Just One Thing (An 'A Star to Sail Her By' story)

Just One Thing

“I just want one thing to go right. Just...” His voice trailed off as my hand touched his cheek, gently tracing over the fresh scars and cybernetics. Our eyes met. He leaned forward, gently resting his forehead against mine.

I felt his hand on my arm, gentle, tentative. I stepped forward, into his arms, burying my face in his chest, breathing in his scent. Faintly spicy, with a hint of musk, like some exotic cologne. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me close with a sigh of relief. I looked up at him, then rose to my tiptoes, kissing his exposed neck. The skin there was like warm snakeskin, soft against my lips. He started, gasping softly in surprise. I smiled against his throat and began kissing a soft trail up along his neck, sending shivers through him.

“Shepard,” he whispered. I pulled back a little to make eye contact, smiling at him. He met my eyes, a fire burning in the deep blue. “I...” He bowed his head, embarrassed. “I've forgotten everything I read all of a sudden.”

I chuckled and shook my head, then caught his hands before he could pull away. “I've always been more of a learn-by-doing type, myself,” I offered, pulling him gently towards the bed.

His eyes opened a little wider. “Oh!” he exclaimed softly, then sat down beside me. I ran my fingers along the side of his neck, tracing little spirals back down towards his throat. “Oh.” His eyes closed halfway, dreamily. Apparently I was on the right track. My lips went back to his throat. His arm snaked around my waist, his other hand on my knee. I could tell from his breathing that this was working quite nicely, and his hand gripped my knee tighter. I felt his nails through the fabric of my pants, and I think he did too, because he started to pull away again. “I just...don't want to hurt you.”

I gave him my best reassuring smile. “Ok,” I said as I unclasped the top clip to my shirt. He looked surprised, but intrigued. I worked my way down, slowly. “Garrus, it's me, Shepard. I'm pretty tough, right?”

His eyes were following my hand as I exposed more skin. He shook himself and met my eyes. “Of course, but...”

“No buts.” I undid the last clasp, then slipped the shirt off, leaving myself clad in only a green silk bra. “You trust me, right?”

“Of course.”

“And I trust you.” I took his hand and placed it on my chest, right over my heart. “I'll let you know if anything you do hurts. And you'll do the same, right?”

His eyes went to his hand, then my eyes again. He looked relieved. “Certainly.”

I drew his hand downward a little until his palm was cupping my breast, then leaned in close. I whispered into his ear, “This is a good place to start.”

His fingers were gentle, more gentle than I'd expect from something bearing sharp talons, as he ran his fingers over my arms, across my collarbone, down towards the slope of my breasts. My breath quickened. I'd never been handled quite so tenderly before. I nuzzled his neck and began to unfasten his shirt. He pulled me closer, nails tracing across my back, digging in a little. He froze. I nipped his neck gently with my teeth as I finished unclasping his shirt. He gave a gasp of surprise, then laughed deep in his throat. A remarkably sexy laugh, my body noted. His hand cruised over my breast again, and I felt my nipples harden. He paused again.

“Yes, that's supposed to happen,” I answered his unspoken question. “It's a...mmm...really good thing, actually...oh...” His fingers toyed with the soft nub, still hidden beneath the green silk. I was breathing harder, back arching slightly towards his hand. He smiled as I tugged at his shirt, trying to slip it off him, hands suddenly clumsy. He stopped fondling me long enough to remove it. As he did, I unclasped my bra and slid it off.

His chest was broad, well-muscled, and covered in that same soft skin, flecked with small iridescent scales, more like snakeskin than the hard plates that graced the backs of his arms, the ridge of his back, trailing down towards his ass. I ran my hands over his chest, sliding my fingers up to the edge of the harder scales, tracing my fingers along the space where the hard met the soft. A soft growl of pleasure started in his throat. I ran my fingers down along his back ridge and hit a spot that prompted another gasp, then a bit of squirming. The growl turned to a chuckle.

“Err...that...really tickles!” He sounded a little bemused. “I don't think anyone's ever touched me there before.”

Feeling a little mischevious, I caressed the spot again, trilling my fingertips along it. He squirmed again, harder, laughing. I'd been leaning on him and fell onto my back on the bed. He caught my hand and pinned it to the bed, gently but firmly. A lightning flash of desire shot through my entire body. I felt my breath catch, my body arch. I trembled, feeling myself getting wetter. I gasped out loud, eyes wide, as surprised as I was turned on. No one had ever tried pinning me down, at least not in this context. No one had dared. It was bold, dangerous even, considering my combat reflexes. And I loved it.

Immediately, he went to pull away. “Shephard, I'm sorry, I...” I caught the back of his neck with my other hand and pulled his face down to mine. I pressed my lips against the hard scales of his mouth, not caring if it was a less-than-effective kiss for a turian. He made a muffled noise of surprise, then smiled against my lips. I released him, reluctantly, then grinned up at him. “Ok, I'm not sorry...” he amended, carefully straddling my legs, my wrist still pinned under his hand. The throaty laugh returned, sending more tingles through me.

I could see him getting braver, bolder. He tilted his head, bringing his face close to my neck. I felt the tip of his pointed tongue tracing along the side of my neck. “Oh...” I sighed. Heavenly. He drew it downward, flicking gently over my collarbone and down to my breast. His mandibles traced over my skin, adding two more trails of delicious fire. As his tongue wrapped around my hardened nipple (a prehensile tongue...brilliant...), I realized I'd never been quite this wet before. I arched into his mouth, fighting the hand that pinned my wrist down. He tightened his grip with a chuckle. You wonderful bastard...

My nails raked down his back, skittering ineffectively off the hard scales. He felt the sentiment, though, and I felt something pressing against my thigh as he leaned closer. I rubbed my thigh against the bulge, caressing him with my body. I felt it get harder, felt him press into me. My free hand reached down, tracing a finger along him, then two. A rumble started in his chest. He caught my wrist and pinned it down with my other one, gripped in his left hand.

“Hey, no fair..” I mock-protested. Again with the chuckle that resonated through my body. We both knew I'd be free in an instant if I wanted to be. His free hand worked at my pants, finally slipping them off. Green silk panties, dampened. His grip on my wrists slipped a little as his tongue traced down my stomach, tickling my belly button (and provoking a very undignified giggle), then traced over the damp spot. I was momentarily concerned about a dextro/andro reaction, but that was driven out quickly as his tongue slid under the silk, slipping between my labia like a flaming serpent.

I cried out, back arching. Again, he started to pull away, afraid he'd mortally wounded me. “Don't... you dare stop...” I panted softly yet firmly. He grinned at me, laced his fingers through mine, pinned my hands again and returned to his ministrations.

I wouldn't be surprised if Engineering heard me. Wave over wave of crashing pleasure tore through me like a biotic kick. Just when I thought I couldn't take any more, he began tracing his way back up. When we were face to face, I leaned up and slipped my tongue into his mouth, tracing the tip of his tongue with mine. He made a surprised noise, then his breath quickened and he returned the gesture.

He released my wrists, propping himself up with one arm as the other hand unfastened his pants. The nails of my left hand gently but firmly dragged down the soft skin of his neck and chest while my right tugged at his pants, pulling downward. He arched into me, gasping at the trail of fire tracing down his neck. I paused to make sure I hadn't hurt him. He growled a little, paused in his clothing removal to nuzzle me, then went back to slipping his pants off. I repeated the process with both hands clawing down both sides of his neck. The growl turned to a purr. I nibbled along one of his mandibles. The purr got louder.

He kicked his pants off, freeing himself, then caught my hands. He laced his fingers through mine, eyes locking mine. He was breathing hard, panting, eyes aflame with desire, but he forced himself to stop for a moment.

“You're sure...?”

I craned my neck up and kissed him. “Positive. I need you, Garrus.”

He gave a growl of desire, pinning my hands down. I gripped his hands, surrendering all control. I didn't realize exactly how much I had come to trust him until this moment, defenseless, unarmed, unarmored, utterly at his mercy. There was no fear, just aching need.

“Garrus...” I whispered, sliding one leg around his. Hard scales dug into the back of my calf. I barely felt it.

He pressed up against me, seeking. “Shepard...”

He found me. I felt him slide in, hot and tantalizingly slow, filling me completely. His voice in my ear. “Katherine...” I almost came right then, hearing the desire in his voice. I buried my face in his neck, kissing him, nipping at him, gasping against his skin. He pulled back, then thrust back in slowly, shaking in his fight to control himself. Over and over, long slow strokes, blinding me with pleasure so intense it was almost painful, until he could hold back no longer. The strokes came faster, more powerful. I met each thrust, gasping his name, crying out, crushing his fingers with mine. A low roar built in his throat, and it almost drowned out my final cry of ecstasy as the room exploded in sparks before my eyes. I arched into him. Our bodies locked together for what seemed like an eternity.

Silence. I fell back to the bed, utterly spent. He remained buried deep in me, holding my hands and trembling. He gulped air, then met my eyes with a strangely shy look, like he was embarrassed to lose control. I half closed my eyes and leaned up to kiss him again. The shy look was replaced by a relieved smile. He closed his eyes and lowered his head, pressing his forehead to mine.

We laid there like that for a little while, quietly communing. I thought back to meeting him, a C Sec officer passionately seeking justice. Battles with him at my back. Chats in the engineering bay of the first Normandy. The way my heart leapt when he pulled off his helmet on Omega, more glad to see his face, hear his voice, than I expected to be. The sick horror when the gunship fired on him, holding his broken face in my hands and fearing the worst, my heart leaden in my chest. My arms pulled him a little closer at that thought. We were on the eve of a battle that could easily cost some or all of us our lives, and I didn't know if I could do that again. I still felt the warmth of his blood, staining my hands blue.

He released one of my hands to run his fingers through my hair. “Are you alright? You look...are you crying?” He started to pull away again. I felt him slip out of me, sad to feel him go. Quickly, I pulled his arm underneath me, landing him on the bed with a thud. He yelped in surprise, but didn't struggle. I nuzzled close into him, wrapping my free arm around him.

“It's...” I tried to explain, but couldn't find the words. Without thinking, my fingers reached out to touch his still-healing jaw, the cracked scales and cybernetics. He pulled me closer. “I... just...”

I felt moisture on my fingertips, heard a catch in his voice. “I know.” His fingers tangled in my hair, cradling me. “When I thought you'd died...” His voice trailed off.

After a moment, he cleared his throat, then pulled back a little to meet my eyes. “But we have each other right now.”

I smiled. “That we do.”