As Sha'ira's gown fell to the floor, Ashley's smile spread until it covered her whole face. The slim asari was clad now only in a tiny pair of dark green panties and watching her nipples harden in the cool air of the cabin, the Spectre could feel her skin flushing at the sight. The Consort was so beautiful, the loveliest thing she'd ever seen, and a part of her still could hardly believe that someone like that had agreed to be her bondmate.

Taking Sha'ira up into her arms, Ashley carried her lover to bed, the asari covering her face with kisses as she did. So much of their time together had been tinged with uncertainty, and now, knowing that, at last, they could stay together, Ashley was happier than she could remember being.

Once she had laid the Consort down on the bed, Ashley dropped beneath her love, slowly kissing and rubbing her way up her legs. The asari's breathing was rapid and eager, but Ashley couldn't resist playing out their little game out a bit further.

"So," she purred as she reached the bottom of Sha'ira's inner thigh. "I believe was going to elaborate on the benefits you'd receive as a member of my crew."

"I recall…" Sha'ira swallowed her next words as Ashley placed a light bite on the sensitive flesh beneath her. "I recall that was your intention."

"Well, there's this," the Spectre replied, placing a soothing kiss on same spot she'd just nipped. Already, the sweet scent of the Consort's arousal was filling her nose and she moved higher, running her tongue along the place where Sha'ira's underwear met her scaled skin.

"That's quite nice," Sha'ira gasped, trying her best to play along despite Ashley's diligent attempts at distraction. "But I still think I would need to know more before enlisting."

One finger slid beneath the edge of the Consort's panties, caressing the swollen inner scales she found under the silky fabric. "Does this help convince you?", she teased, stroking ever closer to, but not quite touching, the asari's wet azure.

"It is not hurting your cause," Sha'ira chocked out, her words becoming more ragged by the second.

"Hmm, what else might you be interested in?", Ashley asked, planting another kiss on her bondmate's inner thigh.

"That," the asari gasped, "Your mouth."

"My mouth, huh?" The marine slid Sha'ira's underwear down her legs before leaning in so close that every word she spoke was warm on her lover's sex. "What would you like me to do with my mouth?"

"Lick me," Sha'ira pleaded. "Goddess, please lick me, Ashley."

"Certainly, ship's councilor." Ashley's tongue darted out, running over the entrance to Sha'ira's azure so that she could sample a bit of her delicious taste before moving on to her clit. The little bud was throbbing with need as she touched it, and when her strokes glided up and down its length, Sha'ira stiffened beneath her, her delicate hands bunching up in the sheets.

Ashley loved the small sighs and gasps she was coaxing from her lover, and she did her best to get as many more of them as possible. The marine took her time, keeping the movements of her tongue slow and steady while with one hand, she reached up to find Sha'ira's perfectly formed breasts, caressing first one and then the other as she kept eating the asari out.

It wasn't easy for her to keep the pace so slow. As much of an effect as Ashley was having on Sha'ira, the Consort was having one on her too. The asari's moans, her pleading, her taste: all of it was making the uniform Ashley hadn't taken off yet feel very tight indeed, her hard clit pressing against her underwear with growing urgency.

Sha'ira seemed to have noticed her arousal because the asari ran a hand through Ashley's dark hair, and in a voice that the marine was impressed she managed to control as well as she did, she assured her, "Don't worry, my captain. Just get me there and I promise I'll bring you along."

Suitably encouraged, the Spectre returned to her task, sucking on the hard point of Sha'ira's clit while her fingers started to probe her azure. As turned on as the Consort was, Ashley slid inside her easily, and when she started dragging two fingers along the top of her bondmate's inner walls, she felt an answering pressure against her mind.

What had been unusual the first time they made love felt completely natural now, and she opened herself to the meld at once, letting Sha'ira's practiced skill tie their thoughts together. The ache between Ashley's legs immediately turned almost painful, Sha'ira desire to reach her building climax merging with the Spectre's own arousal to form a razor-sharp need that she couldn't deny any longer. Without words, the Consort urged her to find relief, and Ashley's free hand ripped open her own pants and thrust between her legs, pressing against her clit as she resumed suckling on Sha'ira's bud. The asari's love and gratitude flowed freely across the bond, and as they filled her mind, it was all Ashley could do to hold out longer than her lover, fingering Sha'ira faster even while she frigged herself, the two pleasures blending into a single, overwhelming whole.

By the narrowest of margins, it was the Consort who came first, the asari letting out a final, breathless moan of Ashley's name even as her body arched at the most unbearably sexy angle. A flood of Sha'ira's sweetness filled the Spectre's mouth and even as she swallowed it, she followed her bondmate, her cry of orgasm muffled by the asari's azure. Her own empty pussy spasmed as she came, and the marine thrust her fingers inside herself, the physical pleasure adding into their shared climax for what felt like an eternity of bliss.

It took a while, but as the couple's heaving breaths finally began to slow, Sha'ira reached out a hand, coaxing Ashley up to join her at the top of the bed. The marine's arms enveloped her lover, and Ashley kissed her full lips, a long, passionate embrace that eased the lovers through the final dissolving of the meld.

When the kiss at last ended, Ashley asked, "So, what do you think of the benefits now?"

"They seem extremely… satisfactory," Sha'ira replied, her breath warm along Ashley's ear as she added in a low, seductive voice, "Now, I suggest that you remove your uniform so I can show you some of the ways I plan to improve my captain's morale."

Ashley couldn't strip fast enough and as one piece of clothing after another was tossed to the floor, she grinned happily at the woman she loved. "I don't see how it could get much better right now," she told Sha'ira, "But you're welcome to try and prove me wrong."

10 Days Later:

Captain Ashley Williams took a deep breath as she stepped onto the elevator and pressed the button for the bridge of the newly rechristened Odysseus. This was a big moment for her, and one that she was doing her best to savor. Ashley had long ago resigned herself to the fact that she'd never be more than a grunt, and to instead be taking her own ship out its first mission under her command was an incredible development.

Since her new frigate had originally been built by the turians, its layout was quite similar to the Normandy's, and when the elevator doors opened, she faced out directly onto the CIC, the room already filled with her crew. It was a group that remained incomplete. The Alliance hardly had enough personnel left to fully staff its existing ships, let alone a new one, even if it was commanded by the second human Spectre.

Shepard had assured her not to worry about that. "These things usually take care of themselves," the older Spectre had told her a few days earlier. "Trust me, before you know it, you'll be up to your eyeballs in wannabe crew members."

Liara had given her a questioning look at that remark and Shepard had quickly back-peddled. "I wasn't talking about you, sweetheart," she'd said defensively, giving the asari an apologetic kiss, "You and Ash were great pick-ups."

Ashley figured that if she had half the luck Shepard had enjoyed when it came to new crew members she'd be fine, especially since she already had some good people to get her started. Despite their personnel shortages, the Alliance had been persuaded to cough up a decent skeleton crew along with Lila, an N-7 Fury Adept with an impressive kill rate during the war, at least if her file was to be believed. The turians, meanwhile, had contributed Vorenus, a demolitions expert with a better sense of humor than most of his people. Shepard had convinced Primarch Victus not to look too closely at where Ilara had gotten the frigate, but he had insisted on sending somebody along, "To keep an eye on our ship." In addition, Kasumi Goto of all people had decided to tag along, only willing to say by way of explanation that a Spectre's ship was a good place for her to be just then

And of course there was Sha'ira. As Ashley took her place in front of the map of the galaxy at the center of the room, her bondmate smiled at her from her station on the right side of the bridge.

"Captain Williams," the asari said with a nod and just a hint of a smile. As a Spectre, Ashley didn't have to worry about the Alliance's rules on fraternization, but she and her lover had still decided it was better to maintain a bit of professionalism while on duty, even if they were both going to retire to the captain's cabin at the end of their shifts.

Still, as the Spectre replied, "Sha'ira," it lifted her heart to see the Consort there. This wasn't going to be easy, beginning her first command in a galaxy left broken by the Reapers, but Ashley hoped that if she could win the heart of such an incredible woman, she just might be up to this challenge as well.

The Spectre pulled up the holographic display on the galaxy map as from over the intercom, the pleasant voice of Steve Cortez broke in. Though she hadn't taken Shepard up on her offer to donate Joker, Ashley had still made sure to get a reliable pilot from the Normandy.

"Where to, ma'am?", the lieutenant asked.

"Palaven," she replied. They had a shipment of dextro rations to deliver there, donated by the quarian fleet to aid the starving turians. It wasn't the most glamorous first assignment, but it was what needed doing right now, just as this was exactly where Ashley needed to be.

And that's a wrap on Search and Rescue, although not on the story of Ashley and Sha'ira. Our favorite rare pairing will return for further post-war adventures aboard their new ship at some point in the future. In the meantime, please let me know what you thought of this tale, and consider checking out Little Problems, my new Experiments story that's just gotten started. Thank you for reading this far and I hope you liked the story. I certainly enjoyed writing it, and the feedback and support from the readers and especially regular reviewers meant a lot to me.