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Blackwork	By : PestoMonkey Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 11593 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
As James gazed down at Shepard laying on her back in the soft glow of the platform at the top of the Citadel tower it hit him how frenzied and insistent their lovemaking tended to be. With the possibility of the end of everything looming over them in the weeks they'd been together it was rare for them to take their time with each other.
After she tossed her headset aside, he looked into her eyes and saw an expression of eager desperation as she pulled him down into a deep kiss. Her legs were already wrapped around his hips, her hot, naked core pressing against his erect sex, urging him to take her. He paused, then disentangled himself and pulled back.
He decided that on this, of all nights, they ought to take their time. Shepard had just succeeded at saving the galaxy, so he was bound and determined to turn this into something Earth-shattering that she would remember for the rest of her life. For the rest of their lives.
"Slow down, Lola. We have plenty of time," he said, laying beside her. The warm, golden pulse of energy from the Crucible was still washing over them in waves, and if they had chosen to look, they would be able to see the bright explosions of light from the Reapers dying all around the huge dome of the tower.
He leaned on one elbow and trailed a series of gentle kisses along her collarbone. He rested a large hand at the center of her chest over her heart, feeling its steady beat against his palm.
"We're alive, Lola. And we won. We have forever to enjoy each other."
She began to speak and he silenced her with his mouth, giving her a long, languid kiss, his velvety tongue dipping between her lips. His hand drifted slowly across her skin, fingertips tracing the soft crease beneath one breast and continuing in a gentle spiral until just his thumb was moving in slow circles over her taut nipple.
She moaned against his lips and turned slightly towards him, raising herself up on one elbow and bending her opposite knee. Her hand slid up his muscular arm and over the blackwork that adorned his broad shoulder. Her fingernails scraped against the short-cropped hair at the back of his head. He pulled back from the kiss and dipped his head to her breast, flicking his tongue over its pink tip until it grew hard and then taking it between his lips and gently sucking.
"James," Shepard breathed. In a husky voice she said, "You know I could take you if I wanted to."
His arousal twitched against her hip in response to the sound of her voice and the words she had spoken. He smiled around her nipple and drew back, blowing lightly on the hardened flesh that was now wet from his attention. He watched as her areola began puckering up even further from the cool air drifting over it. He shivered slightly at the feel of her fingertips caressing the skin at the back of his neck.
"I know there's nothing you couldn't do if you wanted, Lola. But I know you're going to let me do what I want now, because you know you'll enjoy it. And you know you deserve it."
He drifted his hand down from her breast, sliding his palm against her silky skin as his lips drifted up over her collarbone and neck and he found the sensitive flesh beneath her ear. He enjoyed the small sounds of pleasure she made when she tilted her head backwards and he began to bite gently at her skin.
His hand continued its journey downward until he reached the top of her thigh. He paused and slid his large thumb back and forth over the soft, supple skin of her inner thigh. He heard her murmur his name and felt her legs part in response to his touch.
He found her mouth again with his own and kissed her deeply while his palm slid across her center and his fingertips slipped into warm, silken wetness. She hummed softly in pleasure against his lips at the fresh contact with her sensitive flesh. He didn't think he would ever get tired of the feel of her against his fingertips.
He felt a light caress against his shaft, and then her hand was gripping him gently, gliding along his hot, smooth skin. He grunted softly and lifted his head in surprise, looking into her eyes; he'd been so engrossed in touching her that he hadn't felt her move her hand between them.
She met his gaze and smiled at him playfully.
"You didn't think I'd let you have all the fun, did you?" she said and gave him a gentle squeeze that made him close his eyes and moan softly in pleasure. She definitely knew how to push his buttons.
When he recovered from the sudden sensation of her touch, one corner of his mouth tilted up. She gasped and arched her back when he suddenly slid a pair of thick fingers deep inside her. He knew how to push her buttons, too.
"Oh, God. Yes," she moaned as he began to slowly thrust his fingers into her. He found her swollen bud with his thumb and began rubbing in slow circles, enjoying the sounds of her gasping breaths as her arousal seemed to intensify beneath his touch and her slick muscles clenched around his fingers.
"James. You're so hard," she said in a breathless voice, stroking him more insistently. "Don't you want to be inside me?"
He was beginning to lose touch with reality as she stroked him, her hand occasionally dipping lower with a gentle touch to caress his heavy sack.
"Like you wouldn't believe," he all but growled at her.
He drew his fingers out of her and rose up onto his knees. He gripped her by one smooth, creamy thigh and urged her towards him. She had fire in her eyes when she wrapped one arm around his shoulders and lifted herself up smoothly, wrapping her legs around his hips and straddling his kneeling form.
He held her solidly against him with one strong arm and reached up to unclip her hair with his other hand. He wanted her as undone and naked as he could get her. He wanted to see her wild and uninhibited.
She kissed him hard and he almost cried out when he felt her hips rise up and descend, engulfing his throbbing sex completely within her hot depths. He groaned when he felt her teeth bite into his lower lip at the intense pleasure of their union.
They rocked against each other, their rhythm in sync with the pulse of the Crucible and the steady thrum of the mass effect generator in the chamber. He didn't bother entering her mind this time. He wanted to just feel her and nothing but her wrapped around him the way she was, her smooth skin sliding against his, her tongue wet against his lips.
She began to gasp out incoherent little cries with each thrust and they were forced to break away from their kiss in order to breathe. She gripped him by the back of the neck and pressed her forehead against his as they continued to move against each other. He could feel her hot breath against his cheek and thought he could hear her breathing out whispered words each time he buried himself inside her: IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou.
The sounds of her whispers provoked a sudden surge of intense emotion in him and he gripped her tighter, burying his face in her shoulder and thrusting ever deeper as he felt the pressure of his impending climax begin its gradual surge into his groin.
She met every thrust with the undulations of her own hips. Her small, breathy cries were becoming louder and more frequent. She gripped him tightly by the shoulders and arched her back, tilting her head back. He could feel the silky tendrils of her hair brushing against his arm where it supported her back.
He was mesmerized by the sight of her lithe body, still attached to him where it counted, but almost on display for his eyes only. Her breasts, creamy white and tipped with their delicious pink tips, bounced gently with each of his thrusts. He held her arched back with one strong arm and slipped the other hand up the center of her chest, sliding up along the soft skin of her neck and twining his fingers through her hair. He slid his hand back down again, pausing to gently squeeze one breast and tease at the tip, eliciting a soft moan from her. Goddamn she felt so amazing.
He replaced the fingertips at her breast with his tongue, and slid his hand down further until it was pressed in the juncture between their connected bodies. He found her slick bud, hot and throbbing, and began to stroke it slowly.
Her cries of pleasure grew even more in volume as he stroked her with his fingertips and continued to provide steady attention to her breasts with his mouth. Within moments he felt her slick muscles begin to constrict around him. Her hips bucked against him hard and her fingernails dug into his shoulders. Her loud cry as she orgasmed echoed through the large chamber and back to his ears, causing him to feel his climax build to a crescendo. He was forced to lay her down quickly, lest he inadvertently lose control of his muscles and drop her when his own orgasm began to take over.
Her legs were still wrapped around him, their soft contact adding exponentially to his ecstasy as he pounded into her. A guttural yell erupted from his throat as the final surge of pleasure tore through him and carried him over the edge of his release.
They lay still and gasping for breath for several long moments. James finally gave up the struggle to keep from crushing her and slipped out of her to roll to the side.
He slipped his arm across her waist and was about to pull her body back against his when he noticed the tears streaming down her cheeks. He had a sudden recollection of that morning that already seemed like a lifetime ago, when she had cried after they made love in the shower.
"Lola? Babe? What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
He was a little scared. He'd never seen her cry before the previous day. Even with all the intense stress they'd endured over the past few months, he'd never once seen her falter. The most emotional he'd seen her was the night after Mordin had died. That night she'd been violent and angry, not mournful and sad. She'd seemed to open up to him more and more since their confession of love before the Thorian's gifts, but crying was just something she didn't do.
She sniffed and wiped her tears. And then the bomb dropped.
"I'm pregnant."
ooOoo
Several different thoughts got tangled up in James' head when her words hit his ears.
First was the visceral "oh shit" moment that was a residual instinct left over from his irresponsible teenage years when his biggest fear was of getting a girl pregnant. He had been so exceedingly fearful of that scenario that, in spite of infinite opportunities, he didn't even lose his virginity until he was seventeen, to a slightly older, more experienced girl who only managed to convince him it wasn't a death sentence by bringing the condom and putting it on for him.
The next thought was elation. He loved Shepard. More than he ever thought was possible to love another person. And she was having his baby.
But why the hell was she crying about it?
That's when the realization hit that this shouldn't have happened in the first place.
The Alliance didn't enforce compulsory sterilization among its soldiers, but it did strongly encourage them to take measures to prevent accidents. Regardless of anti-fraternization regs, the Alliance wasn't stupid. If people wanted to fuck, they were going to do it. Better to be safe than sorry. So any soldier that wanted was granted free birth control of their choosing. He'd gone the route that required the least thinking on his part and gotten a vasectomy. He was assured that it would be easily reversible if he ever decided to have kids, but at the time had considered that an exceedingly remote possibility. He had to imagine Shepard had done something similar; of course considering her history who knew what was going on with her in the fertility department.
The other possibility teased at his brain and he didn't want to entertain the thought in the least. But it still reared its ugly head. Had she been with someone else? They hadn't exactly established that they were exclusive at first.
He could have continued that whole train of thought but decided it was a very, very slippery slope he didn't want to try to navigate at the moment.
She must have sensed his distress when that series of thoughts hit his brain.
"James," she said gently. "It's yours. And just so you know, I have as many questions as you do, but you know there's one simple explanation for all this if you just think about it."
One simple explanation. Shit, she was right. He heaved a sigh of relief. The Thorian had healed his wounds. It must have fixed other things, too.
His brow furrowed. "But... you... did it, I dunno, heal you, too?" He realized his fingertips were digging tightly into her hip and forced himself to relax his grip. Before he could control it, his hand drifted to rest lightly on her flat belly.
She sighed and gave him a small smile, resting her hand over his larger one. The talking seemed to have evened out her mood somewhat.
"That's the only explanation I have," she shrugged a little helplessly before continuing. "I... ah. I was pretty broken after dying. Cerberus couldn't fix all of me. When you're resurrected with a singular purpose, certain things suddenly have a much lower priority. Miranda told me about it after the mission was complete. All my parts are intact and functional, but not necessarily viable. She said I could potentially get pregnant, but it would certainly require medical assistance. As in IVF. Which would have been possible for me, at least. One of the first things young female soldiers are offered is to store their eggs... surely you also made a deposit before your, ah, procedure. They say it's to give us more options later on, but I kindof suspect they use the samples for other purposes. So... I had some hope of still having kids if we survived at least. But I never expected this."
"But Lola... this is practically a miracle. Why are you crying about it?"
She actually giggled at his question and he gave her a strange look in response.
"Fucking hormones. Sorry if it worried you, but you'd better get used to it."
He pulled her against him tightly and whispered in her ear. "I really want to make love to you again right now."
She answered him with a deep, lingering kiss.
"So, I take it you're okay with it?" she murmured when they'd pulled away from the kiss and his lips were busy kissing her shoulders again, working his way southward.
He let out a low hum of assent that sounded like a rumble deep in his chest. Before he could even think, the words were spilling from his lips.
"Lola, you couldn't make me happier unless you married me."
"That sounds like a plan," she said with a smile, and lifted his head back up to hers so she could kiss him.
ooOoo
Black was three sheets to the wind, but the other men seemed to be at least five or six. As he had predicted, he'd heard a lot of stories after they'd loosened up. Most of which had been about Shepard, and the more he heard, the more legendary she seemed to sound. Of course, her latest feat had already landed her in history books for the next several generations, and she'd already been a household name beforehand.
Anderson kept checking the clock on his omnitool and looking worried.
Finally Black had to say, "I don't think they're coming, man. You heard her voice earlier, didn't you? They were clearly having their own little celebration up there." He gestured upward with his thumb.
Anderson stared at him in blank drunkenness for a second before Black's point finally registered. The other man grinned at him and slurred, "You're a smart man, Black. James and Shepard. Yes, if I were them, I would take advantage of the time as well. Hah!"
"What about 'James and Shepard'?" a deep voice said from behind them.
They turned as a unit to see the savior of the galaxy walking into the room followed closely by the muscular marine.
"Shepard!" they all yelled in greeting. She grinned back at them.
"Come have a drink to celebrate!" Bailey said, lurching out of his chair to find more glasses. The four men had been lounging around Bailey's desk as they celebrated.
Shepard seemed to be positively glowing. Her hair was down and just a little wild. She and James were both dressed in their tight-fitting flexible webbed body armor. They dumped their heavy armor plates in a corner and strolled forward.
They made quite the pair, Black thought. All agile assurance and deadly precision and grace. He noticed they still had their light weapons secured to belts at their waists. You don't leave anything to chance, do you? he observed with approval.
When James finally saw him and recognition hit the young man's face, Black stood and stepped towards his friend.
"Jimmy. Glad to see you made it," he said quietly, his eyes glinting with pride.
James pulled him into a silent embrace that was nearly crushing with his strength and emotion. He heard James let out a deep breath before he finally said softly, "Glad to see you alive, Diego, but you'd better keep your fucking hands off my woman."
Black drew back abruptly and met James' eyes with surprise. The kid had a twinkle in his eye and his mouth was quirked into a wry smile. He couldn't help but let out a soft laugh. He supposed he did have a bit of a love 'em and leave 'em reputation.
In a quiet voice that he hoped only James could hear, he said, "Son, she was all yours by the time I met her. I'm no fool to go chasing after things I have no chance at winning."
James grinned and slugged him lightly on the back. The kid seemed downright happy. He didn't think he'd ever seen him in such high spirits. James looked at Shepard, and Black caught the charged look that passed between them. Shepard's already rosy cheeks blushed a tad brighter. Goddamn if she wasn't the most striking woman he'd ever seen, and James clearly must have the moves to keep her satisfied from the looks of things.
Before he knew it, he found himself abruptly in a tight and very pleasant embrace with the woman in question. He was awash in the pleasant smell of her; a lingering almondy scent that was mixed with the more subtle but pungent, spicy scent of her sweat. His body responded instantly.
This is not an effective way to rebel... against anything, he thought as he cursed his body for its rebellious response to her touch, but if she could tell she was gracious enough to ignore it. You might as well just face the fact that you're a dirty old man, Mason.
"Good to see you made it, Black," she said softly into his ear.
"You, too, Shepard," he said. "How's the ink?"
She pulled back and met his eyes with a smile. "It's great... You were right you know."
"About what?" he asked, his eyebrows raised in inquiry.
"He proposed," she shrugged as if it were the most commonplace occurrence in the world, and cast an affectionate glance at James.
She gave Black a quick peck on the cheek, leaving him standing in stunned silence before moving to greet the other three men in the room with equal affection.
A fucking force of nature, he thought to himself, and tried to ignore the smug look James was giving him.
"You're one lucky bastard, kid," Black said quietly to James.
"Man, you have no idea," James replied and his chest seemed to swell as he said it.
ooOoo
The Normandy was docked, but flying it anywhere was out of the question. The pilot was in no condition to reliably get them anywhere. When they boarded, they'd found Joker drunk in the starboard lounge. He was stretched out on one of the sofas with his head in EDI's lap and his arms wrapped tightly around her waist while she gently ran her fingers through his hair.
Shepard worried that they might need to find another pilot. But at least her initial concern about the state of the ship's systems had been unfounded. EDI had effectively departed, but had left the ship with a functional VI system that could easily fulfill all the basic tasks she'd been responsible for, which had been primarily control of the ship's defensive systems.
But Shepard needed to get back to Earth. They hadn't been able to contact the Alliance base in London and she needed to know how the rest of her crew had fared. She hoped they were all celebrating the end of the war as well, but needed to find out for herself before she could rest.
Black had headed back to the Wards and they had left Anderson and Bailey on the Citadel. The two men had been lost in reminiscence of old battles and Bailey had found another bottle of Scotch that Anderson was only too happy to take part in sharing.
Only a few of her crew had remained aboard the Normandy. Tali had opted to stay, arguing that Adams may need her expertise in engineering. It hadn't occurred to her why Garrus had been so restless about getting back to the ship until she found him with Tali in a dark corner of engineering locked in a passionate embrace. She found Adams at a console on the far side attempting to give them some privacy.
"Good work out there," Adams said, beaming at her when she greeted him. "By the way, I wouldn't go down to the lower level. Daniels and Donnelly have been at it for hours... is it a Scottish thing? I couldn't imagine keeping up with a woman as energetic as Daniels sounds." He shook his head in wonder.
Shepard just laughed. She wasn't surprised.
"I imagine they had a lot of pent up energy, knowing those two. It sure took them long enough." She studied the man for a second, then said, "You should be relaxing, Greg. We won."
He shook his head ruefully and shrugged, "I know. But I can't sleep yet and I've never been very good at idle entertainment. Believe it or not, fiddling with this stuff relaxes me."
"Sounds like you need a girlfriend, Greg," Shepard teased.
He laughed, "Yeah, maybe now I'll actually find time for one, thanks to you. Take care, Shepard."
She met James a few minutes later in the shuttle bay.
"Do you actually trust me to fly this thing?" James asked as they boarded one of the Normandy's Kodiak shuttles and settled down in the cockpit.
"Let's just call this a test to see how responsible you can be," she jibed.
He snorted at her and said, "Babe, if you're worried about me being a bad influence, you're in trouble. I'm gonna teach him all the worst ways to behave."
She looked at him testily. He laughed and said, "And then I'm going to tell him exactly why it's stupid to act that way. Of course, all the answers will be 'because Mom won't have sex with me if I let you do that.'"
She punched him in the shoulder. He grinned at her playfully.
"And what if it's a girl?" she asked.
"Well, then I'll teach her all the worst ways boys behave and tell her to stay the hell away from them... and keep my gun by the door because girls never listen anyway."
She snorted. "You would've gotten along great with my dad if he were still alive. You're right. I never listened to him. I rebelled early and often."
"Oh yeah? What constituted 'rebellion' to a teenage Zoe Shepard?"
"I stole Dad's guns and went to the shooting range, mostly. He hated that. Mom pretended to hate it, too, but I think she was secretly proud of me for doing it."
James laughed and shook his head. "I wish I'd known you then."
"No... you really don't. Boys hated me. I was mean. I never had boyfriends because I always felt like I had something to prove. I had to be better than any boy I knew. I have no idea where all the anger came from, either."
"Well, your folks must've done something right," he said, looking at her warmly.
ooOoo
When they finally made it to London it was near dawn and nearly impossible to find a spot to land amidst the rubble. There were people celebrating everywhere there was a clear street, which was some comfort to Shepard. Seeing life going on around her, surrounded by all the destruction, made the entire ordeal feel worthwhile.
They managed to make their way to the building they'd been in only hours before and found it utterly deserted. Shepard had a sinking feeling in her gut and noticed James' face was drawn and worried as they hunted through the building looking for survivors. There weren't even any bodies.
When they reached the upper floors they began to hear the sounds of voices and laughter and hurried up onto the roof. There they found the entire crew, along with many of the other soldiers that had been stationed there, and most of them were utterly drunk.
"Shepard!" a familiar voice yelled out and before she could blink she felt herself being wrapped in a tight embrace and spun around in a circle. A warm pair of lips pressed against her cheek and then she was spun again and caught up in another strong embrace.
"Hold on, geeze! I'm getting dizzy here," she said through elated laughter. When she realized it was Steve who had hugged her last she grinned and wrapped her arms around him again tightly.
"Damn, it's so good to see you in one piece."
"Ditto," he said.
She turned to see Kaidan nearby grinning like an idiot. "Shepard," he said, his voice catching slightly, "I wanted to be the first to tell you, Steve and I are getting married."
Her eyes grew wide. "Holy shit! That's fantastic! Congratulations!" She grabbed them both together in a tight embrace and struggled to hold back her tears. She was still surprised by the sudden surges of emotions she kept feeling, but realized that sometimes it wasn't so bad. Being overwhelmed with happiness was a new thing, but definitely something worth savoring.
James was right behind her, his large hand warm on her lower back. He leaned to whisper something in her ear. She shook her head and said, "After I talk to everyone first."
When she found Liara, Javik was right beside her. The prothean bowed his head to her in an odd way she'd never seen him do before. He spoke a series of words that she didn't understand at first, but gradually the meaning resolved itself in her mind.
"You have honored my people's memory with the destruction wrought upon our common enemy. You are my friend now and for always. From now on, I will consider you the Avatar of Hope. Thank you, Commander."
She pulled him into an embrace which he reluctantly returned. When he pulled back, he glanced between her and James and said with an expression of mild surprise, "Congratulations to the both of you."
Liara stood beside him, beaming. When Shepard turned to her they embraced tightly.
"Shepard," Liara said against her shoulder. "I'm so relieved you're alright. I was so sure I'd never see you again."
When she pulled away, Shepard could see tears in her friend's eyes.
"I'm fine, Liara. Better than fine, really." She grinned when she felt James slide an arm around her waist.
Liara's eyes lit up. "Javik said congratulations... are you two...?" She glanced at Javik in question. His eyes all seemed to twinkle at the same time and Shepard thought he was actually smiling for once. Liara seemed to read his mind and turned her head to face Shepard again.
"Oh, Shepard, that's wonderful!" Liara embraced her again. "Oh!" She exclaimed then looked at Javik again, whispering, "Do you mind if I tell them?"
"No, my beautiful Asari," Javik said, a look of utter adoration in his eyes.
"Shepard," Liara said. "Javik suggested that if you and James survived, that I shouldn't wait to conceive a child from our melding. I would like it if she knew the both of you, now that it is possible."
Shepard and James were both stunned. The possibility had never occurred to them.
Shepard recovered her voice. She was barely able to contain the emotion welling up in her when she said, "Liara, that would be... wonderful."
A moment later, they found Karin Chakwas sitting quietly and contemplating the rising sun over the ruins of the city around them.
"Karin?" Shepard inquired as she walked up behind the older woman.
Chakwas turned and smiled warmly at her and nodded at James.
"How are you feeling?" the doctor asked. Always the caretaker, Shepard thought. She sat down next to the other woman and wrapped her arm around her. She noticed James wander off to greet some of the other soldiers.
"I feel fantastic. We're alive."
Chakwas turned back to gaze over the ruins of the city around them.
"Oh, Shepard," she sighed. "I've just been thinking about what happens next. Until now I've refrained from considering the possibility of 'afterwards' but now it's real, and I don't want to think about it, but I can't help myself."
"Karin," Shepard said gently. "You're welcome to serve on the Normandy as long as you want, you know."
The older woman sighed and turned to look at her. "I know, but things will be very different without you there."
Shepard was taken aback. She hadn't even considered the possibility of leaving the Normandy. But things were different now. She and James had joked about the kid thing, but it was suddenly very real now that she was talking to someone who clearly had a vested interest in the outcome.
She knew she wanted this part of life with James more than anything. She just hadn't considered the logistics. She'd been raised on ships all her life, but had always longed for something different. She could give that to her own child. But she would have to change her own life drastically. And clearly her choice would be affecting a multitude of other people. Karin was just the first person to make that clear to her.
Could she even give up that life? That was the biggest question. And she didn't even know what James wanted. Clearly they had a long, serious conversation in their near future.
Chakwas finally broke the silence, "My place is on the Normandy, as long as there are crew there who know me. I will miss you, though."
Shepard just gripped her friend's hand wordlessly and they sat together watching the sun rise.
- 17
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