Behind Closed Doors (An 'A Star to Sail Her By' st

"We did it. We actually did it."

"And we lived."

"Wasn't expecting that."

It had been less than 24 hours since we blew up the Collector base and managed to claw our way back through the Omega 4 Relay. Our first thoughts were to make sure everyone was alright, that we hadn't been followed by anything, that we didn't have Reapers chasing us down today.

Our collective second thought: I need a fucking drink. Even Mordin agreed.

Joker, trouper that he is, hauled our ass to the Citadel for the mother of all shore leaves. By the time we arrived, everyone was practically clawing at the door to get off the Normandy and into something normal and civilized and nothing like the horrors we had just survived. Or at least get into trouble of a non-galactic scale.

I made the shipwide announcement that everyone was to grab some R&R. EDI could handle security, and I was planning on sticking around for a bit. Tali opted for a quiet night of reflection. We could man the fort. Everyone else was to get the hell out, bar tabs on Cerberus.

On my last trip to Omega, I'd picked up a bottle of good whiskey. I'd planned on cracking it open myself, but I saw a familiar baseball cap still peeking over the pilot's chair. I sighed hard. Boy needs to get out... I grabbed the bottle, tucked it behind my back, and snuck up on him.

“You're still here? I thought I ordered everyone to get some R&R!” I crossed my arms, giving him my best stern face.

Joker smirked. “I am relaxing. This seat is incredibly comfortable. I'd say you should try it, but I think it's kinda molded to me.”

I sighed, shaking my head. “Not surprising. Seriously, Joker. Take a break. You have more than earned it.” I rested a hand on his shoulder. “None of us would be here without you.” I gave him a gentle squeeze, then stepped back. I untucked the bottle from the back of my pants and presented it. “I had a feeling you'd still be here, so I brought some of the party to you. Just don't go flying off afterwards, ok?”

“Thanks, boss.” He accepted the bottle with a smile and saluted me with it.

“Thank you, Joker. You are the best.” And he really is. Hell, if he was less fragile, I would have hired him a lapdancer or something. Boy deserves better than what he got.

I walked back through the CIC, just in time to intercept Garrus as he stepped off the elevator.

"I was just coming to find you," he said. He looked nervous.

"What's wrong? Is everything ok?" My mind shot straight back to business. The Normandy had taken some serious damage, and we were still accounting all of it. Were we about to lose a part?

He shrugged. "Oh, it's nothing like that. I just want to talk to you."

I gave him a poke in the chest. "You scared the crap out of me."

He laughed, but there wasn't a lot of mirth behind it.

I frowned a little. "C'mon, we can head back to your hideout." Neutral ground. I had a sinking feeling.

--

I walked into the main battery chamber, Garrus close behind. He stepped past me and pushed the door lock button. It whooshed shut behind us. He turned around and paced past me again. After a moment, he turned to face me.

"So..." He stood a little awkwardly, much as he had the night prior up in my room. "We lived!" His cheer was a little stilted and had all the hints of a big old 'but' coming behind it.

"Yeah," I said, a little guarded. I crossed my arms and leaned against the console. "Yeah we did."

"Yeah." His eyes shot down, then back up at me. "So...now what?"

I forced a grin. "We kick some Reaper ass?"

He chuckled softly. "Not quite what I meant."

"I know." I turned away from him. I knew I'd be disappointed, but I didn't realize exactly how much. My insides were leaden, pulling my head down with the weight of it.

I looked out over the battery array without really seeing it. My hands gripped the console edges. "Look, I understand... I know you said you didn't have a thing for humans." I fought the catch in my voice. I was NOT going to make this harder for him if I could help it. My chest ached. "I won't hold it against you if..."

A gentle cough cut me off. I was dangerously close to losing it.

"You're right." Shit. The array was getting blurry. I could feel a sob building. And there was no dignified escape.

"I mean, if I did...fall for a human, she'd have to be something pretty special." He moved closer. "I mean, really incredible."

I smiled, blinking hard, hope planting a lump in my throat. I felt his hand on my arm, turning me around. His finger slipped under my chin, bringing my face up to meet his eyes.

"I mean you."

Saviors of the galaxy don't cry... I cleared my throat, reached forward and put my hands on his hips, drawing him closer. "Big softie." My voice was a little hoarse. Really not gonna cry, dammit.

He leaned his forehead against mine. "OK, tough girl," he teased gently. He ran his fingers through my hair. "Mmm... I think I could get used to this. If you'll let me."

My eyes half-closed. "Me too." His fingers brushed the back of my neck. I ducked my head under his chin, going up on tiptoe to nuzzle his neck. I heard that deep rumble in his chest. We stood there, holding each other for a good long moment.

"Y'know," he mused, running a single claw down the back of my neck, into the collar of my shirt. "The ship's pretty abandoned right now."

I felt my eyes widen in surprise. I pulled back to lock eyes with him. "Mr. Vakarian, what are you proposing?" I asked in my best scandalized voice. It wasn't too far off from what I was really feeling. Garrus was many things to me...but spontaneously kinky? Not one of my immediate...

His hands went to my waist. Quickly, before I could react, he lifted me, perching me on the front edge of the maintenance console. Suddenly eye to eye with him, I felt flush, warmth cascading through my body and pooling at my core.

"Did you just...squeak?" He asked, grinning at me.

Oh shit, did I? "I did no such thing!" I protested, trying to look stern. From the chuckle he let loose, I was not successful.

His cheek brushed mine, his mandible tickling my neck. "You did," he whispered into my ear, his hands sliding up my back.

I slipped my legs up around his hips, drawing him up against me firmly. "Nuh uh."

His hands slid back down. I felt his fingers poke me in the sides, gently.

I squeaked. Fuck. The one ticklish spot on me and he found it.

"You bas..." I started, laughing, and found myself cut off by his mouth scales against my lips. His tongue slipped into my mouth, engaging my tongue. Argument over. My hands went to the back of his neck, holding him close, savoring the taste of copper and spice.

"I know." He half-growled/half-purred into my ear. "I'm a terrible, horrible person." His tongue flicked down the side of my neck.

"Uhhmmm...uh huh..." Suddenly, I'd forgotten how to talk. My pulse started to race, my eyes closing, letting that warm moist contact be my world.

"I could stop..." he offered.

"Don't you dare..." I sighed.

"Yes'm." He tipped my chin up with a finger, working his way down my throat. He began unbuttoning my shirt. I was getting a little dizzy, suddenly acutely aware of how high up we were. I put a hand behind myself on the console to steady myself. His free hand hooked around my waist, adding support as he nibbled his way down towards my left breast.

I was breathing pretty hard at that point, letting myself be utterly at his mercy. His tongue slipped under the fabric of my bra, teasing the skin beneath. My breath caught. I could hear myself panting louder, almost frantically. He let loose a low growl and started to slip my shirt off my shoulders. I lifted my hand to let him remove it.

Then, I heard the comm click off behind me, its squawk all too familiar. I could tell Garrus heard it too. We both froze.

"Oh..." he gasped.

"Shit." I finished the thought. "I...um...really hope that wasn't the shipwide comm..."

His eyes widened. "Oh...wow. This could be... um...bad." He started to pull away.

I set my jaw and tightened my legs' grip on him. "Y'know what?"

He cocked his head.

"Fuck it."

He blinked, then grinned. "Um, is that an order?"

My turn to blink. Garrus was in rare form tonight. "Hell yes."

"Yes ma'am!" He saluted. I could tell from the way I was pressed against him he was saluting very thoroughly. He then reached behind me, feeling around the console for a moment, and turned a security key. I heard the console power down. "That should take care of that..."

"Oh good." Rational thought peeked in for an unwelcome visit. Garrus sensed it and met my eyes.

"People are going to figure this out, you know," I said. I was trying to be casual, but the apprehension snuck into my voice.

"Yeah," he admitted. His eyes dropped a little.

It was my turn to slip a finger under his chin. I gave my best encouraging smile. "I'm ok with that if you are," I offered.

He cocked his head briefly, like he wasn't expecting that. He exhaled, then smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I am." His voice turned serious for a moment. "I mean, we don't have to make out in the halls or hold hands or anything...nothing that disruptive..."

"Of course. Keep it private, but not state-secret private." We nodded simultaneously. Business concluded, I grinned at him. "OK, with that out of the way, kiss me."

"Yes'mmmmm."

Rebellion is a wonderful aphrodisiac. Knowing he was willing to give a hearty up-yours to the naysayers too made me want him all the more.

His fingers slid my bra straps off my shoulders. For a moment, I wished I was wearing something nicer, but he was far more interested in the contents than the packaging. The cups slid away from my breasts. Bending slightly, he blew gently on my nipple, the warm moist air arousing them to hardness almost instantly.

I clenched my knees at his sides a little harder, pressing myself against him. I could feel him against me, hard and barely restrained by the fabric of his pants. I could feel how wet I was, wondering if it had seeped through my pants by now.

A little noise of triumph from him, and my bra fluttered free towards the floor. I chuckled. Techies always did find a little extra satisfaction in conquering the dread bra clasp. He drew my nipple into his mouth, teasing it gently with a couple very pointy teeth. It shocked me to attention, prompting a small cry and my hands slamming to the console surface as my back arched of its own accord. The floodgates had been opened.

I gasped for air, one hand reaching forward to claw helplessly at his shirt clasps. My fingers refused to work. His tongue toyed with the captive nipple. I felt a little faint, but shook myself back to my heightened senses. With renewed determination, I worked at his shirt, finally tearing it open so I could savage the soft skin at the edges of his back ridge. He growled, pulling me closer, moving to the other nipple and worrying it with his tongue and teeth. I cried out again, a little louder, my hips locking to his.

One arm encircled my waist, pulling me up off the console slightly. His other hand worked at the clasp of my pants. I did my best to help him, gripping his shoulders and lifting my hips to let him ease the fabric down, carrying my panties along with them in his haste. Brilliantly expedient of him. He set me back down for a moment, teasing my neck again as he worked on his own pants. My nails raked his neck, his back, skittered off scales and traced down his chest. That purring growl synched with the pulse in my pussy, making it throb gently, hungering for him.

Finally free, his arms wrapped around me, pulling me up off the console slightly. I felt him press against me, then plunge into me, my weight carrying him deep inside as he eased me back down to the console. I held onto him for dear life, crying out his name and prayers to a merciful universe as he plunged into me again and again, driven onward by each sound I made. His strokes were as powerful as last time's were gentle. I spurred him on, thrusting into him as best as I could, until finally, blissfully, the room blurred and my head tore back, a wounded cry of agonized pleasure escaping from my throat that echoed in the chamber, not quite drowned out by the massive machinery below. His roar joined it. He crushed me to his chest, leaning heavily against the console with one hand.

We panted against each other for a couple minutes. "I...think...I'm gonna fall over," Garrus gasped with a little laugh. I held him tighter with both arms and legs.


--

Once we caught our breath a little, I released him. He was still leaning on the console, my arms were still around his neck, but he slipped free of me and I unlocked my legs from around his hips. I could feel scratches down the backs of my calves from his scales, the muscles not really responding to my attempt to move off the console.

When I regained more feeling in my legs, I slid carefully down to the floor, holding Garrus for support. He guided me down, hands on my waist, then stepped back, a little wobbly himself.

"Umm..." I looked around. "Now the fun part..."

Garrus gave a short laugh. "I thought that WAS the fun part!"

I laughed back. "...finding our clothes."

"Oh, that kind of fun. Hrmm... yeah..." We both looked at the scattered bits of cloth, sighed, and started trading.

"This is yours..."

"That... what exactly IS that anyway?"

"It's a... Uh oh."

"Uh oh?"

Garrus made a little noise that sounded like a hiccup. A hand went to his mouth, trying to stifle a laugh. His mandibles were twitching. "Ok, it's funny and not funny at the same time..." he gasped, finally, and pointed.

I could see a small banner-like bit of fabric caught on the outer manifold of one of the machines below us. My bra, to be precise.

"Aww balls." I hid my face in my hands for a second, mortified. "How the hell are we gonna get that?"

He put an arm around my still-bare shoulder. "I...could get Tali? Maybe her drone could get it?"

"NO!" I yelped, then laughed. "Umm, do you want to explain it to her or should I?"

"Right, then. Hrmm."

I smelled something burning. Looking back down, it appeared the problem had rectified itself, in a fashion. The superheated bit of fabric flashed, then vanished in a puff of ash. We looked at each other and started laughing again, this time helplessly. We held each other and wheezed. Then, we just held each other. It felt good. Right.

"A part of me wishes I'd said something, back on the old Normandy." His breath was warm, ruffling my hair a little. "We could have been doing this a lot sooner."

I smiled into his chest. "It's perfect right now."

"Mmm."

Reluctantly, we released each other and resumed dressing. Fortunately, my uniform top was fairly supportive on its own, so hopefully no one would notice me bouncing free on my way through the ship. Garrus fired the console back up, his finger hovering over the door button. He smirked at me a little. I gave him a confused look, then reached a hand up to my hair.

"Oh dear maker..." I ran a hand over my hair. All that nuzzling and petting had taken an amusing toll on the state of my coiffure. He walked over and stroked my head a few times, doing his best to help me un-fluff myself.

"Hrm... sorry, Shepard, I'm afraid I don't really know how to deal with... this."

I laughed. "Not surprising." Finally, I gave up. Bending over, I gave my head a good solid shake then flipped back up, feeling my hair settle down a little. "With luck, we won't run into anyone between here and my room." I grinned broadly at him. "You are, of course, invited. And encouraged."

"Excellent!" He hit the door button and strolled out, still chuckling at me. I followed him out, giving my hair a few rakes with my fingers.

He froze. I almost walked into him, then stopped.

Over in the mess area, I saw Joker and Tali sitting at a table, grinning at us.

In unison, we did our best casual stance. No, that doesn't look suspicious At All.

“Evening, Commander!” Joker raised his glass to the two of us.

Oh shit... “Evening, you two. Umm...” I found myself at a loss for words.

“It is good to know that you are so vigilant about the state of the ship's weaponry,” Tali said. Her voice was full of barely-restrained laughter.

Oh yeah. They know.

Garrus rubbed the back of his neck. “Yes, of course. Wouldn't want the Reapers catching us with our pants..." I wanted to smack him. "..Off guard...” He winced a little.

Tali coughed a few times. “True...” she gasped, trying desperately not to laugh. “Care to join us? We were just having a drink and talking...”

I looked at Garrus and shook my head. Time to exit as gracefully as possible under the circumstances. “Nah, I think we're..." My turn to flub. "I'm...just going to turn in for the night.”

Garrus glanced back at me and nodded. “Yeah... still a little tired out from all of the Collector-killing last night.”

“Understood. Goodnight, Shepard, Garrus.” Tali gave a fingertip wave as we walked briskly towards the elevator.

The doors opened and we piled in. I knew I was glowing red at this point. Garrus smacked himself upside the head and mouthed "catch us with our pants down?!" As the doors closed, we could hear them howling with laughter.

"Umm, remember that conversation we had?" Garrus sighed.

"Yup."

"I think they know."

"Yup."

"Think we'll be hearing about this?"

"Probably."

We looked at each other and sighed, then laughed wearily.

"Ah well. Such is life," I said, wiping my eyes, then grinned at him once more. "On the plus side..."

"Hmm?"

"I got lucky tonight!"

He laughed. "Hey, me too! What a coincidence..."

The doors opened. I opened the door to my quarters, then offered Garrus a hand. He smiled and took it. Gently, I towed him in, closing the door behind us.

"Y'know what I want to do right now?" he asked with a grin.

My eyebrow raised of its own accord. "Hmm?"

He stepped forward and hugged me close. "Curl up with you and sleep for a week or so."

"Sounds heavenly."