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Garrus felt like a virgin about to embark on his very first sexual encounter as he stepped into Shepard’s quarters. He was no stranger to ‘blowing off steam’, but only with one of his own species. He’d never even considered sex with anything other than another turian before. At least not seriously, not until recently. He’d given the idea a passing thought a few times on the first Normandy, but the commander had been involved with Alenko and so it had been a moot point. Shepard was human, after all. She’d only seemed interested in another of her own species. So he’d never pursued the idea any further than a few curious daydreams.
Now, he was standing there holding that bottle of wine up like a shield and wondering what he was getting himself into. That pamphlet didn’t give me much to go on. ‘Insert plug A into port B.’ Real smooth, Mordin, thanks. He already knew that much. It wasn’t like he had no skills at all in the arts of pleasing a female. He simply had no idea if that skill would carry over to Shepard and her human physiology.
Staring at her as she stepped out of the bathroom drying her hair, his anxiety kicked into overdrive. He still wasn’t convinced the human woman before him could withstand the encounter she’d asked for without her armor. ‘Squishy’ was the word that had come to mind as he examined her hair and waist. The soft skin of her arms was rarely exposed as it was now. Neither were her legs exposed like they were now. He saw no plates on her skin to speak of and he worried his spurs or his talons might damage that delicate looking flesh. Of course, he doubted he would ever tell her that.
She’s still Shepard, your best friend… possibly the only friend you have left in this screwed up galaxy. Definitely your favorite person… by far. You’ve seen her slam a krogan against the ceiling and drop him twenty feet. She plows through enemies like they’re made of paper. Get a grip, Vakarian. Maybe she can handle a little sex with you too. As much as he’d hoped the mental pep-talk would improve his nerves, it didn’t. He thought maybe he’d grown even more nervous than he’d been in the elevator.
Jolting himself when he realized he was staring, he jogged toward the sound system controls. He’d put together an entire selection of music he thought would be appropriate for this encounter. Unfortunately, he’d also forgotten to load said selection to his omni-tool. It was still waiting on the console in the battery. He groaned inwardly at that and chose the first track that came to mind. At least he’d had the good sense to set the bottle down on the corner of her desk.
Turning and attempting to look somewhere between smug and proud of himself, he spread his arms. Dropping them a few seconds later as he took a couple of steps toward the unnerving fish tank. He watched as she sauntered over toward him. She stopped and turned the music off on the way. Not a good start, Vakarian, he sighed inwardly.
“If you were turian… I’d be complimenting you on your fringe… or your waist.” he said nervously as he made a point of looking her up and down. “So… your hair looks good… and your waist is… very supportive. I hope that’s not offensive in human culture. Crap… throw me a line here, Shepard.”
“When did you become such a smooth talker? Relax… and stop worrying.” Shepard said softly as she stepped into his space.
“I’ve seen so many things go wrong. My work with C-Sec… Omega… Sidonis. I just… I want something to go right. Just once…” he stammered, not realizing he’d really spoken out loud. He needed this to go right if he was being absolutely honest with himself. I can’t lose her again… spirits… not over something like this. Please let this go well. It nearly broke me when she… died. Didn’t know what she meant to me… until she was gone.
His mind was spinning so far out of control, he didn’t think he’d be able to reel it in. The encounter they’d planned was about to become a bust very quickly over his own self-doubts. And then she reached up to gently caress his scarred mandible. That touch, the first flesh to flesh since Omega, stopped him in his tracks. It virtually short circuited his train of thought.
“It’ll be perfect because it’s us. It’s just you and me, Garrus.” she said soothingly, the look on her face filled with an emotion he wasn’t sure he could name.
Rather than put his foot any deeper into his mouth, he awkwardly pressed his plated brow to her too smooth human forehead. The act was the equivalent to a turian kiss and it almost felt rushed. He wasn’t sure she understood the gesture. He’d seen humans kissing. The first time, he’d thought they were trying to eat each other’s faces. He didn’t try it. The thought that she’d back away in panic stopped him. It didn’t seem to matter as he cautiously reached up and touched the exposed skin of her shoulder.
Shepard took his other hand in hers and stepped back slowly. “Come on. I think you need a minute. You look like you’re about to pass out.”
“That’s… um… not… really how I wanted to come off.” Garrus stammered, but didn’t resist her gentle tug. He followed her down the stairs into her main living area.
“Maybe not and it’s ok. I get it. This is completely new for you. It’s new for me too.” Shepard said as she guided him to the couch.
Sitting down on the couch with her, he nodded and rested his elbows on his knees letting out a distressed sigh. “I feel like a complete novice. You must think I’m an inexperienced idiot.”
“No. I think we’re both inexperienced with each other.” Shepard admitted.
“Well… I guess this is a bust. I should go back to the battery and nurse my bruised ego.” Garrus murmured, about to get to his feet. Shepard’s hand on his arm stalled him.
“Mordin’s pamphlet didn’t give me much to go on. I’m guessing he sent you the same diagrams. I don’t know about you, but I did a little extranet research. You’re important to me, Garrus. I want this to go right too.”
At her words, he relaxed and didn’t push himself to his feet. Instead, he nodded and sat there watching her for a moment. A thought struck him and he shook his head with a quiet chuckle. “ Maybe … we’re overthinking this.”
“Go on,” Shepard said curiously as she moved from beside him to a seat on the coffee table before him.
“What if we just did… a little show and tell of our own?” Garrus suggested, his confidence building a little at the idea. How different could she be? He asked himself.
Shepard smiled at that and nodded. “Who’s going first?”
“I will… just… don’t panic when you see… the rest of the damage that rocket did.” Garrus said and reached up to release his visor.
*
Shepard nodded and watched him set the visor down on the coffee table beside her. She’d never seen him without it. Some humans still wore glasses and it reminded her of that kind of disorientation. She didn’t let it show as she watched him release the buckles and straps across the back of his cowl.
Once the straps were loose, he popped a small tab out of the odd ‘box’ sitting over the left side of his chest. He grabbed that and gave it a sharp tug. What she’d thought was a seam in his tunic suddenly opened and he wound the cord behind that box. With it open, he took hold of the collar and carefully worked it over his head before slipping out of the tunic.
That was when she saw it and as much as she tried not to react, a gasp escaped her as her eyes widened. He tilted his head thoughtfully, but said nothing as he tucked his tunic neatly into the corner beside him. The turian had to know she’d examine the damage before anything else.
Shepard looked him over, her eyebrows raising as she tried to keep the distress and concern out of her expression. She was failing miserably and she knew it. The pull of his mandibles against his jaw told her that, but she had to look. She had to know just how extensive the damage was.
The upper rim of his cowl was virtually scooped away in a shattered hole over his right collarbone. The burns and gashes in the soft tissue of his neck had extended down to what remained of that bony protrusion. The damage continued across most of his shoulder and the plating over the right pectoral muscle. There was also damage to the rear rim of his cowl where the rocket had passed through his armor. It wasn’t as severe, but it was there.
Tentatively, she reached out a hand to touch the least damaged section of plating near his keel. He didn’t move or flinch away. He simply sat there and watched her with an unreadable expression on his face.
“I had no idea it was this bad,” Shepard whispered as her fingertips made contact.
“It looks so much worse than it actually is.” Garrus murmured and sat forward a little so she could touch him properly if she wanted to.
The commander pulled her eyes from the damage and met his eyes then. She wasn’t sure she should push for sex knowing now just how badly injured he really was. “Does it hurt?”
“No… not anymore. It’s healing well,” he said with a quiet purr, the first he’d let rumble through his chest since he’d stepped into her quarters.
“You wouldn’t lie to me about this, would you, Garrus?” she asked, eyes burning into his.
In answer, Garrus leaned forward and gently took her hand. He placed it firmly on the wheels of scars running down from that hole in his cowl. The turian made sure her fingers were flat on the shattered surface in the middle of that hole. His voice was firm when he finally spoke. “It doesn’t hurt.”
Finally, she nodded and her eyes began to explore the rest of his torso. Or as much as had been exposed by the removal of his tunic. His chest was as wide as she’d expected it to be with three odd vent-like flanges running along the sides to the bottom of his ribcage. The plating on his abdomen was thinner than she’d thought it would be, but she realized it had to be. He had to be able to bend. Those plates disappear beneath the waist of his pants.
Glancing up into his icy blue eyes, she frowned slightly. The texture of his plates reminded her of a sanding block inside a rubber glove. It wasn’t unpleasant, but she began to see why Mordin had warned her of chafing. His skin, or hide as she’d recently learned from her extranet research, was more like leather with a very suede-like feeling to it. The plates were rough and what posed the potential problem.
A thought struck her as one hand slipped along his lowest rib-flange and she tried to stamp down the involuntary cringe. She needed to know and the only way to find out was to ask. The prickle of embarrassment was racing across her face even as she cleared her throat.
“Are you like this… all over?” Shepard finally asked, her brows arching and her eyes darting toward his groin purposely.
A rumble that might have been a quiet chuckle vibrated beneath her fingers through his carapace at that. His mandibles spread just a fraction away from his face in a small smile. She’d learned many of his facial expressions long before they’d ever come to this point.
*
Garrus sat watching her in mild amusement. Once she’d gotten past the scars the curiosity had kicked in. Humans were very tactile creatures, even Commander Shepard. Maybe especially Commander Shepard , he mused thoughtfully. He didn’t think she was even aware at first that she was touching many of the areas her eyes were lingering on. It didn’t bother him, after all, that was what he was here for. He was beginning to relax as she explored him. As a matter of fact, he was starting to enjoy the experience. This session of ‘show and tell’ seemed to be one of his better ideas.
When she asked about his textures and pointedly directed her eyes toward his still clothed groin, he couldn’t help the chuckle. He relaxed a little more then. Realizing that she had no idea what to expect either was refreshing in a way.
“Hmm… no, it’s… uh… not plated, if that’s what you’re asking,” he hummed, that smile spreading his mandibles just a little more. He thought about it for a minute and tilted his head to the side a fraction. “It’s more like my tongue. About the same color too.”
“I’ve… only seen flashes of your tongue. Not enough to really go by,” Shepard breathed, clearly hoping she didn’t sound too anxious.
“I think I can do something about that,” he murmured and sat forward a little. Swallowing quickly, he stuck his tongue out at her. Under any other circumstances, that might be considered rude, but this was their ‘show and tell’ session. She was learning about him.
When five and a half inches of blue tongue slipped out of his mouth, Shepard’s eyes went wide. She stared at him and when he wiggled it, her neck muscles twitched and stood out with her quiet gasp. The human didn’t touch his tongue, but she leaned in and examined the textures visibly.
“You’re not… are you… levo sensitive?” she asked and he realized it was the first time he’d ever heard her stammer.
“No. I’m not allergic,” he answered after drawing his tongue slowly back into his mouth. He cocked one brow-plate up at her as he considered where she might be going with that line of questioning.
“Oh… good,” Shepard said breathily with a faint nod and squeezed her thighs together slightly. The action didn’t slip by him as her scent bloomed through the space between them.
“Oral,” he barely suppressed the growl as he leaned his elbows on his knees and came within foot of her face. “That’s what you’re thinking.”
“I… um…,” Shepard seemed to be searching for the right way to confess it. Finally she simply nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t know if turians participated in that kind of thing. You know, with the teeth…”
“Some do… some don’t,” he answered shortly, hoping she’d ask a little more.
“Do you?” she asked very quietly.
“Mhmmm,” he drew it out with a rumbling growl and willed his groin plates not to spread his seam just yet.
*
Shepard released a shuddering breath at that revelation. If his other parts were anything like that tongue, she thought he might well ruin her for human touch. Doesn’t matter anyway. Not like I’m interested in anyone else. My heart belongs to this wonderful turian sitting on my couch. Not planning to be with anyone else.
“It’s usually a one-sided kind of thing,” Garrus elaborated as he sat back again and allowed her to continue exploring his chest and belly.
She frowned slightly before understanding dawned on her. “Oh… the teeth, right.”
“Yeah… I’m… uh… not too keen on presenting… um… delicate parts to that kind of risk,” he said, his subvocals buzzing deeply just below his words.
“I see,” she nodded and thought about how best to broach the next idea. “You know, human teeth aren’t exactly sharp or long like yours. Would you be willing to let me try?”
The look on his face was a little harder to read this time. His mandibles had dropped slightly along with his jaw. His eyes were wider than she’d seen them the entire evening. She thought maybe she’d gone too far and spooked him.
“I… don’t… know,” he finally answered in a much breathier tone than she’d ever heard from him before.
“We’ll take it slow then. If you’re not comfortable with it, we don’t have to,” she reassured him.
*
It took him a few minutes to digest the idea she’d tossed at him. He knew some asari indulged in that kind of thing. After all, he’d heard the conversations between a few of his people and theirs. He’d suspected humans might practice that kind of thing as well. Of course their men went down on their women, but he hadn’t considered that many of the women returned the favor. Teeth, Vakarian. They aren’t risking what we do. Of course they do it.
The turian tried not to squirm as she continued exploring his abdominal plating. When she finally reached the waistband of his pants, he rumbled a quiet purr and gave her an expectant look. Other than his back, she’d reached the end of what he’d exposed so far. She was still fully dressed.
His dual-toned voice was quiet, almost seductive as he breathed a response to her unasked question. “It's your turn.”
“Touche,” she said with a soft chuckle and the tanktop she’d been wearing came off.
“I… don’t think this is… fair ,” Garrus grumbled when he realized she was still wearing a top of sorts under her shirt. “You’re still wearing a harness.”
Shepard huffed a quiet laugh as she looked down at her chest. She shook her head and glanced up at him before hooking her arms around behind herself at an almost impossible angle. “It’s called a bra, but you’re right. Your chest is bare. It’s only fair that I bare mine.”
A soft pop followed and the thing she’d called a bra came loose. She dragged it down her arms and tossed it on the floor with her shirt. The human gave him a cocky smile as he frowned at the newly exposed flesh. He’d never really expected to see so much of her.
Garrus had never seen a human female topless before. He had a fair idea what they must look like from the asari dancers in both Chora’s Den and Afterlife. The only real difference he saw between them was the color. Unlike most of his people, he knew the humans called those ‘weird bumps’ breasts. He knew the pebbled flesh in the darker patches of skin were called nipples. The asari on his team had taught him that much when he’d been curious enough to ask.
“These…,” Shepard said, gently squeezing her own breasts in demonstration. “Are very soft and very sensitive. I like the nipples licked and sucked on. Not sure if you’ll be able to do that last though.”
“I can improvise,” Garrus growled softly. He hadn’t really expected to become aroused at all through this process. After all, they hadn’t really touched each other in a sexual way yet. He willed his plates to relax and not pull his seam open too soon. The turian wanted her to see that section of his anatomy in its relaxed state first.
“I like the sound of that,” Shepard practically purred and sat forward on the coffee table. “Don’t be afraid to touch. I had my hands all over your chest. It’s only fair.”
Garrus was hesitant at first. He wasn’t sure how much pressure he could safely apply and he certainly didn’t want to hurt her. At her encouragement, he started innocently. He scooted forward and reached out to touch the hollow of her throat. The skin there wasn’t so different from the hide of his own throat. It was smoother, almost silky, but it held the same kind of elasticity. Her collarbones were odd. They lay in a similar configuration as his own, but without the bony protrusion of the cowl. Hard muscles over ribs flowed down over her chest wall and he could feel her heart beating beneath it toward the left.
Glancing up into her eyes, he realized her heart seemed to thump and then race at his touch. More so as he locked eyes with her. He pressed his large palm against her pectoral muscle just above her left breast and frowned slightly as her heart galloped along. The turian wished he had his visor set in place for a moment, the fear of her having some kind of heart attack very real.
“Is this normal?” he finally asked in concern, realizing he had absolutely no idea how human vital signs responded to sexual arousal.
*
“Yes and no,” Shepard answered at length. Yes, her body was responding to his closeness. No, this wasn’t typical for her. Her sexual encounters of the past had generally been casual. She hadn’t expected her heart to get twisted around this one, but she felt too much for Garrus.
We’re about to pass through the Omega-4 relay with no real idea if we’re going to survive it. If there was ever a time to let him in or let him know how I feel, it’s now. She chided herself for not doing it sooner. But I did. He’s the one who delayed. Guess I should have suggested this back on the SR-1. Shepard continued to browbeat herself for a moment longer. Oh yeah, I was seeing Alenko near the end and trying to convince myself I wasn’t in love with Garrus. Right.
“That’s… not really the answer I was expecting,” Garrus murmured as he ran a hand down over her shoulder. It seemed more like a respectful caress than intimacy.
How do I tell him? Will it spook him? Will he rush back down to the battery and lock himself in? God, what do I do here? She wasn’t really expecting an answer from a higher power. This was something she needed to solve on her own.
Finally, she decided to hedge around it a little. The depth of emotion would come out later, during the act itself. She’d accept his reaction then, whatever it was. From his willingness to come up there, she suspected she already knew how he felt.
“It seems like it’s normal for me… tonight , with you,” the hint, she realized, wasn’t as subtle as it could have been when his eyes snapped to her face again. She hadn’t really been able to feel his heart beating through all that plating.
“You… could come a little… closer, you know,” his words were soft and his subvocals seemed to hum in a low tone just below. His hand slid down her arm to hers and gripped it gently, three fingers twining around five.
Shepard glanced down and squeezed his hand gently, relishing the intimacy of the action. Their hands shouldn’t fit together so well, she knew that, but they did. True, his engulfed hers, but it felt right somehow.
Smiling up at him, she held her position, but nodded. “After tonight… you might get tired of me being close.”
“Never happen,” his answer was too quick.
She locked eyes with him again, searching his face for some hidden answer. This means more than just ‘blowing off steam’ to him too. That realization struck her like lightning. It settled some jangling bundle of nerves deep down and she released a quiet breath.
*
This isn’t just about ‘blowing off steam’. The increased heart rate, the dilated pupils… spirits… it all makes sense now. She feels the same way I do. Didn’t expect that. I’d hoped so… but… Garrus wasn’t sure what to do with that new knowledge. First the ‘great’ Commander Shepard asks him to ‘blow off steam’ and help her relieve some stress. That he was more than willing to do. He thought it might be the only chance he ever got to get close to her and figure out what it was he really felt. Then to learn she might actually feel something more than just friendship for him. That left him speechless and searching her face for some hidden answer. All he knew for sure was that he wanted her closer as soon as possible.
Shepard hadn’t moved at his suggestion. She’d simply suggested he might get tired of her closeness. He couldn’t see that ever happening and said as much.
Giving her hand a gentle tug, he tilted his head slightly. He had an idea that might get her closer. “C’mere… I’d like a better look at you.”
The commander seemed to consider it a moment before shrugging and moving to the couch beside him. He put an arm around her and tucked her close against his side. Once she was settled, he tentatively continued to explore the exposed flesh of her chest.
“You’re really warm. Warmer than I expected,” she commented as her breath hitched when he touched one nipple.
“Turians run around six to seven degrees higher than humans. Doesn’t sound like a lot, I know. Hmm… but we freeze in cold weather. Hypothermia can set in at higher temperatures than with humans,” he explained quietly and kicked himself for how technical it all sounded. “Probably makes me… about equal to a living heating unit.”
“I think you’re a bit more than that,” Shepard breathed as his hand trailed down her toned abdominal muscles.
“Hmm… maybe,” he all but purred and shifted slowly away from her. His mandibles flared as he looked up at her when he began releasing the buckles of his pants. He started with the ones near his knee spurs first. The statement was simple. “My turn.”
Shepard inhaled sharply at that, but managed to maintain her calm composure. He was impressed. For him, working those buckles loose was an act of willpower. His plates were struggling to pull his seam open and release him right then and there. Some part of him suspected it had very little to do with pheromones and more to do with how he felt about the small human sitting beside him.
*
Shepard watched him curiously for a moment. She’d always wanted to know why turian casual wear had so many buckles. He’d given her an understanding of the straps across the back of his carapace when he’d taken his tunic off. They were meant to hold the fabric tight so the closure didn’t randomly release on its own. That much made sense.
“I gotta know… why so many buckles on your legs? What’s the point?” she finally asked.
The sound that came out of Garrus as he sat up and worked the buckles on his thighs open was definitely a chuckle. The way his belly shook slightly, lightly plated though it was, told her that much. There was mirth in his eyes when he glanced at her shyly.
“Have you seen turian legs? Weird bends, spurs and wide hips. Human and asari clothes certainly wouldn’t fit us right,” he chuckled openly then and ran a hand over the spur in question jutting from just below his knee.
“What is that for anyway?” Shepard was feeling bolder now and had to ask.
“It’s a throwback to our more… primitive origins,” Garrus answered, clearly thinking how best to explain it. “I hate to make the comparison… but… some of earth’s birds have defensive spurs. Same thing… they just… aren’t very useful to us now.”
“Oh,” she said softly, regretting the question. The ‘bird’ slur made more sense now, but she still detested it. That, along with the fact that the man she loved had a gizzard, was more than enough reason to drop the whole avian comparison right then and there.
“It’s alright, Shepard. I’m not offended by making that comparison here. That’s not what this is about,” he said, raising up from releasing the last buckle on his legs. He flicked the buckle, clearly remembering the first question, and glanced her way again. “The buckles and straps are to keep the leggings secure around that spur. Plus they keep our thigh plates from shredding them.”
“Makes sense,” she said cautiously.
“Ready for more ‘show and tell’?” he asked and didn’t wait for her answer before he stood up. Once he unzipped the hidden zippers in the pockets over his hips, the pants hit the floor at his feet.
Shepard took in the nude turian standing beside her for a couple of moments as he stood there. She hadn’t seen much of his back while he’d been sitting down. He clearly realized that as he stood there and scratched the corded muscles at the small of his back lazily.
Her eyes dipped down to the rounded crests of his hips slowly. She looked him over and realized his middle was much more vulnerable than any other species she’d met. The creased and muscular flesh of his waist flowed into the cradle of his hips without actually being attached to the tops of them. That attachment was just below the iliac crests as they fanned out around the cheeks of his rear. They disappeared into the heavy thigh muscles and light plating of his upper legs.
Muscular, God, he’s lean and so solidly built , she thought as her eyes followed the lines of muscle down to his knees. She began to understand why his people took such great care to protect their leg spurs. They were thin protrusions covered in flesh and tiny scale-like plates. His ankles were heavier than she’d expected, the heel of his foot actually lifted high by nature. That heel arched into the wide ball of his foot and the two toes tipped with deadly looking talons.
*
“Enjoying the view, Shepard?” Garrus asked before taking a seat beside her again. He noticed her eyes were locked to his talons then and he released a quiet breath. Raising his hand, he showed her the round, blunted tips. “I filed them before I came up. Always keep ‘em filed down anyway, but I didn’t want to take any risks tonight.”
When she locked eyes with him briefly, he turned his hand palm up and encouraged her to give him her hand. He carefully ran the dull edges of his talons over the inside of her wrist to demonstrate how little damage they could do in their current state.
“They’re smooth,” she noted and began to relax again.
Garrus nodded. He hadn’t expected that reaction, but he suspected it was primal level. All species had their triggers. Without plates, he could understand why sharp talons might be one of hers. His voice was soft and even when he spoke again. “Some turians like their talons long and sharp. I don’t. They’re not good for delicate work. They get in my way. Talons on my toes are the same. They gouge into my boots… and it hurts like hell.”
Before she could back out of their ‘show and tell’ session, he smoothed her hand down over his thigh. He knew she’d noticed the radial spurs on his forearms, but had made no mention of them. The turian had filed those down to little more than nubs before leaving the battery. It was better that way. Less risk of tearing his clothes or her skin. He’d have to do it again in a few weeks anyway.
“I get it. It’s like lifting a fingernail and pulling it loose from the quick,” she held up her other hand and allowed him to inspect her short nails.
They reminded him of talons, but thin, brittle little things. He wondered if they were made of the same protein chains that made up his own talons. So far, they weren’t so biologically divided as he’d first imagined they were. Flesh felt like flesh. Eyes and internal organs functioned mostly the same way. He was honestly beginning to believe this could actually work.
*
Shepard smoothed her hand over that thigh he’d placed it on. His plates were thin here and rippled over the muscles. She thought there might be a couple of reasons for that. First, his limbs didn’t house vital organs so there was no real need for heavy plating. Second, they needed the freedom to move. She thought that might be the biggest reason given the thinner plating across his belly and the lack thereof across his lower back. The commander still didn’t understand how the hard shell across his upper back really allowed his shoulders to move at all. It had some flexibility, but not as much as she might have expected.
Eyes drifting toward his groin involuntarily, she noticed the seam and the plating around it. There was no sign of external genitals and she began to wonder if he was actually male. That seam screamed to her that he was the wrong gender for the activity she had planned.
“ Garrus …,” her voice was barely more than a squeak and she cleared her throat before continuing. She waved toward his relatively smooth groin. “Where’s your… um..?”
The amusement in his expression was screamingly obvious as he snorted a quiet laugh. He clearly knew what she was getting at. His hand smoothed over that seam with a very quiet moan as his eyes slid shut briefly. “It’s hidden here. Evolved on Palaven. High radiation… you know. Are… human males normally exposed? Spirits … if they are… that must be… horribly uncomfortable.”
“They are,” Shepard said, still not convinced there was anything behind those plates and that seam. That thought must have been obvious on her face from the way he looked at her then.
“Shepard…,” he purred softly.
She shook her head. “Shay. When we’re like this… I’m not Shepard or Commander. I’m just Shay. Feels too weird otherwise.”
“Alright,” he rumbled softly with a nod. Tilting his head in a slight swaying motion, he indicated his groin with a flick of his eyes. “This… uh… requires just a little more… stimulation to make itself known. I am male. I can promise you that.”
“What do you need me to do?” Shepard asked softly, still not entirely convinced, but he’d never lied to her.
“It’s your turn,” the turian’s voice dipped into a low half growl in answer.
*
Shepard huffed a laugh at that and stood up. Her shorts hit the floor quickly enough, but he noticed she still wore a sheer lacy thing.
He carefully plucked at the elastic band around the hip closest to him. “What is this?”
“Underwear. Don’t turians wear anything under their clothes?” she asked, the curiosity in her voice obvious.
“Hmm… no. We don’t really need to,” he rumbled thoughtfully and shook his head. “I mean… our plates provide protection against rough clothes.”
“Well that explains why you had nothing on under your civvies,” Shepard chuckled and turned to face him. She tucked her thumbs into the elastic band over either hip and smiled. “You want ‘em off, don’t you? Wanna see what you’re working with.”
“Well… yeah. I thought that was what we were doing this for,” he stated the obvious and then it struck him as she pivoted her hips. “You’re teasing me… aren’t you?”
“Is it working?” she asked and tugged one side down a little.
Garrus growled softly and allowed his control to relax a bit. This is what you’re here for, Vakarian. She wants to see what you’re packing. You should let her see it . He glanced down at his slowly parting seam and rumbled in approval. “I think it is.”
“Good. What else could I do to help you out?” she asked, her voice had dropped to a husky tone that vibrated right through his core.
“I think… that’s good. I like the tone,” his breath caught as his seam spread about the width of his thumb.
“Is that…? Garrus it’s blue . Is that normal?” there was a note of panic in her voice.
Glancing down he chuckled with a nod. “Perfectly normal… and that’s just the tip peeking out.”
“So a striptease does it for you then?” she asked, her voice having returned to that seductive tone he’d found so intriguing.
“Normally… no… but… uh… it’s been awhile,” Garrus admitted. He didn’t think she realized he hadn’t touched anyone since he joined the SR-1.
“How long is ‘awhile’?” she asked. Of course he knew she would. This was Shepard he was sharing the evening with.
He sighed softly and tilted his head as he rested one arm on the back of the couch. The turian wasn’t sure he wanted to make that confession, but he thought maybe she’d honestly like to know. “A couple of weeks before I came on board the SR-1.”
Shepard’s eyes widened at that. She seemed to think it over for a moment then. “You mean… you didn’t … on Omega?”
It was a halting question and he considered how best to answer it. There was something in her eyes, an expression on her face that drew a slight frown to his. He dropped his eyes to his knees for a moment and shook his head.
“I couldn’t. I’d just lost my best friend… maybe my only friend. My… um… my heart… was too twisted up… to consider it,” that one hurt, he realized. He’d kept that nugget tucked away and out of sight when he told her how Omega had gone. It wasn’t something he’d meant to tell her even when he explained how he and his team had taken down every criminal they could. “Crap… I’m ruining this… aren’t I?”
“No, you’re really not. I think I understand better now,” Shepard said and before he’d realized what she was doing, she’d straddled his left thigh and pressed her knee into the couch to take a portion of her weight.
Glancing up at her, he locked eyes with her then. He hoped she didn’t see the deep sadness that had settled into his soul over her loss. She was right there. He could feel the heat rolling off her body and he was acutely aware of the burning heat on his thigh. His nasal plates twitched as he caught the faint scent of female arousal. That was enough for his plates to spread and release him with a sharp intake of breath.
“Seems like you needed me closer to get results,” Shepard said as she glanced down at the blue appendage that had finally been released between his legs. “Are those ridges?”
“They are. That’s not going to be a problem… is it?” he asked cautiously. He really didn’t know how much research she’d done. As for himself, he realized he hadn’t done enough.
“No, I don’t think that’ll be a problem at all,” she gave him a half growl as she licked her lips.
“If it’s all the same to you… I don’t really want to talk about Omega anymore. At least not right now,” he knew he was pleading and he didn’t give a damn. If she wanted to talk about that now, it would be the end of their fun for sure.
“I’ve got a better idea anyway,” Shepard said with a growing smile and stepped back to drop the lacy thing she called underwear. She kicked it over into the pile with the rest of their clothing.
Garrus blinked and frowned at the sight of her. Cautiously, he reached out and ran the back of one talon over the neatly trimmed curls at the apex of her thighs. “You have hair here. That’s not weird at all.”
*
The turian’s observation drew a laugh out of her. She struggled to maintain her composure as he ran his finger through that hair. “Yeah… it’s a human thing. We all do. Some remove it.”
“You’re really not plated anywhere… are you?” Garrus asked, eyes locking on hers as he continued to explore her pelvic region.
“Huh-uh,” she said and shook her head. Shuddering, she closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath. “I’m gonna lose my mind if you keep that up.”
“Well… you are allowed to touch… you know,” that rumbling chuckle escaped him again as he gestured toward his throbbing erection.
It was blue and so much bigger than she’d expected, but it was clear it functioned the same as its human counterpart. Look at him, Shepard. You knew it had to be big. He’s seven feet tall… and an alien , for fuck’s sake . She berated herself for an idiot in those first few moments of complete vulnerability. The difference was, this was Garrus and she trusted him with her life.
“You’re not making this easy,” she grumbled at him, but there was no bite in her voice as she moved to straddle his thigh again.
“Well… I do like it hard,” his brow-plates raised and he glanced down at himself.
“I was… kind of thinking the same thing,” Shepard breathed and reached down to run her fingers over his ridges.
The gasp that tore out of him was worth it. His hips bucked slightly and obviously involuntarily at her touch. She grew bolder at that reaction and slipped her hand around him. He was bigger than she thought when she realized she couldn’t close her hand all the way around him. Stoking him a couple of times, she noticed he was coated in a natural lubricant. That made sense. It was normally tucked inside, after all.
“ Spirits …,” he gasped out and allowed his head to tip back against the rear rim of his cowl.
It was a great view even though she could clearly see the exposed edges of the injuries he’d received from that rocket. She tried to push that out of her mind. He’d asked that they not talk about that right now. She meant to grant his request.
“I’m not… gonna last long… this first round,” Garrus breathed. She could hear the self-conscious note in his voice as if he were begging her to understand. He raised his head up and locked eyes with her, the plea for forgiveness clear in them. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Three years? That’s a long time without any kind of release,” Shepard soothed. She knew how that was. It was then that the thought struck her and she needed to ask. “Can you go more than one round?”
“My species would probably die out… if we couldn’t,” Garrus half chuckled.
“Then there’s nothing to worry about. I’ve got you , for a change,” Shepard said and knelt down between his knees.
*
Garrus nearly swallowed his tongue when she knelt down between his knees. He’d agreed to this idea, but he still wasn’t sure how it was going to work. His dual-toned voice broke on her name in a quiet plea. “ Shepard… ”
“ Shay ,” she insisted and locked eyes with him. “Relax. I’ve got you.”
He couldn’t deny she had him. She had him in more ways than one at that particular moment. An involuntary shiver ripped through him when she swirled her tongue around the tapered head of his cock. She kept her eyes on him when she took it into her mouth. He’d had no idea a human’s mouth was that deep when she practically swallowed him.
The human bobbed her head a few times and he had to push her back. He didn’t want to poison her with his cum if she had a reaction. His words were a strangled whisper. “ Don’t swallow. ”
The human sat back on her heels grinning as she watched him spill on the floor. It was white with a silvery sheen. From the raised eyebrow, he figured it wasn’t exactly what she was used to seeing. He’d thought the first time in so long would be the last for a while. Waiting it out had been his plan. That wasn’t how it felt now. If anything, he was harder than he’d been to start.
“I… wanna return the favor,” Garrus growled and leaned toward her.
“We should take this over there. It’ll be more comfortable,” Shepard said, hooking her thumb over her shoulder at the bed.
Nodding, Garrus was on his feet and helping her up in a blink. If the rest of her was anything like her mouth, he couldn’t wait to get this moving along. Instead of waiting, he scooped her up bridal style and stepped over the coffee table. A squeal and a giggle erupted from her and he found both endearing. He’d never heard those sounds from her before.
Setting her down on her feet beside the bed, he waited for her to get herself into a comfortable position. The second she relaxed and nodded up at him, he dropped to his knees at the foot of the bed. Her legs were spread and hanging off the end of it so he took advantage of the position. The first thing he really noticed was just how narrow her groin was. Turian women had a narrow groin, but it wasn’t quite like this. The hair extended back to the end of her slit. With her legs spread, he could see now that it was more like folds than a slit.
Gently pushing the short hair aside, he spread her enough to get a good look at what he was working with. He thought that if a turian woman didn’t have plates, she might have looked like this. Of course the tissue would have been blue where Shepard’s was pink. She was absolutely female beyond those minor differences. The soft folds were what, in a turian female, would have been plates. Her clit would have been harder to get at and so much harder to please.
“Everything ok down there?” Shepard asked softly as she crossed her arms behind her head and looked at him.
“Yeah… surprisingly,” he breathed honestly. “I… wasn’t sure how nature had… you know. How you were…”
“How I was built? Lucky for you, Cerberus didn’t rearrange anything,” Shepard huffed a soft laugh.
“Well… there is that too,” he looked back down at her as he ran his hand over the hair and gauged the best line to his target. “I’ve got you. Just… let me know if I hurt you.”
Soft as she was, that was a real concern for him. He leaned in and rolled his tongue right up the middle of her folds. When she hissed and her hips bucked at the contact with the nub at the top, he knew for sure that was her clit.
*
The second his tongue slid along her folds and slipped over her clit, she thought she was going to lose her mind. Her hips bucked and he moaned against her, a quiet growl rumbling through her core from the contact. He stalled his next action and she thought he must be getting a proper taste of her. She knew the krogan had scent glands buried deep in the roof of the mouth. Do turians have that too? It was a question she should have asked Mordin.
His tongue swirled around her clit barely a heartbeat later and she gasped. He found her sweet spot pretty quickly and flicked his tongue up her center steadily. She expected he’d eventually grow a little bolder and insert a finger to help her along. That wasn’t what he inserted at all. She could feel both his hands on the bends of her thighs, bracing himself. When the insertion came, it was his tongue. The texture was heavenly as he caressed that sweet spot within. When he rolled the rest of it up against her clit and started an undulating motion, she honestly did lose her mind for a few minutes.
“ Oh my God… Garrus! Oh… whatever you’re doing… don’t stop! ” she panted, hips virtually riding his face by that point. Or she would have been if he hadn’t pinned them down. He was so much stronger than she’d ever guessed.
Shepard realized she hadn’t been wrong about his tongue. It was absolute magic. He was ruthless with it as well, lapping at her until she saw stars. She felt it building, that tension like a coiled spring in her low belly. When it released, it was violent. She screamed his name at the top of her lungs and curled up to grip his fringe blades with shaking hands. She melted back into the bed when he withdrew his tongue and looked up at her. He flicked her clit one last time with the tip of it before he climbed up onto the bed beside her.
Shepard gasped and glared at him, but a smile broke across her face an instant later. “God, you’re evil.”
“I’m still unplated,” he growled as he wiped his mouth plates off in the palm of one hand.
“Unplated?” she asked in mild confusion and looked down the length of his body. When she saw his erection still protruding outward, she understood. “ Oh! ”
“I’m ready to try this… if you are,” Garrus murmured and nuzzled into the side of her face affectionately.
“Yeah… yeah… let me just… scoot up so you’re not hanging off the end of the bed.” Shepard nodded and scooted up to the middle of the bed.
Garrus followed her and then immediately straddled her once she was settled. He was looking down at her closed thighs with the most bewildered expression on his face she’d ever seen. His hands were spread as if asking ‘what do I do now’.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked quickly rather than let him sit there and worry.
“I’m… embarrassed to admit… I really don’t know what to do now. There’s no gap… or spurs to lock to. I didn’t… uh… tell you everything we use our leg spurs for,” he stammered and looked up at her. “I just… how…?”
“Watch yourself… I’m gonna move my legs. I don’t want to hurt you in the process,” Shepard said, coming to realize exactly what the biggest problem was. At his nod, she shifted her legs and hooked them over his hip crests. “Does that solve some of it?”
“Hmm… it does,” that rumbling growl she’d grown so fond of in the last hours came again. “You ready?”
“More than ready,” she admitted. After what he’d just done, she thought she might let him do just about anything to her at this point.
She watched him wrap his big hand around his cock and her eyes widened at the reality of just how big he really was. That beautiful blue shaft with those thick ridges swirling around it stood out proudly from his body. As she watched him work his own natural lubrication along that shaft, she had a moment of concern about his girth. He would definitely be bigger than anything she’d ever had.
Garrus lined it up before he leaned over her and pressed his plated brow against her forehead again.
“You sure you’re ready? Thought I saw a flash of doubt cross your face,” he rumbled, locking eyes with her then in mild concern.
“You’re bigger than I expected… but it’ll be alright. I want this… I want you ,” Shepard whispered as she maintained consistent eye contact.
The sound that rolled past his parted mouth plates then was one of the most gorgeous sounds she thought he’d made so far. It was a kind of a growling whine as he pressed the head of his throbbing cock against her entrance. She tilted her hips to meet him and took the tapered head in greedily. That was the moment she changed her mind about beautiful sounds. His subvocals buzzed through his gasp, humming deeply as he carefully pushed in a little further.
Shepard let out her own gasp as his girth stretched her with each ridge she took hungrily. Her body protested for a moment as he pushed her limit just a little. There was faint pain as he stretched her further than any human male ever had. It dissolved into a pleasure she’d never fully known as he filled her, those ridges bumped along deliciously over the sweet spot inside. After a few incredibly torturous and insanely pleasurable moments, she felt his groin come to rest against hers. He pressed it against her, slipping against her clit like no one ever had and stopped.
Looking up into his face, she realized his eyes were closed, brows were raised, mandibles and jaw were dropped a fraction. That’s the look of ecstasy on a turian’s face. He’s savoring the feeling. My god… he’s beautiful… and I love him. And then he started moving ever so slowly. Her world dissolved into ecstasy as well.
Garrus drew his hips back slowly, withdrawing his cock nearly to the head before rocking it back into her. He maintained that motion and speed for what seemed like hours. She was pulling at him, scratching at his plates and hide and crying out his name shamelessly long before he managed to drive her over the edge again.
Every thrust was punctuated by an upward pivot of his hips. It brought his groin plates flush with her lips, rubbing her clit perfectly against the uppermost ridge. The texture was driving her mad and she ground against him seeking more friction. Her inner muscles quaked, catching and releasing him as he rubbed along that glorious spot within her. That combined with the clitoral stimulation had her shaking in euphoria.
“Spirits… I didn’t think… you could get… any tighter ,” Garrus gasped out as she arched against him. He was nearly in a frenzy of motion now. The turian was huffing and panting right along with her.
The orgasm was incredible when it thundered through her. Her barely coherent mind thought this might be the best sex she’d ever had as she bowed her back and lifted them both off the bed. Crying out wordlessly, she was nearly sobbing as her entire body simply shook. Her biotics flared in a bubble of blue around them that caressed his body lovingly as she melted back into the mattress beneath them. That’s never happened before , she realized as her scrambled mind began to process real thought again.
When he pulled her up with him as he sat up on his heels, Shepard barely registered what he was doing. The turian held her close and snapped his hips forward again and again as she bounced against him. She hadn’t realized he was still going strong. The man hadn’t cum yet, that much had to be true.
It started building again, that almost unbearable pleasure he’d created between them. She locked her ankles around his narrow waist and begged him not to stop. He growled and nipped her, licking up the column of her neck affectionately. Up until that point, he’d been composed, almost unnaturally controlled. She realized that must be Hierarchy military training that helped him maintain his cool exterior. There were cracks in it now as he leaned back a little more and offered her some leverage.
Shepard took advantage of it, planting her feet in the mattress and rocking her hips enthusiastically against him. A growling gasp escaped him at her actions and his head rolled back a fraction. She realized he really wasn’t fully exposing his throat to her and she wondered why briefly. It didn’t matter. He was exposing enough for her to reach with her tongue as he moved a little closer to her. She did just that and he snarled like a wildcat.
Hands gripping her ass, he rocked her against him harder and faster then. She screamed his name deafeningly as she got off a third time that night. His body was slick with oily sweat that beaded in the seams between his plates. She knew he had to be close by the short bursts of his breath and the trembling that seemed to rattle his rib-flanges.
*
Shepard was building for another hard orgasm, he could feel it in the way she was already clenching around him. He didn’t know where his own stamina had come from, but he wasn’t complaining. Thrusting into her a little harder and a little faster, he laid her back on the mattress again. He tested that flexibility he’d heard so much about by hooking his arms behind her knees and changing the angle. Turian women could do this, but not to the same degree as a human.
Garrus was grunting and growling low with every thrust now. She was so much tighter than any female he’d ever been with. He was surprised he hadn’t blown his own head off by that point. Pleasure was not new to him, but the searing ecstasy that burned through his nerves now was. He hoped he wasn’t having some kind of awful allergic reaction to her levo bodily fluids. And if you are, Vakarian, would you really stop? He knew he wouldn’t, he couldn’t stop. This was the best sex he’d ever had and he wasn’t willing to stop until he’d finished. He was close anyway. He thought the next time she clenched down on him, she’d pull him over the edge with her.
The tension in his groin had built to its peak when she screamed his name again. He snarled and bucked against her, his entire body in a full tremor as release ripped through him. His mouth was clamped around her shoulder before he’d even registered he was close enough to reach it.
Garrus nearly collapsed on top of her before he forced his jaws to release their hold on her. He pushed himself to the side then and prayed he hadn’t left his mark on her delicate skin. He doubted she’d understand the significance of it if he had. The pull had been too hard to resist. He’d never suspected it could be that strong or that it could just happen like that.
It took him a moment to recover enough to lift his head. When he did, his half-lidded eyes found exactly what he sought quickly enough. His mark was definitely there and he moaned softly before dropping his head back to the bed. Bonded, that’s what he was and now he knew for sure. It explained why he hadn’t taken a lover since he’d met her. That mark was merely the physical manifestation.