NOTE: Soooo this chapter unsurprisingly gets a little NSFW, but hopefully in a good way. :)

Ryder felt him draw close, his breath sweet, warm on her cheek.

She opened her eyes and for the first time since she had met him, Ryder thought Reyes looked anxious, "If it's about what Aria said, she was exaggerating…"

Ryder lifted an eyebrow, "You didn't sleep with both of them?"

"Well I did, but…" he shrugged his shoulders. "That was different to this."

She looked at him contemplatively, eyes searching the lines of his face for signs of sincerity, "How?"

Reyes exhaled.

"With everyone else, it's been about money and leverage. Same with Zia, same with Aria. You don't seem to care about any of that," Reyes folded his arms over his chest, clearly discomfited at sharing so much.

"I don't," she admitted. I care about you, she thought, but daren't voice it.

Unable to continue staring at the troubled look on his face she grabbed his arms and pulled them apart, winding them around her methodically and squeezing into his chest. He stared back at her, his eyes widening.

"Everyone has a past, Reyes. As long as it stays the past, I don't care."

Apparently satisfied with this he leant down to kiss her but she stopped him, pressing her fingers against his lips.

"Shall we go… somewhere else? I've had quite enough of other people today."

"You and me both," Reyes agreed and glanced down at his omni-tool to check the time, "Hmm, I have just the thing."

Abruptly, he pulled her off at a jog towards the docks.

They sat atop the barrier that marked the division between where Tartarus stood and the dry, hazardous plains and mountains that stretched out towards Varren's Scalp. Ryder had never been there after the sun had set, the darkness casting Kadara in an ethereal light. Steam rose from the distant pools of water, now non-toxic but still bubbling, scorchingly hot. Behind them were several bottles of beer, some empty and discarded, that Reyes had snagged on his way past Tartarus. Ryder used her biotics to make the empty bottles hover in front of them and they took it in turns to shoot at them. She purposefully gave Reyes pointers he didn't need, just to tease him, before laughing and kissing the irritation from his disgruntled face. This would have ended any further discussion of any kind, had Ryder not nearly slipped off the edge and out of their passionate embrace.

"Where did you learn to shoot, anyway?" she asked, catching her breath, admiring his slender frame as Reyes aimed at the last bottle.

"Earth. My uncle. I was 12."

He shot and the bottle shattered.

Ryder frowned, wondering at what the context could have been behind teaching a child to shoot, but said nothing as he sat back down next to her. Though she longed to ask, she knew he would likely just shrug off her probing with a joke. Reyes looked sombre as he took another drink.

She laid on her back, legs dangling over the edge of the barrier, staring up at the section of sky she could see beyond the cave admiring the still alien constellations, "It's funny. I spend half my time amongst the stars, and I never take the time to look at them."

He followed suit, his shoulder touching hers.

She sighed, the alcohol making her unusually contemplative, "The urgent business I have tomorrow, it's dangerous."

"Isn't everything you do?" he chuckled.

"Yes, but this is… something else," Ryder paused, considering how much she should tell him. "We're going after the kett directly, we've never done that before. The odds aren't brilliant, but we have to try."

"Sara, it'll take more than a few kett to kill you," he responded, firmly.

Despite the confidence in his voice, he crooked his arm around her neck, pulling her against him. She readjusted herself, curling around the hard lines of his body. The heat of his hand on her arm and the regular thrum of his heartbeat as she laid her head against his chest had the effect of a tranquiliser hitting her bloodstream, easing her jagged nerves and the constant anxiety that had dogged the periphery of her mind all day.

"How about a few thousand?"

He shook his head his breath tickling her hair enticingly, "No, my odds are still on you. Especially if you take the krogan… You are taking the krogan, right?"

Ryder shifted her head so she could take furtive glances at his face, her body pressing tighter against his, knee resting on his thigh, her hand on his chest. At each point of contact, her body throbbed, her pulse thrumming headily in response. Perhaps aware of this, or perhaps experiencing something similar, his eyes flicked from the view above him to her.

"Reyes Vidal, are you worried about me?"

"Absolutely not, I have every faith in you," Reyes grinned, but she was sure he was bluffing. "It's just that, that krogan of yours is massive and I imagine makes the perfect shield."

"I'll tell Drack you said that," she threatened.

"You wouldn't."

"Probably not."

There was a moment's silence in which she yearned to reach up, brush her lips against his, trace the line of his lip with her tongue, tangle her fingers in his hair, teasing it until, instead of being perfectly coiffed, it was a mess of curls.

"Well if I do die tomorrow, I'll be comforted by the fact we finally managed to spend one night together without interruption," Ryder murmured instead.

"The night is still young," Reyes countered, leaning so his face was closer to hers, "besides we haven't gotten to the best part yet."

His eyes looked darker in the gloom, somehow more wicked.

"You don't know that… we might have no sexual chemistry," she muttered, jokingly.

"You already know that's not true," there was no lack of certainty in his eyes. It made her skin bristle.

He was right, of course. Every time she was in his presence the deep, visceral attraction between them was palpable, inescapable in its energy.

"Hmm, well it was cruel of me to depart so suddenly earlier and rob you of a chance to find out."

"Terribly cruel." His dark eyes flickered closed as he took her in one hot press of his lips, fingers curling around her back of her neck, "Ordinarily I would not have waited so long, so I thought a few more hours couldn't hurt."

"Is that so?" she whispered, fingers skimming over his slender waist, her body practically humming in response to his advances.

"Circumstances have been against us," he ran his hand up the thigh that was resting against his. "However, I am finding it... Ah, increasingly difficult to restrain myself."

Ryder leant forwards, clutching his face, fingers trailing into his hair, thumb stroking along his smooth jawline. Her pulse was such a hard drumbeat she was sure he must be able to feel it, the familiar heat that collected deep within her at his touch slowly uncoiling.

His lips were millimetres from hers.

"Then don't."

He led her along by the hand. It was slow going due to pauses filled by wandering hands and wanton kisses.

As they passed Tartarus she stopped, "Aren't we going inside?"

"I don't live at Tartarus. Where do you think I sleep?"

Ryder shrugged, "You don't hang from the roof like a bat?"

"Funny," he wasn't laughing, "I could take you to Tartarus but I was going to take you home. That alright?"

"Of course."

"I don't, usually. No one knows where I live."

"Reyes," she kissed him gently on the cheek, "I know far worse secrets about you than where you live."

He nodded and they kept walking, back up the elevator and through the docks. Reyes guided her through familiar parts of the port before turning onto a backstreet Ryder had never been down. Usually, she would've been intrigued by her surroundings, taking all of it in instinctively, eyes alert for potential dangers or points of interest, but her mind was focused elsewhere. Another few turns later, past curved buildings and groups of exiles still cavorting in the early hours, they reached a nondescript looking building. Reyes let go of her hand for a moment, unlocking the door with a few taps of his omni-tool, before taking it again.

"Come on."

She followed Reyes inside slowly, gripped for the first time with a feeling of hesitancy. Ryder realised how lucky she was to have SAM, if she found herself with a need to find her way back she had him. They ascended several flights of stairs until they reached the top and Reyes accessed his omni-tool again before stepping through another door. The apartment was dark, and he moved down the corridor before them, switching on low lighting.

"Should I take my shoes off?" she joked, trying to mask her nervousness.

He looked at her, eyes inscrutable, and shook his head, "Give me a minute?"

Ryder nodded, not trusting herself to speak again as she cringed at her words. Reyes stepped through a door to a room adjacent. Boots clacking with each step, she moved towards the end of the corridor and entered the adjoining room. This was obviously Reyes' bedroom, though even that thought seemed strange in her head. She glanced around and was surprised at how ordinary it seemed; a bookcase full of datapads and vids, a human-made desk, an Initiative style bed. Reyes had left some music playing in his absence, old Earth music she half recognised. Her eyes were drawn to a pair of shutters opposite her and she stepped forward curiously, opening them with her omni-tool. Spellbound, Ryder stared at the view which encompassed not only the mountaintops of the wilds of Kadara, but in the foreground an excellent view of the main plaza of Kadara port. As she was several floors up she could see small, neon-lit figures scuttling across it. Squinting, she thought she saw the flash of Initiative blue and white as a small band of people left Kralla's Song, though she couldn't be certain from this distance. Something touched the small of her back and she jumped, spinning around to see Reyes with a slightly amused expression.

'I-I didn't hear you come in," she stuttered.

"Smuggler, remember? I've learned to be discreet," he said, the teasing tone having returned to his voice. He ran his warm hands up her arms.

"Oh… yes."

That was all she could muster. The way he was looking at her, with the same intensity as before but this time in an altogether more private setting, had made her throat go dry.

"Sara, are you nervous?" Reyes sounded slightly surprised but seemed to be enjoying tormenting her.

"No," she responded defiantly before relenting, "maybe."

"You needn't be."

Reyes closed the remaining gap between them, pulling her into his arms. He kissed her softly at first, coaxing, easing her overactive mind until it returned to one simple base thought, an urge she'd been trying to ignore, to suppress, for weeks now. Her hands ran over his body, curving up his back, sliding beneath his shirt. Feeling her begin to relax he curved his tongue assertively against hers until their kisses assumed the familiar rhythm that had left her aching. Ryder's jacket fell to the floor for the second and final time that day, as Reyes tugged at her clothes restlessly. She stopped for a second, taking in the eyes that drove her to distraction, the mouth that had fueled impassioned dreams.

"I won't hurt you," he breathed, almond eyes mischievous, as he quirked his eyebrows, "unless, of course, you want me to."

She made a sound between an exhale and a moan, kissing him fiercely, nipping his lip almost too hard, and within breathless seconds they were both shirtless. One-handed he undid her bra before hoisting her up by her thighs, her breasts pressed against his bare chest. Obediently she pulled off her boots before wrapping her legs around his waist, pressing her head against his, exhilarated by his scent and the secure feeling of his hands fastened around her. Reyes stepped back towards the bed, but between attempting to kick off his shoes and sitting down his foot slipped. They both toppled backwards, Ryder landing on top of him as Reyes made a grunting sound. She launched into uncontrollable laughter, which Reyes joined with momentarily before, undeterred, he pulled her further up the bed next to him. He stole the giggle from her lips as they parted into a moan as he kissed down her neck, taking her breasts in his hands firmly, stroking and tickling expertly with his thumbs. She felt exhilaratingly powerless in his hands as one wandered further down her navel until it reached her skirt. After briefly meeting her eyes, he pulled down her skirt, exposing the laced underwear underneath. His head close to hers, he glanced down her body and made a soft chuckling sound.

"What?" she breathed.

Reyes leant over her, turning her gently so she was flat on her back. Feather-light he began kissing down her body, first at her neck and over her breasts. She writhed and groaned at his touch, at the way his tongue twisted over her skin, her nipples.

"Sara…" his hand trailed along her skin, playing with the waistband of her underwear, before gripping them tightly. She inhaled heavily as he eased them down, "... you are..."

What she was she would never know as his fingers moved lower, over her skin, over part of her that had been pulsing, slick hot, waiting for his touch, and she cried aloud. He repeated the motion, carefully teasing, kissing further down her stomach until his chin was level with this hands. Ryder's breaths shuddered out of her, increasingly ragged and desperate as Reyes replaced the soft touches of his fingers with skilled strokes of his tongue and her body shook, her fingers creating divots in the surface of the mattress. She made the mistake of glancing down at him, and she groaned at the sight of his head between her thighs, the salacious grin as he felt her eyes on him, the flash of his tongue. Every deft lick and suck of his mouth made each beat of her heart feel quicker and heavier than the last, the sensation spreading through her body, muscles shuddering in response. Her earlier reservations were shattered, lost beneath the strokes of his skilled tongue and the heat of his breath and the grip of his fingertips on her thigh.

She twisted her fingers in his hair, gasping out his name, "Reyes."

Reyes paused, his voice low, "Hmm?"

As he spoke, throat resting on her thigh, his voice sent a satisfying vibration up her leg.

"I want…" she managed before her body shook again at his attentions.

She felt his weight shift and when she opened her eyes they were met with his, "What?"

She took in the slightly swollen appearance of his lips as he wet them with his tongue. The slight dilation of his eyes as they fixed on hers, as though impatiently waiting for an invitation. The absolute fucking need she felt for him almost rendered her speechless.

"You know," Ryder moaned, so low it was almost a whimper, sitting up so their faces were closer together, their bodies were closer together.

He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand with a smug curl of his lips, a motion that made her insides feel as though they'd turned over, "Maybe I just want you to say it?"

"Just do it," she replied restlessly, her cheeks burning, flushed with colour.

Reyes laughed under his breath in his usual suggestive way, sat back and began unbuckling his belt, "Just this once. Next time I'll make you beg."

Ryder arched an eyebrow to try and cover the responding lurch of her stomach that made her physically flinch, "Is that so?"

"Naturally."

As he kicked off his pants she was able to observe him properly. Her eyes trailed over his muscled shoulders to his chest, the light brown skin dotted with the odd scar accompanied by a light covering of dark hair that trailed off and thinned as it descended his body. They lingered as she was able to get a closer look at the tattoo on his arm. Stretching from his shoulder blade to just above his elbow was an image of Anubis, the Ancient Egyptian God of Death. Distracted as she was, at that moment she could think on it as barely more than an attractive addition to a body that already made her quiver in anticipation. Reyes lowered himself over her again and her breath hitched as he pressed himself against her and she could feel his bare skin, every inch of him. She shifted her thighs as he moved, knees brushing against his hips.

Tantalisingly close, he whispered in her ear, "Sara, you have no idea how long I've wanted to do this."

"I think I have... some idea..." she breathed back.

Their eyes met for a brief second, his still wide and a bit wild. Then Reyes took hold of her chin, fingers gliding gently over her jawline, before he tilted her head back as he slid inside her. She moaned, no longer an aching whine, instead his name tumbling from her lips in a gasp of shocked pleasure. Emboldened as her hips rose to meet his, he pressed deeper inside her, hand clutching her thigh. Her nails dragged, biting, over his shoulders as he filled her over and again, her spine arcing automatically as he drove into the mattress. Reyes adjusted his position, dark hair falling into his face as he pressed his chest closer to hers and rather than being sat over her, his chest, his cheek brushed against hers. She clung to his shoulder blades, a gasp escaping her throat as this new position meant his cock thrust hard against a part inside of her that made lights dance behind her eyes. Whilst he leant his weight against one elbow his other hand roved restlessly over her skin, over the curve of her hips, her breasts, increasing the pressure when he felt goosebumps prickle across her skin as her body responded agreeably to his firm caresses, rough in a way that her toes curled. She felt his teeth skim the shell of her ear, then his lips were on her throat, sucking at her neck and leaving searing kisses tingling on her skin. And whilst it felt good, really good in the same way his lips on her body always did, especially when accompanied by the satisfied humming sound he was making in this throat, their fervid placement was endearing, imprecise in a way that Reyes never was. Ryder found herself reaching for his face, taken by the way he could be so simultaneously firm in that oh so satisfying way and yet at the same time... She brushed his hair back from his eyes as they caught hers in a gorgeous blaze of honeyed gold, black eyelashes flickered as he thrust inside her and drove every remaining thought from her head. His eyes glittered with the ghost of his usual smirk as he felt the resulting shudder cascade through her body, her thighs tightening, impossibly hot. Reyes took her hand from his face, scattering kisses over the back of it before dropping his lips to her mouth instead. Where his body felt hard, his strong thrusts, the fingertips that were now curling her wrist against the mattress, his tongue was silky soft as it glided over hers. After that there was nothing else other than those two points of contact, the hard stretching, aching drag of his cock and the slick of his tongue. She bit back a scream against his top lip as he lifted her hips slightly, biotics tingling beneath her skin. She felt him chuckle more than heard it, even as it was interrupted by his own sharp groan as she tightened around him again, and she slid her tongue back against his. Her eyes met this impossible gold of his and she came, moaning into his mouth as she managed to contain her biotics to a light shower of cerulean sparks. Reyes followed her, his cock pulsing intensely as he came, trembling into her arms for one moment vulnerable, eyes screwed shut, face pressed into her neck muffling his own shuddering breaths as they collapsed into each other.

They lay facing each other, her curled into the crook of his neck, him stroking a hand through her hair. Any memory of his deception, any misgiving she had about his identity as the Charlatan was gone. Ryder was content to lie with her eyes closed, breathing him in while she enjoyed the motion of his fingers combing apart strands of her hair. In that moment none of it mattered. Reyes shifted slightly and she felt him kiss the top of her head.

"It's still weird when you do anything romantic, like… This ancient vid I watched once, where everyone's bodies got taken over by aliens," she muttered into his neck. "That's not happened to you has it?"

"Sara?"

"Mmm?"

"Fuck off."

She could hear the laughter in his voice and smiled herself, before asking facetiously, "You're not going to kick me out are you?"

"That depends… do you snore?"

"Only sometimes."

"I'll just have to wake you up then."

She untucked herself from beneath his chin, gazing at his vaguely discernible features in the darkness.

"Well, the last time I called, you made certain promises about what would happen if we were in bed together and I woke you up," she reminded him.

He opened his eyes, "Huh, you'll just have to hope you snore then."

Ryder wriggled back into her previous position, pulling the sheet from the bottom of the bed and covering her bare waist with it. Perhaps conscious she might be cold Reyes responded by enclosing her tighter in his arms.

"Sara?"

"Reyes?"

"Be careful tomorrow."