Mass Effect (Sanguine): Near Dark

[camalyng]

Title: Near Dark
Rating: 18+ (smut)
Words: ~7200
Summary: Net vids and chill.
Related works: Sequel to "What We Do in the Shadows".

"Are you sure about this?"

"We're good," says Kaidan, for the nth time. "Look, Ash has medi-gel and a water bottle ready to go, you've got the hotel doctor on speed dial, and we still have a ton of food left."

Garrus glances at the leftover food lying on the table. Agent Parasini had comped the Normandy crew a few Port Hanshan corporate hotel rooms with room service as a thank you for Shepard's help on an arrest, and after Wrex commandeered one of the rooms for a nap, he'd ended up crashing with Kaidan and Ashley. (Wrex snores. Neither of them had questioned his presence after the words "Wrex" and "nap".) The plan had been vids and food; they'd watched too few vids and ordered a little too much food.

"What's with you?" Ashley asks. "You're the one who turned up the heat -"

"Because Noveria's freezing." He hadn't turned it up so that Kaidan would take off his sweater and shirt before they even started the first vid and so Ashley would take her pants off halfway through; they'd done that of their own accord.

"- and usually you're ready to go at the drop of a hat," she continues, as if he hadn't interrupted.

Why would he bite someone because someone dropped a hat? And here he thought working at C-Sec had been a good primer on human idioms. "I guess Kaidan's medic caution is rubbing off on me," he says.

"That's not all I plan on rubbing off on you," Kaidan says cheerfully, and Garrus just stares at him because that only barely makes sense.

"That was awful," says Ashley.

"I'm not even going to answer that," Garrus decides. "Look, it's just - your neck, and then both of you at once? I don't want anything to go wrong."

They're being careful - besides the disinfectant wipe they've already used, the prep work Kaidan listed off, and their usual biofeedback precautions, Garrus is going to take just enough blood to make the venom, and Kaidan's forbidden from touching him the way he likes to avoid turning him on (any more than the act already does) and risking any extra movement - but his irrational side has jumped straight to worst case scenario and doesn't want to lose them. Which is embarrassing, frankly. Turian venom only makes the person who receives it more trusting, not the person who creates it. There's only so much he can blame on voyeuristic threesomes, long hours in space, and having each other's backs in firefights.

"I thought you've done this before," says Kaidan.

"A long time ago," he says. "And with another turian." Someone whose anatomy he knew almost as well as his own - someone who didn't matter to him as much as Ashley and Kaidan do.

Kaidan pulls him down by the collar to headbutt him. "I trust you," he says, his breath hot on Garrus' mouth.

"So do I," says Ashley, reaching for his hand.

"So bite me," Kaidan breathes.

In that tone of voice, Garrus can't help but obey, moving down the bed to the side of Kaidan's neck. He scores two points with his fangs just to make sure: "Here?"

"Do it."

He puts a hand on Kaidan's chest to try and keep him still, and then sinks his fangs into him, partially proud of the thrill of tension he can feel under his palm, and partially terrified that Kaidan will move and end up ripping the bite wounds bigger. Gradually, Kaidan relaxes beneath him, and some of his worries ease away. Besides, even with the hands off rule he's set for both his humans, the way Kaidan's watching him through half-lidded eyes is making it hard to worry about hurting him.

(Before this all started, he'd never even considered humans as sexual partners, let alone thought mere eye contact with one would ever be this charged.)

"It shouldn't feel this good," Kaidan whispers, his throat barely moving. "Bleeding."

"That's the venom talking," Ashley tells him. Garrus waves his free hand in denial, because Kaidan's blood is still converting into venom, he can feel it. Probably catching the movement, she adds, "Okay, maybe it's just because it's Garrus. Because if you're getting off on bullets making it through your shields, I'll have questions."

Kaidan finally takes his eyes off of Garrus to, he's assuming, look over at Ashley. "Not in combat, no, but I'd also get off if it was you making me bleed instead of Garrus."

For a long moment which Garrus uses to give Kaidan the venom, nobody speaks, but Ashley's grip on his hand suddenly tightens.

"Not really my thing," she says eventually, a catch in her voice betraying her. "But I'll let you know if I ever change my mind."

"You do that," Kaidan replies distantly.

Damn, he'd like to know too, so he could - supervise. Yes. They clearly need supervision, and who better than the person who got them into bleeding in intimate situations in the first place?

As the last of the venom trickles out of his fangs, Garrus squeezes Ashley's hand to warn her, and then lifts his head. She moves in with the medi-gel the second she can fit her hand between him and Kaidan, activating it just as quickly.

"Good job," says Kaidan, patting her on the hand. He misses the first couple of tries.

"I had a good team," she says. "Are you okay?"

Kaidan closes his eyes. "That took more out of me than more blood from the wrist or thigh. Think it's because it's closer to the heart."

Concerned, Garrus pulls up his biofeedback app. "The next time you want to talk me into feeding from your jugular, remember this conversation."

"I'll be okay," Kaidan insists. "I wouldn't let myself in a firefight for the next forty-eight hours but you didn't kill me. I'm just feeling weak."

"I swear to God," says Ashley. "If you pass out after coming again..."

Kaidan manages a feeble laugh. "Hey, that was my first time, and the problem then was food and water, which we have plenty of this time. I'm not concerned. Although speaking of water..."

Ashley doesn't even give him the bottle: She simply uncaps it and pours the water into his mouth until he waves her off, and they repeat the process after he swallows. Finally satisfied that he's not going to die or faint, Garrus climbs off the bed and moves to the assortment of levo food they'd ordered. It's a lot of colors that aren't usually seen in dextro food.

Eventually, Kaidan calls out, "Garrus, I have to say, I'm disappointed you didn't lick my wounds."

"Medi-gel heals faster than the reaction of venom and saliva, I can admit it," he says. "But if you're so insistent, I can lick you later. Just not on your wounds. Medi-gel tastes disgusting."

"Oh, I insist," says Kaidan.

Garrus puts that aside. "What do you want to eat?"

"Let's go with the angel food cake," Kaidan decides. Garrus stares at the food, wondering what angels eat. "Uh, the white one."

He cuts a slice similarly sized to the pieces they were eating earlier and brings it back to the bed, where Kaidan's now sitting up but leaning heavily on Ashley. One forkful at a time, he and Ashley feed Kaidan the cake, and within a few minutes Kaidan's licking the frosting from the fork in a way which he can't help but imagine on his body.

"You want some, Ash?" Kaidan offers. "I feel like I'm hogging it."

Ashley shakes her head. "It's all yours. I've got that cheesecake, remember? Angel food cake's way too vanilla for me."

Kaidan smirks. After a moment, Ashley rolls her eyes. "You know what I mean."

"I'm going to assume this is some weird human thing," says Garrus.

"Vanilla's a food flavor and also what we call overly conventional tastes in bed," Kaidan explains smugly.

"Between having my blood sucked on by a turian and biotics, you should know I'm not that vanilla," she retorts.

"Voyeurism," Kaidan adds, and she sighs and shugs in acquiescence.

"I don't know," Garrus says thoughtfully. "Those three things could be your only weird kinks."

"They're my only weird kinks you're going to find out," she says, and sticks more cake in Kaidan's mouth before he can reply. She turns to Garrus. "Anyway: Does it taste better?" At his blank look, she adds, "From the neck."

"I don't taste it until those few drops when I'm trying to heal you," he admits, and that's barely enough to get a taste for it. "There aren't any taste buds in that particular system. Blah, blah, biology."

Kaidan stares. "You asked as far back as Solcrum to bite my neck."

"You two are the ones with vampire fantasies," Garrus says, shrugging. "Sorry for wanting to help make it happen."

And there is a certain thrill to being the facilitator of teenage fantasies, but more than that, biting someone's jugular comes with both power and trust. Of course he likes having one of humanity's most powerful biotics at his mercy; of course he'd want one of the best soldiers he's ever met like that too. Of course he likes having them completely trusting him to take care of them, well before his teeth so much as graze their skin.

"Well, you're better than the fantasy," says Ashley. "Cuddles instead of becoming a vampire yourself? Yes, please."

"As soon as the scientists figure out how to change someone's species, I'll let you know," he says, and she makes a face.

Abruptly, Kaidan wipes frosting onto his mandible. Ashley bursts out laughing, giving him a fairly clear idea of how ridiculous he must look, and Garrus draws his mandibles together. "What are you -"

Kaidan presses against his chest and sucks the frosting off, and the question dies in his throat, replaced by a surprised purr.

"You know, I think it tastes better from the mandibles," Kaidan says conversationally, reaching up to play with his fringe in a way that looks casual but wreaks havok on his breathing. "Ash, you want to try it?"

"I think I will."

As she leans across Kaidan to smudge frosting onto his opposite mandible and suck it off, Garrus feels his tenuous control of the situation shifting away from him.

"How did you know?" he demands, or tries to, because his subvocals are still firmly in the 'arousal' range rather than 'aggression'.

"We have this thing called the extranet," Kaidan says, completely straight faced. "You can even access it on ships; it's incredible."

Ashley stares. "You know our access is monitored, right?"

Kaidan shrugs, and dots frosting onto the tip of her nose. Garrus watches a little slackjawed as he licks the frosting away and Ashley actually giggles, but it's less what he's doing and more what he's done: He looked up how to turn him on. He's given some thought to their... trysts while he wasn't actively engaged in one. He'd do something like that for him (and, indirectly, Ashley).

"Hey," says Ashley, stroking the back of his neck. "If he's getting frosting all over everyone, I'm pretty sure he's okay. My turn?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Garrus says, shaking himself out of his reverie. "Wrist like usual?" He doesn't know why he keeps asking; she's generally more adventurous once she has some venom in her, but not so much before.

She shakes her head and puts the remnants of the cake aside. Deliberately, she drops her gaze, and as he and Kaidan look down, she spreads her legs. He can't help but notice there's already a small dark spot on her underwear.

"Fuck," breathes Kaidan, which about sums it up for him too.

"I thought you called it the femoral," she says dryly.

Garrus swallows. "That's - doable."

"That's not the only thing," says Kaidan.

"Stop that," says Ashley, swatting him with the back of one hand; Kaidan catches her arm and holds onto it. "Stop that too. Come on, show him where to feed. He's only used to finding the vein on you."

Garrus is fairly certain he could find it, but he'll only ever object to Kaidan touching her if it looks like she doesn't want it. He moves down the bed as Ashley moves up and leans against the headboard, then Kaidan traces a circle around a spot on the inside of her thigh.

"Here."

His finger remains on her skin, though, and Garrus deliberately grazes a mandible against it when he dips down to mouth at the site, not biting just yet but building anticipation for all of them.

"Boys," Ashley says quietly, the wrong side of heated to be truly reproachful. "Disinfectant."

Reaching for the wipes on the side table, Garrus lifts his head just enough to take Kaidan's finger into his mouth, and meets his eyes as he swirls his tongue around that callused human skin.

"Garrus," Kaidan breathes, his breath coming sharp when Garrus sucks just once on his finger.

Ashley cups his cheek in his hand, pressing her thumb to his colony markings. "Boys," she repeats.

With splayed mandibles, he lets Kaidan's finger slip out of his mouth before wiping down her thigh with the disinfectant and shifting into position, his arms over her legs to keep her steady (and for more contact, if he's honest, which he's not, because it's Kaidan who should be clingy right now, not him). "Ready when you are."

"Now," she orders, and he dives in.

It's his second time today tasting human disinfectant, which tastes even worse than medi-gel, but it's only for a moment, and it's completely worth it to have both his humans in turn instead of within weeks of each other. Ashley sighs in contentment, easing her hands onto his shoulders. He hasn't even made the venom yet. She has no right to question Kaidan about liking it. If anything, he has questions for them both.

Absently, he lets his talons trail up her thigh, until she swats his arm.

"Stop that, that's tickly," she says, again more aroused than disapproving, but he does stop. He'll save it for later, when she's healing up and craving touch.

"You're ticklish?" Kaidan asks with interest.

Her tone's a lot more even, deliberately so, as she looks to Kaidan. "It's the kind of movement that makes me want to move."

Kaidan pushes some loose strands of - what's it called on humans? hair - back behind Ashley's ear. "I could help hold you still again."

"You just want to make another Ashley sandwich," she says dismissively, though Garrus can't help but notice that her gaze is on Kaidan's mouth now.

He takes one of her hands and taps a claw onto the back of her palm, a silent request for contact. She obliges him, sweeping her fingers up the sensitive skin at the back of his neck, and he purrs into her thigh, growling approvingly once she reaches his crest.

Kaidan's stare hangs heavy on him for a moment before he seems to remember the conversation. "Ashley sandwiches are a lot tastier than the finger sandwiches you got from room service."

Garrus lifts his head just enough to say, "They were tiny," because they looked so pointlessly small, and then with a warning swipe of his tongue over her skin, he starts easing the venom into her.

He's had enough practice on Kaidan to feel fairly comfortable taking his time on the femoral, especially after the quick in and out operation that was his jugular, and Ashley always seems to like it slower too. Above him, she sighs in pleasure, but removes one hand from him; when he flicks his gaze over at Kaidan, she's got a hand on his thigh.

That's always the difficulty in these encounters: Keeping everyone involved. While they all like to watch, it still feels more polite to try and make sure the first aider's having a good time, too, and he's usually trying to balance that with safety concerns. Ashley's a little easier, keeping her hands off if she hasn't been bitten but looking frustrated about it and refusing invitations to join in; Kaidan's adherence to the fraternization regulation varies, but when he's on venom like he is now, he's needier than she is. He appreciates Ashley trying to cover him.

"You boys can have your Ashley sandwich some other time," she says, her voice starting to take on that distant quality he knows from experience. "What if I want to be the bread?"

"That can -" Garrus watches Kaidan choke as Ashley's wandering hand skims between his legs. "Ah, that can be arranged."

Humans had always seemed to have too many fingers, until his had started using their fingers on him to startling effect. Judging from Kaidan's whining and the biotic sparks starting at the back of his neck, Ashley's just as effective even through clothes, the outline of Kaidan's cock becoming more visible in his trousers. Garrus can't help but shift his hips against the bed, trying to get a little friction without either of them noticing.

"Hey," says Kaidan, one hand on the sensitive edge of his cowl; Garrus startles into a moan. "Don't do that. We'll take care of you once you're done with Ash."

He's actually almost done, and holds up two talons half a centimetre apart to say so, yet somehow he'd still rather take care of them than the other way around. Besides, here between her legs, her scent is going right to his head, and ever since that conversation about taste, well. Anything to get the taste of disinfectant out of his mouth. If it's a turn-on for all involved, even better.

He finishes up, then licks at the wound, lapping up the last traces of blood, but he doesn't stop there. Her legs tremble as he gives her longer, showier strokes for Kaidan's benefit as well as hers. "Fuck," she breathes, both hands at the back of his neck. He'll have to apologize to Kaidan later. "Garrus... Please..."

He grazes his teeth up and off her thigh instead of simply looking up at her. "Please what?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Please eat her out," Kaidan says, almost as one word.

His eyes lock on hers, a silent question of consent.

"Yes," she begs him. "I need to know what that tongue feels like."

That's what he needed. His mandibles flare, but all he says is, "Medi-gel, water, and food first. Don't go Kaidaning on me because you're that turned on; we have water this time."

"You two are never going to let me live that down, are you?" Kaidan asks, shaking his head as he opens another unit of medi-gel (it occurs to Garrus that if he'd worked faster, they could have used the remainder of the first unit).

"Nope," they say in unison.

Kaidan applies and activates the medi-gel. "Insubordinate assholes," he says, but it's a little too fond for the words to hold much meaning.

Garrus opens a drink bottle for Ashley, and watches her take her first mouthful. She's not as weak as Kaidan was earlier nor his first time from the femoral, which had also been with a migraine. Good. "You know you love us."

Immediately, Kaidan stares at him, and Ashley looks to him and then Kaidan in turn, her uncertain gaze flicking back and forth. Whoops.

"It," he corrects himself. Stupid Garrus, bringing emotions into this and for the one among them who's more interested in someone else. "You love the insubordination."

"Okay, yeah," says Kaidan, and Ashley relaxes and starts drinking again. "Only from you guys."

This is still somewhat dangerous territory. Garrus makes a tactical retreat to the food. "Which one's the cheesecake?"

"White with the red berries on top," Ashley calls out. "On the right."

When he returns with a slice of cheesecake and a fork, Ashley's sitting between Kaidan's legs and leaning into his chest, her legs both over one of his and his arms wrapped around her back and knees.

"Is this some kind of Alliance cuddle session now?" he wonders, kneeling in front of them.

"No, you dumb turian," she says, sliding an arm around his waist to tug him closer. "We just didn't want to start anything else without you."

Warm relief spreads through his chest, almost as if he was on the venom himself, and he headbutts both his humans in turn before offering her a forkful of cheesecake.

"I don't understand cheesecake," he says, as he and Kaidan take turns feeding her. "Cake is supposed to be sweet, and cheese is savory."

"Different kind of cheese," says Ashley, smearing some on his nose.

He resists the sudden urge to laugh as she leans towards him and licks it off. "Oh, is it one with herbs? I didn't know they put that in cake."

"Different kind of cheese," repeats Kaidan.

"You guys have more than two basic kinds of cheese?"

Ashley looks sadly at the cheesecake on the plate. "If I could share this with you, I would."

"Speaking of eating levo things," says Kaidan. "How are you going to filter...?"

It takes him a moment to realize what he's leaving unsaid. "Oh. There's medication I can take afterwards - I'll just drop by Opold's on the way back to the ship."

"Okay, good," Kaidan says, leaning over Ashley to headbutt him. "You're always trying to keep us safe when we're doing this - wouldn't want you to end up sick either."

"Thanks," is all he can really say to that. He doesn't have words for how much it means to him that they're looking out for him as well as the other way around.

So instead of looking for the words, he moves on. "Ash? Feeling okay?"

"Feeling horny, sure," she says, untangling herself from both of them. As he puts the plate aside, she and Kaidan rearrange to their earlier positions of her leaning on the headboard with her legs spread and Kaidan at their side. "Promise I won't pass out."

"Shut up," Kaidan sighs.

Garrus just chuckles as he settles between her legs. He can still see the medi-gel on one thigh, so he avoids it and goes for the other one, teasing his tongue and mandibles gently up her leg. Ashley watches him through half-lidded eyes, her breathing shallow, her reaction a reminder of how different this is to going down on a turian woman. While it's a mild erogenous zone for turians too, her thin human skin is more sensitive than turian plating; he would have had to do more than that for a turian, even one on venom.

"C'mon, Garrus," she murmurs. "What are you waiting for?"

The element of surprise. He rips the sides of her panties, and she and Kaidan gasp at the same time, but he ignores them to tug down the front half of her underwear to the bed. Flaring his mandibles to flick her thighs, he drags his tongue slowly over her, and it's an odd smell and taste but hell, he can work with this. Ashley groans, mono track music to his ears, which he takes this as a cue to repeat it. Once he starts licking where she's wettest, Kaidan's moaning too.

"If you had any idea how you two look right now," breathes Kaidan.

His hands tightly balled on his knees when Garrus looks up at him, which is an terrifying impressive feat of control for someone who must be craving contact.

"Get over here," he says. "And make those hands useful."

"I could use some hands myself," says Ashley.

Hm. "Touch test," he says, and presses his still gloved claws into her hip. "Too sharp?"

"Good there, but definitely too sharp where I want them," she says. "Kaidan?"

"I've got you, Ash."

Kaidan's fingers parting her folds and then stroking at what he can only assume is her clit distract him for a moment, partially because he wishes he could be doing that, but mostly because it makes Ashley writhe. Then she gets out both their names, and he remembers he's supposed to be doing something too, and he slides his tongue into her.

"Oh, God," she whimpers, tangling one hand into Kaidan's hair and the other into his fringe. "I could do this forever."

"I think that could be arranged," says Kaidan.

He catches Kaidan's eye, and Kaidan grins, somehow a signal for both of them to slow down. Their communication and teamwork in the field have improved tenfold since they started doing this, but it's far more fun coordinating like this in bed, inching Ashley one lick or touch at a time to the edge and then leaving her there. She whines, wrapping her legs around his cowl to keep him close, and he just splays his mandibles, his mouth too busy to smile the human way.

"You're so beautiful like this," says Kaidan, and he's not even sure whom he's talking to any more.

"You know what would be even more beautiful?" Ashley gripes.

"This?" asks Kaidan.

Garrus feels the slight vibrations of his biotics through Ashley's body to his tongue more than he sees the dark energy playing over her clit. She keens, her grip on him suddenly deliciously painful as her legs go slack around him, making him moan against her. While he usually enjoys trying to prolong a partner's orgasm, the tingle of biotics is a lot different on his tongue while he's actively trying to use it than it is on his cock while receiving a handjob. He withdraws the moment Ashley starts to come down.

"That was pretty beautiful," she breathes, letting them go.

"That was weird," he says, or tries to. His tongue feels like it's not responding properly to his brain.

Kaidan confirms it with a shake of his head. "Translator error. Poor articulation."

Garrus wiggles his fingers like a biotic mnemonic, points at his tongue, and draws his mandibles together.

"Oh, whoops," says Kaidan. "Sorry. I forgot you'd feel it too."

He shakes his head for him not to worry about it, then absently tries to wipe some of Ashley's fluids from his chin with the back of his hand, only for Kaidan to grab his wrist and lick them away.

"Hey," she says, tugging him upright and closer to her; Kaidan follows. "I wanna play."

"That's -" he manages to pronounce, only for the thought to disappear instead as together, they lick and at some points suck his jaw and mandibles clean.

Kaidan gives a contented hum. "Gunnery Chief served on a turian. Yum."

Ashley giggles, the force of it tipping her forward into his arms.

"You okay?" he asks, tilting her chin up to check her face. "You need more food or water or anything?"

"Just a little more recovery time," she says. "You take point on Kaidan and I'll follow when I'm ready. I seem to remember you promising to lick him, anyway."

He answers her with a fleeting headbutt before leaving a supportive arm around her as he turns to Kaidan. "I did, didn't I?"

Kaidan has the audacity to pout as Garrus leans forward. But he's not the only one who's been doing research: Despite not being able to find the right configuration of species and genders, Garrus has watched his share of turian on human porn (awkwardly, in the Mako but still while most of the crew was asleep, audio routed to his earpiece and doublechecked after Shepard caught Ashley's sister happily calling Kaidan cute in a vidmail), enough to know that it's not just the neck that's an erogenous zone for humans, it's their ears. He presses his tongue to the opposite side of Kaidan's neck from where he bit him earlier, then slides upwards to the corner of his jaw and then to his ear. As he takes it carefully between his teeth, he reaches down to palm Kaidan through his pants.

"Damnit, Garrus," Kaidan breathes, thrusting into his hand. He's sparking as he reaches for Ashley, brighter when she takes pity on him and nudges Garrus's hand aside to undo his belt and help him shed the last of his clothes.

Garrus sits back and watches for a moment; watches Ashley spit into her hand and tug at him, her lips along his collarbone; watches Kaidan slide his hands under her shirt and, at her nod, pull it over her head; watches her reach lower for his balls (he's always thought they seemed so unprotected on humans but from the way Kaidan reacts, he can finally see an advantage); watches him reach behind her and make her bra fall away; watches her mouth at his nipple; watches him knead at her breasts (mammary glands are so strange but she seems to be enjoying it); watches the literal sparks everywhere they touch. Besides being directly involved himself, it's the first time he's watched two people both on venom together, and it's noisy, it's intimate, it's hotter than any porn he's ever seen, even if it is two humans, because it's right in front of him and it's his humans.

All of a sudden, Ashley turns to him, looking dismayed. "We're leaving you out."

He splays his mandibles. "I was going to join back in eventually."

"No," says Kaidan, pulling him closer. "Now -"

With a glance at Ashley, Kaidan's suddenly surging forward and undoing his trousers, while Ashley tugs his tunic up and over his head. The sheer coordinated force of their onslaught is a little terrifying but also makes him wonder why they've never tried having both of them on venom sooner.

"That's better," Kaidan says smugly, once his clothes, gloves, and underwear are tossed unceremoniously off the bed. "You were wearing too many clothes."

As the only turian in the room, he feels like he should feel more self conscious about his nudity when they've really only seen him naked below the belt before, but they're giving him very similar looks of affection, curiosity, and want. His expression is probably in the same area. He's seen them half-dressed, changing in or out of armor, or with their pants down while they're on venom, but this is the first time everyone's been naked at once. Instead of embarrassed, he just feels warm and desired.

"I would have thought you were," he says. "We've kept you waiting, haven't we?"

"We have," Ashley agrees, crawling forward to straddle one of Kaidan's legs (for a moment, Garrus is distracted by the line of her back as she moves). "Two snipers and a biotic walk into a hotel - there's a surprising level of patience."

Garrus looks at her sideways, contemplating a division of labor a little more complex than Kaidan's wordless commands. "Ma'am - I'll take center, you go high and low?"

"Nice tactic, Officer," she says.

They move as one, him grazing his teeth over Kaidan's chest and pumping at his cock, Ashley reaching below his amp port at the back of his neck and for his balls. Kaidan slides one hand into his fringe and one up her thigh, but he doesn't - can't last long, biotics flaring bright as he comes. Though Garrus shifts so that his chin's on his shoulder to catch that dark energy through skin instead of teeth, neither he nor Ashley stop moving.

(He's still not that big a fan of biotics in bed, even if it's not on his plates. The tingling's more weird than pleasant, and at orgasm, it feels like he's standing too close to the target of a Throw. But it's definitely stronger with someone who's better at controlling them most of the time than it had been with his squadmate in the turian military.)

Eventually, Kaidan pushes both their hands away and flops boneless onto his back. "Very nice tactic."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," says Garrus, lifting his hand to look at the white cum on his talons. He can already feel his throat objecting to eating out Ashley; tasting Kaidan before he can get to antihistamines may be pushing it.

Ashley makes the decision for him: She takes his wrist and, very deliberately holding eye contact, says, "Dare me to lick it off."

"Do it," he says, his voice suddenly hoarse.

She laps at his claws like she'd licked the frosting from his mandibles earlier. As she takes his talon into her mouth and sucks it, Garrus groans, and Kaidan sits up on his elbows to watch them.

"I really like the way you think," Kaidan says.

"I'm full of good ideas," she says smugly, and with Garrus left clean, she bends down and starts on Kaidan. Garrus can't help but watch a little slackjawed as she presses her mouth teasingly close to his cock, but even as Kaidan starts getting hard again, it's only her movements that are showy, not where she actually licks. Kaidan tangles his fingers into her hair, and once she's done, pulls her up for a headbutt, which Garrus has always found oddly cute on the two humans without an actual turian involved.

And then they pull apart and both look at him with a grin, and Garrus is simultaneously terrified and anticipatory.

"Take him down for me, Ash?" asks Kaidan.

"With pleasure."

She shoves Garrus down and straddles him, legs over his waist, hands gripping the ends of his cowl. He can't think what they have planned for him - she's sitting higher up on him than he'd expect, and while the hotel's high end enough that it probably supplies condoms, they haven't checked -

Kaidan. He somehow forgot about Kaidan, or at least he did until Kaidan's mouth is on his cock, and his yelp of "Teeth?" is entirely too late, and followed by remembering that -

"Ours aren't as sharp as yours, remember?" Ashley supplies.

Not that he can answer her, because Kaidan's mouth is wet and warm and he can feel his tongue dipping between every ridge. Garrus groans, shoving upwards, and for a moment Kaidan flails a hand and Ashley's looking concerned, but then something about the angle adjusts and Kaidan places his hands firmly on his legs and oh spirits, he's in deep.

"Ooh, I get it," she says. "You guys don't do this because of your teeth, do you?"

Garrus shakes his head. "His finger was fine," he manages to get out. "It's small, and from what I understand it isn't as sensitive as - fuck," he gasps, as Kaidan swallows around him.

Ashley leans down and headbutts him. "You know, you're the only one here who hasn't been bitten today."

"What?" he asks, because even with blunt human teeth, he's fairly certain Kaidan biting him would be painful in a bad way, and suddenly she's moving lower to bite at the exposed skin of his neck. Necking, she'd called it, that thing Kaidan likes doing to both of them (he has his suspicions about Kaidan's vampire fantasies). He hadn't thought she'd be good at it too.

It's hard to think, with both of them sucking on him like they've covered him in cake frosting and they can't get enough; the sounds they're making say they're enjoying it more than the cake. Words are beyond him, and he can do nothing but moan and touch them where he can reach and try very hard not to choke Kaidan on his cock, which is not something that's ever occurred to him as even possible.

All too soon, the pressure and pleasure get to be almost too much, and Garrus struggles to make sure their translators will catch him. There had been a key point in his research he needs to get across for Kaidan's safety. "Kaidan - stop, I'm going to -"

Kaidan lifts his head, but then Ashley reaches behind her and sets him off with some clever tricks of her hands without even looking and then it feels like he's falling, as helpless as if he's caught in a Singularity, with only his two humans holding him together. It's the most overwhelming orgasm he's had with them and probably the most intense he's ever had without actually being inside someone and/or taking venom himself.

"Fucking spirits," is all he can think to say once it's over, once they're rearranging themselves to lie on either side of him.

"I've been wanting to do that since Solcrum," Kaidan says with a grin.

"Is that a regular thing done with male humans, or are you just a deviant?" he asks.

Ashley giggles. "Yeah, blowjobs are pretty vanilla," she says. "I'm told I'm good at them."

"Really?" Kaidan asks, suggestive enough for Garrus to imagine it.

"Really," she replies, moving to snuggle him and reaching over to hold Kaidan too.

She doesn't reach him, because Kaidan gets up, and Garrus realizes with dismay that it's been at least half an hour and the venom's probably working its way out of his system. Rather than call him back from the bathroom, he simply wraps his arms around Ashley and tries not to listen to the sound of running water.

Eventually the water stops, and he looks up at the sound of Kaidan's footsteps returning to find him climbing back onto the bed, but now holding a towel and a damp washcloth.

"Ash," Kaidan says. "Up. Just a little bit."

She sits up obediently and holds still as he wipes her hands and lower back clean of cum. Garrus watches them, surprised that Kaidan only left to fetch something that would help, and soon enough she's towelling off as Kaidan wipes his plates down too; the water's warmer than he'd expected.

"This is a change," he says, his subharmonics affectionate because it's a rather nice change.

"What did I say earlier?" Kaidan says. "We'll take care of you."

"We," Ashley emphasizes, taking the washcloth from him to take over. "You always take such good care of us. Let us return the favor."

He can't speak all of a sudden, can't put into words how much this means to him. Instead of trying, he sits up and headbutts each of them in turn, talons carefully caressing their faces as they dry him off.

"It's not that big a deal," Ashley says, though her smile says that it is, a bit.

Kaidan smiles too, but verbally sidesteps the significance. "You hungry? Are you warm enough?"

"Hungry, no," he says honestly. "I could be warmer."

Of course, there's only one way he wants to get warmer, and it's not turning the heating up again. He tugs both of them down to snuggle, and they tangle together, every part of him touching one of the others until he's not entirely sure where he ends and they begin. Though they've cuddled like this before, everything seems more settled and relaxed than the other times. Maybe it's just because this is the first time they haven't had a solid deadline or been somewhere they might get caught, but it feels like a shift between them, especially once Garrus notices (and resolutely does not point out) that half an hour's ticked past for Ashley too yet both of them are still here.

Hands are starting to stray when an omni-tool starts ringing within their pile, and he barely lifts his head. "Whose is that?"

Kaidan sighs, starting to withdraw. "Mine. It's Shepard. Hope she's not in trouble."

"We didn't think this through," says Ashley, and she immediately presses closer to Garrus once Kaidan gets up.

"Alenko," Kaidan answers the call. "What? ... Oh, that must have been hard for Liara. At least we have the coordinates now. ... Rachni? Are you sure?"

Garrus sits up, staring at him in alarm.

"Well, yeah, genocide isn't part of our mandate," says Kaidan. "Still, that's incredible. I look forward to the debrief." His eyes flick towards the bed. "Yeah, I can round up the others. Over and out."

"No," Ashley says immediately. "Don't make me put clothes on."

"Unless you want to go through the port to the debrief naked," Kaidan suggests, smirking as he comes back to the bed.

"I hate you," she says, betraying her words by pulling him between her and Garrus. "Bad enough I have to go back commando, thank you, Garrus."

"Huh?"

"No underwear beneath your clothes," Kaidan explains.

"What happened with the rachni?" Garrus remembers to ask. "They were supposed to be gone."

"Shepard ran into the last rachni queen," he says. "Saren was using the queen and her children in the labs, and Shepard let them go."

"She what," he says flatly. "That's something she really should have let the Citadel Council decide."

"The Council doesn't even have jurisdiction out here," Ashley points out.

"But rachni, Ash," he says.

"Spare us the lecture about the Rachni Wars and how awful krogan are," says Kaidan, and Ashley nods in agreement. "We've got a little time left before Shepard and the girls get back, and there are much better ways we could be spending it."

"Like what?" he asks, baffled: Shepard never stops him from going on in the elevators. Kaidan looks at him pointedly and places a hand on one of his thighs and one of Ashley's. "Oh."

"Oh," Ashley echoes, as Kaidan slides his fingers into her, and Garrus forgets all about the rachni.


"You just went charging guards with your shotgun?"

"With my boomstick, Garrus," she says, waving her shotgun - no, boomstick's ammo block at him.

They're back in the cargo hold, getting a head start on cleaning up the guns used on Noveria before the rest of the girls come in and drop off theirs. Garrus fidgets with his collar as Shepard approaches.

"Hey, Garrus, you okay?" Shepard asks.

He drops his hand back to the table. "After having the heat cranked up so high in the hotel, the Normandy's a little cold," he says, which is true, but not why he's fidgeting. Opold had slyly pointed out the bruises Ashley had left on his neck, despite not stocking anything to hide them.

"From the way you go on about the cold, I bet I'd be hot if I went to Palaven," Shepard says. "What did you guys get up to when we were away?"

"Oh, you know," says Kaidan, who's been loitering nearby at his locker. "Trust exercises, team bonding."

Ashley coughs. He pretends it isn't obvious.

"Keep it up," says Shepard. "You guys have come so far since we first left the Citadel, and I'm really proud of you for getting over your differences."

Keep it up, she says, as if they need encouragement. Garrus thinks desperately about evidence management forms, background checks, and naked volus as Kaidan says, "Aye aye, ma'am."

"The Council left us a message about possible intel on Saren on a planet called Virmire," she says. "We're debriefing and calling them in the conference room in five."

"Yes, ma'am," says Ashley, and with salutes all round, Shepard leaves.

Kaidan turns to them both, looking thoughtful. "She said to keep it up. I think that sounded like orders to continue."

They end up late to the debriefing.