One of a Kind

 

The hiss of the shuttle doors caused a tightly held breath to rush from the trembling woman. Every cell in her body craved violence. It was different from the adrenaline rush she had in battle. That rush was exhilarating and it had her blood pumping with oxygen to power her muscles and reactions. This new feeling was... more. It felt as though the very blood in her veins was trying to break free of her, as if she needed to run, to fight, to feel flesh giving way beneath her fists.



The feeling rose and fell against her tightly held control in waves of intoxicating need. She felt strong enough to take on a Thresher Maw on her own with her bare hands and god was the urge tempting. Throttling Grunt had only brought the anger, the need to a fevered pitch. Shepard felt like a proverbial bucket of ice water had rushed down her back and she was jolted back to reality. When in the hell had she become that strong?!



She looked down at her hands in confusion. And then she felt a gut wrenching twist to her insides. A groan rushed from her lips and she pressed her hands to her abdomen to try and soothe the pain. The Specter slid to the floor as heat washed over her body in pulsating flashes and with a whimper she assumed the fetal position. It almost felt like-



The tell-tale blips of her armor suit had her face going pale.



"FUCK!" She half roared, before glaring in the general direction of her vagina that felt as though it were trying to dig its way out of her abdomen with a rusted spoon.



Outside of the shuttle, the posted guards looked at one another with visible shudders. They knew all too well what a woman was like during her "First Heat." All of them suddenly felt very sorry for whoever had to be in the human's presence for however long she was in this stage.

-------



Grunt felt an oncoming sneeze creep up on him as he paused before the narrow ramp that led to the Clan Leader's throne. For some odd reason a hint of foreboding tickled at his spine and he held back the sneeze stubbornly. The hot blooded youngster boldly trudged forward, head held high in defiance as his brilliant eyes fell upon Wrex. The memory of Shepard's hurt expression flooded his sight and before he could stop himself, he was rushing the older male with a snarl. Wrex smirked in a sideways manner and deftly bounded over the charging Krogan from his seat.



The movement had been too quick for the younger male to expect and Grunt let out a frustrated roar as his hard crest slammed into the unforgiving stone of the throne instead of the slightly softer flesh of the other Krogan. Grunt whirled, murder written all over his feral face.



"All worked up over a nice pair of legs and some human ass are we boy?" Wrex asked him with a chuckle. Grunt shook himself from his stupor, glaring fiercely at the Warlord.



"You hurt her!" The multicolored tankbred accused, widening his stance as he prepared to attack again. This gave the Urdnot leader pause and Wrex straightened from his own battle stance to fix the younger male with his bloody stare.



"If I hadn't, she never would have considered you for the Rite, now would she?" The yellow skinned Krogan asked knowingly. A sly glint shined in the aged Krogan's eyes. Grunt blinked in surprise, his mouth opening in protest, only to snap shut moments later. He groped for a response as his mind went blank beneath the implications. Clan Leader...WANTED him to take the Rite of Honor for Shepard? A heat very different from anger, but equally adrenaline inducing rushed through the tankbred's veins.



"But, why? She wanted you," Grunt demanded, fists clenched at his sides. Wrex sighed softly and rubbed the back of his neck to ease an ache as he strode past the other to his seat. He motioned for the younger Krogan to sit himself on one of the raised stones that were situated a few feet from the Leader and craving answers, Grunt complied.



"Shepard is a good female, stronger than most Krogan females, even the males," Wrex began, resting his chin on his fist, " But, she wants one mate and one mate alone."



That seemed reasonable to Grunt. He cocked his head slightly at the older Krogan.



"She can't give me any younglings, idiot," Wrex deadpanned. Oh. Grunt suddenly understood and felt slightly stupid for it. But his blue eyes returned to glaring at the other Krogan.



"So why did you show interest in her if you never intended to be what she wanted?" He pressed, letting out a soft rumble of annoyance that Wrex was beginning to find obnoxious.



"We thought that we were going to die on that mission. She was hot for me and I have always had a thing for a woman with a gun and an attitude problem. I never thought in a million years that I would end up back in this hellhole with these bastards and yet, here I am." Wrex explained and Grunt could tell that he was beginning to lose his patience. " You know that our race is dying and that I am needed to fulfill my duties to the clan. I was willing to give Shepard what I could, but she is too territorial for sharing me with anyone. So, it's done."



Grunt was silent for a long moment, eyes staring intently at the rubble at his feet for a long time. Did he want Shepard to want him? Did he want her all to himself? His throat tightened and a shuddering purr that was different from any sound he'd ever made before escaped him, earning a chuckle from Wrex. Suddenly embarrassed, Grunt looked up at the older male.



"How...how would I...make her hot for me?" Grunt asked hesitantly, using the other Krogan's words to try and portray what he wanted. Wrex lost it. His deep, resonating laughter made the younger Krogan want to pound his face in. It took the older male a few moments to settle his mirth, wiping a few stray tears from the corners of his eyes.



"Don't ever use that sentence again, boy," Wrex advised with a lingering chuckle. He fixed Grunt with a serious stare then, eyes holding a dark menace that hadn't been there previously, "You had better be serious about this, boy. Because if you are not and you find out that she isn't what you want, you'll hurt her worse than I ever could."



"What do you mean? How?" Grunt asked. Okeer had never mentioned anything about this sort of thing.



"Do you want her more than anything?" Wrex demanded forcefully, gripping the arms of his throne harshly. With wide, uncertain eyes the younger male stared at the old Warlord. Wrex narrowed his eyes to slits and he rose from his seat. Grunt found his thoughts spiraling back through he and Shepard's journey thus far. She'd been the first outside voice that he had heard aside from Okeer and her voice had instantly had the young Krogan wanting to escape the tank. She spoke to him often while he was in stasis aboard the ship and every time that she left him, he found himself feeling empty and lost. Alone.

He couldn’t recall much of what she had said during those few days he’d been under, but he had learned her voice. It was husky, and thick, a bit dark for a human, and borderline sensual. Hearing her speak to him about nothing had been his first attachment to her. Her voice was beautiful. Even when she was angry about something he found himself enjoying the sound. She was an angel compared to Okeer. He had conjured images of a powerful, graceful Krogan female, knowing just from the sound of her that she would have been a battlemaster with bright scales and a horned crest scared from dominance battles with other females.

And then she had woken him up. His blue eyes had fallen upon her small, human body with disappointment. He'd thought that she would have been a Krogan, or at least bigger than the female that had stood warily before him. And so he had tested her, his battle rage demanding violence. Without any fear, the little human woman had taken his abuse in stride, and grinned up at him with a challenging glare. He'd been so taken aback by her fierce words and even the gun she'd leveled to his gut that Grunt had had no choice but to be impressed by her. Then much later, she'd taken him here, to Tuchunka to find out what had been bothering him, even going so far as to claim him as part of her krant. He'd never expected anything like that from her.



In that moment he'd found himself hopelessly devoted to her and vowed to follow her to the ends of the universe until either they ran out of enemies or perished by someone stronger. She was his battlemaster, the only woman that deserved to belong to him. With a dark, possessive growl he glared at his clan leader.



"Yes. I am the only one who deserves her and she is the only woman strong enough for me," He replied, the tankbred's head rising and chest puffing out in a proud display of dominance. Wrex tilted his head sideways, a crooked grin curving his reptilian lips.



"Alright. Prove it. If you can get Shepard to kiss you, I'll give you the blessing you need to take the rite of honor for her," The red crested battlemaster stated after a moment. Grunt blinked in confusion.



"A...kiss? What is this...kiss?" Grunt questioned in a manner that had Wrex cracking up all over again. This kid was just too innocent and clueless to be a Krogan. Head tilted to the side and face scrunched in confusion, Grunt had never heard the term and was angry that the other Krogan clearly did.



"You'll have to figure that out on your own, now go to your battlemaster and get her settled into her quarters. Just don't do anything to piss her off too badly. We don't want her to pop a heat sink in your ass before I'm done using you two to clean up the rest of the clan vermin," Wrex commanded the still confused tankbred. Grunt left him then, rubbing the back of his neck as he ambled in the direction of the hangar. He wasn't exactly excited about the prospect of going to the shuttle so soon after Shepard had voiced her displeasure with him. What had he even done to piss her off so much anyway? Pausing, the Krogan turned back to Wrex.



"Clanleader?" He questioned, earning a sigh of annoyance.



"You're beginning to turn into a pain in the ass, Urdnot Grunt," Wrex dead panned with a roll of his bloody eyes.



"Have you noticed anything...different about Shepard?" Grunt pressed, looking slightly concerned and a little lost. Wrex blinked, half tempted to tell the younger male to go bother someone else. But then he stopped himself, recalling her actions lately. Shepard had always been unpredictable to an extent. Her emotions; though focused and practically non-existent in battle, were a little bit like a revolving door. One moment she was calm, tactical, and serious, the next, bubbly, playful, and downright childish. His eyes narrowed in thought. Her scent. There was something... off about her scent. At first he thought it may have been because of Cerberus' tampering with her human body. But the scent was too familiar, too... alive to be any high tech modification.



"A few things. I'll keep an eye on her to see if it's anything to worry about," The clan leader answered finally.



"But-"



"Don't make me get my gun, boy," Wrex warned and Grunt sighed in defeat, continuing off to find his battlemaster.



------



"Take two pain killers at each meal. Avoid anything greasy or too sweet and try to keep your emotions under control until I arrive," Was the short, clipped instruction fired off by the fast talking salarian, Mordin Solus. "As for the headaches, I recommend staying in warm, dark places with low sound contamination for the time being. I can give you better care in person."



"Thanks, Doc," Shepard sighed softly from where she was curled in the fetal position on the shuttle floor. The hologram of the doctor gave her a sympathetic smile.



"No, no, Commander, I should be thanking you for everything. Our Turian friend will be coming with me. He won't take no for an answer. Says he needs to make sure you're in one piece himself," Mordin added, sticking to their agreement to not use names should any hacker come across their conversation. It was important that Shepard remain undiscovered for the time being. She wanted the whole mess with the Collectors to blow over before the Council realized that she was still very much alive. She'd had enough of being the dog of the universe for a while.



"Heh, he's such a mom. Alright, I'll see you in a few days," She responded before the hologram flickered and died. She sighed softly, tucking her knees beneath her chin and clutching at her thighs. The ache in her abdomen was murder, worse than any cramps she'd ever dealt with in her life. But in two days, Garrus and Mordin would arrive and make everything all better. Then, she could get back to her vacation of beating Krogan to a pulp and playing with Urz, the Varren. And then she heard the hiss of the doors being opened. With a grunt, Shepard inched back beneath the seats she'd curled up under further to escape the light that flooded the room. The thudding footfalls of the Krogan Grunt had her tensing and she could make out his large shadow as it fell across the far wall. With a hiss the hatch slid shut again and when the Krogan moved to turn on the light, Shepard felt a burst of adrenaline channel to her limbs. Before he had time to press the small, harmless button, Shepard caught his wrist and slammed it back against the wall. She glared up at the shocked Krogan dangerously, holding him in place with not only her strength, but her eyes.



"Don't. Turn on, the light," She warned in a rough growl that had a tickle of heat roll over the male. His free arm snaked about her armored body, forcing her roughly against him and Shepard felt her strength drain beneath his piercing blue stare.



"What is wrong, Shepard?" He asked in a low rumble as he lowered his snout to her neck. When she tried to jerk back, his other hand fisted in her wild hair, wrenching it back to give him better access.



"Grunt, if you don't let me go right this second, I swear I'll-"



A warning growl had her stopping short in her threat and her breath hitched in her throat. His nose pressed to the thin column of soft, tanned flesh as his hot breath fanned over it. She broke out in gooseflesh, a shudder rushing through her body. He drank in her scent that was much more potent than he ever remembered it being and a ragged groan fell from his mouth. She whimpered in response, squirming in his grasp. What was going on with him!?



"Grunt?" She breathed out in confusion.



"You smell...different. Good, like...I... I don't know. It makes me want to taste you," He explained bluntly. Belatedly, Shepard noticed that she was no longer in pain. She was also suddenly aware of her body growing heated due to his words and actions. She pulsed with a strange and sudden need for him to touch her, to run her hands along the planes of his muscular body, to... to. Oh God. Panic swelled within her and in a desperate moment she threw a punch at him. Grunt was not ill prepared however, and deftly tilted his head aside.



"Let go!" She demanded. He didn't want to. He wanted to keep her right where she was and hold onto her a while longer. Eyes brighter than any she'd ever seen before in the past fixed her with a hungry stare and she could not stop her heart from fluttering wildly.



"I'll let you go...if you give me a kiss," He stated bluntly with a tilt to his large head.



"If I..." She blinked at him in surprise and disbelief. What the hell? Her own eyes filled with a violence that had excitement coursing through the Krogan's insides. Ancestors he loved it when she got mad, though he wasn't quite sure why she was mad at the moment. Her pupils dilated, teeth bared, and a small vein at her left temple ticked to the beating of her pulse. However, what he was not prepared for was the surge of biotic energy that encased her slender frame in an intense violet glow. The particles of her body shattered in his hands and she slipped through his fingers, rematerializing a few feet away. "You forget your place, Urdnot Grunt!"



His own anger flared up and it was all he could do to not tear the whole ship limb from limb.



"Kiss me," He demanded roughly. Shepard let out a snort followed by a laugh.



"Why would I kiss you!? You man-handle me, piss me off, ignore every order I give you, and then demand that I KISS you!? Go fuck a pyjack!" She snapped in her rage that could have easily put any krogan's to shame. Grunt growled darkly, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides as he glared hatefully at the floor. This wasn't going the way it was supposed to, was it?



"What can I do to get you to kiss me?" He asked through clenched teeth, obviously straining to keep his temper under control.



"Why is it so important that I do? Why do you want me to? If you haven't noticed kissing isn't exactly something I do, Grunt! And How do you even know what a kiss is in the first place?!" She demanded her hands on her hips as she glowered up at him. Through the dim lighting of the ship, Grunt was able to make out her flushed face, the way she bit at her lower lip in an action that held an almost nervous undertone. And then there was her scent. It was faint because of that damn armor, but it had changed drastically. A potent spice had flooded it causing the male krogan's nostrils to flare and certain parts of his anatomy to become extremely interested in the situation.



"Before I can take the Rite of Honor you must give me a kiss," He stated boldly, feeling his heart lurch at the prospect. The look she gave him was comical, her eyebrows vanishing behind her bangs, mouth quirking to the side in an odd frown.



"The Rite of what?" She deadpanned, brows lowering in suspicion. Grunt blinked, suddenly wondering if telling her would be a good idea or not.



"I'll tell you if you give me a kiss," He countered, unable to help the grin that played across his mouth, eyes alight with a mischievousness that never boded well for anyone involved. Shepard looked about ready to backhand him. And when the small human half tackled him, smacking him repetitively on the chest, he could not stop his outburst of laughter.



"You smart-assed sonava bitch! Oh I'll give you a kiss alright, you big jerk!" She ranted as he half-heartedly shielded himself from her attacks that honestly, were not painful at all. What happened to that colossal strength she'd shown just moments ago? He decided that perhaps conceding defeat for now would be the best choice of action and as she huffed and stopped her assault on his person he righted himself.



"Shaman has issued us a place to stay. We can move our equipment and things there wherever you are ready," He reported, still smirking at her playfully.



"You aren't going to tell me are you?" She demanded.



"Tell you what?" He asked innocently only to be forced to sidestep another blow with a chuckle.



"Forget it, I am staying right here on the shuttle. YOU can have the room," She snapped. Grunt rolled his eyes with a sigh and strode to the set of lockers in the back, yanking the door off of its hinges and began pulling her belongings out of it and into his arms.



"H-hey! What the hell! Cheater!" She protested as he slung his own bag over his shoulder and began striding toward the door.



"Don't make me carry you," He warned, his expression showing how much he would enjoy that. With a pout and a glare that wasn't intimidating in the least, she punched the button for the hatch and folded her arms over her chest stubbornly.



"Bastard," She hissed, to which he shrugged and waltzed out into the tunnels, triumphant grin on his features. Whatever this kiss thing was, he didn't know, but he was enjoying her reactions too much to care. There was something strange about the way she acted toward him, something almost...he didn't know, testing?



Women he had decided were far too confusing for him.