The party was in full swing and Garrus had just finished setting up the home defense system with Zaeed. He was pretty proud of how it had turned out, even though he knew Shepard was humoring him when she oohed and ahhed over the microfilament explosives in the glass wall fixture. He was also just this side of shit-faced, which probably had something to do with the small shake of her head she'd given as she walked away and left him to it.

He saw her on the balcony, leaning over the railing and watching the festivities going on below. She was wearing a simple pair of pants and a tight shirt that hugged her curves in all the right places. The neon lights outside played on the contours of her face and in the lighter strands of her hair, and she looked absolutely beautiful. It made his heart ache in that good way that happened more and more often around her.

There was another ache developing, too—this one a bit further south. Right then he was glad turian males were less exposed than their human counterparts, because otherwise he'd have an embarrassing situation brewing in his civvies.

He sauntered over to her and she turned, smiling at him. It lit up her whole face like it hadn't in a long while, and he was glad to see it. This party was exactly what she needed after all the stresses of the war, which was still raging, but there wasn't much that the Normandy needed to do anymore now that the armies of all the species had been mobilized.

"Hey, big guy," she said. "You and Zaeed have fun?"

"Definitely." He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, and she leaned back against him with a sigh. "This apartment is the safest place on the Citadel outside of C-Sec. Probably inside of C-Sec, too."

"Good to know. You'll have to show me all the buttons later so I don't accidentally blow a hole in the wall while I'm trying to take a shower."

"Mmm . . ." he hummed, and she shivered. He knew how much she loved his voice when it was pitched low like this, and his subvocals were harmonized. He hummed again and she pressed back against him, pausing for a moment when she felt his separated plates.

"Thinking happy thoughts, honey?"

"Mmm-hmm. You . . . in the shower . . . naked and wet." He spoke softly directly into the velvety cup of her ear, and goosebumps broke out all over her body. Her nipples were just visible beneath her shirt, and he longed to touch them, take them in his mouth as he'd done so many times before, but there were too many potential onlookers down there. Drinking, oblivious to the way Shepard was rubbing her ass against him and making him groan. He kept his mouth next to her ear, and the vibrations traveled down her spine like a live current and her knees nearly buckled.

God, how did he do that, she wondered. She was so turned on now just from his voice that she was ready to drag him into the bedroom and fuck him through the floor, but Garrus had other plans. He put her hands on the railing and pinned them there, his body a warm, solid presence at her back.

"Do you have any idea what you do to me, Shepard?" he murmured, his mouth grazing her neck, mandibles brushing her skin. "Your scent is so . . . intoxicating."

"You're intoxicated, all right," she replied jokingly, but her voice breathy with barely contained lust. He nipped at her shoulder and her breath hitched.

"You're so soft, all over. All that skin, and those tiny little hairs." He stroked her arms, sliding up to her shoulders and back down to her wrists, making circles with his thumbs on the inside of her elbow. "I love touching it . . . and tasting it," he whispered, licking a slow line up her neck to swirl around her ear, and she closed her eyes and bit her lip. She was trembling slightly, her skin feverish, and he wanted to see how far he could take this without anyone suspecting.

"Garrus—bedroom, now," she gasped as his hands slid around her and he pushed his hips against the firm mound of her ass. He was almost fully erect now, and that thick hardness pressed against her sent shivering waves of need everywhere he touched.

"Not quite yet. You said before that I could probably make you come just using my voice." His talons trailed down her sides to her hips, and she had to muffle a moan. "I want to test that theory."

"Oh my god."

"No, not 'god'. Say my name."

The words wavered with the rapid beating of her heart when she said, "Oh, Garrus."

"Mmm, I love the way that sounds. No one else says it like you do." He slid his hand up her body, grazing slowly over her breast, making her gasp. He knew how much she had to be controlling her face so as not to give herself away, and the thought turned him on even more. "What are you feeling, Jane? Are you getting wet?"

"Yes." She turned her face into his neck to conceal the soft moan that escaped her lips.

"Can you feel how hard you're making me?"

"Yes." He put a hand over her lower stomach, just below the shallow dimple of her bellybutton, and he could just barely feel the muscles there fluttering. He knew how that felt when he was inside her, the way she'd squeeze him and hold him when he was doing something right.

"Turn around and put your arms around me. Yeah, just like that." His hands wandered up and down her back, stroking her hair and neck, caressing her arms, bringing her nerve endings to sizzling life. She rubbed her cheek against his and said, "Please, keep talking."

"I want you to close your eyes and think back to that night last week after we came back from Tuchanka. Do you remember?" She nodded, and her arms tightened around his neck in anticipation. "We went up to the cabin and I took off your clothes for you, and even with the bruises you still looked so sexy. You were on the bed, and I laid between your legs, my hands on your thighs . . ."

She let out a shuddering breath and started kissing his neck, her hips tight against his erection. "Yes, keep going."

"I love the sounds you make when I tease you, so I took my time, made you beg me to lick you. When I finally did . . . mmph, you tasted so good." She found that tender spot just beneath the spines of his fringe and worked at the exposed hide, her slender fingers perfect for driving him crazy. He was rock hard and aching and he wanted more than anything to be inside her, but this was too much fun to stop now. "You're so responsive, so sensitive when you're horny, and you wanted me so badly. Sprits, you wanted me to fuck you with my tongue, and you have no idea what that does to me." He took her hand and dragged it down his body and between his legs, pushing her palm against him, and her knees almost gave way again. If she hadn't been leaning against the railing, she'd have fallen down. The way she was breathing, she had to be close now. "Feel that? Just thinking about licking that sweet pussy of yours makes me so fucking hard, Jane."

"Jesus, Garrus. I need you, please," she moaned, and he gave one of his own in answer.

At that plea, he decided he'd waited long enough. "Did you bring another pair of pants?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Just hold very, very still." He poked a small hole through the crotch of her pants with his talon and tore open the seam.

"What, right here?" She was a little worried, but her breath was shallow and she looked like she was ready to eat him alive.

Garrus keyed something into his omnitool and the lights on the balcony dimmed even further and drenched them in shadow. "Don't tell me the idea doesn't turn you on. Now, spread your legs for me—but not too much, or they'll be able to see." She turned around to see if anyone was looking, but no one seemed to be paying any attention. "I'll keep an eye on them, don't worry." He opened his fly one-handed and, with one more glance below, took his throbbing member out and slid it between her legs.

The friction of the fabric gave way to warm, wet flesh as he pushed through the hole he'd made in her pants. He leaned down to kiss her and when his tongue dove into her mouth, he entered her, stretching her wide. She let out a strangled moan and he cupped the back of her head, fastening his mouth over hers to swallow the sounds of pleasure she was making. She felt so amazing, so tight and ready for him, that he almost came right then. After taking a few deep breaths to control himself, he continued.

"Look down there," he whispered. "Look at our friends. None of them have a clue—none of them know what we're doing, that I'm deep inside you right now." She gasped, and her breath was steamy as it skirted across his mandibles. Her walls fluttered and clenched around him. "Oh, squeeze me again. Yes, just like that. You feel so good, baby, so fucking good . . ." She tightened around him rhythmically, taking back that one small bit of control over him—squeeze, relax, squeeze, relax—and the heat coiled up in his stomach, rolling through his body. He gripped the railing and nuzzled her neck to hide the look on his face, his mandibles slack with need. She knew just how to bring him over the edge, how to use her body to make him an addict, and she was getting better every time they were together.

Not being able to move was getting to be too much, the restraint needed too great, and he rocked his hips as much as he dared. The slow, shallow thrusts were just what she needed, though; she was already hyper-sensitive and swollen with desire, and every move he made had hum rubbing against her clit. She squeezed him every time he pulled out, as though she didn't want to let him go and was trying to draw him deeper into her, and he buried his face in her shoulder like he did when he was close to the edge. She could practically feel the people down below and imagined their eyes on her, watching her get fucked, and the thought alone was enough to fill her and send her spilling over, losing her rhythm as she came and clamped down hard on his thick cock.

He felt her orgasm and she had to set her teeth on his shoulder to stifle the desperate sounds that followed. The pressure in his groin built up to absurdly high levels and his head was full of a white noise roar as he finally reached his limit and sailed over the edge, flooding her with hot, sticky cum, gasping as he emptied into her.

Afterward, when they'd caught their breath and put themselves back together, she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him, exploring his mouth lazily with her lips and tongue. Her hair was damp with her clean sweat and Garrus nuzzled her temples, then ran his tongue out to taste the dampness there. She smiled and let him do it. He had no idea if she really liked it, or humored him because he liked to do it, and decided that they both amounted to the same thing. When he was done, she pulled him wordlessly to the bedroom and they went inside, shutting the door behind them.