Always Be There Chapter 2
#2 of Always Be There
So, here is the second part. And as I promised... Reaper melting human/Turian lovin' to follow. I made this a bit.. Different from what most people depict things as. Just read, and you will see what I mean.
Forgive any grammar issues. My reader is out of town. LOL
Also, trying something I've never done before. I'll be alternating between Jane and Garrus' points of view. Let me know if you think it works out. :)
Three days beyond the Omega 4 Relay
Day one had been spent making certain that the Normandy would not fall apart during the trip back to the Citadel.
Day two had been spent in the MedBay with one doctor on either side berating her for walking around with what looked like first, second and a few third degree burns over 30% of her body.
Day three they had docked at the Citadel, and repairs were now fully underway.
Even feeling pressure from more than one side about the Reapers and preparing the races of the galaxy for the impending assault, Commander Shepard had found it impossible not to give her crew some leave while they were docked. Given the fact that all of the crew was now loyal to her even after she had cut all ties to Cerberus, something that surprised her even if she had rushed in to save all of them from being turned into the base atomic paste that had been used to build the baby Reaper, some had even asked to remain behind to assist with repairs to the Normandy. She could not hold the swell of pride, to see so many assisting the dock hands with the repairs to their stations. Most didn't trust outside hands to meddle in their work stations. Others simply wanted to ensure that they were as prepared as they could be to face what was certain to be an even more devastating foe than the Collectors who had nearly killed them all.
The ground crew, on the other hand... She had forced them to take time off. The battle with the Collectors had been a back and forth ground war, with a small group of elite troupes facing off against an army of mindless killers. To say that it had been the most bloody, and exhausting two hours of any of their lives would have been an understatement of laughable proportions. Every one of them would bear scars from the battle, and every one of them would wear them with pride. Except perhaps Legion. She wasn't even sure that the Geth could feel pride.
But she knew what she was feeling. Three days. Even given how close she had come to losing him, and how the very idea that he would no longer be 'celebrating' at all odd hours in the main battery had turned her into a screaming lunatic bent on killing either herself or Harbinger, she had not been able to bring herself to face him. He had to have seen the way she reacted. Calm, cool, collected Commander Jane Shepard. Reduced to screaming tears as she had blasted away at the cause of her pain.
The blasting away part was very much her style. The tears on the other hand. Those had been beyond her control, and even Harbinger had known the cause for them. Had planned it, even. Had they been that transparent, that even during the brief, violent encounters with Harbinger the Reaper had been able to see how much the Turian meant to her?
So close. She had come so close. The empty feeling started to creep it's way back into her as she neared the mess hall. It might have continued, had it not been for the humorous voice of Joker. What he was saying made her pause just out of sight, leaning against the wall as she ease dropped on what could easily have been a bard telling an epic story of heroics. And that was not far from the truth.
"So, there was the Commander, with four Collectors standing not two feet in front of her. And Harbinger. You know, the glowey Collector that always pissed the Commander off." There was the ever present note of humor in the pilots voice as he spoke, though as he continued the tone dropped as he recounted the tail to whoever happened to be listening. "I could tell it was talking to her, but I couldn't hear what it was saying around the world falling apart around us..."
The monotone, somewhat friendly voice of EDI interrupted the story long enough to fill in the blanks. "The entity known as Harbinger said 'I know that I've hurt you, Shepard.'"
Silence followed that. The sort of silence that came when people were digesting something surprising to them. Shepard herself was silent, as she remembered the depth of black sorrow that had almost overcome her in that moment.
"It's good thing the rest of this story is so awesome, or that might have been depressing. Thanks a lot, EDI," Joker continued. "After saying... That, I could see the build up of biotics in the thing's hand. It was getting ready to do who knows what to the Commander before suddenly POW! I'm not even sure what happened here either, but I know Harbinger and all of his buddies were thrown back. And the next thing I see, Garrus comes out of nowhere. Even from that distance, I could hear him when he crouched down with his armor torn, looking like Hell warmed over, and was all like 'Harbinger!'"
Shepard could almost see Joker at this point, doing his best with his weakened limbs to act out what he had seen, doing his best to mimic Garrus' voice in the process. His voice raising with each word as he got deeper into the story telling. "Then, POW again! He pops one right through Harbingers head without even blinking. I'm tellin' you, Kelly, it gained Garrus fifteen points on the kick ass meter. Almost makes it worth putting up with the stick up his ass for so long."
Shepard was silent and lost in thought as Kelly replied to Joker. Why was she hiding from it? With how close they had both come to dying, it was understandable that she be afraid of loosing him. Admitting this to herself was not easy, but the obviousness of the facts staring her in face had her feet moving before she had even fully made up her mind. Or had she made up her mind the night before, when she had searched the Extranet for information on Turian mating customs?
Not how to have sex. How to form a bond for life.
Whatever her reasons had been, she had made up her mind now. Face straight and determined even as her heart beat against her chest in a way she had only felt in battle before. But determination faltered, and her steps came to a sudden stop when her eyes turned towards the door to the main battery.
Soft green met with predatory blues as her Archangel stormed across the mess, heading towards her like anyone would expect a predator to run down it's prey.
It was ridiculous. Everything about it was ridiculous. Why was he still standing in the main battery? It had been three days from the moment he had almost lost her. A miracle he had heard some of the crew calling it, that she was not dead. It had not been a miracle in the way they thought of it. Not some miraculous moment, where something impossible had happened that had changed the outcome of the evens on the Collector base. It had simply been the reaction of a pissed off Turian about to loose his mate.
His mate.
His mate.
The idea was simply idiotic. Hadn't she been the one who had turned him away the night before the relay? Hadn't she been the one to tell him that it would be better not to harm the relationship as it was now?
Hadn't she been the one he had seen driven into a state of near madness after watching him 'die'?
The question drove home. Garrus knew very well that what he had seen had not been an illusion, or some overly romantic aspect of his mind suddenly pulled from the depths of his heart by the beating the Collectors had given him. He had heard the beginning, as she screamed and charged him with her gun blasting away at Harbinger. And he had seen the end, when she had lain listless. Almost looking ready for death to take her. But it was the way life had returned to her when she saw him that struck him with true clarity. As if a reason to fight had suddenly been given back to her, driving her to move despite her injuries and break Harbinger before it had even managed to fully "assume direct control."
Then, the Turian asked himself as he stared at some calibrations that he had finished over an hour before, where is she now? She was released from medbay yesterday, and she hasn't even come by to check on me. Then again, why had she turned him away the night before we hit the relay?
Fear. Simple fear. To think that Commander Shepard, hero of the Citadel, savior of all sentient species in the galaxy could be afraid was preposterous. And as accurate as he was with a sniper rifle. She was not the only one. Here he was, brooding in the main battery wondering where she was. Why was he here? Why had he not stormed up to her quarters and demanded answers? It would have been well within his rights. The desire to preserve their friendship was no longer acceptable, and yet he had remained secluded and moaning like a youth bemoaning the end of his first love affair.
Awkwardness aside, the male released his hold on the panel in front of him, oblivious to the marks his claws had left in the metal as he turned sharply on one heel and made his way out of the battery. He would be damned if he allowed his own fear to prevent him from showing her what she meant to him, at the very least. He had come too close to loosing her, too close to watching as Harbinger picked her apart before he had been given a chance to raise his gun to defend her.
The heavy falls of his armored feet on the metal structure was drowned out by his sudden need to speak with her, at the very least. If the idea of storming into her quarters and demanding answers only to be interrupted by the act of ravishing her on the floor of her cabin was romantic, then he would give into the idea that he was about to romance his commander. Either that, or be court marshaled for assault. Either one would have been preferable to waiting.
He saw her round the corner into the mess. The look in her eyes was as determined as his own, though she would never hold quite the predatory edge in her gaze that he could. His surprise at this was not even given time to manifest itself. He did not pause in his steps towards her, or slow his pace. Not even a glance was given to those in the mess. Even as Joker went silent and Kelly, seeing Shepard first and then Garrus stalking towards the Commander, hardly tried to restrain the giddy grin that came over her face. The tension between the two was so tightly drawn that there was no where else to go but towards each other, and anyone but an idiot could taste it in the air.
Which was why Joker seemed inclined to open his mouth to address Garrus. Something that prompted Kelly to jump out of her seat and slap her hand over his mouth as their Turrian crew mate stormed past them.
Garrus noticed none of this. His gaze was on his commander, and the fact that she had stopped her forward motion as he drew closer to her. Like prey, fleeing from the claws of a staving hunter. But no. He followed her as she backed into the hall, further towards the elevator with her gaze never dropping from his. She wasn't running from him. She was drawing him out. Bringing the hunter to where she wanted him to be, something that every instinct in his body called out to. This female was not prey. This female was an equal, she was a hunter that led hunters, and any thought that her eyes could not hold the same predatory spark as his own was banished when he saw her hand slide to the call button for the elevator.
His advance only stopped when he was toe to toe with her, staring down at this woman who had gained his trust, his admiration, his undying loyalty, and at the moment set fire to arousal he had never experienced before. Even no more than fifteen feet away from two very aware crew mates, he was hard pressed to keep his hands off her. Something that seemed mutual, as green eyes moved over his face as if to commit him to memory.
Unspoken demand was accepted by both as the door slid open, and the rest of the world was officially shut off. Even before they were fully through the doors, she and reached for him in the same moment that he grasped her hips and shoved her back against the wall, pinning her against it with the weight of his own body. One of them, maybe both at different moments, pushed the button that sent them rising towards her quarters. Neither one noticed much for a moment beyond that. Her scent was drawn in deeply as he buried his face into her hair, nuzzling his way quickly under the dark cascade of silk to set his mouth to her throat. Morrdin had warned against biting, but when his teeth found the tender flesh of her throat with enough passionate ferocity to break the skin her only reply to him was a cry and fingers that grasped his fringe and pulled him closer. The sound had been anything but pained, and the fact that her hands were now frantically working on the clasps and hitches that held his armor in place. How she seemed to know where every one was would have been a mystery to him, had he had the mind to care at the moment with his tongue lavishing the smooth flesh of her throat with lingering attention that flooded another of his senses with her precess.
They were precise by nature, the two of them. Military, soldiers. This efficiency branched into everything it seemed, because the second the elevator door opened she lept up into his arms with her legs wrapped around his armored waist. Something that surprised him enough to raise his mouth from her neck long enough to look into her eyes. From the hesitant woman who had sent him away a few nights before, there was nothing in her eyes now but basic need and demand. Even if he had wanted too, he doubted he would have been able to extract himself from her easily, and his gaze told her much the same.
With no need for words, his only reply was a rumbling growl that rose up from his chest as his hands grasped her hips. The differences between her and a Turian female were not lost on him, but the exotic way her flesh gave under his grip only excited him further as he carried her through the door into her personal space. Thumps followed every step that he took, as his armor started to fall away once piece at a time, not one piece of it of his own doing, until he stood only wearing the lower portion of his armor. Shedding one armored hide for another, one that welcomed the touch of her hands on his plates as she tightened her legs around him. He felt his blood heat when she released him with her hands only, and trusted him to keep her aloft as she pulled the top of her causal uniform over her head. Not two seconds later, the strange undergarment (a 'bra' if he remembered correctly) was unclasped and quickly tossed to the floor.
She was fully insane now, she realized. But seeing the broad plates of his chest bare to him had spurred her to offer the same. Insanity had never looked quite so good to her. Even though Mordin had warned her against too much body to body contact for fear of chafing, she wasn't paying him any mind. And he didn't seem to give much of a damn at this moment either, as his eyes grazed over her as if he wanted nothing more than to devour her whole. He handled her as though she were tiny. Handled her as if she were a woman, instead of Commander Shepard. Spinning her around until her bare back was pressed against the cool surface of the fish tank. The heat of his body pinning her in contrast to that sent tiny bumps flaring to life over every inch her her skin and caused her to arch herself closer to him.
The moan that tore itself from her throat sounded almost as alien as the growl that rolled up from his. How long had it been? Since Kaiden, back on the SR-1? That was nothing like this, in so many ways. Everything Garrus did sent tiny shocks of pleasure through her. Trying to reach for the clasps to his lower body armor, she found herself hindered as he shoved her hands aside in favor of stripping off his gloves and flinging them to either sid_e._ Before the idea of protest was given time to form, his hands gripped the waist band of her pants and with frightening ease sliced into the material. She wasn't sure what he did beyond that point, but she knew that a moment later he was forcing her legs from around him to set her feet on the ground as he lowered his head to her chest. He seemed to realize the need for care in this area, even if it only served to frustrate her need for something more. But when his tongue, long and agile, wound it's way between her breasts as he searched out her nipple she could not hold back the cry of his name and frustration seemed a lost point as he nipped the hard bud with a gentleness that betrayed the way his taloned hands continued to strip away her pants.
Lower. She realized in a daze of lust as she tilted her head back to face the ceiling. He was heading lower, with the hot flesh of his tongue and the hard bites of his needle sharp teeth leaving trails of burning lust down her belly. There would be marks, she knew. There would be a lot of marks, if she had her way because this was just the beginning. He lifted one leg, and forced her to balance herself on one foot for a moment before he draped it over his shoulder. A moment of concern for allergic reactions was replaced with a moment of confusion when she heard the rasping growl of his voice float up towards her. She had never heard that tone in his voice before, and that combined with understanding of what he had actually said caused the heated ache between her thighs to double. "I'm glad I'm not allergic to humans."
Maybe in another time and place, she would have cared enough to wonder how the hell he knew that. Maybe if she hadn't noted the heat of his breath against the outer lips of her sex in the moment that he pressed forward, and slipped the length of his tongue slowly along the outer lips of her sex. Her knees buckled, and the clicking rumble that rolled through him shot right into the center of her being causing her to loose her ability to think. The fact that he started slow was not to set the pace as he did what his eyes had told her he had wanted to do, burying the length of his tongue into the hot depths of her body in a way that caused her to clench around him. Bragging rights were all his, and she would not deny him later. She was stunned as the electric shock sent her over the edge at a speed she had never believed possible. The shuttering cry of his name was repeated as she folded herself over him, her hands alternating between grasping his fringe and using his shoulder for support as he feasted on the fresh taste of her arousal, her orgasm coated his tongue in the salty sweet flavor of her obvious enjoyment.
What was actually seconds was lost time for her. She couldn't decide if she had been floating in that intense wave of lust for days, or less than a second. All she knew was that as she came down from the high, it took her mind a moment to focus on reality again. Realizing that she was once more leaning against the fish tank, and had the burning eyes of her soon to be lover were on her as his mandibles flared in what she had come to know as a pleased grin. A pleased grin, backed by the feral glint in sharp blues that gave her a message as clearly as the thud of his leg armor landing on the floor. They were just getting started.
He was finding nothing but pleasure. If this was madness, he wanted nothing more than to wallow in the outer edges of his own insanity. The aching need was not as distracting as it had been before, mostly because instinct was telling him that his need would be sated tonight. Instinct, and the fact that he heard the scratch of his mate's fingernails as she grasped his shoulders. The taste of her was unlike anything he had ever known before, and even as she trembled and cried out his name he would only slide his tongue deeper. Surprise and pleasure both rolled through him in the moment that she reached climax. Eager lapping slowed to longer, deeper explorations of his tongue that seemed to draw her pleasure out longer. He would need practice and further exploration would be need, but he was certain he would be up to the task.
She didn't seem to realize it when he drew away from her, setting her leg back on the floor as he backed away and started to unfasten his lower body armor. Relief flooded him when the pressure around his groin was released, the flood of cool air over his aching length causing him to release a low hiss of pleasure before he stripped the rest off quickly. The moment her eyes were able to full focus on him, he watched her gaze wander lower before resting on the purplish-blue hue of his cock. Seeing her eyes widen at the sight of him should have made him uncomfortable. The questions of what would she think, how would she react, was she frightened should have battered his mind.
Of course, the fact that her lips parted to allow the moist passage of her tongue when her gaze darted back to him removed any chance of that happening. The clicking growl that rose from the depths of his chest caused her pin her back against the wall again, and spread her arms in invitation to him. An invitation that he did not hesitate in accepting. Now bare claws grasped her thighs unrestrained, and the throaty moan that parted her lips when he pressed against her again was music to his ears. Never had a Turian female caused him to react in this manor. Never had he wanted nothing more in the world than to full loose himself in the need that threatened to overwhelm him. All questions of the sanity, or lack of sanity, in what they were doing meant nothing as he hoisted her up high enough for the tip of his length to nestled against the wet heat of her folds.
Sinking into her was like finding everything he had ever lost in his life all over again. His chitin again her soft skin, the cooler body of the human against the blazing heat of his own. It was like nothing he had ever experienced before, and he was helpless to stop his own body from driving forward. The first thrust of his hips impaling her fully, until his hips rested against hers, and the slick walls of her core quivered around him in reply to the rough entry. She threw her head back in a throaty moan, which allowed him access to the slender column of her throat. The already purple bite he had given her before covered again by the eager embrace of his mouth while his mandibles fluttered against her skin in delight. The pleasure was beyond belief. Unaware of his talons biting into the flesh of her hips as he lifted her up again, he only knew the rise of pleasure as he bucked his hips forward to meet her body when he dropped her again.
The sounds of flesh meeting hard plating filled the room, mingling with breathless cries and throaty growls as the two expressed their need for each other. Jane was lost in the moment she felt him slide into her. Had she not been so wet already, the minor sting as he drove himself into her so fully would have hurt like hell. But the pleasure overpowered the sting, even if she would ache for it later. She didn't give a damn at the moment. She only cared about the fullness his entrance granted her, and the sharp sting of pain mingled with pleasure when he bit into her throat again. He was marking her, she knew. This was a mark that was not meant to fade away within a few days, and she would make sure that no Medigel touched it.
This was heaven for her. Giving him what she had denied them both with her own insecurity and fear. Savoring the flood of heat that raced through her when his growls deepened. The savage pace was only right. This was how Turians mated, and she felt as much as he did the desperate need to feel that both of them were alive and unbroken after being pushed through hell. As hard as he thrust into her, she would push down to meet him just as hard. For every inch he gave her, she signaled her need for more as her nails raked down his armored back with enough strength to leave her own mark on his body.
Sex had never felt like this before. Never had there been such a need to reach the peek with anyone before, but now she found herself commanding and begging for him to fuck her harder in the same breath. The steady pace as he took her against the fish tank grew more frantic, and the wall itself became a hindrance to each thrust, to such a level that he pulled her away from the wall altogether. She tightened her grip on his back as he continued to lay claim to her in the middle of the room. Being handled in such a way before this moment would have seemed almost beyond her. She wasn't the most feminine of women. She was a warrior, and a soldier, and a Specter. She had gained the respect and fear of countless people and species across the galaxy.
And now she gave herself to the one who had gained her trust, her friendship, and her love. Without complaint, reservation, or hesitation she gave her herself to him with everything a woman could give to a man. Her breath whispered against the side of his face, as her lips brushed his damaged mandible and her voice hummed into the sensitive plating that covered it. "Claim what is yours. For all time to be true. Take your mate, and become my mate. For everything I want, and everything I need is around me and within me at this moment."
So close. She was so eager for him. She met his passion moment for moment, and met his pace thrust for thrust. Such an eager lover he had never known, so compliant. The fact that she was Jane Shepard still was enough to stun and touch him as much as excite and arouse him. When he feared hurting her, she would cry out to him and pull him closer. When he would have paused to think that his pace might be too hard on her soft human body, she would buck her hips to meet him thrust for thrust. Even the inner walls of her sex seemed intent on making certain that the pace was not interrupted, squeezing around him as he withdrew and greeting him with a flush of heat as he drove himself into her again.
And he was nearing the edge of his ability to control himself by any means. Biting her throat and shoulders, digging his talons into her hips, no doubt causing untold amounts of chafing as his body met hers in unrestrained lust. It wasn't until she started to speak that he truly understood what it meant to have no control over anything. The stunning moment spurred instincts to life that he had never expected, and the sudden peak of his lust was well beyond his control. The growl that rolled through him increased in pitch when he reached his climax. A sound somewhere between a moan and a snarl leaving his mouth as pleasure bolted through him like liquid fire and he felt the bliss of release finally come.
As he shot spurt after spurt into her, he felt her clench tight around him in all ways. Her arms clutched at his back, while her legs squeezed his hips and the inner walls of her sex quivered before clamping down around the throbbing length of his cock. Her cry of his name was beautiful to his ears even as he tried to linger within the pleasure as long as possible. Her scent surrounded him now, from the sweat of her skin to the lingering heat of her arousal. To even question her by asking if he had pleased her would have been laughable given the fact that he would actually feel her trembling against him, and could feel the contented moans that she pressed into his mandible along with a rain of kisses.
Passion spent for the moment, he felt his knees weaken and did not bother to fight it when he went down to them in the middle of the room. Keeping her held close to him, sliding his hands from the clawed curve of her hips around her back so that he could hug her against him. Both were content for a moment to breath slowly, gain their breath and perhaps some level of sanity. It wasn't long, however, before the Turian raised his eyes to her and held her gaze.
There was contentment in her eyes, and underlying hints of nervous energy. He had not replied to her words yet, after all. He had not denied, or accepted them. Drawing a slow breath, he leaned close to her and pressed his forehead against the damp flesh of her brow for a long moment. Watching as her eyes drifted closed, he was almost certain she knew what this gesture meant. "What is mine is with me now. My body, my heart, and the essence that makes me who I am I give to you in return. My mate, Jane Shepard... Vakarian? Does that sound alright?"
Content. She could never remember feeling more content than she did at this moment. She doubted she ever would feel more content, at least not until the Reapers were not breathing over one shoulder. But she did not feel that this moment could have been more perfect. She also felt full. She would have to wonder on the effect it might have on his ego if she took mind to inform him that he was without question far more endowed than any of her past lovers. Not that there had been many. She trembled as he still throbbed within her after climax, and carried her with him as he dropped to his knees. The continued trail of light kisses that she pressed along his mandible and eventually his throat before he lifted his head to look at her.
Moment of truth. His eyes told her that he had very clearly understood her words, and the meaning behind them. Far too relaxed, almost to the point of feeling like a bowl of well stirred jello at the moment, only a hint of nervousness came over her. The lingering question of what he would want from her in the long run. The fact that they had just had the best sex of their lives didn't mean he actually wanted a commitment from her. Or wanted to commit to her, after all. She was ready for anything. At least, that is what she told herself.
The press of his plated forehead against hers own sweat damp one caused her to blink once slowly before he he began to speak. Here was the safety of the world. The man who had saved her life more times that she could count, and trusted her to do the same. She was a warrior, and a savior. The question had always been, who did the Savior of the Citadel turn to? Who could she lean on? The arms that held her now gave her that answer silently, as the words that rose in the pleasantly appeased rumble that caused her to shiver again slightly. The words her spoke were the second part of the Bond, and she felt a thrill race through her. She'd never actually felt giddy before, so when the last part came out as a question she couldn't suppress the giggle that escaped her. A sound that made Garrus look at her, as if confirming for himself that she was actually still Commander Shepard.
"Information about that sound never leaves this room, Soldier." She cracked a grin at him, and slowly ran her hands up and down along his shoulders. He was alive, and hot against her. And inside of her, something that caused a flush to creep up across her entire body when she took a mind to focus on the fact. She could already feel mild discomfort starting to form in areas where he had bittin and scratched her, but the sensation of both only further enforced the fact that she was where she belonged. No delicate flower, no young girl who needed to be wooed. Her Turian had given her exactly what she needed in every respect.
"And yes. That sounds just about right to me. Of course, they can't start calling me Commander Vakarian right away," she joked, smirking at his playfully pained expression. "Though I have to wonder how my flexibility measured up?"
She had a feeling that she would become very familiar with the look her gave her in that moment. And the soft clicking growl that rose in his throat as he easily pulled himself to his feet with her in tow, carrying both of them towards the bed they had not managed to reach yet. "I'll let you know, when we are finished."
She was more than welcoming once her back was pressed against the cool sheets of the bed, her arms drawing him closer to her so she could press her forehead against his once more. This is where she wanted to be. Reapers would come, there would always be battles to fight across the galaxy, the Council would get on her nerves no matter what she did, and no there was no doubt that the Illusive man would have some arguments about the fact that she fully intended to keep his ship and his crew, but it would all be fine. Because there was one, unbreakable truth in the universe that meant more to her than anything.
In Garrus Vakarian she had a comrade, best friend, lover, and mate. And through everything she faced, he would always be there.
Thus under part 2! Three times longer than the first one, 15% romance, 5% unimportant reference, and 80% smut! LOL Sorry, I ran a little wild with this one. R&R for me, let me know if I should continue this thread.