The phrase "calm before the storm" had never applied moreso than now. Commander Karen Shepard sat at her desk, hands steepled before her chin as her eyes stared blankly at the flickering holo of her former lover, Kaidan Alenko. The distant blips and beeps of the ship echoed around her, coupled with the low gurgle of the unused fish tank along the wall.

Two hours. Seemed more like an eternity. Shepard sighed into her clasped hands, eyes closing as she lowered her head. Her cabin was quiet despite the hum of the fish tank and delicate electric buzz of her personal console at her elbow. Unbidden, the memory of the night before Ilos entered her mind. It had been wonderful, at the time. After Horizon, Shepard had a hard time looking at Kaidan's holo without wanting to throw it across the room in a fit of rage.

Rage had become strangely easy to her since her resurrection. She could remember being remarkably compassionate and considerate of others when she was in the Alliance. Hell, she'd even had more hair back then! These days, it just seemed easier to punch first and ask questions later, provided the punchee was conscious. Her actions surprised most, went undetected by others, and was welcomed by precious few. Those precious few she kept with her as often as possible. Being around those who were unaccustomed to her abrupt rages looked at her in a way she couldn't describe or like. Garrus and Tali seemed most perplexed by her behavior, but kept their questions to themselves. They'd changed as well, though maybe not to the extent Shepard herself had.

She slid a hand over her shorn hair, fingertips seeking out the faint scars that crisscrossed her scalp. Neural damage, Miranda's files had indicated. Brain surgery. Misfiring impulses. Whatever the cause, it made her behavior all the more reckless, her pain threshold all the more advanced, her emotions all the more uncontrollable.

A shadow slipped over the steel wall behind her desk, causing Shepard to twist in her chair to see its source. Outlined by the pale blue of the tank behind him, the silent form of Zaeed stood behind her. She turned more in her chair, rising when he took a step forward. His name rose in her throat, caressed her tongue, then died before it could reach her lips. Why was he here? Her heart began to pound erratically in her chest. There was no denying the electricity she felt whenever she was near him. The sheer power and presence of him was enough to make her forget herself and her position as commander.

The oldest human on the ship, Zaeed had the ability to reduce Shepard to a little girl despite her long service record and multiple accolades. Even though he was a mere ten years her senior, he'd packed another twenty years into his current lifespan, more than she'd managed before she was twenty-two. Somehow keeping a wave of batarian slavers and pirates didn't seem all that impressive when you compared it to Zaeed's formation of the infamous mercenary band, the Blue Suns, when he was only fifteen. Shepard had done the math one day and had been dumbstruck by the results. Yes, Zaeed was definitely an intriguing individual for all of his coarse delivery and disinterest in socializing with the rest of the team. That didn't stop her from seeking him out instead, reveling in the wide range of stories of his exploits and simply enjoying his company.

That still didn't explain why he was here now.

Shepard took a tentative step forward as if daring him to speak or move. Instead he continued to gaze at her with his one good eye, the blind one following its twin instinctively despite its lack of sight. She imagined his eyes intimidated many foes, along with the story behind the scars that pulled his skin taut across the left side of his face, aging him prematurely for his forty years. The left side of his face remained mostly smooth, the only real evidence of his true age. His eyes, or his scars, didn't intimidate her. Instead, she often had to fight the urge to reach out and touch them. In deep shadows, the relief they were cast in defied their superficial depth, creating a striking image that would make any battle-hardened merc wet his flight suit should he come out of the shadows without warning. He probably should've startled her, coming into her cabin uninvited and in complete silence. Instead, all she wanted to do was cross the space that separated them, regardless of the outcome.

Before she could put thought into action, the stoic bounty hunter advanced on her. A breathless gasp escaped her lips as Zaeed lifted her into his arms effortlessly and put her on her desk. Then his mouth was on hers and all rational thought fled from her mind. Somewhere in the tangle of their embrace, Shepard heard the holo strike the floor and shatter. Somehow, it only served to make her kiss Zaeed with more passion, more force, than before.

Finally able to succumb to the impulses that had plagued her since that fateful nightmarish mission on the defunct Collector ship when he'd first shielded her with his body, Shepard lost herself in the sensation of his scar-tense lips on hers, her nails curling into the thick muscles of his shoulders. Just as she'd always imagined them, his arms felt amazing pressing into her sides as he held onto her firmly. She could feel the distinct slope of his biceps caressing the undersides of her upper arms and moaned boldly into the kiss. The hardness of his armor pushing against her breasts was surprisingly arousing, though she was eager to see him deprived of the offending restriction between them.

The kiss was broken with a mutual inhalation of the artificial air even as Zaeed hoisted her from the desk and carried her down to the bed. Stretched out over it, Shepard watched with hazy eyes as the older man began to rid himself of his armor. Following his lead, Shepard jerked her flight top over her head and worked her boots off her feet, kicking them to the floor carelessly. The various sections of his bright red armor joined her discarded combat boots and thrown top, landing on the steel floor with nigh-deafening thuds.

Bare to the waist, Zaeed knelt over the commander again, his knee wedging between hers and coaxing her legs apart. Shepard arched up to meet him as he lowered his face to the side of her neck, his lips and tongue creating the most amazing sensations along her skin. The heavy scent of leather and metal permeated his skin, encompassing her senses. When his palms made contact with her breasts, Shepard released a small cry that sounded more like a plea, a plea that did not fall on deaf ears. Zaeed pushed the fabric of her bra up away from her breasts, fingertips creeping up the trembling flesh there and teasing the nipples that strained against his touch.

It was like being devoured alive by pure sensation. Shepard threw her head back just as Zaeed's lips closed over her right nipple, suckling her insistantly. When she made to grip his head, his hands came up and pinned her wrists to the bed. Rather than bucking to get him off her, she released control and allowed him to take command. The weight of always being in charge lifted from her spirit and she gave in to the throaty moan that had rushed up through her chest, demanding release. This reaction seemed to please the former mercenary; the vibration from his deep laugh sent shivers up and down her spine. She continued to writhe beneath him, lidded eyes drinking in the sight of him above her. It fueled an already fiery arousal that blossomed between her legs and spread to her very fingertips.

A few more agonizing moments of delicious torture and he was off her again. Shepard blinked delirious eyes at him, barely registering his hands at the waistband of her pants as he pulled them down her legs. The cool air struck her and she let loose a shuddering groan. Heat met her skin, hotter than anything she'd ever felt before. She opened her eyes partially to find Zaeed completely nude and stretched over her. The weight of him alone was amazing in her mind. He was so...solid. So reassuring. She felt, for possibly the first time in her life, like a woman should when being loved by a man: small, feminine, delicate. Under his body, she was all of these things and more.

She breathed his name faintly, drawing his focus to her lips again. He pressed his groin against her pelvis as he claimed her upturned mouth once more, smiling when her legs wrapped around his waist. It wouldn't take much encouragement for her to be ready for him, that much was certain. The very action of her hips rising to meet him was invitation enough.

At the first sensation of him thrusting inside her, Shepard tightened her hold on his waist and lifted her hips well off the bed. Zaeed rose up slightly and gripped her rear in both hands, supporting her as he deepened his thrusts. Shepard's back was in a dramatic arch now, her hands propped up on either side of her head as she gazed at him with naked lust in her eyes. He met her intense stare with his own, eyes unblinking even as his hips worked to maintain his rhythm. Shepard was rocked steadily against the bedspread, their groins meeting in a jarring shudder each time he buried himself within her. She twisted her body slightly to adjust his angle, purring out a satisfied moan at the new sensation.

After many more deep gyrations of his hips, Zaeed slipped from her and released her legs' hold on his waist. Shepard lay breathing heavily as he circled the bed and stretched out onto his back. Immediately, Shepard flipped over and crawled up the bed to drop a hot, bruising kiss on his parted lips. As she forced his mouth open with her tongue, she swung one leg over his hips and sank down onto him to the hilt. She parted from him to bend backwards, forcing him to press against her most sensitive places. He gripped her as she began to roll her hips over him lustily. His coarse hands on her skin, the heat of him deep inside, the sound of his heavy breathing -- all of these heightened her arousal further. Never before had she felt so fulfilled, not even with Kaidan had she felt this ecstasy. Zaeed was amazing, guiding her rotating hips with his hands, grinding her roughly against him and enhancing every sensation that flowed through her.

Kaidan's lovemaking had been slow and deliberate. He'd wanted to savor it for as long as possible. But Zaeed? He wanted all of her, every last inch of her body on fire for him, to hear her voice as she shaped her moist lips around his name in breathless gasps. This much she could feel just from the persistance in which he held her to him, over him. Around him.

With a great cry of desire, Shepard undulated over him, throwing her head back and clutching at his thickly muscled thighs for leverage. She could feel it building. She wanted to let go. Her body shuddered as waves washed over her and fell over him, wanting to feel him close to her. Zaeed obliged by shifting into a sitting position, Shepard still in his lap, and embraced her close to his broad chest. He kissed her neck as she shivered in his arms, her orgasm coursing through her and over him. She relaxed against him with a drowsy sigh, her head falling forward to rest in the crook of his shoulder.

It was a few minutes before awareness returned to Shepard, consciousness coaxed by Zaeed's fingers caressing the small of her back. He was still inside her, but didn't seem all that concerned with meeting his own end as he pressed a remarkably soft kiss against her jaw. She suddenly felt abashed to be nude in his arms, his thickness still joining them intimately. Zaeed noticed and smiled slightly up at her.

"Feeling better?" he rumbled softly, gliding his lips across her jaw again and making her shiver. Shepard attempted to find her voice and failing, simply nodded. He chuckled quietly. "Good."

He continued to hold her to him as she began to succumb to exhaustion. Wrapping her arms about his neck and shoulders, Shepard rested her head against them and closed her eyes. His fingers resumed their gentle stroking of her spine, lulling her further into welcoming sleep.

On the very verge of slumber, Shepard felt Zaeed shift, the world spinning briefly before she was laid on her side and the heaviness of his arm lay draped over her waist. She felt him draw closer to her, her back to his chest and his lips at her ear as he murmured words she couldn't comprehend, tired as she was. A billowing of fabric and they were covered, his heat immediately flooding the enclosed space between them.

Shepard forced her lips to part and for her voice to sound. "Stay with me," she whispered faintly. Zaeed's response was to kiss her ear lightly even as words echoed in her mind.

"Wouldn't dream of leaving, Shepard..."

- cont?