After spending a good ten minutes talking to Grunt to keep him steady, and hearing random shit like "damn you lettuce!", "are you a wizard", "sharks!", and my personal favorite, "I'm sad hanar can't wear sweaters", I finally emerged from the bedroom to rejoin the party. Upon arriving back in the kitchen, Jack thrust a bottle in my hand.

"There's no way you're drunk enough to leave this party."

She must have overhead some of the conversation from before. "You're right. You all are way ahead of me. I've had to play the nice host, remember?"

"And stop doing that and drink, girl! You might even dance better!"

I rolled my eyes but took the cap off the bottle anyway. A pistol shot going off drew my attention into the lounge area. I sprinted in and stopped in my tracks, seeing Wrex, Zaeed, and Javik in tactical positions behind my furniture. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Look Shepard, we found something to shoot!" Zaeed said with a drunk chuckle.

Again, I threw my hands in the air, completely done. "You destroy my apartment, I'll destroy your face. I haven't even slept in my bed yet, assholes!"

Zaeed's laugh only got harder. "And there's the Shepard we all love!"

"I admit, the primitive human has… fire," Javik said, albeit slightly slurred.

"I will lock you back in that refrigerator." I turned my back to them, hearing them shoot the pistol again. I just hoped C-Sec wouldn't be called up to investigate the already renegade Spectre's new digs.

Karma helped me out a little as Javik passed by me, heading to the stairs. "Your alcohol has gotten stronger than I remember," he quickly stated before disappearing out of sight.

I returned to the kitchen, taking a few irritated deep pulls from the neck of my bottle.

"Slow down, sugar queen," Jack said. "That's asari beer. Chug it aaaaand nevermind."

It was already too late. I didn't care. Anything to distract me from the morons tearing up my lounge. The fumes mixed in my gut, creating a potent mix. "I'm done. That's it. The guys shooting bottles in my new place is too much for my cybernetics."

Jack scoffed. "Fine, bitch out. See if we care. I doubt you'll be sleeping anyway."

I furrowed my brow. "Why? What happened?"

She grinned. "You tell me. You, a human, has a turian soldier wrapped around her finger. What do you think is going to keep you awake?"

I rolled my eyes and tossed the now empty bottle aside into the recycle unit. "It's not like that."

"Does he follow his commander's orders to a t?" she said, mischief in her eyes. "How big is he? I mean, I've sucked turian cock before, but it's still a curiosity of mine to fill."

"Good night, Jack," I said firmly, hooking as many bottles in my fingers as I could.

"I want details in the morning!" she shouted to my retreating back.

"Every one of them!"

I had to stop in the middle of the stairs to look at Tali, holding on to the wall to stand up, a victory fist in the air. "Tali, what-"

"You go-go get that overgrown lizard!" She snickered and clasped her hands over her audio. She suddenly waved her arms. "Oh-oh Glyph, you should-*hic*should record—"

"Tali!" I barked, genuinely surprised by her drunken behavior, though I couldn't stop the laughter that broke through my shock. "Alright, if it will keep you quiet, dirty details over breakfast tomorrow. Is that reasonable?"

"If she even remembers saying anything," Liara chimed in. "Good night, Shepard." Jack started doing hip thrusting movements into the air behind Liara, hooting and taking a chug from her bottle. "We'll be down here, continuing the festivities if it turns out you cannot sleep. Jack, I know what you're doing. Knock it off."

"In a sec. Get it girl! Woo!"

I rolled my eyes again and shook my head. "Don't break anything, please. This is still Anderson's cra—stuff." I entered my room, locking the door. Before I took another step I kicked the heels across the room.

"Shepard? Is that you this time?" His voice was coming from the bathroom, though it was muffled by the closed door.

I set the drinks on the floor. "This time?"

"Yeah, I thought I heard the door earlier, but no one was here."

I looked around, noticing his armor and underarmor were strewn about. "You just made yourself at home, didn't you, Vakarian?"

"I assumed as your boyfriend that I'd be sleeping in here as well. Though if you don't want to break in your new bed tonight, I'll rent a room on the strip and jerk it to a vid."

He had picked up human dirty talk too easily. I bit my lip and leaned against the door. "We can't have that, can we baby?"

His flanging, primal growl faintly echoed into my ear. "Get your ass in here, Shepard."

"Mmm, are you ordering your commanding officer around?" I teased, toying with the release to the door.

His growl turned from lustful to annoyed. "Can we forget ranks for one night, honey? You know, just pretend we're dating. I know it's hard with living on a ship with fuck knows how many crew members-"

"Twenty."

"Twenty other people at minimum, and we don't get much privacy. So can we just act like a turian and a human in love?"

Trust him to be a hopeless romantic while he was drunk. Well, even more of one than usual. I opened the door, seeing him relaxed up to his chest in the tub. I was never prepared for seeing his plainly obvious alien body. "I suppose we can do that."

He twirled one of his long fingers. "Take it off. Slowly."

I chuckled but did as he asked, playing with the zipper on my lower back. "You want me to strip for you? Thought I'd need music for that."

"I had thought of it," he admitted, keeping his focus on my teasing fingers. I could tell he was grinning. "Though with how you dance, I wouldn't want you to break your hip while shaking your ass for me."

"Are you saying I dance like an old woman, Garrus? Because I remember a certain hot and heavy make-out session in the alley after ours." I had known he had a longer tongue than I was used to, but I wasn't aware just how much control he had with it.

"You started it."

The zipper reached the end of the track, and I held the dress over my breasts as I turned to face him again. "I believe it was you dragging me against my will into the crowd. So you started it."

"Good enough deduction." He pointed to the dress. "Off. Now."

The deep baritone alone made a shiver race up my spine and down my arms. I don't think any man before had made me so weak, just by using his cords. Any other time I would have hated it anyway, feeling vulnerable. But with Garrus… there was nothing to be afraid of for once. I let the dress fall, watching his mandibles flick slightly as his eyes narrowed. Without letting him ask, I stepped out of my panties as well, leaving me bare for him. "Hey, I brought something up. Let me get it fast."

He shrugged, indicating he didn't mind, letting me leave the bathroom. He whistled, a feat I still have yet to figure out how he did. "Mm don't go too fast. At least let me get a good look at you."

I rolled my eyes, but lifted myself up to the balls of my feet, balancing my weight as if I were one of the turian women. Why I did it, I had no idea, but he didn't say anything. I bent over at the door slowly, picking up four of the eight bottles I had brought up. I didn't expect to need it all. At least not for me. I didn't really even need what was in my hand, but it felt fitting. I didn't want to keep him waiting. I didn't want to keep myself from waiting any longer. I paused at the edge of the tub. "Zaeed fixed it, right?"

"Mostly. I fixed the rest of it," he assured. "And you know me, I don't stop until the…" I distracted him for a moment as I slipped into the warm water with him, keeping the beers out of the liquid, "… until the mm, job is done." I slid on to his lap, feeling the softer scales of his thighs beneath my flesh. "And here's where I slap myself for ever thinking to sabotage this thing."

"Again, alcohol is a nasty little thing. Or good depending on your view." One of his hands held on to my lower back while the other took a bottle from me. "Isn't this bad for you?"

"Surprisingly it's one beer where it doesn't matter who drinks it. Cheapest shit on the market, but it works."

I leaned back in his grasp and set the remaining bottles on the floor. I felt a rumble of a growl before I heard it.

"Your flexibility still astounds me." His strong two fingers ran up my back, forcing me upright again. "And all these fucking curves. I think you've ruined me for turian women."

I laughed and used my free hand to rest on the side of his chestplates. "You've ruined me for human men as well."

He let out a huff of an amused laugh while I ingested some of my bottle, as much as I could get out with what air was in there helping. "I know I'm that much of a charmer. Mm, but what exactly about me ruined you?"

"What about you hasn't ruined me?"

He chuckled, sending another shiver through me. "What would a man like me possess to make Command Shepard of all people weak in the knees?"

"I thought we were ditching rank tonight."

"Humor me."

I waited for him to tap in to his own drink to start. "Your voice for one. No human man could ever make me shiver like you do." I pressed my lips to his again, this time letting his tongue invade my mouth to wrap around my own, making my head go light while I tasted the beer mixed with his natural intoxicating presence.

When he pulled away, he pressed his avian lips to my neck. "No human man can do that either, I bet. Or…."

I didn't get a chance to ask before I was lifted to a corner of the tub, held up by his strength and my balance. His tongue delved between my lower lips, instantly reminding me just how much control he had over that long appendage. It had worried me when he first tried this, thinking back on Mordin's advice, but he assured me he was fine with using his tongue.

"Humans ingest mint plants, do they not? That's dextro. I can consume a bit of amino and be fine. Besides, you're too delicious to turn away…"

I leaned back, gripping on to whatever I could as his tongue danced over my clit. I set the bottle down so I wouldn't knock it over. "Mm, fuck, baby." The arm that I had pressed to the wall held on to his horns. I had to laugh a bit. "Oh Gooood, mm, human men can't—" A whimper of all things left me, and I didn't even care.

"Can't what, Shepard?" he growled against my thighs, tickling me a bit with his flicking mandibles.

"Can't use their tongues for that either. And if you don't keep going, I think I will have you sleep on the sofa with the others tonight. Or in a cheap motel, jerking it all by yourself." He started his rolling ministrations again, reigniting the fire immediately. "Mm, good boy."

His talons lightly dug into my legs, though we had found I liked the sharp pain from them. They were dull enough to not pierce through, giving me just enough pressure to send an additional gasp through me. My breathing came out in short bursts of cries at each pass of his tongue's dance.

"Mmmfuuuck- is this what you meant by using the moves in bed?"

"Somewhat." He gave his tongue a break so he could drink more of the booze, never breaking pace with his finger as I held myself up.

I accidentally tugged on his horns as he slipped his finger into me, almost making him choke on his beer as he moaned and his pace faltered. "I know where you sleep, Vakarian. You stop, I'll make you suffer."

He set the beer next to mine and tugged me forward, making me brace my feet against the edge of the tub and keep my legs spread for him. I had to use both my arms to keep myself up. "You keep making promises, but never act on them," he rumbled. He didn't let me snap back as he held my hips in place, forcing most of my weight to rely on my limbs.

I wanted to be snarky, I really did. But that damned evolved lizard took that ability away. I couldn't keep my head up any longer. I relaxed my neck, feeling the reverberations of my moans and his sporadic, echoing growls of possession. My chest grew tight. My sex was on fire. Everything was becoming tauter as he wound me up. My cries grew quieter, but more frequent and sharp. I couldn't take much more. My fingers gripped uselessly at the tile below me. I could feel the peak starting to rise. I wanted to warn him, but just as I remembered how to form the words, I crested, surrendering myself completely. He was the only man to ever make me mewl like a cat in heat and curse. My hips rolled out of my control, meeting his strokes in any way I could to keep the wave going. His claws dug into my legs as he held firm against me. It was too good. I started calming down, twitching against every muted lick he gave my clit. "Fu—no more. I can't-."

He finally pulled away, letting me set my shaking legs into the warm bubbling water again. "And that is one way you've ruined me. Our females don't have that. Our sex is casual and for reproduction, but it doesn't supply that much pleasure for a woman."

"But that's what the ridges are for, I thought."

He nodded, allowing both of us to rest on the bench of the tub closer to the drinks. "But you also find those pleasurable." He took his drink back and raised his arm so I could lay in the crook. His plates were rough, but I found I liked the texture anyway. "It hits something similar to what my species has. Main point is, I can't get hard with a turian female as easily as with you. There isn't much we can do for foreplay. Just dances and careful touching."

"Mm, but we have that too, don't we? My sack of bones just provides a bit more, doesn't it?"

He took my free hand and put it under the water to his exposed cock. I ran my fingers all the way down on my own, hearing him hiss. I paused close to the base, feeling the knot already exposed. From what I remembered the few times we had slept together, and my own research, it meant he was as hard as he could be. I caught his alien gaze, entranced by the electric blue encased in black. "You tell me."

I only grinned and shifted to this lap, putting both my hands to work. "For someone without a human fetish, you sure could've fooled me."

"Mm, I'm a one-human sort of turian it would seem." His eyes rolled slightly and he purred as I passed over the knot.

It hadn't been exposed so soon before, which led me to pass over it once more, gauging his reaction. Again his voice rumbled in encouragement. "I wasn't aware this thing did more than hold you in."

"W-why do you think it doesn't come out unless we're really fucking turned on?" He gave a breathy chuckle as I kept going. "Lots of nerve end-endings and—oh fuck, Shepard."

I grinned and gripped him harder between my fingers. "I can't exactly hold my breath here, or I'd do more."

He took the hint and shifted to sit on the edge of the tub, propping his legs on the bench below. "You'd better keep this promise, or I may have to reprimand you for being so deceitful."

I let out a hum of a laugh. "Don't worry, baby. I'll take care of you…" I leaned down and ran my tongue from base to tip, varying pressure as I went, grateful the ridges on his alien cock weren't sharp like some parts of him. The foreign bumps slid under my tongue, the texture turning me on as I went. The other women could have the rest of the human men. I could never turn back now. Not that I wanted to venture from the one in front of me. It just gave me a valid excuse to be a bitch to the scum men of Earth.

"Ever hear of Archangel? That's right, the sniper. I heard he was in the area. Yeah, the story is that he shoots men who hit on his girlfriend."

Never had I seen a human face turn that shade of green as he excused himself. Sure it had made my cybernetic scars and eyes more vibrant, but it was well worth the results. I pulled his angular tip into my mouth, his alien flanging hiss sending a shock through my nerves right to my sex. I ran my hands over his ridges, grinning around his cock as he moaned. He surprised me by gripping my head and forcing me down only a bit farther, though he had still made me gag a moment.

"S-sorry. Lost myself for a sec."

I touched my throat. "It's fine. No permanent damage. Though if that thing was sharp like it looks like it'd be…"

He chuckled. "Are you sure your Native Americans didn't see our dicks and model weapons after them, arrowheads and all?"

I had just taken him in my mouth again when he said that, making me snort and almost choke again. "Don't be an ass! Or I'll kick your naked one out of this bedroom to do the walk of shame."

"Do what you wish. I could never be ashamed of what we have."

Just for that I put a lot more effort into what I was doing, more to distract myself than anything. I started from the opening of his sheath and slowly ran over the knot with my tongue, keeping a slicked hand moving over the rest of him. "Should I be planning to meet your family sometime soon, Vakarian?"

He groaned at my breath against his softer flesh. "Keep doing that, and I just may have no other choice but to keep you with me forever. Fuck my family's approval."

I laughed into his skin. "I'd say the same thing, but, well, you know."

"I'd be providing family for you to say it—mm—say it to. And the crew counts as family. We could also tell them the—fffuck—the same thing."

"They all approve, you know."

"Even so, fuck 'em." He gripped his bottle again in one hand, and entwined his other fingers in my hair. He let out an intoxicating echo of a purr. "I can see the appeal of this. Beer in hand, a beautiful woman on my cock, what could make this better?"

His lowered voice made me shiver. I didn't grace him with an answer. Instead I circled my tongue around his arrowhead tip, sinking back on his flesh, pressing my tongue to the underside ridges. I rubbed and explored each one. The fumes hit me hard suddenly as it combined with the increase in asari alcohol. My need for him increased. I forgot everything about ranks, about who answered to who at the start of the day. I forgot every horrible thing that I had done to survive the streets. I forgot the introverted life I had lived, never once smiling or cracking a joke. Not until…

"Some krogan believe that testicle transplants can increase their virility. Counteract the effects of the genophage. It doesn't work, but that doesn't stop them from trying. They'll pay up to 10,000 credits each. That's 40,000 for a full set. Somebody's making a killing out there."

I snorted, unable to stop it. I covered my mouth with my hand, but it was too late to hide.

He arched a browplate. "Commander, did you not know what the krogan were referring to when they say 'quads'?"

"I do now." I noticed his gaze had turned stoic, his mandibles twitching slightly. "Something wrong, Garrus?"

"Nothing. I just… don't think I've ever seen you smile. It's a good look, if I may be so bold."

I cleared my throat and hid the smile. "Just don't tell anyone, alright?"

I could see his sharp grin. "And ruin your serious persona? I wouldn't dream of it, Commander."

"Shi—Hold on." He used his grip to hold me still. His breath of a laugh made me grin. He nodded towards the bedroom. "I think this tub has seen its use for now."

"You just don't want to pop yet."

His laughter turned into a feral purr. "I can have multiple reasons." He helped me out of the tub, letting me watch his different arm muscles work to do so.

I stooped down to pick up my bottle, feeling a little shift in my equilibrium. He either took no notice or didn't care as he left the bathroom, grabbing the other bottles. I stood in the doorway as I downed the rest of the bottle. He put the drinks on the chair closest to my bed. Our bed, I supposed.

"Are you coming, or are you going to stare at my scales all night?"

I tapped the bottle to my lower lip, a smile playing on them. A naughty thought entered my mind. I rolled the empty bottle across the wood floors and ran teasing fingers over the control console for the room. I dimmed the lights and turned the stereo on, allowing music that would play in the clubs sift through the speakers of my room only. I saw the confusion on his face clearer with each step I took. I touched the ridges of his carapace, where it melded in to the plates over his chest. I shoved him back onto the bed and straddled his jutting hips. "You're not the only one who's been taking a few… lessons on the side." I had brushed up on a few vids, knowing men of all species didn't have much negative to say when their females teased them like this.

His fingers dug into my thighs to hold me in place, allowing me to kneel over him. "Is that right? Show me then."

I'd blame the alcohol later, but I felt able to relax completely for once. I put my private practice to use as I rocked to the music, just like the girls we had seen on our missions together. As I got more into it, I ran my hands over my skin, hearing him give a lustful purr.

"Well here's a side of my commander I never thought I'd see," he muttered, eyes hooded and teeth prominent in a grin. "And those cybernetic scars…" He hissed as I brushed against his tip. He propped himself up, locking my gaze with his. "How is it you can be so damn sexy, both in battle and in bed?"

"Not many men find a woman with a gun sexy, Garrus," I said, keeping my voice sultry.

"I suppose not. Mmhn, good thing Archangel is your boyfriend, huh?"

"There's perks, I'll admit," I said, my motions rolling, giving him teasing brushes every-so-often. "At least I'll know I've got some sort of angel looking after me."

"I was by your side from day one." He let out a frustrated growl. The next thing I knew he was filling me up, forcing a gasp out of my chest. "I will never get over how soft you are… He thrust again, making both of us moan. "And how tight you are."

Each time he moved his ridges rubbed against my walls. I held myself up on the jutting portion of his plates.

"Move with me."

I wanted to. I desperately did. "Shit, the scales…"

He groaned and fell back onto the sheets. "Sorry I'm so rough."

"If our shore leave was longer, I may not care about having those wounds to heal." I nodded to the drawer behind me, hidden in the wall. "I had a feeling we'd be on our own at some point tonight, so I brought it off ship." I got off him for a moment, leaning over for the drawer access. Inside was one of the gifts from Mordin, an oil that protected my skin from his scales. I wasted no time in straddling his thin waist, handing him the bottle.

He applied the oil in small circles, careful of his claws, running over every inch of my inner thighs as possible. He tossed the bottle over his shoulder and thrust his hips up into me, holding me in place with his grip on my waist. His carapace held him up enough to give him proper balance as he filled me up with possessive force.

"I swear if your toe claws rip my new sheets…" I breathed, unable to finish my thought as he gave a harder stroke.

"I'll buy you new ones," he growled, his sharp teeth clenched together and exposed. "I'm not exactly on vigilante salary anymore. I-I can afford a few things I couldn't before." His eyes pressed closed. "Shepard, I can't do this." With his hold on my waist, he somehow maneuvered us to put me on my back, his weight over me. He pushed my legs back and held them there as he took me. "Move up a bit."

I shifted backwards, letting him brace himself better with his odd legs and spurs.

"That's my girl." He held on to my legs, swiftly picking up his pace.

Each time he filled me up, I felt the air escape my lungs. I couldn't stop my cries if I wanted to. "God, Garrus…" My eyes closed against the pleasure as it built up inside, feeling his ridges rub against just the right spots.

"Mm, do I feel good, Shepard?" he purred.

"Yesss. Don't stop."

"Wasn't planning on it." His two fingers held on to mine, sliding between the digits just right.

I had to grip on to his hand tight as his knot slipped inside, stretching me a bit more. "Oh, baby don't ever stop."

"I'm not going anywhere." He leaned over my form, just barely keeping his rough scales from scratching my skin.

I took advantage of his closeness, pressing my lips to his, welcoming his strong tongue. While it really was only me able to kiss, it didn't stop him from pressing back, showing he at least understood the importance of the custom, just as I understood the importance of touching heads.

He panted against my ear, his flanging moans sending jolts down to my sex. I clawed at his scales uselessly with my free hand, feeling my muscles wind up tight again. I cried into the hollow of his carapace. We ended up reduced to our sounds and kisses and touch, unwilling to break what we were building with talking.

Our eyes locked for the briefest of moments, both of us short on breath. His mandibles flared as a harsh hiss left his clenched teeth. My walls tightened around him, but he kept going, forcing a moan from both of us. He started going faster, his toe claws digging into the sheets for balance. His ridges that rubbed against me inside quickly made me forget how to breathe.

We both panted into the other's skin, muttering little encouragements here and there, a few louder than usual shouts. All at once I couldn't make a sound as my body went rigid in his arms. I felt like I was breaking, but he was able to keep me in one piece. My climax jutted my hips to his, giving him a better angle. He immediately took it with a primal growl. My head was in a fog, but I still managed to keep up with his pace. "Almost there," he rumbled.

I played with the shifting plates that covered his chest, still finding them fascinating. I reached up and tugged his horns again. His weak moan sent a pleasurable chill down my spine. I trailed my fingers under the horns, to what I could reach of his fringe. I saw his nostrils flare as a feral moan left him.

"You're playing a dangerous game if you do that, sweetheart."

I locked my thighs around his narrow waist, held up by his jutting hips. I let my voice go as low as I could, my eyes hooded. "I know what I'm doing. Question is, do you?"

He stopped everything and looked at me. "What?" he said through his breathy laughs.

"I'm a little drunk. Shh." I leaned up, pressing my breasts to his plates. "I know what I'm doing." I stroked under the side of his fringe again, the same moan escaping him. To make it worse, I kissed one of his mandibles, trailing my tongue over the inside of it while I stroked him again.

"I'm aware of your… request. Just surprised you learned it. And that you'd want it."

I was a little nervous, yes, but I had wanted this for some time. I repeated the motions, gasping as his hips instinctively rolled into me again, the knot keeping him inside.

He pulled out with an inaudible pop and, with his grip on my hips, pulled me back towards the edge of the bed. I turned around for him. He wasted no time in claiming me again, gasping at the tighter angle. "This won't take long this way." He paused. "Hand me that bottle again. Wouldn't want to scrape the skin from your lovely back."

He hadn't tossed it far before. The clear blue contents shimmered back at me in the dim light. I reached for it and handed it to him. Even somewhat drunk he was still more observant than I was. I shivered as the oil hit my skin.

"Cold?"

"A little."

He let the bottle drop to the sheets again. "Let me warm it up then…" He passed his fingers through the oil, spreading it over my skin in firm circles. Warm tingles escaped from my nerves and rested in my mind. I curved my spine and purred like the pampered cat I was. As he started to move again, he held on to my breasts, running his clawed thumbs over my nipples. "Good thing you wore your hair up like usual."

"Just do it," I said, dripping with impatience and trepidation. "There's enough medi-gel in that bathroom for an army. Don't be a bitch. Break me if you have to."

He growled and put his hand to the middle of my shoulders, forcing me down. The softer undertone of his voice started to rise over his normal pitch, warping it slightly. I knew letting him go feral was, almost literally, playing with fire. I didn't care if I was burned. All my muscles clenched at his hold. A grunt passed his teeth. He pressed his weight to my back, his rough plates a dull pleasure due to the oil.

His tongue flicked around my neck, making me expose the skin to his hot breath. His ridges were becoming too much, not to mention the knot pressing against my entrance, not quite able to fit. I flinched as it passed a little farther in. His warped snarl let me know he felt it too. With one powerful thrust he shoved it in, both of us groaning at the sensation. However, his teeth sank into my neck where he could grab, just barely breaking the surface. The sudden pain made me buck back into him. "God, Garrus!" I grabbed whatever part of his hand I could over my breast, feeling him turn his palm to connect our fingers. I held on as his pace tore through my quivering walls, bringing me to my peak again.

His breath quickened against my throat as his hips jerked sharply against me. He let out a powerful snarl, clasping on to my hand as his pace faltered. He took his hand back and forced mine to the sheets.

I instinctively gripped the fabric tightly. I felt him shift and prop one of his legs on the mattress for better balance. His fingers dipped to my clit, putting pressure against it. Immediately everything became more intense. The ridges inside were pressing in all the right places, leaving my limbs weak again. His teeth in my shoulder weren't even painful. His wild rumble of a moan was my undoing. I fought his hold as I came, not caring if anyone would be able to hear my screams for him.

I could have sworn he roared when he yanked himself out and came between my thighs. With the noise muffled by my skin, I couldn't tell. I was too busy catching my breath to notice. We stayed there for a moment, still as anything, just trying to calm down. Reluctantly he pulled his teeth from my skin, making me flinch at the motion. He had gone deeper than I had realized.

Without being told he got off the bed, retreating into the bathroom. Not a moment later he returned with the medi-gel I had mentioned. He applied it to the wound and I hissed as my skin healed with the aid of the medicine.

"Those will scar, you know."

I nodded and let him shift me to his lap as he sat on the bed properly. I put my legs around his waist and laid in the crook of his carapace. "It's one of your customs, isn't it? You've done all the ones required for human courtship. I should so the same for turian. Why were you surprised I initiated it?"

"Not many humans are interested in being bitten with sharp teeth to be claimed. From my research, humans like to be publicly claimed with rings."

"You aren't wrong." I scoffed. "But look at me. Do I seem like a jewelry type of girl with all these scars?"

"I see your point. Well then…" He leaned down and nuzzled my face before pressing his forehead to mine. "We just made sure no other turian can lay hands on you."

"I'm perfectly fine with that." I frowned. "Do the women bite back?"

"We are still a somewhat male dominated species. So no." He grinned. "You'd break your teeth trying."

"I'm very much aware of that." I pressed my lips to his again, content to just feel the pressure and the gentle flicks of his mandibles as he tried to contribute something to the connection.

"Don't think I'm through with you, either."

"I was going to kick your ass if you were." His fingers found all of mine and brought them together. A crazy thought passed through my mind. "When this is all over, we should make this the Shepard-Vakarian love nest."

He chuckled. "It would be nice, wouldn't it?"

"I'm serious. We've made more than enough with all our missions and jobs in the past. Why not?"

"What about Earth? Your home there?"

I laughed a bit. "Garrus, I have no home there." My smile faded as I caught his gaze. "This place is mine now. And I can share it with whoever I wish." I shrugged. "Besides. There are three bedrooms. If we fight, you have two other choices to retreat to."

He chuckled and ran his fingers lightly down my back. "If that is how you truly feel, then yes, we'll live here and make it the Shepard-Vakarian abode. Until we either get sick of each other, or you're sharing my last name."

My heart skipped a beat and I gripped on to one of his exposed chest plates. "Preferably the second one."

"I have to provide the option for you to escape my ugly turian ass."

I laughed and he held me tighter on instinct. "Some people may find your species less than appealing, but don't worry, I think your ass is just fine." I bowed my head again, feeling the last of my walls crumbling for him. "I'm scared, Garrus. Like with the Relay. I'm really scared."

"Even the great renegade Vanguard Commander Shepard is allowed to be scared." He kept our bodies close, keeping me somewhat calm. "You'd be a fool to not be terrified of what we're facing. Of what we have faced and who we have lost so far." He pulled at the tie of my hair and ran his hand through the locks lightly. "You are not alone. Everyone is here for you. I'm here for you. Always."

I cracked a small smile. "I guess I can always count on my guardian Archangel to keep me safe."

"Until the final parting bullet." He pointed to his scars. "Hell, I practically took a rocket to the face for you."

"That was your own damn thing. You would have been dead if I hadn't found you when I did." He went quiet and I realized what I said. "Garrus…"

"No. You're right. I would have been a lot worse off if you and your team hadn't helped me." He chuckled. "I guess you're just as much my angel as I am yours."

"As much of an angel I can be with these cybernetic scars."

"We'll make an exception, my dark angel."

I hummed an approval. "I'll take it." I nodded to the bathroom. "Let's finish off those drinks and reset. I'm far from done with you as well."

"Before we do, I…" He let out a breath and lifted my chin gently with one of his long fingers. "I don't say it as much as I should, but I love you. Not just your hair," he added to correct a joke from earlier, making both of us let out a snort of a laugh. "I really do. And I still wonder how a turian like me got a beautiful human woman like you."

"You have a cute ass, Vakarian, what can I say?"

He laughed, making me join him. "Fine. Keep your reasons to yourself." He nuzzled my neck. "So long as you want to remain a one-turian woman, I don't care."

I reigned in my giggles. "I love you too, you overgrown lizard."

He got up from the bed, helping me up with him. "Grab the rest of the beer. I want to make sure we get as much use out of this thing as we can."

"Mm, aye-aye, sir."

It was a hell of a morning, but we somehow managed to untangle ourselves from the sheets and each other. I made my rounds, seeing how everyone was doing. I had to hide a satisfied smirk at Tali's misfortune. I had been getting a little more cautious around her with what I had been hearing her initiate with Garrus, though I couldn't blame the quarian for trying.

I frowned as I looked around. I knew I was missing someone, and I had checked every room in the apartment. "Has anyone seen Javik?"

Everyone became confused and looked around. "Come to think of it, I don't think he came back out," Zaeed said. "I was wondering why there was more to shoot all of a sudden."

I went back upstairs to Liara and Garrus. "Have you two seen Javik?"

Both looked just as dumbfounded as the others. "Actually, no, I haven't seen him," Liara said, looking to Glyph.

"I have no record of his appearance after last night," Glyph stated. I noticed he still had his little digital bowtie.

"I've checked everywhere. The only other place…" My heart sank. "No."

I entered my room, seeing it still empty. Very quickly, I looked in the closet. Nothing. For a last resort, I looked in my bathroom.

I wanted to die.

Javik was there on my bathroom floor, still unconscious. "Javik?"

"I had the craziest dream. I woke up 50,000 years later, surrounded by primatives."

"Javik. How long were you in my room?"

He frowned, his eyes blinking and turning to slits as if he was in pain. "Long enough to know humans are not ever something I would like to mate with. If all of your kind are like you, I want nothing to do with them."

"But we were—you weren't—how did?"

"I stumbled into your closet at some point last night and had to wait for you two to eventually pass out to get out. By then I had to use the facilities, and ended up passing out in here." He forced himself to his feet and stalked by me as if it were the most usual thing in the galaxy to be forced to listen to your crewmates fucking all night.

"Hey, details now bitch!" Jack shouted from the doorway of my room, with Liara and Tali behind her holding plates of food. "You promised."

I threw my hands in the air. "I'm so fucking done."

"That's what Javik said he heard."

"Javik! I will put you back in that refrigerator and throw you out the god damn airlock if you don't shut your fucking face!"