Author Note: And after that last chapter, I bring you some romance. I hope you enjoy.
I do not own Mass Effect.
Waking up is hell.
The first time she does it, everything is still a painful haze. Someone presses a cup to her lips and won't let her fall back asleep till she drinks. Her voice croaks as she tries to protest but that cup is insistent. Shepard drinks enough to fill an aquarium and passes out.
The second time, her throat is dry again. Her eyelashes feel crusted to her skin from sleep. She fights, prying them open and lifting her head. Her ruined dress is gone, replaced with an old t-shirt and a sheet to cover her bottom half. They left her boots on. She can feel the tingle that comes with wounds recently healed by medi-gels.
"Hey." Shepard turns her aching neck. Garrus is beside her. Still bandaged up but they're new, unstained wrappings. His shoulder is whole.
"Watching me sleep?" She asks, rubbing her eyes. Mascara smears onto her knuckles. "You look a helluva lot better."
"Almost two days of rest will do that. Butler's ordered me to stay in bed a little longer." He pushes himself up, favoring the arm not recently yanked out of socket. "I did look at what you brought. How…?"
"Three guesses." She rolls onto her side to better face him. It's the first time, she realizes, she's seen him without his visor. It's nice.
"Butler said you were torn up. Spirits, Shepard." His words are strangled with a growl and he slips his arms around her, tucking her against his chest.
The sensation of her cheek pressed to his bandaged chest is like being shot with electricity. Her heart is flipping over on itself without stop. Shepard clears her throat. "Just in a night's work. It was nothing, really."
"I know how you feel about the Blood Pack," he murmurs into her hair. His claws trace the curve of her back. "If I had lost you to that bastard…"
She blurts, "Now you know how I felt when I heard he got you."
Garrus' touch stills and she doesn't know which response she dreads: acceptance or rejection. And she doesn't want to wait for either. Shepard just wants to be alive with him.
So she slides a leg over his waist and straddles his hips, naked from the hem of her shirt to the top of her boots. Her muscles sing with the movement.
The Turian beneath her gapes. Shepard cups his face and brings her mouth down to his, kissing him. After a stunned pause he responds, sliding his tongue over hers. Eager to engage in a very non-Turian custom. She can feel his plates shifting, his member pressing against her through his pants.
"Wait…" he groans. "Do you want…Are you sure you're up to this?"
Probably not. But she slips her fingers down to the snaps of his pants anyway. "I want this Garrus. I want you."
"G-good. I mean…" His hands rest on her waist, fingers drumming. "I didn't know you liked Turians."
"I like you. It wouldn't matter to me what you were."
The ridge above his eyes rises, mandibles flaring. "How much like are we talking?"
She whacks his good shoulder. "Enough. Now shush while I take off your pants."
Instead, Garrus grabs the hem of her shirt and pushes it up. She lifts her arms and her shoulders scream as the garment pulls off of her. Beneath she has bandages decorating her torso, under her bra. He watches her unclasp the undergarment. The gun that's usually secreted there is next to her mat, atop her ragged dress. It's the most naked she's been in front of someone since her last lover, four years ago.
"The vids said human women need foreplay to-…I just said that aloud." Garrus brings his hand to cover his eyes. "Ignore that. It was awkward and terrible."
Shepard leans forward, smirking. "You watched vids."
"Well…" He glances back and forth. Like an escape route will appear. "I don't have a Human fetish. Really. But…I like you more than I've liked any female. So if chance brought us together I wanted to be…prepared."
Shepard rests her forehead on his chest, laughing till her eyes tear up. Garrus sits up and arranges her on his lap. Her legs are splayed and she leans backwards against his forearm. The laughter stills in her throat as he slides a finger into her.
His touch is gentle, hesitant. Careful of his claws and of her recent injuries. He probes, brow furrowed in concentration. Shepard touches his wrist and guides him to the right spot. Garrus is a quick learner. A second finger slips in between her folds. She grips his shoulders, gasping as teases her clit.
"Don't stop," she orders him. He disobeys, pulling his hand out and lying Shepard on her back. "Hey! I just said-"
Garrus buries his head in her thighs, flicking his tongue against the bundle of nerves. Shepard swears and bucks against him, fingers digging into the back of his head. The rough Turian tongue feels so damn good. She's slick and hot and-
"Fuck. Garrus." Shepard gasps, as he adds his fingers back into the mix. She bangs her fists on the ground as she comes. Yelping, writhing.
He moves up to kiss her, letting her taste herself on him. "I kinda like it when you talk dirty."
"I always talk dirty," she says, catching her breath. "So you just like it whenever I talk?"
"Yeah, that's about accurate." He shucks off his pants and props himself over her. Face red, she reaches for the zipper of her boots.
Garrus grabs her hand. "Ah…keep them on."
"Aha. Found your kink." She smirks and reverses the grasp. Takes hold of his wrist and presses his fingers down the length of her booted leg. Garrus swallows.
"These…" He strokes upward from her knee, voice dropping down to something rough and guttural. "Are really sexy boots, Shepard."
Oh fuck. All he needs to do is keep talking like that and she'll come again.
"Noted." She hooks her other leg around his waist and jerks him down. The tip of him rubs against her, teasing. She's aching for him now, as she slides her fingers around him. Rubs the ridged underside of his cock.
He groans. "Shepard…"
"I got you." Shepard guides him down. He follows her lead and enters her.
She hisses—the fit is tight and she's still sore. Garrus presses a hand to her cheek. "Are you okay? We can stop."
"Oh no," Shepard shakes her head. "We're not stopping." She tilts her hips until he's buried to the hilt inside her. His fingers tense against her face.
He slips out, torturous and slow. With the same maddening pace he pushes back in again. The pace is easier on her body and Shepard's grateful but damnit, she just really wants to fuck him. She sits up and catches his mandible between her lips, sucking on it.
Instinct wins over his control. His pace quickens, his hands tight on her waist as he moves inside her. She makes no effort to keep quiet and feels lightheaded. Like she's plummeting down, down a cliff and she won't ever get back up but it's okay because he's falling with her.
She screams into his shoulder as she orgasms, arms tight around his neck. Garrus growls in response. The noise roars in her ears as he shudders and pulls out, spilling onto the ground beside them.
They lie on their sides for a long time, clasped close enough to hear each other's heartbeat. Then Garrus presses his rough cheek to hers and nuzzles her from temple to shoulder.
She closes her eyes and lets him attend to her. His heavy breathing tells her he wasn't quite up to this yet and her body is sobbing from exertion and pain. It was a really dumb idea. It was the best idea she had ever had.
"Shepard…" Garrus murmurs. "…Will we be doing this again?"
She smiles. Fuck. There's her death and warrant and here is her big fat signature. "It had better be. Or I'd come after you."
"Right after saving me." The relief is so tangible in his voice that she can feel the weight of it on her. He is far, far gone and she doesn't know if she can live up to that kind of affection. "Stay. Please. You should recover before you go back out there."
"I heal fast." She nuzzles back, feeling clumsy at it. The gentle rumble in his chest tells her it will do. "But yeah, I think I can lie here for the time being."
The hardest part is leaving his arms. It feels too good, staying tangled with him under the thin sheet. She dozes on and off, lulled into a trance by the soft rumble of his breathing.
Reality calls. Shepard has to check in with Zaeed and meet with clients. He has to patrol the hollowed-out asteroid they call home. Garrus is nearly recovered, she has a few more miles to go.
They dress in silence and it's a damn shame to see Garrus covering up that body. A few hours ago, Butler brought navy pants and freshly-cleaned grey boxers for her to have. There's no mention of who the donor is but the only one in the group near her size is Erash.
"You watch your ass out there, Garrus," she tells him, rubbing his cheek "Because I'm done saving it for awhile."
"I owe you everything Shepard." He leans his face into her palm, stroking her wrist with his claws. "I feel like I should grovel or be your slave or something to make up for this."
"You can make up for this by laying low until you're at a hundred percent. Send me a message when you're up to some company." She wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him down. Their foreheads rest together. "Though I do like the groveling idea. Or just the thought on you on your knees before me…" She smirks. "Did you see that on your vids?"
Garrus sighs, closing his eyes. "Can't believe I told you about those." He rubs her hips, stirring her drive back up. "Any chance you'll forget?"
She detaches from him. Any more time spent here and she's going to jump him again. "Not a single chance."
Shepard tosses him a wink and saunters away. His footsteps follow her to the loft's main door; his eyes follow her until she disappears.