An hour later Shepard and Garrus parted ways with Serena, after promising to stay in touch to inform them if their activities had yielded any fruit. They had changed the sullied sheathes of the bed and with a clean, fresh smell in his nose, Garrus crawled in under the blankets to hold his wonderful, beautiful woman.

"Had fun?" he asked while nuzzling into her hair. He loved her hair, how it would bunch up around him and tangle in his mandibles. It felt safe, like home, like Shepard.

"Yeah," she said a bit absently, caressing his hands and fingers that was clasped around her middle. "You?"

Garrus chuckled.

"Yes," he answered. "But I think you might have heard that."

They were quiet for a moment, and deep in his gut it felt like he was missing something. Something she left unsaid.

"You okay?" he murmured and pulled her a bit tighter to his chest.

"Yeah, sure," she answered in the same far away voice.

Garrus paused. Had he missed something? They had both enjoyed themselves, hadn't they? She hadn't felt left out, right?

"Hey, Shepard," he started carefully. "You know I love you right?"

"I love you too." Shepard rolled over to her back so she could look him in the face. One small hand landed on his cheek and he purred contentedly from the touch.

"Then what is it?" Garrus studied her face, but couldn't find any reason for the strange feeling he was getting from her.

She was quiet for a while, her face inscrutable, and he had to hold in an impulse to ask again, but at last she said:

"That thing, that you did, to her, the first time." It seemed as if she had trouble finding the right words. "With the growling and sneering and the wall and... that... what was that?"

Oh, that. Yes, that was of course something she would ask about. How should he explain turian mating rituals to her without offending her? That wasn't something he could do with Shepard, she'd break. As tough as the woman was, her skin was still incredibly delicate. They had played rough before, but Garrus had always taken extra care with his talons and teeth. He didn't want to hurt her, and he could, really badly, if things got out of hand.

"Hrm..." he hesitated. "Foreplay?" The look of innocence on his face mustn't have gone down well.

"That was some foreplay..." Shepard scowled. "I didn't know you... Liked playing that rough. But... somehow, she knew."

Garrus had the decency to look down in shame. He had to try to explain it to her.

"It's a... turian thing." That was a really bad one, as explanations go, and he could tell from the look on her face that she didn't accept it. "There are noises human ears can't pick up, indicators, cues, you know that."

"Yes, but..." The green eyes turned away from him. "We've never... You have never..." Her voice got so low he couldn't quite catch more than a mumbling mess.

"What?" he had to ask.

Shepard squirmed a bit where she lay, turning over a little more to face him.

"You've never grabbed me that way," she mumbled just barely more audible. "Never... taken me... that way."

His stomach churned uncomfortably and he had to close his eyes to control the unease that wanted to well up.

"You know why, Shepard," he said carefully, holding in a sigh. She had to understand, please understand...

This was something they had discussed before. The woman who saved the galaxy hated to be considered soft or weak. That was not how he saw her, but how could he make her see that he didn't want to risk accidentally slicing her throat open, or breaking one of her bones.

"No, I don't know," she stubbornly persisted. When he opened his eyes to look at her she was insistently boring her green, sharp emeralds into him. "Is that kind of sex usual for turians?"

Spirits save him, he didn't want to lie to her.

"Yes," he said even though he shuddered at what she must think. "At one time encounters, it's not uncommon."

"Then why have we never..."

"Dammit, Shepard!" he interrupted her, suddenly frustrated. How could she think that he didn't want to do that with her? After everything they had gone through together, how could she think he would want anything but her? But the sudden fury dissipated just as quickly as it had risen when he saw the hidden insecurities behind the stubborn facade in her eyes. Garrus trailed on finger down her cheek and along her jaw to her chin. "I don't want to hurt you." His tone much softer.

"I'm not..." His obstinate wife bit her lower lip, still looking perturbed. "Do you miss it?"

"What? No!" Garrus grabbed her arm, why he didn't know. He felt like shaking her. Stupid woman!

"It wouldn't be strange, or wrong, you know..." Her eyes wandered everywhere but his face. "Missing something... Because I'm human. It must have been nice to... to..." Her eyelids fluttered briefly. "To be with another..."

No! He'd have none of that! Garrus grabbed her jaw in a stern grip and forced her to look at him.

"No," he said, his face dour. "I don't miss anything. I love you." Trying to pour as much meaning behind the words as he could, he held her gaze. "And that goes for the knotting too. I'd rather be with you one time, than have that a thousand."

Shepard's usually so conserved face softened and a small smile spread on her lips. It made his heart float on happy fumes to see.

"Yeah?" she asked, abashedly.

"Yeah," he confirmed and pulled her in tight for a kiss. "Stupid woman." Mandibles fluttered in humor and he got a half committed fist in his ribs as a thank you for the comment.