A/N: Be warned. This chapter may cause you to vomit rainbows.

Chapter 23

Part 4

"Goddess, you're insatiable!" Shepard growled as Liara pulled her Commander on top of her, clearly about to start up round three. Round one had consisted of them going down on each other, then for round two Liara had dug out their new toy and decided to ride Shepard cowgirl style. Liara now apparently wanted to try missionary position on for size. Shepard discovered long ago that Liara's body didn't need any rest between orgasms – their bodies didn't even separate as they shifted into the new position. Shepard reveled in the sensation of feeling her length shift inside Liara as they settled into place; she was quickly becoming obsessed with being inside Liara, feeling those silky wet walls surrounding her. She felt Liara hook her knee around her waist, offering herself completely to Shepard. The simple action sent a shiver up the human's spine.

Shepard laced their fingers and moved Liara's hands above the asari's head and into the mess of pillows. She paused to gaze into those wonderful sapphire eyes, and absolute trust and love passed between them. Shepard held the gaze as she slowly lifted her hips until she was almost out of Liara, then pushed back inside her just as gradually. Liara held the gaze, though she couldn't stop from arching into Shepard with a small moan of frustration from the lack of friction and pleasure of being filled again.

"How am I ever going to satisfy you, Dr. T'Soni?" Shepard teased, accentuating her question with another agonizingly slow rise and fall of her hips.

"Goddess . . ." Liara breathed when Shepard filled her again, tightening her leg around Shepard's waist and spreading her other leg further apart.

Shepard shifted her arms down to cradle Liara in them, her elbows pressing comfortably into their bed for leverage. She worshiped Liara's neck, breasts, and everything between with her lips and tongue, drowning in all the sounds escaping those wonderful blue lips. During the war, Shepard had so desperately needed to have somewhere where she could give up her constant tight control, that Liara generally took the lead on their love life. But at times like these, feeling Liara beneath her, surrounding her, completely at her mercy and practically begging for more . . . .

Shepard dragged the toy from Liara's tight inner walls until only the tip remained, then pressed their lips together as she pushed back inside yet again. Liara groaned against her lips when Shepard filled her again, arching into the kiss and digging her fingertips into the human's back. Shepard pulled back to lock their eyes again and felt a swell of new arousal when she saw Liara's eyes had gone completely black.

"Please, Shepard," she whispered, her voice deliciously ragged with arousal and need.

Shepard ignored her lover's plea for release, continuing her torturous rhythm. She had a feeling the only way she was going to satisfy Liara, at least until the party was over, was if she stretched this out, denied her until Liara was on the brink of shattering. She fought back her own clawing desire to simply pound into Liara until she had emptied everything she had into that beautiful blue body. Liara certainly knew how to make Shepard lose control, but she was on a mission. And Commander Shepard on a mission was a very dangerous thing.

She shifted her hips around a bit with each continued thrust until she felt the fluted head drag across that wonderful spot within Liara's body and her bondmate instantly cried out in sheer tortured ecstasy. The first time they'd melded, Shepard felt just how intensely pleasurable that spot was within Liara, and ever since she made it her life's goal to exploit it at every opportunity.

"Shepard . . . I n-need . . . I'm going t-to . . ." Liara gasped, and Shepard could feel her trying to seep into her mind.

Shepard stopped all movement, shuddering when she felt Liara's inner walls flutter around her with unmet need, and pressed all her weight down on her bondmate. She ran her tongue along Liara's neck, enjoying the sweet and salty taste, then pressed her lips to her lover's ear.

"So demanding," she murmured, lowering her mouth to give Liara a possessive bite on the neck. "My demanding doctor. Whatever shall I do with you?"

Liara let out something like a mewl and Shepard shuddered again. She knew Liara was trying to goad her, and although it wasn't fully working (with great self-restraint on Shepard's part), it was driving the human close to madness. There was something about a pleading, mewling, needy Liara that was just . . . too good. It made Shepard ache inside and out. Deciding to at least temporarily relieve some of Liara's desire, Shepard began thrusting faster into Liara, her rhythm matching the pulsating beat of the still-playing sex music blaring downstairs. Liara cried out in relief and pleasure, and Shepard felt her lover's fingernails dig deliciously into her back.

"Oh goddess . . . please don't stop, Shepard. Please don't ever stop . . ."

It was those magic words in combination with Shepard's driving hips that proved to be her undoing. How could she possibly deny Liara after such a beautiful plea? She couldn't. She opened her mind to Liara and her bondmate flooded in, filling her with all the sweet things that made up the exquisite Liara T'Soni. Blue biotics flared around them, filling the darkened room with sudden light and again their eyes met. Lines between pleasure and love blurred, and a new identity they had come to know as them immerged.

An image filled Shepard's mind; a familiar but rare paradise Liara referred to only as "Eternity." She saw Liara step up next to her on the precipice overlooking Eternity and took Shepard's hand. Shepard was almost reluctant to step over. She wanted to enjoy the moment, to take in all the beauty of the Eternity Liara was offering. She knew the image was just an illusion, a way for her mind to process this part of the Meld, but she didn't care. The endless sandy beaches, the waterfalls cascading down lush green mountainsides and flowing into endless rivers, riverbanks covered in bright flowers and cattails, and weeping willows swaying in an ever-present summer breeze; these were all representations of Eternity she happily accepted. Liara once told her some asari went their entire lives without ever sharing this part of the Meld, and yet here Shepard stood, her beautiful bondmate next to her, freely offering all the beauty of the galaxy to her.

'Liara . . . . Oh, my sweet, beautiful Liara . . .'

'Together, Shepard. Come with me to Eternity . . .'

They drifted off the precipice, hands still clasped tightly as they floated into the Eternity surrounding them. Shepard was freefalling into all things Liara, completely surrounded and drowning in her very soul.

She gradually became aware of a light in the distance. It started out as a small sphere hovering over an impossibly clear mountain lake protected by steep, rocky mountains. All paths seemed to lead to it, all rivers flowed to it, everything seemed to be converging on the precious sphere of light. As they drew closer and closer, Shepard suddenly became aware of a glowing within her own chest, reacting to the sphere, growing brighter as she drew closer to it. When the sphere was within reach, she resisted the urge to reach out and touch it. Something told her she shouldn't without permission.

Liara released her hand and drifted to the sphere, and Shepard watched in fascination as it disappeared into Liara's chest, light still illuminating through her blue skin. Then she gave Shepard a look of such pure, naked love that it stole her very breath away. She felt lost in all things Liara and she never wanted to be found again.

'Is this . . . your soul?' Shepard asked hesitantly.

'My representation of it, yes.'

Shepard again resisted the impulse to reach out and touch it. 'It's so beautiful . . . Oh Liara, you're so beautiful . . .' She only wished she could say something more; Liara was quite literally bearing her soul to Shepard. In a way, Shepard, too, felt stripped bare, felt as though somehow Liara had found her most sensitive nerve with endlessly gentle, caressing hands and exposed it. And Liara had done it by simply giving herself to Shepard. The very thought made tears threaten her eyes.

Liara extended her hand and placed it ever so softly on Shepard's still-glowing chest. 'Will you join with me, Shepard?'

'Yes . . . Goddess, yes!' Shepard replied, surging forward to capture Liara's lips in a desperate kiss. When their chests pressed together, their souls collided in an eruption of light and both of them cried out from the sheer naked beauty of the moment.

Both of them were thrown back into reality and their bodies could do nothing but follow.

Shepard's hips somehow found the ability to bury herself to the hilt into Liara's body as her arousal flooded forth in several powerful jets, and both of them cried out each other's names as wave after wave of pleasure stole them away. Before their climax even began to fade, Shepard drove her hips down several more times, making sure to catch the fluted head on the wonderfully sensitive spot within Liara's silky walls. It caused both of them to tumble over the edge yet again, and again Shepard felt her arousal spill from her and into Liara. Her head fell forward into the pillow, her cheek pressing into Liara's, and she felt blue fingernails clinging to her back in vain attempt to control her shuddering body. Shepard felt tears sting the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill over as their third and final orgasm tore its way through their bodies. She released everything she had left into her bondmate with a shuddering sob then collapsed on top of her in a spent heap.

She held tightly to her lover as Liara continued contracting around her and Shepard reveled in every pulse as she weakly rocked her hips into Liara's, offering a few final waves of pleasure as they drifted into a blissful afterglow. They lay wrapped in each other for some time, basking in the feel of their closeness and powerful connectedness, both physical and mental. Even as the meld began to fade, Shepard could feel parts of Liara remain; sweet, small bits like the one that made her replace the term "god" with "goddess." But she loved it, preferred it, even. She loved knowing no matter where she was, Liara was always with her, inside her in some small way.

She slowly, reluctantly pulled out of Liara's silky walls, glancing down to enjoy the sight of both their fluid covering the toy. Both of them had been so worked up when Liara grabbed it that lube had been completely unnecessary. She carefully removed it from herself as well and tossed it on the nightstand, then took Liara back in her arms. She didn't know what to say. She wanted to say something, but words seemed empty after what they'd just shared.

"Look at me," Liara whispered, breaking the silence for her.

Shepard lifted her head from the pillows to gaze into those wonderful sapphire eyes she'd fallen so in love with. Seeing Liara's tears made her aware of her own and a soft smile tugged at the corners of both their lips. Liara ran her fingers through Shepard's damp hair, brushing a few stray strands from her face. Shepard tried to think of something she could say, even a simple "I love you," but there was something so exquisite about Liara that she couldn't bring herself to ruin the moment. Words could wait. She instead leaned down and claimed her lover's lips with her own. Shepard kissed her until words no longer mattered, until nothing mattered. Only Liara and Shepard, and a single, profoundly beautiful moment in time.