She was still smiling when she walked through decontamination to board the Normandy. She couldn't help but notice that her heels clicked particularly loudly, more so than usual, as she made her way into the CIC. Her smile dimmed as her eyes swept about the place, noting the lack of her crew. She shrugged, figuring they were all still on shore leave, and made her way to the elevator. After a few moments, the elevator hissed open, and she stepped inside, ordering it to go to her cabin before leaning back against the wall with a contented sigh. She hummed a tune softly under her breath as she waited, her good mood at an all-time high; she had managed to recruit both Hanar and Drell fleets, along with the entirety of the Spectre division for the war thanks to Kasumi's help, Cortez was beginning to move on from his grief, and she had managed to rekindle her relationship with Kaidan.

Needless to say, she felt accomplished.

Stepping off the elevator and entering her quarters, she kicked off her heels and made her way down the three steps into her bedroom with a soft sigh. She had planned to shower, maybe slip into something more comfortable before inviting Kaidan up like she promised she would. She reached behind her to begin unzipping the dress, when a warm, calloused hand stopped her.

"Need some help…?" Kaidan purred in her ear. She gasped in surprise when she felt him pull the zipper of her dress down, and she shivered pleasantly when she felt his warm breath against her skin. His hands were searing and soothing all at once as he slid the dress from her shoulders, pooling on the floor. His lips parted to mold into the crook of her neck, his hands exploring on their own. She could feel him press against her, his chest against her back- but wait, he was shirtless? Coherent thought left her as his hands traveled, one cupping her breast through her bra, the other trailing down to grip her hip and pull her closer. Her knees buckled.

"Kaidan…" she let out a breathy moan, her head falling back into him, giving his mouth better access to more of her skin. He hummed happily against her heated flesh, the hand on her hip slipping its fingers underneath her lace panties, leaving a scorching trail along her skin. His tongue swept along the junction of her neck, his kisses becoming lighter as they trailed up her neck. She turned sluggishly in his arms just in time for his mouth to find hers. He moaned against her lips, slanting his mouth to deepen it as they pulled each other closer. He dragged his teeth along her bottom lip, loving the low moan that escaped her when he did that. He had missed her. He had missed this…all of it. His heart fluttered at the thought that he was finally able to love her again the way he had ached to for the last three years. She stood back, idly wondering when she had leaned up on the tips of her toes, and grinned at his half naked form. "You planned this," she poked his bare chest lightly. It wasn't a question, but he felt he should answer anyway.

"Perhaps a little," he chuckled, kissing her slowly. "I like to be…" he nipped her neck, "…prepared." She shivered as he continued to let his hands wander, his fingers whisper over scars that were not there before, searching for scars that had long since been wiped clean. Her body told fewer stories now, but that's okay; he need only look into her eyes and see her soul to know what she had been through. That was enough. She laughed softly under her breath, letting her hands do a little investigating of her own, trailing down his back, tracing his muscles, the scars on his shoulders from the operations the doctors had to do to save him after Mars, the defined lines along his tailbone and sliding to his front in the space between them to begin undoing the buckle of his pants.

She stilled when his fingers hesitated over the scar at the base of her neck.

She flinched slightly, knowing the last time they were intimate, she was an engineer with no biotic abilities, but death…death left her a blank canvas for Cerberus to mold. She had awoken to find an L5x implant at the base of her neck, and all the abilities of a Sentinel. She felt him lift his head to look her in the eye, a reassuring smile on his face. He kissed her softly, briefly. "It doesn't matter…" he kissed her again. "You're still you…" and again. "…you're still mine," her heart warmed, and her tensions melted away. She smiled softly when their lips parted.

"Always will be," she murmured, her mouth finding the spot on his neck she knew drove him wild and began to lightly drag her teeth across the skin. He let out a shaky breath, his head lolling to the side as she continued to work on his pants. A wry smile pulled her lips from his neck, and he whimpered at the cessation of her ministrations. "You already have your boots off," again, not a question, but he couldn't hold back a sly smile this time.

"I did mention something about being prepared, didn't-?" his question was swallowed into a strangled moan when her teeth sunk into his neck. His eyes rolled back as he shut them, head falling back when she managed to push his pants down and glide a hand over his bourgeoning erection through his boxers. Those joined his pants in the puddle around his ankles, but he didn't pay it a single thought. She began to gently slide her fingers along the full length of him, her touch light and teasing. She hummed against his neck, pleased with the smoothness of the skin her hand was skimming across. "Samus…" he moaned heatedly, his hands fumbling with the clasps of her bra, desperate to feel all of her, to see all of her and know she was his. Succeeding in unclasping her bra, he practically tore it off of her, his hand sliding across her skin to curl around her breast, thumb skating over her nipple as his other hand fanned over the small of her back, bracing her to lower them to the bed.

"A little eager, are we?" Her witty, albeit breathy comment made him chuckle under his breath as he hooked a finger in her panties, tugging them off as he kicked his uniform pants and boxers off. His hands worked slowly, ghosting along her skin at an agonizing pace.

"Perhaps," he kissed her languidly, his tongue sweeping through her mouth in sensual patterns. "Or maybe…I wanted to get you here so I could take my time…" his voice hit the low octave that never failed to make her tremble in his arms. His slow torture continued, his kisses trailing lazily downward to her breasts, his mouth encasing a nipple, his tongue swirling around the hardened bead of flesh, making her back arch into him. Before long, she was mewling and keening, driving him wild with need. His hand traveled lower still, slipping between them, the pad of his thumb stroking her clit while two of his finger sunk into her searing hot core. Her mouth slackened into a silent moan as she gasped for air, thrusting her hips into his hand subconsciously.

Fantasies had done him no justice.

"Kaidan…" she mewled, her back arching languidly into his hard body. "I need you…please-!" He trailed kisses back up through the valley of her breasts, up her neck, and pressing his mouth to hers and kissed her desperately. He pulled his hand out of her and positioned himself, his need for her making his erection almost painful. He slid into her slowly, letting out a guttural groan as her velvet walls tightened around him. As he buried himself to the hilt, her clenching, her writhing was almost his undoing. He lowered the rest of his body, his chest pushing against her breasts, his arms winding themselves around her as he breathed into her ear,

"Just give me a moment…" he rocked his hips against hers when she tried to move. He kissed her slowly as he tried to steady himself. He slid out of her almost completely before he took up his agonizingly slow pace. She pushed her hips up, eager for more, desperate for more, but he pinned her down again. "Wait…please…" he ground out, waiting for the dots to leave his vision. "I…" he lowered his head, burying his face into the crook of her neck. "I want this to last…I want to…" he let out a shaky breath as he continued his pace. "I just want us to feel human again…" he felt the tightly wound muscles in her shoulders soften, and her arms grip him a little tighter. She pressed a kiss to his collarbone and smiled apologetically, taking one of his hands and lacing their fingers together.

"Then show me how," he closed his eyes, pressing their foreheads together, his pace neither ceasing nor increasing. He let go of her hand, and she wove it through his hair to pull his lips to hers. She kissed him slowly, hooking her leg under his to use as leverage to turn them so she was on top. Neither of them could bite down the moan that escaped them at the deeper penetration their new position granted them, and Samus had to curb her desire to let loose, knowing how important this was to both of them. She had to brace herself for a moment, to wait until the lightheadedness faded.

"Samus-" she leaned down and pressed a finger to his lips, smiling softly at him, hoping it would chase away the desperate look he had in his eyes.

"Shh…" she kissed him softly, her hand tangling in his hair again, her other trailing down his chest to soothe him. "Just feel…" she murmured against his lips as they connected with hers once more. She took up his pace, slow, sweet, and torturous for both of them. His head fell back, but he watched her through half-hooded eyes darkened with need, a wistful smile tugging at his lips as she made love with him, her blue eyes a sea of storms he never wanted to escape. She began to kiss and lick his neck, loving the sounds that escaped his throat as he desperately clung to her, pressing her body closer.

"Samus…" he breathed, gripping her hair and tugging her mouth up to his. "Oh, Samus…"his mouth reconnected his hers instantly, needing to feel her, to know he wasn't going to just wake up to find this entire day never happened. When they parted, she smiled at him, eyes sparkling with unshed tears. He looked at her, panicked that he had done something wrong, fearful that he had somehow hurt her in some way. "Why the tears, love?" he murmured, his thumbs stroking away the tears that fell. Her smile only widened as she let out a watery chuckle.

"Because I'm happy…because I'm with you…" she lowered herself into another kiss, murmuring a heartfelt "I love you," against his lips as they reconnected. His eyes welled in tears and spilled into his hair at the sincerity of her love for him, at how alive she made him feel, how much he loved her in return. His hand cradled the back of her head, pulling her closer while he slanted his mouth against hers. Their rhythm hadn't ceased, and he felt the sweet pressure of his climax beginning to pull in the back of his mind. He rolled them so he was on top, hesitantly pulling his mouth from hers.

"I love you, too…always…" he began to increase his strokes. Nothing frenzied, not rushed, simply upping his tempo enough that his name became a hushed prayer spilling from those swollen lips. He peppered kisses into her hair, murmuring confessions of love, words of endearment, as they both rose in a crescendo to their climax. She cried out his name, clenching around him, her head thrown back in abandon as she found her release. Watching her coming apart so beautifully in his embrace, he plummeted into oblivion right after her, spilling himself deep into her center. Spent for the moment, he lowered himself next to her, turning them so he could hold her close, still inside her. They cuddled close, gulping for air as they shared a breathless laugh together, neither one having felt this complete, this content since they had last been together. He brushed his lips against hers again, their foreheads touching as they stared at one another.

"I…" she sighed happily. "I missed you so much…" he silenced her with a kiss.

"Shh…" his thumb smoothed her pout away. "I missed you, too…" he kissed her forehead. "But it's okay now," he shivered when her hand began to move soothingly up and down on his back. His stroked her hair, twirling the pale locks in his fingers. "From now on, I want to spend whatever time I have left loving you," she giggled and pecked his mouth playfully.

"You'll probably regret saying that," she teased, bucking her hips just enough to make him gasp. "Because I'm not done yet." She yelped in surprise when he turned them so he was perched atop her, staring at her hungrily, a devilish smirk playing on his lips.

"I was hoping you'd say that," he growled before he reclaimed her mouth with his.