Chapter 16 (Warning - Basically Pure Smut)

Anya bit back a giggle at how eager Garrus was to scramble up behind her once she was on her hands and knees. She felt one big hand settle on her hip and she glanced back at him. "Need any help?"

"I think I can figure it out," he said with a laugh, and she felt her breath catch when the tip of his cock nudged her. "Right here?"

"Yeah," she said breathlessly, and he slid in quickly enough that she almost yelped. "Ah, start off a little on the easy side, though. Different angles can require a little bit of an adjustment."

"Oh. Did I hurt you?" He sounded concerned, and he froze.

"Not quite. I figured I'd warn you before you did. Just keep it slow for a minute, I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." She started moving for him, and she felt his other hand hesitantly end up on her other hip. She started taking his length a little deeper, and he finally moved with her, working together until he was eventually hilting himself in her with every thrust.

"Spirits, Anya," he groaned as he started pumping harder, and she felt herself grab a fistful of the blanket in either hand. His talons were digging into her hips, the sting making her screw her eyes shut, and she quickly found herself panting.

"Don't stop," she pleaded softly, and he let out a low noise that made her stomach flip. He pistoned her relentlessly until it was all she could do to meet his hips with hers, every thrust driving her closer to the end.

She stayed there, on the edge for several long moments before she raised herself to press her back to his front. One arm reached back to twine itself around the back of his neck, and her other hand was quick to grab Garrus's right. She drew his finger, the one with the blunted talon, into her mouth, sucking and licking the digit to get it wet. He pulled in a shuddering breath and she nearly smiled when he asked, "What are you doing?"

"I want you to make me finish," she said when his fingertip slid free of her lips. She guided his hand down between her legs, her heart pounding wildly. "There's a sensitive spot right here. When we were fucking earlier, we could stimulate it just by moving against each other, but this position needs...a more hands on approach."

"Teach me," he said simply, his voice low in her ear, and she nearly shuddered. She directed his finger with hers, and in almost no time he was stroking her clit in gentle circles. Her head fell back against his shoulder and she trembled against him, every nerve in her body singing as she approached her peak again.

He started nuzzling and nipping at her neck, and she whimpered, "Oh, God, just like that."

His teeth were still at the base of her throat when her orgasm washed over her, and she stopped breathing at the sudden pain that blossomed in the spot where her neck met her shoulder. The sharp stinging contrasted with the waves of pleasure radiating from her core, and she forgot to breathe for a moment with the intensity of the sensations washing over her.

She realized that Garrus must have bitten her as the ecstasy started to ebb, and he stiffened against her as he finished deep inside her. After a few moments he went rigid, then promptly started trying to disentangle himself from her wordlessly.

"Relax, I'm not going to bleed out after one bite," she said, getting off of him and letting him up, sitting unceremoniously near the edge of the bed.

"Spirits," he muttered, his eyes locked on the wound he'd made. She glanced down at it awkwardly, wondering why he was so unsettled by it.

Anya nearly yelped when Garrus rose from the bed and scooped her up, beelining for her bathroom. He deposited her on her toilet, and she grimaced at the cold of the cover on her bare ass. He rushed to her mirror, digging in the medicine cabinet behind it like a man possessed.

"I'm fine, Garrus. You can calm down." She couldn't decide whether to be annoyed or amused.

"It is not fine, I just surprise marked you and you're bleeding everywhere and it's going to scar and I cannot find the damn..." He let out an aggravated noise.

"Behind the ibuprofen in the big white bottle."

In moments he was back, medi-gel in hand, and he started liberally applying it to the deep bite wound on her shoulder. "I am so sorry, Anya. I was just so...into things in the moment, and when I bit you, my teeth went in so easily and then I was-I wasn't thinking. I didn't mean to do it."

"It's fine." She reached for her towel from her shower and snagged it, using it to wipe away the blood.

"It's not fine, I marked you. The only thing that could have been worse is if I'd bond marked you."

"What?"

"I...it's...if you're marked, you're committed to someone. If you're bond marked, you're committed to someone for life. I...I accidentally marked you. Marking and bond marking aren't meant to be done on a whim, without prior consent. It was...appallingly careless. Do you think that thing in the med-bay would get rid of the scar?"

"Oh. Probably."

"Spirits, I hope so. Of all the dumb, irresponsible shit for me to pull…" His hands were gentle as he massaged the gel in.

"That's enough, Garrus." He froze. "What?"

"I...I see. I probably shouldn't...I don't blame you if you don't want me to touch you after...after I…" He withdrew his hands and she sighed.

"Goddamnit, all I meant was that you need to stop beating yourself up over it. I like you touching me. I'm legitimately not even upset about the mark. If you want me to get rid of it, I can."

"Well, of course you...wait, what do you mean if I want...do...do you want to keep my mark?" Garrus was fumbling over his words, and she had to look away.

"I mean...I don't know."

"Anya, this is important. Don't shut me out now."

"I...maybe? Fuck, it's...this might be a better conversation for after the mission."

"It's just...I thought we were...this was supposed to be a way to work off stress, wasn't it?"

"Originally, yeah, I...it...it was. It...it occurred to me that I also...have feelings for you, but I...I didn't realize it until we were already having sex, and I was going to talk to you about it after we got back." The words came out in a rush, and Anya could feel her face heating.

Silence stretched between them for moments that felt more like a lifetime. Finally, Garrus spoke, quietly saying, "I need you to get up."

"What?"

"If you're keeping my mark, you have to mark me in return. If that's what you want, I need you to get up. It's not meant to be a one way thing."

"Garrus, you don't have to do this to humor me, really…"

"I never said I wanted this for you. I want your mark for me."

"So you…?"

"I want to be with you. I don't know how to be anymore plain. Even after the mission, I want this. I want you, you crazy woman. You know there's no Vakarian without Shepard."

"And there's no Shepard without Vakarian." She let out a shaky breath as she rose. In moments, he was the one seated, and he pulled her into his lap so that she straddled him.

"Make sure you bite down hard the first time. Your goal is to break the skin enough to leave a lasting scar. Don't worry about hurting me."

"Okay. You're...you're sure that this is what you want?"

"I'm sure. Do it." He tilted his head away.

"Where?"

"Between here," he pointed to the spot where his neck and shoulder met before indicating the spot next to his carapace, "and here. It doesn't have to be centered."

"Okay." He withdrew his hand, and it settled on her hip. She leaned in and he stilled, waiting. She pressed a single kiss to his shoulder by way of warning before she bit down as hard as she could. The metallic tang of blood hit her mouth when his skin split, and she kept up the pressure for a few moments until she was sure the wound she left was deep enough to scar.

She hurried to clean the mark with the towel, then it was her turn to carefully administer medi-gel. She studied the spot for a moment, and he asked, "Everything alright?"

"Just making sure I got it all. It should be done healing up soon. Was that okay? I had to bite down pretty hard, your skin is pretty thick." She started cleaning his blood from around her mouth, and he finally shifted to look at her.

"It was. Honestly, I knew it was going to hurt. It's normally a lot more pleasant if it's done during sex, but I just don't have a round four in me. When I was younger, maybe, but it's just not going to happen anymore," he said, feigning seriousness, and she smiled.

"I'm fine with that. Honestly, I'm already going to be walking funny tomorrow. Anymore and you were going to be press ganged into carrying me everywhere." He snorted at that, and her grin grew. "C'mon. We need to rinse off."

"Mmm, you're right, we probably should. You look good in blue, though, if you're ever wondering," he joked, carefully brushing a thumb across her jaw in an attempt to remove an azure smudge, but she felt it smear instead.

"Leave it. That's what the shower's for." She rose and headed towards it, quickly turning the water on. She glanced back at him and wondered why he was watching her so intently. "You joining me or just watching?"

"I'm leaning towards joining, but I...we should talk about this a little, shouldn't we? How things are changing, and how they're staying the same?"

"We can. Honestly, I was kind of hoping things weren't going to change too much, outside of being more free with physical affection and hopefully lots of you sleeping here, figuratively and literally. I'm very comfortable with monogamous, so that's not even remotely a problem. What were you hoping for?" He rose and approached her, stopping just inside arms length.

"Wait, why just me sleeping here? What's wrong with you sleeping in my bed?"

"It's a single person cot. I'm still not fully convinced it's big enough for you."

"I mean, barely. I could get a bigger cot."

"If you get a bigger cot, we can revisit the topic. Answer the question."

"Fair enough. I guess I just want...I don't know. I think I was mostly bracing for you to want more to change between us."

"Why would you think I'd want more to change? I like how things are, as a whole. I'm not going to ask you to act differently, or change how you treat me. It would be nice to come before your calibrations now and then," she teased with a grin, "but I know that's asking a lot. That might be more of a bondmate kind of request."

He laughed. "I can accommodate that. Anything else?"

"Not that I can think of. Are you sure there's nothing that you can think of that you want to change?"

He thought for a long moment. "How do you feel about going out?"

"Like on dates?"

"Yeah. I like the idea of taking you out now and then. Maybe not dancing, but to dinner, or a movie, or just...I don't know...just enjoying being out together."

"My dancing is not that bad."

"If you say so."

"It isn't!"

"Notice how I'm not disputing your opinion."

"Ass."

"Still an ass that always has your six," he said pointedly, and she rolled her eyes.

"I'll go on dates with you, now just get in the goddamn shower."