This time, it was a proper kiss. Well, proper might not have been the right word, but just then, Ashley didn't care about such niceties. Before she could say anything, Sha'ira grabbed the Spectre by the back of her head, kissing her with a desperate force that left her gasping for breath by the time it finally broke.
"I am so sorry," the Consort told her as she covered Ashley's face with further, smaller kisses, tears in her dark blue eyes. The marine was stunned. She'd spent so long working on her own apology that to get one instead had rendered her speechless.
"You warned me of what could happen," the Consort continued, the words clearly ones that she'd needed to say for a long time. "You advised me to leave the Citadel, and I should have listened to you. If I had, I wouldn't have been…"
The asari was visibly shaking as her voice trailed off and Ashley pulled her back into her arms, holding Sha'ira close against her body and kissing the top of her head. Around her, the victorious slaves were making their way through the estate, freeing what other captives remained and looking for valuables to loot, but that wasn't something she cared about just then.
After a minute, the Consort's shivers stopped and she brushed away her tears as she tried to explain her mistake. "I was foolish," she admitted, "And insecure. You were out there among the stars, a champion fighting for the fate of all life, and I wanted… I needed to prove to myself and to you that I was doing something important as well. That I was worthy of your affections."
In spite of herself, Ashley laughed, but it was a warm sound, devoid of any mockery. "God," she said, stroking her lover's cheek, "I never would have thought you were worried about that. All this time, I've felt like a dumb jarhead with a girl too good for her."
Her disclosure brought a smile to Sha'ira's face, some of the weight she'd been carrying seeming to fall off of the asari. "Perhaps we have both been foolish then. You are Ashley Williams, the second human Spectre and the executive officer of the most distinguished ship in the galaxy. You are good enough for anyone."
"You're so sweet." Ashley brushed her disheveled hair off of her face, trying to distract herself from blushing too hard. "Listen, Sha'ira," she added, needing to get through her own mea culpa before they went any further, "There's something I have to tell you too. Even if you should've come with me when I asked, I never should've said what I did about your job. I don't think you're…."
"A whore?" Thankfully, the word was said without malice. "I know. If that was all that you believed I was, I doubt you would've undertaken such a journey to find me again."
"It was a bit of a trip," Ashley admitted, "In a dark wood, where the straight path was lost…" She quoted from the opening line of Dante's Inferno not to increase the asari's guilt but to emphasize what she meant to her, that there was nothing she wouldn't have done to save Sha'ira.
"And I cannot thank you enough for making it," the Consort replied, leading the two of them to a bit of bench that had managed to remain undestroyed by the battle.
"Hey, what else could I do?" She put an arm around the asari's shoulder. "You're my girl. And…" She paused for a second before deciding to leap. "And I love you, Sha'ira. I was too chicken shit to say it before, but I've been feeling that way for a while now."
The asari didn't hesitate before responding. "And I love you as well, Ashley Williams."
She moved to kiss Sha'ira once again, but before their lips could meet, the Spectre's perfect moment was interrupted by Zaeed. "Bloody touching and all," the old mercenary grumbled at the sight in front of him, "But are we planning on getting out of here any time soon? I have other work that needs doing."
Ashley shook her head, trying not to let her annoyance show too much. "You can go whenever you want. Right now, I think the rest of us need a break." And some privacy, she added to herself as she looked into the beautiful asari's dark eyes, definitely some privacy.
It wasn't easy for Ashley to wait any longer. She and Sha'ira had made their way upstairs, commandeering one of the mansion's numerous empty bedrooms, but in spite of the electric desire she felt at being so close to her lover again, she wasn't able to act on it just yet. No, first she had to get this damned collar off.
"What exactly did that asshole want with you anyway?", she asked, trying to keep her mind on using her omni-tool to unlock the biotic inhibitor and off of the sensuous curve of the Consort's neck. One of the fears that had haunted her over the past several weeks was that whoever bought Sha'ira would want her as a sex slave, but given what was left of his body, she doubted that was what Donovan Hock had had in mind.
"He planned to use me to destroy Shepard," the Consort replied. "He told me that she and your friend Miss Goto had robbed him and while doing so, had inflicted the injuries that left him the shell that you destroyed today. He had learned about my connection to the commander and wanted me to lure her into a trap. When I refused to aid him in this scheme, he became quite displeased." The asari touched the bruised spot above her eye. "Fortunately, he only had me for a few days. I imagine that matters would have became much worse had you not arrived when you did."
Ashley grinned as she tried another line of attack with her omni-tool. "It always comes back to Shepard, doesn't it?", she said playfully. "Love her or hate her, she's the one everyone wants."
"Not everyone." The catch sprung open at last and as the collar fell to the floor, Sha'ira leaned over to kiss Ashley once more. "I, for one, am quite pleased with the Spectre I have."
Ashley had already taken off her armor when they got to the room, and as Sha'ira's hands found the zipper of the black bodysuit she had worn beneath it, the Spectre hesitated. "Are you sure about this?", she asked. "You've been through a lot, and if you'd rather wait, that's okay too."
"You are correct," Sha'ira agreed, her deft fingers pulling the suit down over Ashley's now-bare shoulders, "I have undergone an ordeal. I was hoping you could help me to forget it for a time."
That was all the reassurance the marine needed. For weeks, underneath the fear and the guilt had been the hope that maybe, somehow, she could get here again, and as Sha'ira finished peeling her suit off before moving on to her own clothes, it was easy to remember why.
Hock had garbed the Consort in a simple green dress and when Sha'ira released the clasp at the back of her neck and the garment pooled at her waist, Ashley gasped. Every time she saw the asari naked, her breath was taken away anew by her beauty, but this time, after so much doubt and worry, the slim, flawless lines of her lover's body were truly entrancing. All she could was watch, swallowing hard as the Consort shimmied the dress down over her hips.
Now clad only in a simple pair of white panties, Sha'ira wrapped her arms around Ashley's bare back, pulling her lover down onto the bed with her. Her touch broke the spell that had paralyzed the Spectre and Ashley reached out, strong fingers tracing the Consort's curves, running over her hips and belly before coming to rest on the swell of a perfect breast. Sha'ira arched into her touch, her dark nipple already hard against Ashley's palm, and as the marine rolled the pad of her thumb over it, a low groan escaped the asari's throat.
At most times, Sha'ira had an impressive grace about her, even when they made love, but as she pulled Ashley's lips to hers for a hungry kiss, the Spectre realized that today was different. There was a raw need in her embraces, one that Ashley knew well. It was the thirst for life that came from having narrowly escaped death, and as she massaged the ridges of the asari's crest, she could feel Sha'ira surrendering herself to it.
Moaning into a fresh kiss, the Consort slid a thigh between Ashley's legs, pressing her clothed sex against the human's skin. "I missed you so much," Ashley murmured as she felt the first flood of Sha'ira's wetness soaking through her panties. The sweet, exotic smell of the asari was filling her senses, and she felt almost drunk: on the moment, and on the woman she loved, the woman who, unbelievably, loved her too.
The Consort's hands grabbed Ashley's tight ass, pressing their bodies together even as she reached inside her grey underwear to better massage her lover. The Spectre groaned at the contact and she angled her hips, letting her grind her own clit against Sha'ira's smooth skin. The asari's grip tightened, almost painful now in its intensity, and with one hand, Ashley yanked off her panties so that she could have full access to the gorgeous woman lying next to her. Her arms circled around the Consort's waist, her fingers running down the swell of her lover's buttocks as she sought out her opening.
Sha'ira was soaked, her slick arousal coating Ashley's fingers even before she entered her, and her azure parted easily for the first two fingers the Spectre slid inside. Sha'ira's hips rocked greedily into her first strokes, and even as her eyes began to darken with need, she pleaded, "More."
In response, Ashley withdrew, but it was only so that she could better comply with the request. The marine brought her hand around to the asari's front and reentered her, this time adding a third digit. The wet walls of Sha'ira's azure squeezed tight around her fingers, and as her thumb pressed against her lover's clit, the asari moaned, "Take me. I'm yours."
The Spectre did as she was bade, her own need temporarily forgotten as she thrust, drinking in the intoxicating sight of Sha'ira coming undone for her. Usually she admired the elegant asari's self-control, but watching her lose it was the hottest thing she'd ever seen. Pressing her fingers against the swollen front wall of the Consort's azure, she asked huskily, "You're mine? All of you?"
"Every part," the asari swore, burying her face in Ashley's shoulder and latching her lips onto her skin. "Let me show you."
The Spectre relaxed her thoughts, allowing Sha'ira entrance, and she was immediately swept away. More than ever before, she had access to every corner of the asari's mind and Ashley could see clearly the Consort's feelings for her, love and desire sweeping away the doubts the marine had felt in the past.
As much as the physical pleasure she was now sharing, that warmth ignited the Spectre's own hunger and her empty sex throbbed in sympathy as she shared the penetration she was giving Sha'ira. The asari responded to her craving, her hand reaching inside Ashley's panties to enter her needy pussy. Slim fingers filled her as the marine resumed her thrusts, and Ashley clutched the woman she loved tighter, losing herself in the meld, letting the feelings of pleasuring and being pleasured run together.
She kissed along the asari's collarbone, licking and sucking the skin there, and in her mind, she heard Sha'ira's voice encouraging her. "I love you, Ashley," the asari whispered to her, her fingers slipping out of the marine's pussy to run along the shaft of her clit. "I love your strength, your courage, your determination…"
"I love you too," she sent back, and along with the words, she focused on the image of Sha'ira as she saw her at that moment: gorgeous and kind and almost sexier than the marine could bear, the only person in the galaxy she wanted to be with.
A final gasping, "Ashley," passed the Consort's lips as she came, the intense force of her climax blooming in her mind before spilling across the bond, pulling the Spectre along with her even as her azure clamped down around her fingers.
Ashley was still getting used to coming like this, but already it was impossible for her to imagine giving it up. The sharing of bliss was so intense that she couldn't think of anything but Sha'ira and their joy, the two of them existing for a timeless instant in a world populated by no one else.
The two lovers were left gasping for breath by the time their orgasm receded, the meld mostly gone as well, though little wisps of shared happiness still drifted back and forth between them. "That was entirely what I needed," Sha'ira purred as her fingers slid out from between the marine's legs. Keeping her blue eyes locked with Ashley's brown ones, she licked the digits clean, her nimble tongue sliding around to get every last drop of the Spectre's musky taste.
"No kidding," the Spectre stammered, unable to stop staring at what the asari was doing. "You are, without a doubt, the hottest woman I've ever met. How could I not come and find you? Not that that's the only reason I came," she added hastily.
"There's no need to worry," Sha'ira told her, kissing her lips softly, "I know precisely what you mean. Indeed," she added, sensuously stroking the Spectre's breast, "I was hoping you might still have a bit more strength. I'm not certain I am quite ready to rejoin the rest of the galaxy just yet."
"I think I can manage," Ashley agreed brightly, starting to kiss her way down the asari's body. She'd crossed the galaxy to get to this moment; no reason not to stay there a little longer.