Sorry for the long time between chapter releases. Mid-story chapters are always the hardest part for me. Hope you enjoy nonetheless!
Shepard exited the shuttle, bloodied and bruised. Her silvery eyes flashed with agitation as she wiped at the dribble of red that relentlessly trickled from her swelling nose. The moment he saw her it stirred an odd feeling in the back of Saren's mind. Something within him wanted to find whomever responsible and tear them to shreds. Disregarding the strange possessive emotions that rose up within him, Saren reminded himself that, like him, Shepard was a soldier and was in no way a stranger to the pains of battle. The reminder soothed him, but only slightly.
Giving a relatively wide berth between herself and the shuttle exit, Shepard watched as Lieutenant Vega and the shuttle pilot Cortez emerged, hauling something between them. It was humanoid in shape. A body? The Lawson woman followed shortly behind, shooting uncertain glances at it. It had taken Saren a moment to realize that the body was synthetic in structure – a machine.
"Get that thing to the AI Core," Shepard ordered, scowling at the robotic being while rubbing at the dark bruise that was purpling over her left jaw.
"Do you think that's safe?" Miranda objected, her expression filled with uncertainty.
Shepard's eyes fell to the other woman. "I want EDI to examine this thing. See if it can be of any use to us. At least then the mission wouldn't be a complete waste."
When the brunette responded with a pained wince, the commander's expression softened considerably. The mission was to find The Illusive Man and make him pay for Jacob's death, all while taking down Cerberus as a whole. From the sound of it, it seemed it had not gone as planned.
"Miranda..." Shepard started, grabbing at the other woman's attention before she departed. When they'd locked eyes, she continued. "Don't worry. We'll avenge Jacob." She held a determination in her voice that was iron-clad and it brought a slight smile from Lawson's lips.
"Thanks, Commander," she replied genuinely.
After watching them depart with the salvage, Saren turned back to find her attention finally focus on him.
"How went the mission?" he asked casually as she made her approach.
"Fan-fucking-tastic," she muttered, wiping at the blood that tickled her upper lip.
Though unfamiliar with the conjunction of those words, he's already suspected that it had gone poorly. "So, I'm assuming that means 'not so well'…?"
"We cleared the damn place but The Illusive Man was nowhere to be found. Aside from the satisfaction of nuking Cerberus HQ the entire mission was a bust!" She held back a wince as she unstrapped her gauntlets.
"What happened to you?" He managed to keep his voice fairly level despite his peaked concern.
"Got my ass kicked by some AI with legs - and nice ones at that," she told him, trying to make light of it. Running a bare hand through her sweat-damp hair, she grimaced and pulled it out after hitting a knot she couldn't untangle. "Needless to say, that was its body we brought back."
He felt a sense of pride rise up with the reminder of her remarkable resilience and the odds she consistently overcame. It was almost unsettling as he'd never felt pride for anyone other than his brother. "Are you alright?" he asked finally. He tried hard to banish the apprehension from his voice, but realized he had failed miserably.
She raised an eyebrow in response to his question. Even though they had been "together" for over two months, she still had a hard time accepting his growing concern for her wellbeing. She suspected it was likely due to all the time they had spent attempting to kill one another. Even with taking that into account, it still seemed a bit… uncharacteristic of trained killer known as Saren.
"Trust me, I've had worse," she assured him.
"Have Dr. Chakwas look over your injuries," he instructed her.
She narrowed her eyes at the order. "I'm fine," she hissed through her teeth. "I don't need to visit Chakwas for every bruise and scrape."
He moved in closer, eyeing the small-statured woman challengingly as he towered over her. "If you don't go on your own, I will carry you there," he warned. "Now how would that look?"
Shepard opened her mouth to utter a biting remark, but instead, simply rolled her eyes in defeat. She was only giving in because she knew Saren wasn't bluffing about carrying her there, and she wasn't sure her ego would survive the trip. "Fine, but when I get back I expect sex, and lots of it," she demanded, poking his chest with her index finger.
"I think that's an order I can follow, Commander," Saren growled, teeth flashing in a returned grin. He liked when she talked dirty, and it didn't help that his racial instincts alone were already getting his blood pumping.
Pressing herself against him, she darted out her tongue towards his mouth – an enticing pretense of things to come. He then watched with quickly growing desire as she left the hangar, hips swaying for his pleasure.
After paying a visit to Chakwas, as was her word, she found that she'd luckily escaped the last mission with a mere cheekbone fracture and some cracked ribs, none of which had caused any serious damage. After a couple of pain meds and a hot shower, she was anxiously calling Saren to her quarters for some much needed R&R. Despite the good doctor's recommendation to not over-exert herself, she intended to do just that.
Thankfully when Saren arrived he was just as fired-up as she, wasting no time in removing the annoyances that was their clothing. He could barely wait until they were both fully naked before dragging her to the bed, and taking her feverishly. They both came rather quickly, the post-exertion sweat barely having time to form on her alien skin.
Still locked together after their lovemaking she sat atop him, her long bruised legs surrounding his waist like a tantalizing vise. She pushed the red hair, now knotted and strewn about haphazardly, from her face and peered down at him, a grin forming on her soft lips. Exposed under her gaze, he shifted under her uncomfortably.
"What?" he demanded, unsure of why she was staring down at him with that strange look about her features.
She shrugged nonchalantly. "I still have a hard time believing I have Saren Arterius in my bed."
Expression softening, his blue eyes flashed with amusement. "You've spent nearly a year chasing me down. Now that you have me you'd better not be having second thoughts."
"So you're saying I'm stuck with you?" she teased, scrunching her face in mock displeasure.
"I'm afraid so," he growled deeply, enjoying the way it made her shiver in response.
"Well in that case, think you can handle another round?" she cooed, shifting enough to draw another pleasured growl from him. Judging from the fact he was still firmly planted inside of her, she already knew his answer. Turians were known for their high levels of stamina, and Saren was most certainly no exception to the rule.
Hormones now in a slightly less raging state, his upward thrusts became less erratic than before and much more sensual. Idle human fingers caressed lightly over his mandibles, before dipping into his mouth, touching and exploring. Fingertips stroked over the metal teeth as she moved her hips on him, matching his rhythm. The sharp, metallic taste of her blood trickled onto his tongue. The taste of it caused his head to whirl in a miasma of arousal and instinctual pleasure. Watching the rise and fall of her body as her pleasure heightened, which was made noticeable by her gasps and moans, was enough to make his control falter.
He grasped the hand that played across the dangerous weapons he called teeth, bringing her lower arm to his mouth. The razor-sharp points pierced easily, drawing forth more of the deep red human blood. To his surprise, she didn't wince nor make any attempt to yank it from his grasp. The trust she had seemingly developed for him, despite their torrential past, was damn near overwhelming. His teeth clamped down a bit more firmly, ensuring the mark left there wouldn't fade with time. He wasn't sure what had possessed him to mark her, but somehow, it felt appropriate. Teeth still penetrating her skin, his avian eyes peered up at her face. She was seemingly oblivious to the meaning behind the action, and he silently prayed to the spirits that he wouldn't come to regret it. However, that worry was almost completely washed away when, with intensifying desire in her eyes, the speed of her movements increased with escalating fervor. The pleasure instantly consumed his thoughts, and he could hardly remember why he'd felt concerned to begin with.
The increased pain was driving her need to seek further indulgence from the turian beneath her. The combination of sensations was intense, quickly becoming enough to push her over the edge. As they almost simultaneously reached their peak, she could easily tell he was restraining himself from clamping down harder upon her flesh.
"I should probably put some medigel on that," she said, glancing down at the angry oozing puncture wounds when her arm was finally released from his hold.
"Later," he murmured, placing her hand gently over his chest to avoid staining the white sheets with her blood. He mentally prepared himself for any questions that may arise. When none came, he drifted off into the best sleep he'd had in years.