There were more mercs inside. There were always more, until there were none. She like it when there were none because that ment she'd put some metal in them. It was one of only a few guilty pleasures. The other was green and had just taken a very nice shot at a merc head. She was surprised he was even playing the game. He insisted it was a one sided affair and that Garrus was the only one keeping count. Maybe that was true. But she doubted Thane wouldn't be keeping his count even if there were no competition, just because of how meticulous he was.
Shepard took aim at a turian running up to support the soon to be dead fellow mercs. She took him out with one blast of biotic fury, along with a few of his friends. She'd been practicing. Garrus took advantage of a container full of explosive material to take out several at once. The ringing in her ears drowned out the screams of the burning victims. Thane worked quickly to put a bullet in the head of each one to end their suffering. He didn't like to hear and see them suffer. They may have deserved to, but he wasn't going to allow it to stain his conscious. She didn't always agree with him, but she admired him for his conviction.
With the base empty, they took whatever supplies they could find and went back to the Normandy. So far they had found nothing for their mission from the Council. Shepard wasn't sure how she was going to find anything unless they found the Reapers themselves. Even if she could get to 'dark space', she wouldn't go. She had no idea what to expect and it was their home turf. Not a good place to battle it out with an enemy that already had a massive advantage. They were running out of merc bases. The next step after that would be Omega. But what would they do with it if they managed to clean it up? She wasn't the one who created new things from old. She was the one to emptied the attic and left it up to the house wives to figure out what to do with the space.
"Where are you?" a familiar voice rumbled in her ear.
Thane slid a hand across her chin and up onto her cheek, turning her face from the window to look at him. She grinned and kissed his palm. He inched his finger tips into her hair. "You look worried." he said to her.
"I am." she replied. "We've yet to find anything new on the Reapers. I may go my whole life an not find anything. What if they're traveling here, right now? Could we stop them? How many would die before we could? What if it takes them a hundred years to get here. We will be dead, but millions that are alive now will be witness to the failure of the first human Spectre."
"Siha, you cannot always think on such things. You must allow yourself to relax and enjoy life. You taught me that." He looked into her sea green eyes with his impossibly black ones. The rings of his irises shining like silver. He took her in his arms and lay back on the sofa so she could cuddle against him while he stroked her hair. She wore it down for him tonight. The waves of reddish silk rippled down her back. "Worry about the bonding ritual if you must worry about something."
"I suppose you're right." She relented. She watched the nebula outside creep by. They had no where in particular they were just filled the tanks and stocked up on probes. Cerberus was still looking for them, but hadn't come close to finding them. Garrus and Thane were both good at hiding.
The ship was quiet. Tali went back to the floatilla. She and Reagar were dating. Garrus hung around for lack of anything better to do. He liked killing mers anyway. Mordin was visiting his protege on Omega. After that he would visit family. Samara had gone back to asari space. Legion went 'home', too. Grunt stayed for the action. Jack stayed for a while for the action and for 'action' with Grunt. But that hadn't lasted too long. Eventually they had a fight, luckily they were planet side at the time or they might have destroyed the ship. Grunt got back on board, Jack did not. She wasn't dead, just stubborn. Wouldn't even let them drop her off somewhere else. Who knew where she was now. Joker was still flying, of corse. He would never leave the Normandy willingly. Kelly tired to find ways to be useful. She would never leave Joker willingly. They were a cute couple. Miranda and Jacob eventually left, together. They weren't loyal to Cerberus anymore, but Miranda always had a plan. The cook/janitor was still the cook/janitor. Ken and Gabby spent their free time in the renovated cargo hold where Grunt used to reside. They moved him to the one Zaeed had used. He liked the smaller space anyway. Ken and Gabby had finally admitted to themselves as much as each other that they were more than friends. The doctor stayed. She'd follow Shepard anywhere. Shepard wasn't entirely sure why.
"So, have you thought any more about having the wedding on Kahje?" Shepard asked.
"I have. It dose not matter as much to me where we are married. Only that we are, Siha." he had been playing with her hair and let a strand fall from his finger tips.
"Ok, how about the Citadel? Kolyat wouln't have to go through so much trouble to be there."
"That is a kind thought, but I don't want you to base this dismission on the convinces of others."
She rolled over to look up at him. "Is there going to be a destination you will agree with or are you always going to take the other side?" She smiled at him.
"The Presidium is lovely, and we would not have to worry about the weather." He smiled back."And there are qualified Hanar clerics there." He allowed her to bring his face to hers for a kiss.
"Thank you." she said softly.
Soft music was playing from the juke orb in the corner. The room was devoid of light, save the kinetic barrier out side provided. Thane and his Siha lay in each others arms under the soft cottony sheets. She cuddled against his smooth, scaly skin. His arms wrapped around her body tightly, even in his sleep. A single tears leaks from his closed eyes and slides to the pillow. In his dreaming she is being pulled away from him toward the unknown and he can't seem to reach her. The harder he tries, the further she gets, like quick sand. But it's not she who is falling away. She is flying toward him, clad in white with the speed of angels. He is falling away from her. She is trying to reach him. She grabs his wrist. Their grip slips. The emptiness of air surrounds him. The tips of her wings flutter on the edges of his vision. In the moment before her hand secures his, he wakes with a start.
The room is dark, save the light from the kinetic barrier out side the view port. She is safe in his arms. He is safe in hers. His heart is pounding in his chest, his breathing is erratic. It was a memory, only a memory. A dream. It was over.
"Relax, Krios." He told himself. He takes a slow, deep breath to steady himself. Death still haunted him. It had for more than ten years. Why would it stop now because he had cheated it? How long could the warrior from Arashu protect him?
Thane ghosted his thumb over her cheek. He let his fingers slide through her hair and over the skin of her back. Her smooth skin goose bumped under his touch. She whispered a moan into his chest. He rested his palm, fingers spread, on her hip. She stirred, but didn't wake. She looked so peaceful asleep next to him. He was tempted by her body, but he didn't want to wake her. He lightly kiss her lips. Her breathing remained the same. His eyes swept over her form, following the curves on her shoulders, down her ribs and into the dip of her crevasse, back over her hips and thighs... His eyes fell on his own hand on her hip. He looked alien to himself on her skin. Not extremely different. His hand was similar to hers. But the things that made it different, the scales, the color and the webbing of his two middle fingers, must make him strange to her.
He'd become familiar with her body, used to it's pinkishness and smoothness, as she had become familiar with his. Their hearts beat almost as one. His pulse was always a little faster. He was drell. It would always be so. He had wanted a death in battle or in defense of a greater cause. Now he wanted the death of an old man with the one who loved him. It was an even stranger thing to him than the alieness of their differences, yet somehow it was not.
He applied a slight pressure to her hip, enough to coax her into laying on her back. She did so with a sigh. Her arm lay across her stomach. Her nipples hardened when the cooler air hit them. He eased her arm so it lay on the pillow, her hand next to her face. His fingers caressed her arm down to the swell of her breasts. He teased them lightly with lip and tongue. Her breathing became heavier, but she didn't wake. He used his knees to part hers and lay his body between him. Her wetness moistened the skin just above his drell-hood. The sheets slid easily over the smooth scales of his body. He guided himself cautiously into her. Her body inhaled deeply when he did. The feel of her heat surround him threatened to send shutters through him. The folds of this throat blushed a brighter red. He had to concentrate hard to keep back the moans as he loved her sleeping form. He kept his body up off of hers, afraid the friction of his scales on her skin might wake her. Her muscles tightened around him in response to his presence inside her. Small, quiet moans parted her lips. Her cheeks blushed. Her body released it's fluids. He kept going. He dared a kiss. He grasped both her hands in his and laid his body over hers, pinning her hands beneath the pillow next to her head. He moved in waves, easing himself in and out of her in slow, firm rhythms. He breathed heavily into her hair and against her neck. He watched her carefully, in case she woke. She breathed his name,
"Thane..."
He moved his face to hover over hers. Her eyes were still closed, but her fingers tightened over his. She was awake. He thrusted a little harder into her, pausing to throb in the deepest part of her. She took in a sharp breath.
"Mëha.." she moaned.
"Siha..." he breathed the name.
She started to open her eyes.
"Keep them closed..." his voice rumbled in her ear. She complied.
He worked her differently than he had before. He was slower, gentler, yet firm and decisive. She heard him grunt and sigh as he tightened his grip on her hands. She started thrusting her hips back at him and wrap her legs around his hips in desire. He released his grip on her hands long enough to force her knees back to the mattress and slide his palms up her thighs. He pressed them hard into her.
"No.." he almost growled. He wanted her completely subservient. She gave him orders as Commander. In here, he was in charge.
She relaxed her legs. He one hand to hers and used the other to slide up her body to her breast. He squeezed it and pinched the nipple. It forced a small cry from her lips. He breathed a groan on her face. She felt his hot, spicy breath on her cheeks and chin. He kissed her tenderly, sensually. His breath came in shutters and sighs. He wrapped the free arm around her back and pushed himself deep inside her. His smooth scales caressed her skin with each pulsing motion. Every time he moved out of her the scales on the top ridge of him pulled her hood back and rubbed against her swollen clit. She came again, with a soft, quaking moan.
"Ah..." He groaned against her neck. "Again, Siha." and thrust hard into her. He spoke the words along her jaw and chin. His lips tickled her skin.
"Më... ha" she gasped. Her body trembled beneath him. She involuntarily arched her back and dug the fingers of her free hand into his shoulder.
He took his arm from beneath her to pin her hand back. She came in rapid succession, soaking him and the sheets. He shifted his body. The scales on his chest teasing her nipples. He nibbled her ear then whispered,
"I'm going to roll you over, Siha." He pulled away from her. The rush of cool air that filled the void where he had been tingled her skin. His cool hands cradled her body and carefully rolled her onto her stomach.
He re-entered her as he slid his body over hers. He brushed the hair away from her face and back, then positioned her arms so that her elbows where bent by her head and her hands could grasp the edge of the mattress above her head. He slit his hands beneath her. One fond her breast and fondled it. The other found her clit and himself thrusting in and out of her. He put most of his weight on her. It made it difficult for her to breath. He pressed more of his weight to her when he moved the hand at her breast to join the other. His caresses and petting spreading her labia with his fingers to feel himself slid in and out of her. She came and he let the lips close around him again. He slid the wet fingers to her hips and he lifted off of her, letting her breath again. He used his grip on her for leverage for a while then spread her cheeks wide. He wanted to watch, to see himself, so alien to her body, being accepted in the most intimate way. He was getting close. He was ready. He laid his body over hers once more, kissing and breathing on her neck. Both hands were beneath her, squeezing her breasts and teasing her nipples. She moaned a little louder.
"Shhh..." he whispered, and slipped a hand down her body to her clit. She cried out with intense pleasure. He thrust hard into her. "Shhhh..." he whispered agian. He pulled his wet fingers away and tasted them. He moaned his enjoyment. He lay the arm next to her, using it to support himself. Then he did the same the the other. He pushed harder now, faster, but she could still feel every detail of him. He groaned and sighed more liberally than he usually did. He wanted her to hear him, this time. His breath was hot on the skin of her neck and back. His moans were getting louder. He reached up for her hands and brought them down from their grip on the edge down to the hollow of her neck, squeezing them as he neared his climax. The cool metal of her necklace pressing on his skin when her collar bore down onto his hands.
She bit the sheets to try and hold back her screams, only bits of moans escaped. His head was rubbing her g-spot in a way that forced fluid from her body. A fire was ablaze inside her. She could feel him becoming more ridged as he approached his zenith.
He'd been holding it all back. When he finally released his body's fluids into her it was an explosion of exquisite euphoria. The pressure of his release was more than her body could handle and she joined him in the experience. The room glowed bright with a blue light. Their bodies engulfed in biotic flame. He cried out loudly. The vibration of his voice rattled the data pads on the book shelf. Her own cries of pleasure were drowned out by his. She heard him, felt his roar. It sent chills through her.
EDI's voice came over the com.
"Is everything alright, Shepard?"
It took her a few minutes to composer herself.
"Shepard?"
"I'm fine..." she was panting. "EDI. I'm... fine."
"Let me know if you, or Mr. Krios, need anything." EDI almost sounded accusatory.
"Our thanks." Thane answered for her. He sounded a little hoarse.
They assumed EDI was gone when she did not reply. Thane left himself inside her and lay on top of her, his cheek nestled into her neck. He held her and listened to her breathing and her heart beat.
"When do I get to be in charge?" She asked.
"You are in command everyday, Shepard."
"I mean, when do I get to be on top?" she smiled.
"Hummm..." his throat rumbled against her. "On your birthday." He laughed. She smiled bigger.