Series Title: After the Reapers
Pairing: Garrus/Shepard

Author: Knights-Honour
Disclaimer: Mass Effect universe © BioWare
Any character you haven't heard of © me

Author's Notes:
Thanks go to my Beta; Blueglaceon, who despite having little knowledge of the Mass Effect universe, agreed to edit the series anyway. Thanks, Blue!

The Moments series is set after the Union series and is Garrus and Kat's honeymoon.

Moments of Stillness – Morning's Glory

Morning light filtered into the bedroom of one of the Citadel's many apartments, stirring one of the two occupants cuddled up in the queen sized bed.

The Turian yawned widely as he awoke, stretching out his stiff limbs. His actions caused his mate, a human, to stir briefly and she rolled over, snuggling into his side before settling down and drifting off again. The Turian smiled as he took in a deep breath and he purred with arousal as he exhaled; he could still smell himself on her skin, both inside and out, from their activities the night before and it excited him, his protective folds moistening in response.

But he reined in his desires and let her have this much deserved lie-in. He knew, better than anyone, that sleep-ins were a rare occurrence for the great Commander Shepard, especially when aboard the Normandy.

So he let her rest, purring contently as he watched her sleep, stroking her back as he reminisced on all that had transpired the previous day.

He was a married man now, and he didn't hesitate to use the human term for their union, something that, because of his 'bad Turian' reputation, he'd never expected to happen in his lifetime. And though he didn't know what he'd done to deserve to have such an incredible woman. A woman that accepted him, flaws and all, for what he was, in his life, he thanked the Spirits everyday for the blessing that had been bestowed on him the day she had entered it.

'And speaking of acceptance...'

The Turian raised a tri-fingered hand to the left side of his neck, seeking out the source of the dried blood that coated his skin; the bite that Shepard had given him during their first coupling of the night. He'd awoken three quarters of an hour later, as his turian-hood had receded from her body, and they'd relocated to the bedroom for a few more rounds, the baser instinct to impregnate his mate driving his actions. And every time they'd come together, Shepard had re-marked him, trying to make the resulting scars more visible to the outside world.

His bond mark.

He couldn't help but purr at the thought as his questing fingers found what they were seeking; four small punctures. The most unique bond mark in the history of the ritual, and he was proud to bear it. Locating each scab, he re-pierced the wounds with his claws, aiding Shepard's desire to show the world that he was hers.

Task completed, Garrus Vakarian settled back down, nuzzling closer to Shepard as he drifted off again, savouring these precious moments of stillness with the woman that he loved.

~ o ~ o ~ o ~

An hour later, roused by the call of nature, Shepard stirred. Carefully extracting herself from her mate's arms, she made a bee-line for the bathroom to relieve herself. When she returned, she found Garrus sitting up in bed, wide awake and accessing the morning's news via omni-tool.

"Hey," he murmured in greeting, his eyes not leaving the newsreel he was reading, as she slid back into bed.

"Hey," she murmured back as she straddled his slender waist, earning a chuckle, and his undivided attention, from her mate when she started to grind herself against him.

"Frisky, are we?" he purred as he deactivated his omni-tool and raised his legs off of the bed to get comfortable.

"Mmmhmm," she hummed as she braced a hand on the front of his neck ridge and leaned down to kiss him and Garrus responded eagerly. But as he became more and more engrossed in their lip-lock, he failed to notice Shepard's remaining hand as it trailed a path down his body to his groin. But when her fingers slipped under the lips of his protective folds to stroke the head of his burgeoning shaft, he took notice, falling back to the bed, groaning as her caresses roused his member, causing it to push past the moistened folds and into Shepard's waiting hand. The Turian could only groan again as she continued to stroke his emerging shaft in all the right ways until it was fully exposed, throbbing and ready to go.

But when he saw her position herself above him, he tensed. He had never taken her without her being thoroughly prepared for his penetration first and because his phallus was easily double the size to that of a human male's, he could do some serious damage. "Kat..." he hedged in a worried tone-of-voice.

"Shhhh," she soothed. "It's okay. I'm not going to just yet," she assured him as her fingers left his shaft, trailing up her thighs to her entrance and dipped her fingers inside herself. Garrus could only groan, and grip her hips tightly, as he watched his mate pleasure herself, the growing scent of her arousal making his member throb vicariously, as it had two nights ago when he observed, via vid-link through the cameras in her room, Shepard tending to her needs in the wake of his absence, due to their up-coming nuptials. His intentions for accessing the feed had been innocent; he'd just wanted to check up on her before going to sleep. But one look at his moaning and writhing mate, one hand busy between her legs and the other working feverishly on her breasts and he'd been mesmerised, unable to tear himself away as she'd brought herself to orgasm.

Pleasuring her by hand was one thing he hadn't done yet, the innate fear hurting her with his claws keeping him from attempting it. But it seemed that she was trying to rectify that by showing him how to go about it and emboldened, one of Garrus' hands left her hip and brushed against the hand working between her legs. With a tender smile and a soft, "I trust you" her hand left her core, gently took hold of his hand and twining a finger with one of his and slid their digits back inside her. Garrus purred as their fingers were enveloped by her slick, rippling, channel. She began to teach him how to drive her wild, then, and as always, he was a quick student when it came to pleasing her, replicating her strokes with a bent finger to caress her G-spot. He also raised his free hand to softly stroke her stomach, which earned a soft moan of apparition from his mate as she raised her own spare hand to tease and pluck at her breasts.

With their combined attentions it wasn't long before she was on the precipice of release and one final stroke within her was all that was need to send her flying, her walls clamping down on their fingers, her juices dripping down their wrists and onto his shaft, which by now had began to weep as well, a dewdrop forming at its tip, as the wave of ecstasy swept through her.

When she recovered, Shepard's hand left her body and began to stroke his eager member again, caressing the column of plated ridges on the top of his shaft that were responsible for the locking mechanism when he reached his peak, as she coated his navy-coloured shaft with their mingled fluids before she positioned his swollen tip to her entrance and sank down onto him, allowing her body time to adjust to his sizable girth before she began move. Garrus groaned and raised his hands to hips as she ground herself against him, driving him closer and closer to his peak, as she lowered her head to his, his shaft swelling within her in preparation of release, as she began to suck and nibble on his uninjured mandible. "Love you," she murmured to him before she began to stroke the inner membrane with her tongue. Garrus groaned in response and grabbed her ass to thrust into her, hard, and Shepard threw back her head, crying his name to the heavens as she toppled over the edge, her channel rigidly gripping his pulsing shaft as she fell into the abyss of pleasure bellow. And as always, her release triggered his and Garrus snarled as his member locked them together as his seed filled her to the brim as he followed his mate into the abyss.

It took them a few minutes before they started to come down from their respective highs, the overflow of their union beginning to gush out of her as the couple caught their breaths and Shepard slumped forward to cuddle up with her Turian. Purring, Garrus lowered his legs to the mattress, wrapped his arms around his mate and rolled to the side so that they could both rest comfortably while they were still joined.

"Kat?" he rumbled.

"Hmmm?" she sleepily responded, not opening her eyes.

"I love you, too," he purred back, returning her earlier sentiment, nuzzling her cheek and she reached up to stroke his face, giving him a quick peck on the muzzle, before settling back down and drifting off.

Purring contently, Garrus followed his mate's example, closing his eyes and letting his dreams claim him.

TBC...