There was something almost savage about the way that I clung to him, something that flirted on the edge of desperate and slightly unhinged. I had often seen him in battle, watched him maneuver smoothly as he angled himself to zoom in for the kill. It had been that prowess that had kept him alive on Omega, but it was those reflexes that spun me now, pinning me beneath him on the bed as my pelvis lifted to grind roughly against him.

Even in the darkness I could see the glint of his eyes, sharp and intelligent as his crest spread to its full height, the rise and fall of his chest steady unlike the aroused panting that forced my breath out in short even measures. As he drew back he ran his fingers down the length of my body, his gaze almost furtive as he watched my skin flush pink and pale against the darker texture of his own.

"You seem smaller without armor," he said quietly.

Clad in Scorpion IV it was easy for me to appear formidable. Naked without anything else between us I suddenly realized how very vulnerable I must seem to someone who was born clad in metallic plate.

"Afraid that you'll break me? These cybernetics should finally prove useful for something. I'm sure it's insured." I reached for his hand, licking his palm before slipping a talon in-between my lips, my tongue flicking against the delicate sensitive padding beneath. Closing his eyes, he tilted his head back slightly, his jaw clenching and unclenching as I turned his hand to graze my teeth along the back of his wrist. "Maybe it is a hazard of the trade," I said," but I think I would prefer for it to hurt a little. It's too late for me to start playing it safe now. "

I pulled the full weight of him down, wrapping my legs around him as I felt the full pronged length of him rest in-between my legs. "Don't hold back,"I chucked my nose against his chin and brushed my lips against his cheekbone."I want you...I want this. I trust you."

As my hands slid around his shoulders I felt his reserve break, his teeth sinking in to the base of my neck as I bucked forcefully against him, the tip of him slipping inside of me as I dug nails in-between the scales of his back. As I writhed, he held me firmly in place,the adrenaline converting the sensation in to pleasure as he worried the skin, the deep throb of it finding residence within my lower back. Groaning, I rotated my hips, the technique guiding him fully inside of me as I arched to receive him, a small trace of blood winding down towards my collarbone from where he had managed to break the skin.

"You'll be the death of me, Shepard..."

Moving my pelvis in small circles to tease him, I grinned. "Do you want to stop?"

Slipping a hand beneath the small of my back, he pressed me against him and rolled me on top. "I can think of worse ways to die, and most of them already know you by name."

Planting my knees on either side I leaned back to grab my ankles and balanced myself, my body gliding slowly back and forth as I worked to more easily accommodate him. As we found a comfortable poly-rhythm I guided his hands to my hips, my fingers entwined with his as I pressed my thighs more securely against his own;this allowed me to achieve a deeper angle and it was immediately intense, my thighs trembling slightly as I licked my lips and swallowed hard. His presence within me had become a source of a constant and considerable heat and it was radiating throughout my entire lower body. It was not an unpleasant sensation.

Without dislodging him I stopped to spread myself out fully against him and kissed his neck where it met his collar ridge. With my hands on his shoulders I rolled onto my side and guided him with me, my legs slipping in-between his as I began to pivot my hips back and forth sliding him in and out of me. Biting my lip I drew his talons along the curve of my ass, inhaling sharply as they marked my skin. Noting my reaction he continued to trail along my side, clawing me until I jerked and cried out. In a quick gesture, he caught my chin and leaned in to kiss me, nipping at my neck and jawline before placing his mouth against mine.

As I wrapped my arms around him he placed me on my back, thrusting in to me as I brushed my tongue brashly against his own. When he hit my cervix I took a sudden intake of breath and instantly tasted copper. I had been careful to avoid the unforgiving cut of his canines, but in that forgotten moment I had erred slightly. It did not seem that he had noticed, his mouth finding mine again as he moved against me. With the taste of my own blood still trickling along the very back of my throat, I felt myself begin to build. Forcing myself more rapidly against him I ground my teeth, moaning through an orgasm that left a thin sheen of sweat glistening along my skin.

When at last my vision finally cleared I found that he had purposely pulled away, his eyes closed as his breathing began to slow.

"You alright, soldier?"

He looked at me through half lidded eyes and gave me a tired half smile. "Never better. How are you holding up?"

I glanced at the seeping scrapes and unsightly bruises that were gradually appearing along the majority of my body and nodded approvingly. It had been a waged battle well won.

"You should see the other guy."

I embraced him, moving to shift my weight above him so that I could kiss a line down the center of his body, positioning myself in-between his legs before running my hands up along his sides. Working slowly I guided my hands delicately along his pelvic plates, spreading them apart to nuzzle at the warmth hiding beneath. Stroking the protected length of him with my index finger, I coaxed him out into the palm of my hand, blowing lightly against the tender skin. Flicking my tongue along the tip of him, I closed my lips around him and drew him in until I could go no further, my hand moving to grasp the remainder of him to support my machinations. As I rotated my wrist in a small circular motion he cursed in English, talons tangling in my hair as my mouth and hand worked in unison. Licking at him I began to hum, feeling the vibrations along my fingertips as he arched in front of me. Deciding to tease him, I pulled my lips away,my hand gliding upwards before stopping for a moment and then going back down. Pausing at different intervals forced him to guess my next move and his claws began to flex sporadically against the sheets.

"Shepard..." He tried to move my hand away but I slid him back into my mouth staying him for the moment,his head tilting back as I suckled at him. The caution in his voice had managed to curb my enthusiasm, however, and as his body began to tense I slipped away, my palm cupping him only a few mere seconds before he came.

Groaning against my hand, I watched as his skin mottled and went through several different patterns of pigment change, his maxilla flaring briefly before he all but collapsed.

" So- "I asked huskily, kissing the inside of his thigh before standing languidly to stretch, "How's that for improvisation?"

He didn't respond but offered a two fingered gesture with his left hand, instead. It was one typically used in combat to signify to other turian militants that everything was in the clear.

"Just checking..."

When I returned from my washroom he was sprawled helter skelter across the full-length of the bed holding the cold damp remains of my thermal body towel. "I liked this," he said, as he turned it this way and that, "It's not what I would recommend for short range combat but...flattering."

"It came with the platinum incendiary ammo gift set. I'll get you one. That particular batarian owes me a favor."

"Does it come in gun metal black? I'd prefer it to be tasteful."

"You bet your ass it does."

When I sat at the edge of the bed he joined me, dropping the accessory in question back on the floor. For a moment he just looked at me, rubbing at one of the more aggressive bruises on my inner thigh before sighing. "Do me a favor, Ceprah-"

The use of my first name had taken me aback. I had gotten to where I didn't even mentally refer to myself by that name, anymore.

"-Try not to die on me, tomorrow. And I promise I'll try to keep what I have left of my face."

"It's a good face."

"It has gotten me this far. Though it's a shame I won't be allowed into the 'Men of C-SEC' calendar this year. I'll have to find honest work, now. Maybe settle down...start a family."

I smiled,"Any decent prospects?"

"A few. I thought it would only be fair to let them work it out through hand to hand combat. The only other option would be to keep all of them."

"Why not? Plenty of Garrus to go around."

"Well, that's become the problem."

"Oh?"

"I've gotten distracted. It's getting harder to keep up like I use to."

"That is a problem."

"Right. So I was hoping to narrow it down a bit. Maybe to just...one or two."

"Seems reasonable."

"And since you're already here...and I'm here...I figured..."

"You figured why not me?"

"Why not? It makes a certain kind of sense when you think about it."

"I don't know..." I feigned a look of reproach. "There are a lot of drell still left on Kahje I haven't been introduced to, yet. I'd hate to limit myself."

"Sure. Or maybe you can just give me a couple of years and we'll get a drell as your next Yeoman. Kelly will want to move on eventually."

"The plan has potential."

"I thought so, too..."

When he pushed me back on to the bed to kiss me, I realized what I had allowed myself to do. I would take my chances with everything yet to come, and I would do it now with someone who had been there since the beginning. Someone that had known me before I was made in to an example not even I could live up to. Someone who had watched me come back from the dead in every way imaginable, and had still found the ability to trust me when trust was not something he was really willing to give at all. There was a comfort to that. And there was something else...a genuine desire to see this through. If fate saw it to let us both live, I was going to love this man. And that, even if I had had nothing else, was why the reapers had need to fear me. Because I would destroy them. I would destroy them and I would lie with him to make love in their ashes. And when a woman is that sure of something, only the devil may cry.