himself in the narrow space between her wide bony collar and her slender neck to breathe in her scent. He tensed his thighs to ease himself in her, reining in the instinctual desire to rut to better savor her everything. He indulged himself in the way she hugged him snugly against the coarse frame of her chest plating, and to the exotic, metallic tang that permeated from her leathery skin. He started to slowly move his hips back and forth, taking her through a tender and intimate rhythm.

"You're mine too." he said happily, laying a gentle kiss against the exposed skin of her neck, listening to the way her breathing trembled at the to-and-fro.

"Yes, I am. Hah..." she answered in a low, husky voice, her long fingers tensing around his neck. "I am yours. And you are... hm. Mine."

Her lascivious admission sent an unexpected surge of excitement through his senses, making his head spin with a wave of erotic mental images. He kissed his way from her neck up to face her, searching for her mouth. She caught his plump lips between the sharp edges of her own, dragging him into an eager, fickle kiss. Her mandibles fluttered, scratching at his cheek as their kiss grew more passionate. Their tongues came to greet each other, exchanging a few licks and coils as his pace grew quicker and deeper.

She let out a rough, higher-pitched moan that broke their kiss and brought his senses to the rest of his body. He was back at basking in her mask-like features, her expression being of content radiance. She seemed like beaming, even in the half-shadowed crucible of her pillow. Her breathing halted on a strangled sigh as he suddenly changed his tempo to fully hilt himself inside of her, snapping their hips together in a languid, stirring motion.

"Make love to me." she keened, eyes half-closed in drunken lust, her mandibles yawning open in a wordless, shy "please" that she was too proud to say aloud.

That was it. That timber in her voice.

That surrendering.

His entire body felt engulfed in liquid fire. A deep desire that compelled him to search and coax more of that rare sweet note of unrestrained pleasure out of her voice. His shoulders and thighs tensed up as he drove in and out of her silken folds in long and tender strokes.

He felt her hands traveling over his back, her long fingers drawing a cascading trail along his spine, the sharpness of her talons barely skimming over his skin sending chills along his body. Her hands descended lower still, over the small of his back, she finally splayed her fingers over his rear to give a couple of encouraging squeezes.

He was peppering his slow tempo with a few off-beat deep, spurring thrusts that, each time, made honeyed moans escape from her barely stifled sighs.

"Hrah. I love hearing you." he said, a wide grin spreading across his face, punctuating his words with a few slow gyrating motions, fully buried in her molten core. It coaxed a trailing, surprised "Hmah-aah!" out of his turian lover. He held still inside her, soaking in the intense pleasure. Her green eyes half-opened to focus on him, and she reflexively clenched her mandibles shut against her jaw, making her restrain her labored breathing even more.

But he wanted unrestrained. He needed to hear her...

He slowly resumed moving, still pressed all the way against her. He tensed his glutes and carefully pushed on his hips, shimmying on his knees as he made her slightly curl on herself, just enough so that he could push his forehead against her hard plated brow, and level his eyes with hers.

Two misty emerald eyes over a red streak of warpaint.

His whole universe at this very moment.

"I want to hear you..." he said, his mouth just inches away from hers "Your moans. Your screams. Everything."

Her mandibles twitched adorably before her eyes widened, maybe in surprise, maybe alertness. Her arms ran across his back, sliding against his side to pull him closer still.

Yet her mouth remained shut.

"Let me hear you..." he pleaded, eyes locked inside hers, thrusting himself inside her, making her swallow back her breathing. "Let me hear you letting go... giving in."

Another deep, intense thrust, one that ran fully against the sticky wall of her innermost finally broke her composure. Her mandibles yawned lazily open, and she briefly went bleary-eyed and unfocused.

He settled in this tempo, the one that seemed to make her stern features melt the best. He was taking her so tenderly now, so intimately. Breathing in the sultry air of hers, making his head dizzy with the closeness.

A husky, languid moan escaped her open mandibles.

Then another, this time through the small inverted V of her lips.

And another. Free and throaty. Unbound and lascivious.

That was it...

"I wanna hear you feel good." he prattled on, stirred by the sweet vocalizations of his lover, carnal pleasure thundering through his body as much as hers. Her legs were fluttering on each side like butterfly wings, batting with the same rhythm of his strong strokes. She closed her eyes and let out a short "Ooorrh'' groan that whistled through half-open mandibles.

"I love all of you. Hrnng. How you taste..."" he mumbled, lust-drunk, as he drank her every breath, letting his lips fall on hers in a sloppy, lazy kiss.

Her ragged sighs rolled over her tongue until he moved his lips to the hard edge of her mandibles.

"Every bone of you." he whispered, kissing her mandible, her curved cheek, and her plated brow. "Everything -ah!- about you."

She suddenly let out a strange, high-pitched "Aaahiii-!" that died in a choking sigh before she began to tremble. Her thighs briefly tensed up and pressed firmly on each side of his hips, taut muscles flexing and relaxing as a ripple of pleasure rocked her body. Her sex had become a pulsating, tightening furnace...

"I... I love you." she let out, breathlessly, eyes half-closed and unfocused. She hooked one arm back under his armpit, then ran the other along his spine, ever upwards, until her fingers ruffled through his short hair.

"I love your soft skin." she harriedly said, tenderly caressing his sweaty back all the while she was shivering under him.

"I love feeling. Aarh. Your muscles moving." she followed in a low, satisfied voice, gently scratching through his hair with her long fingers.

Her body finally relaxed, the peak of pleasure quickly overcame, and she waited no time before grinding her lap against his again, her thighs rocking around in an invitation to resume their tender lovemaking.

Her sex felt slicker, completely soaked in her warm wetness. His thrusts were now making an incredibly lewd squelch every time he entered her, something that quickly added to the raw mood that cocooned them together.

She stole a brief pinching kiss before relaxing her head back on the soft pillow. "I love your-...Haaah." she stammered. Her head slightly angled away, sinking in the poofy red pillow.

"I love how y-...Haanh" Her voice cut short, broken up by unrestrained moans and sighs. She frowned briefly, clenching her mandibles back against her jaw, seemingly gathering back her wits. She caught his gaze through half-open eyes, watching him intently and in silence as he slowed down the pace of their lovemaking. She suddenly seemed strangely shy, mandibles jittering just as she sometimes did when she was nervous.

He went low to tenderly kiss and nibble at her neck, plunging inside her with a deep thrust that made her contort her belly so sensually. Her words died in her throat in a hoarse gargle and her embrace grew even stronger, her long fingers raking absentmindedly through his hair. She let out a short, mirthful chuckle and calmed her breath, grasping the back of his neck to bring her mouth right against his ear.

"I love your dick." she purred in a husky whisper.

Lightning and fire blazed through his nerves. Her ribald confession roaring through his entire being. He whipped his head out of her neck to gaze at her face, unsure if he really heard his stoic lover admit something so raunchy so freely. She stared back at him tenderly through half-closed eyes and lax mandibles, breathing heavily and looking like a perfect picture of drunken lust. She was entrusting him with a seldom-seen vision of herself, peaceful and vulnerable.

Naked.

He felt incredibly hot, and not just because he was sweating up a storm. His usual wit was conspicuously silent in front of her splendid candor. She had set his blood on fire and all he could do was heave and gaze at her.

"You're all red." she cooed, laughter in her eyes. She had started to grind her hips against him in an unequivocal invitation to resume their lovemaking.

"Your feel-good voice is really great." he blurted with a grin, prompting her to answer with a short happy chuckle.

He exhaled loudly and got his shambled thoughts in a semblance of order. Focusing on his desire to savor more of her and on the growing urgency to cool both his head and body.

He slid out of her and pushed himself away from the steam of her embrace to straighten his back to rest himself on his knees and shins, his palms trailing down her waist to rest momentarily on her open thighs. She let out a small disappointed sigh at being denied, but she seemed to understand his intent and let her arms fall lazily, watching his figure in silence. Now kneeling upright, he closed his eyes and calmed his breath, letting the chill air of her bedroom soothe his skin and nerves. Yet, he could hardly filter out the piquant and exciting smell of sweat and sex that was hanging in the air. He absentmindedly threw his hands behind him to throw what was left of the crumpled bedsheets as far as possible from his sweaty skin

He must have been a comical sight to see, sitting on his heels with his hands on his thighs, breathing in and out in front of her panting naked lover, looking like some kind meditating warrior sporting a throbbing erection. The momentary lull made him notice the music in the background again. A slow and heavy beat complemented by a moody, swirling melody. Building to a crescendo of steady synth strings that coated a sing-song chime. He chuckled to himself. He recognized that song from a holo he watched with her, back when they were barely starting being a thing together.

Funnily enough, that song played during a gentle, romantic scene too...

"Need a break ?" she asked, drawing him away from his wandering train of thoughts. He shook his head and opened his eyes again and, just like that, was pulled back to her every being. With her head and shoulders sinking in the red fabric of the oversized pillow and her arms lazily splayed around her silhouette, there was a certain air of decadent regality about her relaxed attitude. A thin sheen of sweat had candied the exposed parts of her skin, making her tight abdominal muscles gleam delightfully in the semi-darkness, contrasting with the shadows playing over her overlapping plates. Moreover, her groin and mons were absolutely drenched with the proof of her pleasure, the trace of her wetness shimmering invitingly between her open thighs. In his lust-riled mind, she had become sex, made incarnate.

"You're damn bloody gorgeous." he drooled, full of desire, a throb pulsing through his erect sex. His hands reached for her thighs, running against her taut skin and bony scales in a firm caress. Her mandibles twitched and the thin line of her mouth curved into a smile.

"And you look really good too. Your skin is all... shiny." she purred, stretching one of her long legs in the air to lay the flat of her two-toed foot against his chest. She was eyeing him hungrily, making her gaze trail on suggestively.

Her hoisted leg let his hand find a way down low to cup and appraise her firm rump. Following his instincts, he brought his other hand under her other thigh to raise it in the air, throwing both of her long legs over his shoulders and giving him free reign to knead and pinched at her rear. Her mandibles fluttered adorably at his touch and she wriggled her hips, pushing her soaked slit against his erect shaft with clear intent.

But those kneading caresses were clearly not enough. His nerves and blood yearned for the pleasure brought by the comfort and warmth of her sex. She was starting to let out short, frustrated sighs as well, her eyes fixating hungrily on his manhood...

He eased her lap between his open thighs and slid his hand from her backside to her legs. By locking his hands in the small nook formed by the salient spurs that jutted out of her shins, he could handle her legs with gratifying ease. Then, it was all a simple matter of rearing his hips, angling himself to kiss the heat of her opening slit with his shaft... and thrusting forward.

Her sweet sweltering tightness engulfed him as he penetrated her, warmer and wetter than ever. He couldn't help but let out a husky groan at the delightful feeling, and she moaned back with satisfaction. He hilted himself in full inside her voluptuous heat, savoring every inch of her innermost, before starting to seesaw his hips in a quicker, hungrier rhythm.

She stretched her arms languidly around her pillows and closed her eyes, yielding her entire self to him as she softened under the pleasure. Instead of moans, she let out a quaint continuous hum, almost like a purr. Her mandibles fluttered around her jaw as she sighed, sometimes quickly enough to produce a discreet chattering that added to the strange tune of her bliss. Yet, every other deep thrust or so, he managed to touch her in a way that made her arc her back and writhe deliciously on the bed, making her hum break into throaty moans.

There was something deeply exhilarating about the way she had completely surrendered herself, about the way she let him handle her body so unabashedly, luxuriating in her carnal intemperance. His tall spiky lover was laying in front of him in abandon, in stark contrast to her stoic and aloof nature, and he was savoring every parcel of her being...

"Haammmm... Hmmmmmm... Hnnnnnah." she sighed, a hand thrown over her forehead, her hazy eyes locked with his devouring gaze.

"Gorgeous. Hrmph. Bloody gorgeous you are." he maundered, burning her image inside his memories. All he could think of as he watched her bask in glory, her muscles glistening in the dark, was how magnificent she looked at this very moment. Her happy indolence only made him grow more ardent, more passionate in his motions.

She trailed one of her hands over her own body, the tip of her talon brushing across the exposed skin of her neck and belly in a tantalizing show. Her soft moans, her slick tightness, her writhing body, the obscene squelches and the bittersweet smell of sweat and sex all mixed up into an intoxicating cocktail. One that was making him move through instinct alone, hungry for more of her everything.

"You're just so -hrng- damn cute!" he grunted, bringing her legs together and thoroughly thrusting into her. Her thighs tightened around him and he felt her wet folds suddenly narrowing delightfully. The thick claws crowning her toes curled up, and her body jerked upward as she briefly threw her back into an arc. He held her like this, her shins framing his head, to slowly grind his hips against her to reach her deepest, more innermost warmth.

"Mmmmh-yes. I want it all. I want everything! Nhaaah!" she sang in a high-pitched flanged tune, her head thrown back in bliss.

And he would give her everything. Something primal and savage swirled around his spine, drowning what was left of his rationality in a pool of passion-fire. He would give her as much as she wanted. He would love her, fill her, taste her.

Taste her.

The spark of a crazy idea struck through his brain, fanning the flames of a peculiar and decadent craving of his. Overcoming his need to madly rut at his delightful alien lover, he pulled out of her warmth with a slick squelch, sliding his hands from the nook of her shinbones to hook solidly around her two thighs as he pulled and brought her hips against herself, curling her into a ball. The sudden movement made her let out a small, surprised yelp as she sunk down the big red pillow, her hands desperately grasping at its edge.

He tugged at her thighs a little more, pulling her body snuggly against his. She let him handle her body, not offering any resistance as he brought her hips high and leaned his shoulders forward. In an intoxicating display of indolence, she was presenting her open thighs to him without any shame, any care, or any fear.

The fleshy blue of her sex shimmered in the dim light, covered in a thin dewy coat of clear fluid. An open and musky fruit, ripe for the taking, begging to be tasted. Her green eyes were watching intently from below, mandibles quivering around her jaw. She was not looking at him with her usually worried look, but something closer to... impatience.

She did not struggle as she would usually do when his tongue connected with her femininity, but instead completely melted in his embrace. She let out a deep, shivering groan as his tongue began to work on her vulva, prodding at her simmering folds with a few licks.

He gorged himself on her, burning the tangy and bittersweet taste of her arousal in his mind. She turned her head to the side and brought the edge of her pillow over her head, making the muffled sound of her sweet cries all the more erotic. He dragged his tongue upward before closing his lips around the swollen pearl of flesh that crowned her sex. A kiss, followed by a strong suckle, and her legs jerked violently around his shoulders. Her thighs suddenly closed down around his neck as a jolt of pleasure seemed to reverberate through her entire body. Her taut belly spasmed, her grunts died down in her throat, and a kind of watery warmth soaked against his chin and beard.

"Hah! Hamh! Hmm... Hmmmmaaaaaaah...!" Collared by her thighs and unable to move, he simply held his tongue snuggly against her pulsating slit and watched the mesmerizing dance of his climaxing lover. Her voice trailed into a high pitch, and then silence. The delightful prison of her thighs relaxed around his head and her body fell limp in front of him, her rear falling down on the soft mattress and her arms slumping around her head, under the edge of her oversized pillow.

Overwhelmed and out of breath, she simply laid bare before him in stunned silence. Despite her weakened state, she threw him an exhausted, almost angry gaze.

"Bastard..." she cried out, half-laughing and half-moaning. "I did not...

expect... Haah."

"Got you good..." he grinned happily. Drunk on the feeling of lust and conquest. She threw him an accusatorial, squinting look that somehow, in a rare moment of lucidity, made him remember to spit out and not swallow the tangy fluid that he lavishly gathered from her.

"Ah... You're so cute. Wanna take you and... huh..." he whispered, looking at her bare body with appetite, his heart-stirring with the desire to go back to her, back in her, to take her relentlessly. His hands crawled all over her, sliding against her taut belly down to the inside of her muscled thighs in a languid caress.

"What... are you waiting for...?" she sighed, giving him a long, unambiguous look that did not call for any more useless words. "Take me."

She had entrusted her body to him.

Completely. Absolutely.

To take his pleasure as much as he gave hers.

All he had to do was to...

... pin her down.

Excitement and lust made his body feel both warm and cold. He let out a heavy, almost beastly sigh before leaning over his lying, lazy lover. He let his weight fall on his elbow on each side of her head before bringing his mouth against hers. She let out a soft humming moan and her mandibles made a fluttering chatter as the kiss deepened. The matte taste of her sharp lips was so sweet, now feeling even more delicate and refreshing as she surrendered herself to him.

He leaned back, straightening his back to catch a gander at his lover. She was stretched out on the bed in lazy indolence, her heavily armored chest rising with each of her deep breaths, her attentive if a little tired gaze watching for his next move. He sat back on his heel, sliding his hands across her shoulders, then her waist, and then under her thighs. He hoisted her legs wide apart and high upward with insolent ease. Then he shifted his hands under her knees to push her legs forward. He followed his momentum by leaning over her, slowly making her curl up on herself, her rear raising brazenly in the air while her shoulders slumped almost out of her giant pillow as he pushed her thighs snuggly against her belly. He wrapped over her form completely, her body pressed down like a coiled ball under him, with her long legs framing his shoulders.

She was very... flexible. It felt so eerie to see her like this, limp and pliable under his hands. Usually, she would be the assertive, aggressive, and domineering one in bed, yet now she let him pin her down and control the flow. Her usual stern, stoic, and almost virile bearings all but gone, replaced by a feverish, angsty impatience. For all her spiky bits and wiry muscles, she looked strangely small and waif now. Almost...

Vulnerable.

She let out a breathless sigh, her mandibles chattering nervously against her jaw at this new experience. Her attention was focused down toward his erect member, now firmly against her sex.

"You look beautiful." he assured her, drinking every detail of her reactions.

Her eyes darted back to him, restless but full of affection, and a shy smile appeared on her face. He smirked, and weaved his hips in and out, making his length grind snuggly against the delightful wetness of her folds. She frowned at first, disapproving of such a tease, but she soon threw her head back, eyes closed and humming contently, once his tip brushed against the small, hard fleshy bump that crowned her vulva. Her pleasured look was intoxicating, and even though the small lull helped him cool down a bit, he felt hungrier and hungrier...

Prodding against her shallow folds, each thrust felt stickier, like an inviting suckle. Soon enough, he bit his lips, carefully angled himself, and plunged his laps down against her raised hips. He smoothly penetrated her in full, her sweltering warmth welcoming him back with luxury. A hoarse, surprised grunt escaped her throat, which was followed by a soft chain of halting moans as he began to piston earnestly in and out of her. Her raised lap made for a unique angle and a deep ingress, where each new thrust brought along a lewd squelch sound.

"Hma-ahh-arh...!"

"Hrg !"

He closed his eyes and craned his neck upward, focusing on the incredible feeling of her warmth to better forget the straining of his muscles. His pounding rhythm was rough and relentless, making a muffled clap each time he bucked against her tight rear. In and out, again and again, to better savor every single inch of her...

Breathe in, breathe out.

Cold beads of sweat were now streaming down his back and shoulders. He kept hammering down and down at her coiled body, desperate for more of her breathless half-cries. She thrashed her arms around the pillows, blindly clawing and grasping around. Reaching for a smaller square cushion amidst her kingdom of pillows, she grabbed it and quickly swiped it under her buttocks as he pushed inside her fiercely, giving that very thrust more amplitude, and almost making him rebound against her. He let out a lustful chuckle and tightened up his body around hers, locking her thighs firmly under him as he pushed even deeper in her folds. Her willowy body squirmed under him, her long legs bouncing helplessly in the air every time his hips whomped against her taut rear. Her mandibles were twitching wildly, their spasms making a distinctive chattering against her bony jaw that mixed in her sighs and soft cries. The delicateness of her voice contrasted sharply with the graceless, crude way they were making love now. All those billions of years of civilizations across the galaxy paled into insignificance next to the passion of a man that wanted to hear more of his lover's sweet screams...

His body was becoming more and more tense, stiffened by the effort and the mounting exhaustion, yet he kept furrowing in and out of her wonderful wet warmth. His upper body slumped over in a curled figure, his head falling inside the breadth of her collarbone.

All fell dark and muted as she hooked her arms around his neck to keep him in place. The warm air and the rich smell of her skin and sweat made his mind sink deeper in delirium.

The world outside of their bedroom, outside of her sticky bedsheets felt like it ceased to exist. All that mattered to him became her. His world had become this intimate, intoxicating darkness of her neck and the warmth of her being. Her body had become a crucible of molten love.

She let out a hiccoughed groan and tensed up, her arms squeezing harshly around his head and shoulders. With his nose now flattened against her neck, he let out a beastly groan, almost gasping for air at this point...

It was at this moment that something in his addled mind sparked up. A flash of lucidity – or madness – that compelled him to... bite.

Bite her. Gently.

He exhaled loudly and brought his open, panting mouth to bear against her drawn neck. As soon as his teeth brushed against her skin, he felt her freeze in his arms, a surprised gasp barely stifling through her mandibles. He nibbled her gently, barely putting any pressure behind his jaw, and her breath stopped…

At this precise moment, as he thrust to better sheath himself in full inside of her soft, welcoming sex, she let out an adorable, high-pitched cry. A strange sensation of conquest swelled inside his body, mixed with a warped sense of... belonging.

A raw and primal urge pooled inside of his gut, one that threatened to soon push him over the edge.

A sharp pain crossed his shoulders as she abruptly raked her talons against his skin to move her hand to his neck. She kneaded feverishly at the top of his nape, pushing his face even harder against her skin. Pleasure was racking through her body like a thunder wave. Lustful desperation made her entire body jolt and tremble under him, making her legs swat strongly against his back.

"Ah. Ha... Harder." she flickered weakly.

There she was. Her body begging for release, a small push away from going over the edge of pleasure. Her apotheosis within reach.

Naked and beautiful.

"Harder... Harder." she pleaded again, her words colored by desperation.

He obliged her, making his jaw closed down around her neck and his teeth needle her skin. A masterly chomp that completed her surrendering to pleasure... to him.

The taste of sweat and salt on her skin felt so intoxicating.

"Nnh-Aaanh... Aaaah... !"

Like a coiled spring coming undone, her body shuddered delightfully under him, shattering into a strengthless form. Her legs shook wildly in the air, stretching far then relaxing in rhythm with her panting, whistling breath. She giggled, moaned, and mixed a few curse words with his name, and he greatly enjoyed how a nibbling at her neck would transform her sighs into a husky, lusty vocalization.

"You bit me. Haha... Nhaaah..." she mewled happily. "Mmmhhhh."

He kept grinding his hips deep and far within her, savoring the way her innermost pulsed and tightened around him, soaking in her pure liquid heat. Yet, he did not follow her in pleasure, even as his ruined lucidity urged him to race forward... He just wanted to stay there, holding her under him, sheltering her slender, trembling body. All that mattered in the galaxy felt contained in the frailty of her sighs.

Human or turian. War and fear. All was forgotten.

All there was, was just a little man enjoying the orgasm of his tall woman.

He knew that he was on a knife-edge, ready to burst at any moment, but a part of him still desired for this precious moment to continue.

His addled mind randomly conjured the schematics to disassemble the C-Sec service rifle. A desperate attempt to focus on something else and delay the inevitable. He exhaled loudly and gave her drool-lathered neck a goodbye kiss before quickly hoisting himself away from her suffocating embrace. He moved his arms to free her pinned legs, making them fall limply around his waist and thighs, before pushing on his arms to take a better look at his panting lover.

Oh, how cute she looked at this moment. With her eyes half-closed and mandibles fluttering softly, her usually stern features were now radiating a happy and soft glow. Her neck sheened in the dark, lacquered by sweat and drool. She opened her eyes lazily and turned her head his way, crossing his gaze.

She blinked, then smiled.

But then, in an unexpected surge of energy, she clasped his head between her hands, palms against cheeks. Pulling him down, she brought her face to his and lay a kiss across his lips...

"Mmmmh... I love you." she murmured, almost drunkenly. "Love you. Mh. So much."

"You're so cute... Mh."

Her kiss transformed into a sharp nip as she nibbled at his lips, which immediately transformed into a languid tongue-stroke across the corner of his mouth. Lost in blissful afterglow, she continued to shower his face with affectionate kisses, bites, and licks. Her haphazard, sloppy attention felt incredible...

...And would threaten to overwhelm him.

"Don't move... so much." he groaned painfully, his mind conjuring up a random mental diagram about mechanical maintenance. "I'm trying not to... calm down... Rgh."

She froze and leaned slightly away, a flash of confusion shining in her eyes.

"You're not finished ?" she asked in candid surprise.

"No. I-... Don't think it's good to... Inside." he choked, the strain of edging himself was now spreading an agonizing strain across his testicles and groin.

Where was that sudden fear coming from?

Was he really worried about some dextro-levo incompatibility?

Or was it a simple selfish desire for their passion to never end?

"Huh? I thought..." she mumbled, before a carnivorous glint began to shine in her eyes.

"Oh."

Her hands slid from his head to the back of his neck, where she interlocked her fingers over his nape to keep him from escaping.

"Ooooh."

Now, it was her legs that deftly coiled around his hips, trapping him inside her crisscrossed calves and locking him in place.

"Idiot." she tenderly scolded. "Lovely idiot."

"Let me... Pull out." he bleated, panicked and graceless as his mind crumbled into a mess of conflicting urges and instincts.

"You're not getting away." she teased, her voice low and husky. "I'll be fine. I want to feel everything."

Despite her tiredness, her green eyes shone with a dangerous, almost predatory glint. Her calm breath blew against his strained face, making his sweat-soaked skin feel cool and refreshed.

"Come on. Make me feel you..." she gently asked, "Make this night perfect."

This was it. Her husky, gentle command would be the caress that would break the dam. And then, suddenly, he felt the edge of her mouth pushing against his neck. She pinched his skin in between her sharp lips in a loving and assertive bite, scrambling what was left of his mind.

He surrendered. Completely.

He was hers.

A trail of white fire rippled through his entire body as pure instincts took over the command of his body. Her long legs nudged him down, goading him to completely sheath himself in her radiant, soaking warmth...

Velvet.

He grit his teeth and closed his eyes as he felt his body coming undone, shattering down into a singular mad impulse. The pool of fire that was eating at his loins surged forth, and he could only hump mindlessly at her as pure pleasure rocked him to his core. His mind became simple white noise as he throbbed and pulsed deep within her snug core. He groaned and grunted, and ground, and thrust, only able to focus on the incredible feeling...

She released his neck from her lovebite and let her head fall back on the red pillow, pulling him with her so that their forehead connected and their gaze locked within one another. Her mandibles spread out as she let out an appreciative singsong hum.

"Good... Hmmm. Good." she softly said, running the palm of her hands down his shoulders and arms. "Ah... That's it."

Through gritted teeth, he swallowed back -and choked- on an unsightly moan that threatened to escape his lips. She let out a gentle chuckle, idly pressing her calves against his tensed rear as he slowly winded down.

"You look cute like that." she whispered, using her long curved nails to scratch tenderly at his elbows.

He was melting against her. Within her. Pulse after pulse.

Until it was done.

The last of his strength escaped him and he collapsed on top of her, bumping his cheek against the edge of her collarbone. The roughness of her plates chafed against his sweaty skin, and he nudged himself to fall against her side. With her legs still locked behind his back and their bodies still intertwined, her waist spun with his, making her rear fall from the little cushion underside.

For a moment, he simply laid there, exhausted and out of breath, the physical stress of their lovemaking finally catching up to his stiff arms and thighs. The feeling of her lips tenderly pushing against his forehead brought him back from his dizziness. His fingers twitched against her back, and soon enough, he was returning her tender and quiet affections. With one arm stuck between her body and the soaked bedsheet, he let his free hand gently fall down the small of her back. Her mandibles twitched, a hum escaped her, and her lips searched for his. In the dim light that filtered through the blinds, they exchanged tender cuddles and caresses in silence, almost shyly. She showered his face with the same blend of nibbles, kisses and licks as before, but there was now a sense of demure awe behind them. His arm hooked around her waist to bring her a little closer still.

He noticed the music playing in the background again. A soft melody of synths and percussions. The quiet respite made him feel weightless. His entire body was filled with a comfortable, tingling sense of satisfaction.

He felt at peace.

Truly at peace. Like he never knew peacefulness before this very moment.

It was not their first time making love. It was not their first time snuggling during the dead of night, naked and exhausted... Yet now there was something special between them. Despite his cynical nature, despite not really believing in lovey-dovey stuff, he felt like he would never truly be the same after tonight.

The bond between them felt... reaffirmed.

Tempered.

He let out a long sigh and leaned back, opening his eyes to look at her face. Her mandibles fluttered, and her eyes darted around his face. Then, her gaze fell down, toward their conjoined hips. She opened her legs behind his back and attempted to lean her lower body away from him. Mirroring her, he shifted position on the bed and pulled his haunch back, letting his softened manhood escape from her soaked slit. It flabbed pathetically between them, wrapped in a sheen of sticky goo.

She chuckled happily as she watched a bead of white roll lazily down her thigh, and he felt affected by the erotic sight as well. She searched for his free hand, interlocking her fingers with his in a firm, fierce grip.

Laying side by side, forehead against forehead and hand in hand, they watched in silence as the liquid proof of their lust glooped slowly down her thigh, toward the already sweat-drenched bedsheets. Funny how such a crude spectacle could look so romantic now. The heavy smell of sweat and sex hanging in the air, adding to the intoxicating, blissful atmosphere.

A form of content fatigue was now creeping up his limbs, sapping the last remnants of his strength. He felt happy just laying there with her, basking in this fuzzy afterglow until his eyes closed on their own.

After a few minutes of quiet contemplation. He heard her sigh heavily and shuffle on the bed.

"I'm thirsty... and sweaty... but I'm mostly sleepy." she softly said.

"Hmmm... ?"

"I feel too lazy to move... but we should... Get up. Clean up. Drink up." she sighed.

"Yeah. We probably should." he answered.

Yet they did not move.

They just snuggled closer instead.

She rearranged the pillows so that they would both lay on the same, then nudged her plated forehead against his. Her mandibles clicked against her jaw, a dim luster shining in her tired green eyes.

"I hope it's... safe." he said, a bit sheepishly.

"What ?"

"Y'know... That old levo-dextro thing about being careful with-"

"I should ask you." she curtly replied, her flanged voice trailing slightly on each word. "You had your whole tongue down there earlier... If you're alright, I'll be fine.""

"… S'true." He grinned, surprised by her nonchalant way of talking about it. They already conquered those worries about incompatibility. There would be no problem.

With her. There would never be any problem.

"… We should move. Get up. Drink... Shower..." he said, without really thinking about the meaning behind those words.

"… Yeah, maybe. Let me catch up my breath." she answered, her breathing as relaxed as could be.

He turned on his back, searching for a fresher part of the bed, and stretched his shoulder wide. His eyes filled with exhausted tears as he let out a long, drawn-out yawn. She curled up next to him, leveling her tall slender body so that she could lay her head against his chest, and he could hook his arm under her back. She hid her mouth behind her fist, her mandibles opening wide as she yawned in turn. When her fist fell back against his chest, she let out a little hum and splayed out her hand against his. Through careful palpation, she caressed her way to the left side of his breast.

Craning her neck and adjusting herself, she laid her head where his heart was, and quickly ran her fingers down his body to nestle back into his open hand. Her coarse bony plates pushed against his skin, but he felt no discomfort.

Everything felt right...

The bones of her body against his, the comfort of her hand, the purr of her breathing...

It was solace made incarnate.

"It's beating so fast." she said, her voice weak and lethargic.

"You're the one making it go so fast." he answered, his drowsy mind making him slur his words slightly.

She chuckled and squeezed his hand. "… Cute."

"I want this... I want us to be like this... Forever." he said, gently scratching at her exposed waist with his other hand.

"… Me too." she quietly echoed.

Time felt slowing down as the silence set inside her bedroom again. He turned his head toward the window, watching at the colorful nothing from behind the blinds. Tendrils of conditioning-unit mist were dancing in front of the orange Rosenkov advertisement, making the light that filtered through take on a soft, subdued color. Her grip felt weaker around his hand, weak enough that he could slip out of her grasp to adjust the pillows without her reacting. And it was clear that she was just about to fall asleep, listening to his heart and trapping his limb under her hefty body.

"Last chance for us to move, innit?" he said, gently rocking her body against him to shake her awake, making her let out an adorable vexed whine as she stirred and stretched.

She turned on her belly to rest on her forearms, shoulders and head raised at his level, to take a moment and gather her bearings. She let out a sluggish groan, her mandibles clicked before drooping down and she swiped her misty eyes with the back of her fingers.

But when she raised her gaze back to him, she was frowning. Highlighted in stripes of orange light, her mask-like face had regained her usual hard and solemn expression. She gave him a long, unreadable look in silence, mandibles tightly shut against her jaw.

"Hey." she began, a strange glint shining in her eyes. "I... If..."

He swallowed hard, his exhausted mind unable to make head or tail of the sudden mood shift. She seemed to either carefully ponder her words, or attempt to give a spoken form at something that was eating at her.

"If I told you... I know a way...for us. To move out. Leave the Citadel behind. Without looking back."

Her voice was slightly rasping from strain and torpor, but she accentuated every word with a renewed sense of determination.

"...Tomorrow."

Two fiery emeralds marbled with thin black pupils.

Whirling.

Burning.

Straight through him.

"Will you follow me?" she finished, her voice stern and serene, its resolute tone making her question feel rhetorical. Imperial.

He looked at her in stunned silence. His exhausted mind barely began to assimilate the ramifications of what she just asked.

All he understood was that she looked lovely. And strong. And proud. And...

He leaned in for a kiss.

A gentle one. A shallow one. A tempered one.

To make sure she would understand.

There would be no future where he was not by her side.

Her eyes fluttered open. Her mandibles flickered against her jaw. Her thin mouth curved into a smile.

She understood.

She crawled over the bed, over him, covering his body with her slender form, sheltering him in full as she sought another kiss...