Blackwork

"Say my name," she urged huskily in his ear as she rode him. He was half delirious with ecstasy at that point and barely registered her words.

"Sh-Shepard," he managed to breathe out a second later between grunts of exertion.

"No, my other name," she said breathlessly and leaned over to clutch his hair between her fingers, tilting his head back harshly. Her tongue darted out and licked softly at the base of his throat. Damp tendrils of her dark, wavy hair fell over her shoulder and tickled his chest.

He said her given name, which he hardly ever used; it felt strange on his tongue.

"Try again. Say my name, James," she said through clenched teeth and bit him hard on the chest, then trailed her wet tongue down and sucked one of his erect nipples into her mouth, biting gently and making him gasp in surprised pleasure.

She was astride him and her hips undulated in a slow rhythm, which he rose up to meet with deep, even thrusts. His large hands clutched her hips as she moved atop him.

"Fuck, Lola, I don't..." he began in exasperation. She smiled at him and growled, "Oh, yes, that's it. Say it." He felt her begin riding him a little harder.

He smiled up at her. "Lola," he said in a husky voice and she moaned in response.

So this was what she wanted tonight, he thought. She always managed to amaze him somehow. But maybe he shouldn't have been surprised after the amount of dirty talk he'd heard coming from her sweet mouth that made him blush even as he was buried deep inside her.

"You like that, Lola?" he said and heard her moan in response as she straightened up and arched her back. He watched, mesmerized, as she gripped both her breasts and tweaked her nipples hard between thumb and forefinger. He slipped one hand between her thighs and began working her with swift strokes. Her writhing hips sped up and he struggled to maintain the pace.

"Yes. James. don't stop," she gasped out.

Holy fuck, watching her this way blew his mind, and she'd managed to do that a few times a week lately. He let out a low groan and shifted the soles of his feet on her bed to get more leverage.

He licked his lips and took a deep breath, trying to figure out what to say next, not wanting to disappoint her. He recalled a few of the choicest phrases she'd used with him lately, and was surprised when they seemed to flow naturally from his lips.

"I love the way you ride me, Lola," he began throatily, his words drawn out in slow syllables. "Oh yeah. Fuck me, Lola. Fuck me hard. I want to feel you come, Lola. Fuck, you feel good."

Just saying the words seemed to send her into a frenzy and the feedback was far more intense than he could have imagined. Her hips bucked violently and she screamed his name as she came, her slick muscles clenching hard around him. He groaned and grabbed her hips abruptly with both hands, digging his fingers in deep enough to leave bruises. With a loud, guttural cry he slammed up into her with several quick strokes and arched his back as his his own release took hold, causing his vision to flash white for a split second as it hit him.

She collapsed onto his chest with a gasp and he could feel her muscles continue to contract around him as his hands drifted gently up her naked back. Each little spasm he felt around his sex made him twitch again.

They lay out of breath among the crumpled, sweat-soaked sheets. He glanced at her clock and saw it had been nearly two hours since they'd tumbled through her door, kissing hungrily and tossing clothes off as they went. He was sure he remembered having his way with her against the fish tank before they'd even made it to her bed. He turned his head to look at the aquarium and saw a pair of large handprints clearly visible at about the width of his own shoulders. A couple feet lower he saw what looked like the imprint of her ass on the clear glass.

She rolled off him and lay languidly beside him on her back with one leg still draped over his.

"You deserve a medal, James," she said when she caught her breath. She let out a long, satisfied sigh.

He snorted in amusement. "Just doing my duty, Commander," he said smugly as they stared up at the vast, starry night outside the window above her bed.

She cut her eyes to him, "I wish you wouldn't call me that when we're together. You know what I like."

He rolled over towards her and nuzzled at her ear.

"You're the one who keeps insisting on giving orders when we're together, Lola," he whispered huskily.

"It's an old habit. Don't take it personally. Besides, you're just so very good at following them." She gave him a sultry smile.

He laughed softly as his attention began to fade and his eyes slowly drifted closed. He felt her leave the bed and heard the soft pad of her footsteps moving across the room. There was the sound of a toilet flushing and then running water, and a moment later he felt the mattress dip beside him again. Her warm, naked body slid into bed next to his, pulling the blankets up over them both. His strong arm snaked around her waist, pulling her snugly against him before he drifted off, the sweet smell of her sweat lingering in his nose.

ooOoo

Shepard awoke later, drawn out of sleep by the change in activity of the Normandy's drive core. It was more of a subtle shift in energy that she felt than an actual sound, but it drew her to consciousness nonetheless, as it had ever since Cerberus had resurrected her. She couldn't help but wonder if Cerberus had altered her biotics somehow to attune her to the ship's mass effect fields and that was why she could sense these changes. Ever since, she'd had this strange affinity to the ship and her slight shifts in mood that the rest of the crew rarely noticed, and the retrofits hadn't affected it as far as she could tell.

This particular change told her that they were dropping out of FTL, which meant they'd reached Arrae where a group of former Cerberus scientists were holed up. She knew she needed to stay ahead of the Illusive Man and had ordered the change in course the second Traynor had given her the intel.

She extracted herself delicately from James, who made a soft sound of protest. She saw his brow crease in his sleep and bent down to lay gentle lips on his forehead, which smoothed again at the contact, his breathing becoming deep and even. She hunted through the darkness for her uniform and cursed under her breath at the mini scavenger hunt she had to complete to find everything. Where the hell was her underwear?

She had a brief flash of the previous night and remembered the events that had led up to their haphazard disrobing when they'd reached her quarters.

Whose idea had it been anyway? James... right. Poker night had been a fantastic idea. It had been a boisterous and friendly poker game to start with. But when the liquor started flowing it had become something altogether different, but in a good way, she thought. Tensions were high among the crew and folks really needed an excuse to blow off steam.

She was sure it was Allers who'd insisted on the first "panty ante" and everyone was sufficiently inebriated by then to go along with it, retreating to the lavatory on their turn and returning with the required bet. The game hadn't lasted much longer after that.

The few details she remembered now included Allers' very pretty but obviously fake tits, with nipples tattooed in the shapes of flowers (seriously?), which Traynor couldn't stop looking at and had even made a polite request to touch. Actually, nobody could quit looking at Allers' tits which became a running joke after awhile.

She learned that nearly all of her human crew had tattoos of some form or another, though James' were by far the most extensive and impressive. She'd felt like the odd man out when more and more skin started showing around the table and people started showing their pieces and telling the little stories behind them. Everyone had been surprised when they learned she didn't have any.

When she gave them her usual excuse, Joker said, "But that was almost two years ago, Shepard. You've had time to get something since then."

"You're forgetting I was under house arrest for six months, Joker. I didn't exactly get much time for outings on Earth... and before that... well, I had more complicated things to think about."

"Commander, you should totally get a tattoo next time we're on the Citadel!" Traynor exclaimed. She was a very happy, enthusiastic drunk.

"I don't know... isn't the only tattoo artist Batarian? I'd worry about ending up with a tattoo of a Volus cock instead of whatever I asked for," Shepard said with a snort.

"Well... at least it'd be small," Joker said and everyone burst out into raucous laughter.

As the laughter died down James leaned in from her right and whispered, "I know another guy who could take care of you, if you wanted, Lola." Her thighs quivered at the sound of his voice and his breath near her ear. She almost whispered back that she knew a guy who did take care of her, and quite expertly, but held her tongue.

"Maybe... I'll think about it. I wouldn't even know what to get, anyway."

"You could get a tattoo of the Normandy, like Kaidan's," Traynor said, pointing at the near photo-realistic image of the ship that graced Kaidan's left shoulder.

"What's that scarring underneath it, though? Was there something else there?" Traynor asked, tracing fingertips across his skin. She was also a very handsy drunk.

Kaidan cut a quick glance to Shepard and looked back at the table, saying quietly, "It's the old Normandy, actually. The SR-1. There used to be text underneath it... and dates." He paused and cleared his throat, speaking his next words slowly. "It was a memorial, but it felt creepy to keep when Shepard came back from the dead."

The table grew quiet and Kaidan gazed at Shepard for a brief moment before looking away again. Steve, who sat to Kaidan's right, gave the other man a long, understanding look. The significance of his own tattoo wasn't that different.

Oblivious to the tenor of the conversation, Traynor said, "I want to know the story behind your pretty flowers, Diana. Do tell!"

Diana barked out a soft laugh as she glanced down at her chest while deftly shuffling the deck. "I'm not sure if it's appropriate to share, Sam."

Shepard laughed at her and gestured at the other woman's chest, saying, "You can share them, but not the story? I'm not sure I see the distinction."

"It's just very personal," Allers explained with a shrug. She began dealing the cards around the table. When she was finished, she said, "Tell you what, when you lose your shirt, Shepard? Then I'll share."

"Ooh, the pressure's on, Lola," James said to her suggestively. Damn, every time he said that she felt like he'd just stoked her furnace. She pretended to ignore him and picked up her hand to inspect it.

But the pressure didn't get to her. Shepard was winning most hands so had only been reduced to her pants and sports bra by the end. James, to her surprise, had left in nothing but his skivvies, which he'd managed to win back just before losing his pants. By that time modesty had gone out the window and nobody bothered to leave the room to disrobe if they lost. She'd had a difficult time not looking when James had pushed back his chair and stood up beside her, stark naked, to put his boxers back on, saying something about not wanting to put people at a disadvantage by distracting them with his manly assets.

Joker finally ended up wearing only his hat. He'd sported a wide grin at the catcalls and comments of "EDI's a lucky girl!" from a few people when he sat back down after removing his pants.

She caught Steve eyeing Kaidan with a subtle appreciative glance once Kaidan had lost his pants, and for a second was sure the Major had returned the look.

She was pretty sure Traynor had ended up completely nude, and Allers had just barely managed to win back her own panties, but nothing else.

No wonder she couldn't find her fucking underwear.

She exited her room and stood in the corridor outside her quarters to dress, foregoing panties for the time being. She would have to track those down later. She pulled her hair back into a quick ponytail and hit the call button for the elevator to take her to the CIC.

"How is she?" she asked Joker quietly when she reached the bridge a few moments later.

"Just dropping out of FTL now, Commander. ETA to Arrae is oh-nine-hundred. You have at least five more hours to sleep, you know... or... whatever." He glanced up at her with a sideways smile.

She smirked at him, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Joker."

"Uh huh, sure." He paused for a breath, then said cautiously, "So poker night was out of hand."

"It was a fun way for the crew to blow off some steam. I'm glad you decided to join us, Joker. You should have brought EDI, too."

The AI's voice resonated from the seat beside her. "I insisted that Jeff go without me. I would have had an unfair advantage, and would not have been able to participate in the latter part of the game, from Jeff's description of the rules."

Shepard laughed, "There really aren't any concrete rules to strip poker. We were making them up as we went. I think the only real rule is to end up naked."

"So... by that logic, you were actually losing. Is that what you're saying, Commander?" Joker said.

"I... ah, well, you've got me there, Joker."

She recalled the reprimand James had given her when they reached her room, "Lola, Lola, Lola... Don't you know the whole point of strip poker is to lose?" just before he pushed her against the wall and started ripping her clothes off. He'd been on fire and she felt subtle tingling between her thighs at the memory. Five more hours, Joker had said. She turned to leave the bridge.

"Oh, Commander?" Joker called after her. When she turned back to respond, she caught a glimpse of a dark object flying towards her and reflexively reached her hand up to catch it. After a second she realized what it was. She looked at Joker with an expression of mild shock.

"My underwear? How...?"

He gave her an evil grin. "Hey, I won them fair and square, although Vega did give me a run for my money... either he has a fetish for ladies underwear, or there's something you're not telling me."

"There's a lot I don't tell you, Joker."

"All I know is you were the only one not looking at him in all his glory after he lost his pants. Heck, I don't even swing that way and I got a semi when he stood up. That is one well-built man. All over. And he hasn't been in his bunk for the last few nights, so unless he's taken to sleeping in the shuttle, he's found another bed somewhere."

She cleared her throat and turned to leave again. "It's none of your business, Moreau," she said tersely.

"I knew it!" she heard him say in an elated whisper from behind her as she turned to leave the bridge.

She crossed the nearly empty CIC and headed for the elevator, hitting the button for the crew deck when she stepped on. She wanted to make sure they hadn't done any serious damage to the lounge before the rest of the crew began waking up.

A moment later she exited and started making her way to the lounge. She could hear a shower running in the men's bathroom. As she went to open the door to the lounge she heard the sound of a throat clear behind her.

"I wouldn't go in there just now, Commander," she heard Steve's voice say softly. She turned to look and saw the pilot standing in the hallway wearing only a towel secured around his waist.

"Oh?" she asked, curious.

"Well... not unless you were hoping for a threesome with those two. I highly doubt they'd turn you down if that's the case."

"Oh," she said and drew back from the door. "Um... which two exactly?" she asked, but her question was answered shortly when she heard Kaidan's familiar voice calling from the men's bathroom.

"Get in here, Steve, the water's nice and hot."

Her eyebrows shot up as she looked at the man standing before her. He cleared his throat into his fist and stared at his feet for a second.

"You'd better not keep the Major waiting, Lieutenant," she said in a stern whisper, nodding her head towards the closed door to the bathroom.

"Yes Ma'am," he said, looking at her with a knowing smile.

She headed back to the elevator shaking her head and laughing softly. I guess people needed to blow off more steam than I thought.

She started unfastening her uniform as she stepped off into the hallway outside her door. When she entered, she leaned against her desk to untie her boots, and the bathroom door whooshed open, revealing James in all his tattooed glory. He stepped past her half asleep and she paused to watch him stumble back to the bed and flop down on it bonelessly. She watched as his arm reached out to her side of the bed and felt nothing but empty mattress. His head turned to look for her and he sat up, looking around the dark room.

She stripped quickly and walked towards the bed.

"Mmm, I missed you, Lola," he said in a voice thick with sleep, smiling as he watched her climb back into bed and lay down next to him on top of the crumpled sheets.

"You didn't even notice I was gone until just now," she said.

He looked mildly hurt. "I always notice," he said and lay back down, turning on his side and reaching out a large hand to cup her breast, idly teasing its tip with his thumb.

"Where'd you go?" he asked after a second.

"Hmm? Oh... just wanted to check on our ETA to Arrae. Mmm that feels nice."

"I aim to please," he said, and shifted towards her, replacing his thumb with his warm tongue. She moaned softly.

After a second he pulled back from her and asked, "Did Joker give you back your panties?"

She laughed in surprise, "Yes, he did. But I think he's on to us. Apparently you weren't very subtle about trying to win them earlier."

He snorted softly, "Screw subtlety. If he hadn't given them back we would have had words."

"I'm sure he just wanted to mess with me, don't hurt him."

"I did say words... not fists. I'd feel really bad if I broke something he cared about."

She laughed, "I'm sure that is probably one of his more durable parts, considering the amount of attention he gives it... or used to anyway."

"How do you know this, exactly?"

"Medical records... and he has quite an impressive collection of vids on his personal net."

He gave her a skeptical look.

"I'm required to know these things as his commanding officer," she explained.

"Ah, right. So, do you ever wonder how he and EDI... " James started.

"No, and it's really none of my business, but I'm sure Cerberus built her with all the appropriate… features. So I'm not worried about Joker."

He bent his head again to resume his earlier activity, but she stopped him.

"James, did you know about Cortez and Alenko?" she tried to make her question sound casually curious.

He pulled back from her and looked into her eyes trying to judge where the question was coming from. Seeing only a look of intent curiosity, he shrugged and said, "I had an idea about them... Esteban was in a rough place when we left Earth. I did the best I could to… I dunno... just be his friend if he needed to talk, but he plays things pretty close to his chest, youknow. The Major started coming down to the shuttle bay more often lately. It seemed like they sortof bonded over something. I didn't know what at first, but I think I have an idea after last night. That's a sweet tattoo the Major has, by the way. I'd love to meet the artist. Work like that is hard to come by."

His eyes fell to her face and he saw an expectant look, so he took a breath and said in a soft voice, "He loved you... and you died." He shrugged his shoulders and leaned back on one elbow, glancing at a random spot on the mattress, then back up to her eyes.

"He probably spent the entire time you were gone trying to get over you, before you showed up again out of the blue. Playing for the wrong team, no less."

He sighed and blurted out the burning question that had been bothering him for the past few weeks since their first night together.

"Why me, Lola? Why not him?" He turned his head to look at her apprehensively and saw a look of deep concern on her face.

She stared up at the stars above her for several seconds before answering.

"Death changes you James. And not just you, but the entire world you leave behind. Coming back from the dead was probably the hardest thing I've ever done, and I'm still dealing with the backlash from it. Kaidan was caught in the middle. He was blindsided when he found out I was alive, after two years of coming to terms with me being gone. It's been tough to get back to a place where we can even trust each other, much less anything more. We're different people now... I think we're finally back to a place where we can trust each other, but whatever we had before... I think we both know it isn't possible to find that again and we'd just end up disappointed if we tried. It's better for him... for them both, really... that I've let it go."

He sighed and nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed for having put her on the spot in the first place. He reached his hand out again and traced his fingertips along her taut stomach and up her sternum, grazing is palm over the erect tip of her breast before gripping it gently in his large hand. She sighed at the contact.

"As to your other question: why you?" She smiled mischievously as she turned onto her side and slid close to him, snaking one long leg around the back of his and sliding her hand between them, trailing a soft caress up his inner thigh.

She said in a husky voice, "It's because you called me Lola."

He gave her a throaty growl and pushed her back onto the mattress. He leaned on his elbow beside her and traced soft patterns over the tips of her breasts with his fingertips and his tongue. He trailed his hand down between her thighs and moaned softly when he discovered how wet she was.

Unable to contain himself any longer, he rose up and moved to kneel between her thighs. She bent her knees in anticipation and he grabbed her behind her thighs, pulling her hips up to meet his and spreading her just a little wider. He slid his thick length into her slowly, making every effort to take his time. Their talk had given him the need to really savor her.

His hips rocked against her slowly as he slid deep into her and back out again until just his tip was between her soft folds.

"Say my name," he heard himself say gruffly as he pistoned into her and back out, teasing at her with his tip.

"James, oh fuck that feels good. Don't stop!" she gasped. Her chest heaved and she arched her back, her pink-tipped breasts rising up alluringly as he watched her writhe in pleasure.

"That's it, Lola. Say my name, tell me what you want," he said in a low voice as he thrust into her waiting depths again and back out, poised at her entrance, waiting. It only took a split second before she groaned with need.

"James. I want you to fuck me. Fuck me hard!" She moaned almost desperately and he felt her hips twitch and her strong legs struggle against his grip to get closer to him. It was all he could do to maintain the tortuous contact with her, but he was unrelenting, holding her at just the distance he needed her to be.

He watched her flesh quiver with desire for a few more seconds before goading her one more time.

"Tell me what you want, Lola," he demanded, his voice thick with his own lust. He slid the tip of his sex against her own slick center and she moaned at the sensation.

"James," she gasped and her hips writhed again in his strong grasp. "James. I want you, James. I want every last fucking inch of you inside me. I want you to fuck me hard until you come, and I want to feel you come inside me, James."

He groaned with need and let his desire take over. He slammed back into her hard, making her cry out with elation, and began thrusting with abandon. He released his grip on her, letting her wrap her legs around him finally and giving her the freedom to move her own hips in response to his. He leaned over her and his mouth captured hers hungrily, their tongues dancing as they moved together, their coupling violent and needful.

He felt her rhythm change subtly and her gasps of pleasure became louder and louder. Her nails suddenly dug into his back and he sped up, feeling his climax building at the base of his shaft as he pounded into her.

Their final wave of ecstasy crashed over them both suddenly and they cried out each other's names, their sweaty bodies writhing in pleasure and tangled in the sheets of her bed. He rolled over, pulling her with him in an attempt to avoid crushing her and to delay their separation. She lay atop him breathing heavily and enjoying the feel of his pulsing length still inside her.

After a few moments of blissful tingling exhaustion she sighed softly and slid off him, laying next to him limp and sweaty.

"Fuck, Lola," he said between gasps for breath. "I think we both deserve a medal for that."

"It's all you, James," she said with a ridiculous grin. "It's all you."