Chapter Text
In the end, getting away wasn’t complicated. Garrus had built up a good network of people he could rely on, and everyone seemed to make the same assumption as Thane. He wished it were as simple as the matter of a proposal—which, in the Hierarchy, required six forms filled out in triplicate, plus a blood test, even if you couldn’t reproduce.
No, he had a pretty good guess where this was going, and it scared him a little. At least if he asked Shepard to marry him, he knew she would say yes. They’d discussed as much in vague terms, though that had been before the end of the war and the chance of a real life together.
Thane, though. There was no telling what was going on behind those dark eyes. Shepard, at least, he had learned to read, every little tic and tell. But Thane was an undiscovered country.
That idea should not have made him so horny.
He didn’t discuss it with Shepard in direct terms because they didn’t need to. He only needed clarification on one issue. “You’re taking point on this, aren’t you?”
She paused, glancing at him from the other end of the bed, then curled a finger up under his jaw, where he was most sensitive. “Why? You wanna take over?” Her voice curled with amusement, even as she settled her palm flat on his throat and pressed down a little where no scales protected him. “Thought that wasn’t your thing, Garrus.”
His pulse picked up. “It’s not,” he managed, getting the words out past the thrum of his arousal. “I like you in charge.”
Her grin widened a little, revealing a flash of teeth. Hers weren’t sharp like his, and yet they still seemed so deliciously dangerous at moments like this. “Well. If I need you take a shot, I’ll let you know. Otherwise, I’m running point.”
He was still nodding as she leaned down to kiss him, hard.
***
Several flavors of bullshit occurred between the moment Shepard proposed the idea and the moment she stepped out of the shuttle and turned her face up to the desert sun, but they did not directly involve her, so she was not going to dwell on them. For now, land stretched out around them, flat and dusty and seemingly endless. Out here, you could almost pretend the Reapers never touched Earth. It was a nice change from the slowly recuperating city.
Garrus emerged after her and stopped short, shoulders slumping. “We’re never leaving,” he declared. “It’s way too fucking cold where we were. If the Hierarchy wants me, they can hunt me down.”
Shepard turned her head back to smirk at him. “You’re blocking traffic, big guy.”
Garrus quickly moved out of the way. She hadn’t seen him this nervous since she had been trying to make her own feelings clear, around the time they had that big party at her Citadel apartment. He had jumped every time she so much as brushed up against him. Well. This was going to be fun after all.
Thane didn’t say anything when the sun hit his skin, but his shoulders relaxed. “I don’t think I could ever go back to Cnidaria City after this,” he said softly. “It’s cold there too.”
“Well, you two can stand there as long as you want. I need sunblock, or I will not enjoy the rest of this trip.” She held out a hand, and Garrus put her main pack into it. Strange to carry something much lighter than her usual loadout, but she wasn’t going to complain. It’d be nice to camp somewhere without having to worry about anyone shooting them, either. She kicked off her shoes—she’d foregone socks—and sank her bare feet into the sand. The top layer was so hot it stung, but beneath that, it transformed into pleasant warmth.
Huh. She’d been cold too, and she hadn’t even noticed. She dug around in her bag. She knew exactly where her sunblock was, but she was waiting. Thane and Garrus were already starting on the sunshade—they might never have been on a human desert, but all the various weird planets they had visited had given them plenty of experience. She found her sunblock, then put two fingers to her lips and whistled. “Got a moment to help me with the hard to reach spots, Garrus?”
She waited until both men glanced at her to pull off her long jacket. It had been needed up north, but she was already sweating down here. Underneath, she was only wearing a strappy sundress (and it really was only, though she wasn’t sure if that part would come up today). The bright fabric barely covered her chest and dipped low in the back, and the hem stopped just above her knees. She felt Thane’s eyes the way she always did, but she pretended not to notice, instead grinning at Garrus, who straight-up dropped the part he was holding.
She winked at him and jerked her head for him to come over. He came at a fast walk that was not quite a run, and she turned to let him apply the sunblock to her back and shoulders. His hands dug into her muscles, and she sighed, letting him take her weight for a moment. “Can we skip to the part where I get this off you?” he whispered near her ear.
“Your patience will be rewarded,” she said, turning her head slightly so she could see Thane from the corner of her eye. He was not even pretending to work on the sunshade; he was watching them. “And if not, I’ll make it up to you on a different vacation.”
He kissed the top of her head, then turned her around, applying sunblock to her front half. She let him, even though she could reach it fine. “There. Now maybe you’ll still look like a human at the end of this and not a boiled salarian.”
“Watch it, Vakarian. I thought you just said you wanted to get laid.”
***
Garrus and Thane finished setting up the sunshade, but neither of them used it, even though the sun was reaching its highest point in the sky and the temperature was creeping above 100. Shepard remained in the shadow for the worst of it, apparently happy to read and ignore them.
Thane, for his part, was lying on his stomach. His shirt had been abandoned long ago, and Garrus kept sneaking peeks at his bare back, green lined with dark red stripes. Somehow, he fit perfectly into the landscape, even though his kind had never been made to see it.
Normally, Garrus would not have been able to stand this kind of silence. There was a reason he kept his schedule so full, why he always had one more thing to fix. Quiet only let his thoughts creep in. But the heat was too nice for even him to work himself up. He could have very happily remained baking in the sand forever.
At some point, Thane rolled on his side to face him, his dark eyes considering. “I think this is the longest time I have ever seen you quiet without actually being unconscious.”
Garrus’s first instinct was to glance away, but that was the opposite of the point here. Instead, he let himself look. Thane, unlike Shepard, was all lean muscle, with no soft places. On him, the look worked. It worked really well.
He leaned back, burying his hands in the hot sand. “Palaven is a little like this. Or it used to be, anyway.” Thinking about his home should have made him tense up, but it was hard to feel upset about anything out here. “I figure by the time I can actually get there again, it’ll be more like the place I remember. They’re doing pretty good here on Earth, and we have closer resources near Palaven. My dad keeps trying to tell me about it, but I said to stuff it. I want to see it for myself.”
Thane nodded, resting his cheek on his arm. His eyes were half-lidded, but not like he was tired. More like a predator conserving his energy.
That probably made Garrus the prey in this metaphor, and he should not have been into that. Time to change the subject, at least for now. “I guess assassins probably don’t get vacations either, huh?”
“Not really, no. I spent a lot of time drifting between assignments, but at the end of the day, I am a tool, and I do not do well being left idle.” He let out a slow breath, then rolled on his back, one hand lingering beneath his rib cage. Garrus had gotten very fond of human breasts, but Thane’s pectoral muscles, green and gleaming in the unrelenting sun, were almost as good. “I am trying to remedy that, though. It’s simply… hard to remember. That I do not have to ration out my days and my energy so carefully. This setting is making it easier, though.”
“It is pretty nice. I would’ve liked to see it before the war, but at least there’s still something here to see.”
Thane nodded again, his eyes turning distance. “There is always a chance to rebuild. I am trying to remember that.”
Garrus glanced toward Shepard, but of course she couldn’t hear them. She had downloaded a bunch of human novels, which she had described as “delicious trash,” and seemed determined to pay attention to nothing else.
Well, they were a team. He needed to pull his weight when she was otherwise engaged. “That’s true of more than just planets, you know,” he said, lowering his voice. He stretched out on his side, facing Thane. “As long as you’re still alive, nothing is ever beyond repair.”
Thane’s eyes narrowed slightly, and Garrus thought he might have pushed it too far with even that light implication. Then he sat up, arching his arms over his head. “You may try to cover it with foolishness whenever you can, but you are wise, Garrus. Wiser than me, I think.” Before Garrus could figure out how to respond, Thane pulled his shirt back over his head. “I am going to take a walk. I won’t be long.”
Garrus dipped his head. “Don’t go too far,” he mumbled, still a little stunned by the comment. Thane was already striding off.
***
When Thane came back, Garrus was asleep, one arm draped over his eyes and a snore rattling through his chest. Shepard thought it was cute, at least when they weren’t sharing a bed. Thane approached the edge of the sunshade. The sun was starting to creep toward the opposite end of the horizon, so she was contemplating emerging, though it was the perfect temperature in the shade.
When she noticed him, she held up her hand, making him wait until she finished her chapter. Then she set her datapad down, raising one brow. She had cocooned herself in a pile of pillows and towels, drinks and snacks close to hand. “Gonna make yourself comfortable, or are you still baking?”
He took a tailor’s seat at the edge of the sunshade, with the sun still beating on his back. He was watching her more directly than usual—these days, he only met her eyes for fleeting moments, like she was the sun, too bright to look at. She stared back at him evenly. The hem of her sundress had crept up the expanse of her thigh, exposing soft, freckled skin, and one strap had slid off her shoulder. She did not adjust either, only waited.
He rested his hands on his knees. “May I speak with you?”
She considered pointing out that he already was, but that was pushing it. She sat up, adjusting her strap but leaving most of her legs exposed. His eyes were only on her face anyway, still and unblinking.
It was the first time they had a chance to speak alone since that day. It still hurt. It would probably always hurt. But, looking at him now, gleaming in the sun and almost too bright to look at himself, she only felt an odd sort of relief. The part of her that was always searching for him could be quiet now. He was right there, and Garrus was still snoring enough to shake down the heavens. She had nothing to worry about.
“Shoot,” she said, tilting her head a little.
His eyes flicked to the line of her neck, and one of her hands tightened in the towel. He didn’t need to imagine her naked at the moment. She nearly was already. His eyes returned to her face. “When first we spoke again, you cut me off before I could apologize. Since then, I have never found a good time to give it to you.”
She frowned—she couldn’t help it. It would never feel good to discuss this, like pressing on an old scar. “Thane—“
He held up a hand now, and she quieted. “Please,” he said more quietly. “At the time, I realized the words I had prepared were inadequate. It’s taken me this long to figure out what I should have said. Will you listen now?”
He wasn’t touching her—had not touched her once, not since that last day. But the weight of his gaze felt more intimate than any time their bodies had joined. In the face of that, she couldn’t speak, only nodded.
“You have always been able to see the things I could not,” he said, still softly, like the sigh of the wind over the sand. “Even when your life was in ruins, when everything had been taken from you, you saw a better world. And because you never let go of that vision, we are here now. When you spoke of it, I could almost see it, but I was afraid. I covered my eyes because I could not dare to see it for myself. I claimed to be a tool in your hand, but I flinched when you reached for me. For that I will never be sorry enough, and I can only be glad that I will have the rest of my life to atone. That you have given me that chance.”
She watched him for a long moment, not to make him squirm but because she had to think. Finally, she moved toward him. His breath turned shallow as she approached, but he didn’t pull away, letting her rest her hand on his knee, just for a moment. “You were an asshole. No denying that. But we have a whole lot more ahead of us than we do behind, and that’s what I want to focus on. Fair?”
“Fair,” said Thane in a hoarse voice.
She lingered there for a moment, letting herself get used to being near him again. Then she moved back to her pile of pillows. “I do appreciate the apology,” she said, before she picked her datapad back up.
Thane nodded, a little shakily. “And I appreciate you bringing me here. This has been… a gift.”
At that, she smirked. “Well, we’re not done yet. You can tell me what you think when it’s over.”
Thane held her eyes for a moment, then got to his feet. “My opinion will not change, Shepard. I am still a tool in your hand.”
“Are you now,” said Shepard, deliberately returning her eyes to her book.
“Yes, and you can believe I will not flinch this time.”
She bit her lip. Despite the heat, his voice still sparked a shiver down her spine. “Fair enough. Now shoo. I’m reading.” Though she tried to keep her voice light, he looked at her for a moment longer, letting her know he had sensed the truth. Only then did he walk off again.
***
Once the sun started to set, they made a fire and cooked dinner. Shepard gazed up at the darkening sky, her face unreadable. “I know it was hot, but it’ll get cold faster than you boys think,” she said in a soft voice. “Still. I kinda want to sleep outside. The stars will be endless tonight.”
The words tugged at something deep in Garrus. He glanced at Thane, but he was watching Shepard, his expression thoughtful. “It can’t be as cold as where we were,” Garrus said, trying not to sound too eager. “And we can always go inside if it gets too bad.”
“I want to see the stars,” said Thane, which settled the matter.
They had a tent, so Garrus and Thane set that up while Shepard continued lounging like some living pinup, only out in the open instead of under the sunshade. Garrus tried not to think about how the tent would be a close fit for three people, especially when one of them was seven feet tall. Maybe… that wouldn’t be a real problem.
When the tent was set up, they spread their sleeping bags out in the sand, Garrus and Shepard beside each other and Thane on the opposite side of the fire. Shepard hadn’t changed clothes, only pulled a blanket over her bare legs, which was a serious shame. Garrus was in his sleeping clothes, just a pair of loose leggings to cover anything private, and Thane was wearing loose pants and a flowing, low-necked shirt that bared most of his chest. None of them spoke for a long while, only watched the sky blacken. The moon was full, so the desert seemed almost as bright as day, not to mention the bright arc of the arms of the galaxy above them.
“We did some N7 training out in this neck of the woods,” Shepard commented. (Garrus ignored the fact that they were very far from any woods. She was going somewhere with this; he could hear it in the tone of her voice, and it made his body perk up.) “I never thought I’d see this view again.”
Thane turned onto his side to watch them. He looked as good in the firelight as he had in the sun; the orange glow of the fire warmed his dark eyes, making them welcoming instead of mysterious. “You knew you would.”
Shepard shook her head. “I didn’t. You two are always talking about how I knew we would get out of this mess, and I did—but maybe not for myself.” She broke off. Garrus reached for her hand, but she sat up, not avoiding his touch, just lost in her own thoughts. “I knew the world would make it. I knew we’d grind the Reapers into dust. But I never saw a galaxy where I got to decide my own fight. I knew there’d be more work to do, and I thought I’d be the one to do it. Only now I’m here, and I realize—fuck that. I don’t want to spend the rest of my days clinging to the edge of existence by my fingertips. I want a life with room for time like this in it. A life full of beauty, where I’m not always running after someone else’s mess with a mop and bucket. And that life starts tonight.”
Silence settled over them for a moment, as heavy and deep as the dark sky above. Then Thane said, in a voice that was low and heavy with promise, a promise even Garrus couldn’t miss, “And how will that life begin, siha?”
Shepard stiffened for a moment; Garrus knew it was the first time Thane had called her that since the breakup. Then she relaxed, went languid and loose all over in a way that sent heat rushing to Garrus’s cock—not even because it was particularly revealing or sexual. But she only looked that way beside him in bed, when he’d fucked her so well the rest of the world disappeared. She met Garrus’s eyes, not quite asking for permission but merely confirming the mission parameters. He couldn’t move to nod, but he didn’t need to. She always knew what he wanted before he knew it himself.
She returned her gaze to Thane, saying nothing. This time the quiet was still heavy, but with anticipation. Garrus felt it thrumming all through him like the beat of his heart, watching the two of them with complete focus.
Thane never did anything but in his own time. He remained on the other side of the fire for at least a minute, his face turned to the stars. Then he rose and walked around to Shepard’s sleeping bag. He knelt by her hip, between her and the fire, and reached for her face with a shaking hand. She let him cup her cheek, her lips curling in a satisfied, private smile. “Please,” he said in a low voice. “I love you. I have always loved you. I will always love you, until the gods themselves are nothing but ashes. Let me atone.”
Shepard sat up now, letting the blanket fall around her hips. She leaned in to kiss him—only the lightest brush of lips, but both of them shuddered.
Garrus shuddered too. His body remembered what came next, and his brain was quick to supply the little snatches of memory he’d been trying to suppress this whole time. He didn’t want to risk breaking this moment they shared with his own desire.
Shepard slid her lips over to Thane’s cheek, the bright red line of his frill. He let out a soft sigh that only made the ache between Garrus’s legs worse. Shepard herself was flushed slightly, in the way that meant she was opening up, that her pussy would be soft and wet and ready for his touch. “I want to say you have nothing to atone for, but I am curious about the method you’d like to use.”
Thane’s lips curled with pleasure and unmistakable relief. Behind the horniness, Garrus felt something similar—this rift between them never should have lasted so long. It was good that it was over. “It would take far too long to list the ways, siha. Besides. I am well aware you already have thoughts on how the evening should go.”
Shepard chuckled. The sound was deep and sexy and made Garrus bite back a groan. As though she sensed his thoughts, she glanced his way, and her smile became a smirk. “Hmm. Well, you said you were a tool in my hand, didn’t you, Thane?” He nodded, his whole body poised, waiting for her to tell him what to do next.
Garrus had never seen how that looked from the outside. He was trying to focus on the present moment, but the thought of what she might do with power like that made his hands clench at his side with the ache to touch and be touched.
“Yes,” said Thane softly, barely more than a breath.
“Good. Then kiss me like you mean it this time.”
Before the words were even totally out of her mouth, Thane was already moving to her. He seized her shoulders, crushing her to him, and took her mouth like he was going to devour her whole. Their mouths slotted together so naturally, their bodies melding into each other. Shepard shivered all over, arching up to meet him. A muffled moan slipped from her throat. Thane released one of her shoulders so he could shove his hand beneath the top of her dress instead, cupping her breast.
Shepard pulled out of the kiss, laughing low in her throat. “Taking initiative. I like that in a man. But that’s not what we agreed to. We’re not there yet, Krios. Don’t push your luck.”
Thane slid his mouth down to the side of her neck, where Garrus knew she was sensitive, where she always begged to be bitten. He only kissed her there, then withdrew, slipping his hands free of her and resting them on his knees. There was a hard line in his loose pants now.
Fuck, Garrus wanted to know what his cock looked like.
“I am yours to command, siha,” said Thane, in a voice that was not in any way submissive.
Shepard kicked away her blanket and readjusted the straps of her dress, tucked her hair back into place. “Then there’s something I want, and I think you want it too.” For the first time all night, she looked at Garrus. At the promise in those eyes, he could no longer control himself; he clapped his hand over his mouth, trying to stifle his moan, but it was loud and pathetic and needy. Shepard’s lips curled in the wicked smirk that was only ever for him, and he both never wanted to look away from her and bury himself in the sand at the same time. He was embarrassed, but it only made the horniness worse—or better, maybe? Now he really was nothing but his cock, aching to be released from behind his genital plates.
“May I infer what you mean,” said Thane, in an infuriatingly calm voice, “or would you like to be specific?”
“In this case, I trust your judgment.” She glanced between the two of them, assessing. “And I should hope this wouldn’t all be for my own entertainment.”
“No,” said Thane, too firmly for even Garrus to have any doubts or questions. He turned his gaze on Garrus, and Garrus felt the full weight of his gaze for the first time. Had he thought he’d ever experienced it before? He was a fool. There was nothing, nothing, like looking into Thane’s eyes and seeing an endless expanse of want. “It will not be.”
Thane took Shepard’s hand and kissed the back, lips lingering. Then he released her and stalked over to Garrus. This should have been the point where he made a joke—something, anything. But if he took his hand away, he would only embarrass himself again. Thane settled between the two of them and leaned over Garrus. So gently it surprised Garrus, Thane rested a hand over his, tugging his hand away from his mouth. For a moment, it was only the two of them looking at each other: Thane calm and still, Garrus barely breathing.
“This has been a long time coming as well, you know,” said Thane, his voice as gentle as his touch. It sent a shudder all through Garrus that, for once, had nothing to do with lust. “Hasn’t it.”
He didn’t say it like a question, but Garrus still managed a hoarse, “Yeah. It really has.”
Thane smiled, as cool and beautiful as the full moon overhead. Then he kissed Garrus. Only softly at first, the way he’d kissed Shepard, but the moment their mouths touched, Garrus couldn’t contain himself any longer. He groaned, deepening the kiss, reaching for Thane’s waist to pull him closer. Thane took his hand and pressed it to the hardness under his loose pants, rutting against his palm.
“Holy fuck,” Garrus breathed against his mouth.
Thane laughed softly, pulling away. He closed his eyes for a moment, leaning into Garrus’s touch. “Mm,” he breathed.
Garrus felt another touch on his other side and startled. He hadn’t even heard Shepard move around him, but there she was, her eyes glittering with satisfaction and desire. “Don’t mind me. The two of you are getting along just fine by yourselves. Only I thought maybe…” She slipped her hand beneath the band of Garrus’s leggings, her clever fingers stroking the seam of his genital plates. He moaned, his head falling back against his sleeping bag, and his hips jerked into her touch. “Maybe you could do with a little assistance on one part.” She worked his leggings off his hips, baring his lower body to the air. It had turned cold, just enough to make Garrus hiss. Her fingers crept back to his genital plate, teasing.
Thane rested his hand on Garrus’s other hip. “May I?” he asked. The question was directed at Shepard. The thought of being passed between them, being used by the two of them, shouldn’t have turned him on so much, but Garrus could only squirm, too aroused to say anything in his own defense.
“Together,” Shepard said, sounding pleased. She stroked Garrus’s hip, fingers lingering in the socket of the joint, where he was sensitive. “He’s really a two-hander situation anyway. You’ll see.”
“I believe I can infer.” Thane’s voice was rough with desire now. He and Shepard worked in tandem: her fingers slid between his genital plates, coaxing them open, and Thane reached inside him, urging out his cock, slick with precum. Garrus moaned aloud as Thane stroked him, so slowly it felt like he would never hurry up. Garrus couldn’t even say that he cared; it felt too good to be caught between the two of them. Thane hummed softly, his dark eyes half-lidded with pleasure even though he’d barely been touched.
“One more thing,” Shepard said, “and then I’ll let you boys get back to it for a little while. Why are you still dressed?”
Thane inclined his head to Shepard, then withdrew. Garrus might have protested, except that Shepard immediately took over touching him, working his cock exactly the way he liked. He reached for her, and she slid under the curve of his arm to kiss his cheek. “Focus, Vakarian,” she said, a laugh just beneath her voice. “You don’t want to miss this.”
Garrus followed her gaze. Thane got to his feet, stretching both arms slowly over his head. Unlike Shepard’s generous curves, Thane was a straight line, like an arrow pulled back to strike. He tipped his face back to the moonlight for a moment. Then he pulled his shirt over his head and stepped out of his pants in two quick movements. He’d been handsome enough shirtless. Naked, his cock hard against his stomach already, he was unbearable.
“The two of you are actually going to kill me,” said Garrus, the first thing he’d managed all night.
Thane laughed softly, slipping back to his side.
“You would enjoy it,” Shepard said, tipping his face to hers for a proper kiss, one that made him moan and rock into her hand. Then both her hand and her mouth vanished. “You two get back to work. I’ll let you know when I want you. I have something special in mind, don’t you fret.”
The thought of what she might be waiting for made Garrus groan. She resettled on her sleeping bag, behind Thane. She hadn’t removed her dress, but only so she could ruck it up now, shoving the skirt up around her round hips, revealing an expanse of thigh as endless as the desert. Thane turned his head to watch too as her hands slid down between her legs, spreading the lips of her pussy and curling around her clit. She was already wet—here Garrus thought his cock couldn’t get any harder.
She bit her lower lip, sliding slick fingers inside herself. Thane made a low noise in his throat, and she clicked her tongue. “Don’t watch me. I said get back to work. Though Garrus is one and done, Thane, so don’t use him up just yet. I have plans for that cock.”
The thought made Garrus whine, but he hushed up quickly because Thane had turned back to him. Had he ever thought those dark eyes were cold? No, now they blazed with heat, like stones left in the sun until they could sear you alive. He bent over Garrus again and kissed him hard. Garrus groaned, leaning up into him.
“No, wait,” he gasped, when Thane moved his mouth away to run his tongue over Garrus’s neck. He found the exact spot that made Garrus melt away to nothing, but Garrus still managed to get some words out. “I want to—touch you.” Thane pulled back slightly to look him in the eye. “I’ve wanted to touch you forever.”
Thane’s lips curled in a fond smile that made Garrus blush for an entirely different reason. “My body is yours as well, Garrus. Come here and have me, then.” He stretched out on his back, his whole body an invitation that made Garrus clench one hand into a fist. There was just so much to take in—the dark red stripes on his hips, like arrows pointing at his cock. His cock, edged with a fine frill like the ones on his neck. And his smile, inviting and eager.
Garrus glanced over at Shepard. She was still touching herself lazily, moving the hand inside herself with no particular hurry. Even so. He filed the image away for any time he got alone in the future, then knelt over Thane, his hand hovering just above the green skin of his chest. He pressed his palm there first, to feel the thump of his heartbeat. When they slept together the first time, Shepard had told him exactly what she wanted. An open invitation was a little intimidating.
Beside them, Shepard made a soft sigh, a noise that meant she was getting closer, and Garrus’s cock took back over. He kissed Thane, dragging sharp teeth over Thane’s full lower lip, and Thane moaned aloud, reaching up to loop strong arms around his neck, pulling him closer.
Garrus traced his hand down to Thane’s slim hips. Then something Shepard said finally slipped past the fog of lust in his mind. “Hang on.” He pulled away, holding Thane down. “Can you come more than once too?” One corner of Thane’s mouth turned up, which was as good as a yes. “Then hold still. There’s something I want to do while Shepard’s hands are busy.”
Thane sighed, pleased, and lay limp, letting Garrus take over. Normally, this would have intimidated him, but he was aware he only had so long to dither. Shepard’s breaths had turned quick and shallow; her hands were no longer slow. She would come soon. Garrus wanted to give her a show.
He let his tongue slip out between his lips, dragging it over Thane’s neck. Thane groaned, his breath suddenly shallow in his chest too. Garrus grinned; he could tell Thane got the picture. He did linger a little as he moved down Thane’s body, pressing kisses to his chest and licking a stripe down the flat plane of his stomach. But there would be time for that later. They had a whole vacation ahead of them, after all, and Garrus didn’t want to spend it doing anything but this.
By the time he reached Thane’s cock, Thane was panting, his whole body tense with want. Garrus didn’t even have to check on Shepard; he could tell how she was progressing. She was whining softly now. Her whole body would be tense too. Thane’s eyes flicked between them, his hand fisted in a spare blanket.
The one advantage to being so much larger than most other species, Garrus supposed, was that he could easily wrap his tongue around Thane’s entire length. He didn’t have time to be subtle. Thane moaned, hips jerking up against Garrus’s mouth. Garrus held him down with one hand, focusing on his task. He tasted good, the way Shepard tasted good—musky and salty. The thought of sliding his tongue between her folds, the same way he was torturing Thane, made Garrus moan.
He didn’t need any instruction in how to get Thane off, either. He could tell Thane was a finger poised on the trigger, one twitch away. And Shepard was gasping now. He could picture her clearly: one hand working her clit hard, her body arched up the same way Thane’s was. It was easy to move in the same rhythm, to coax Thane to a higher peak the same way he had learned to touch Shepard. Thane’s hand came down to his shoulder, sharp nails digging in. Garrus lost himself in the moment.
Suddenly, Shepard cried out, loud enough to carry all the way to the mountains in the distance. Thane’s hips jerked once more, and he groaned, spilling in Garrus’s mouth. Garrus grinned, running his tongue over Thane’s sweat-streaked hips and thighs. Then he sat back on his knees, wiping his mouth with his forearm. Both Thane and Shepard were lax and breathing hard. Thane groped for Shepard’s hand and found it, squeezing hard, and Garrus felt another stab of satisfaction, deeper than lust.
He never thought it could be this way. He always thought this would be one thing he could never fix for her, one dot of red on his ledger he could never cancel out. Things would be different now, though. He’d never looked forward to it more.
***
Shepard came back to herself slowly. She’d thought watching Garrus and Thane make out would turn her on, but this was something entirely different. The way they touched each other made her whole body arch with longing. And she knew what she needed now. Still, she took a little time coming around before she sat up. Now she wiggled out of her sundress. It had felt good, deliciously dirty, to touch herself while still clothed, but that would only get in the way of what she wanted now.
She turned to Thane. God, it felt good to look at him again, to know he was hers. “Gonna be able to rally, Thane? I have something special in mind.”
Thane sighed deeply, but only with satisfaction. It was good to hear him so relaxed. “I can do anything you wish, siha. Though Garrus may need to get you started.”
“Hmm, good idea. He’s been waiting long enough.” She crooked a finger at him, and Garrus hurried to her side.”Come here and fuck me, honey.”
Normally, he would have had some smartass comment, but he was still lust-drunk from blowing Thane. He pressed her down and spread her legs, sliding inside her with one slick motion. She was already wet and ready for him, and her pussy still ached so sweetly from coming. “Garrus,” she moaned, sliding her arms around him. “Oh, fuck me.” He groaned, pressing his forehead to the blankets next to her head.
“Fuck, I needed you,” he breathed, even though his movements were slow and careful, making sure she could take him. On most nights, she would scold him for treating her like something that could break, but tonight, she had other business to consider.
She glanced over at Thane. He was watching them raptly, eyes wide, lips parted.
“Thane,” she said, as evenly as she could while Garrus rocked inside her, “go look in the front pocket of my bag. You’ll know it when you see it.”
He nodded, rising smoothly. His cock was already half hard; he took one long, greedy look at them before moving away.
Shepard returned her attention to Garrus, nudging his cheek until he looked at her. His eyes were dazed and needy. “Still okay with this?” she whispered.
That made him stop, blinking at her. “Little late to ask me that, Shepard,” he said, his hips stilling. “The varren’s not just loose—it’s on another planet.”
That made her laugh and pinch the back of his neck. “Don’t sass me. Think you can hold off for a little while longer?”
He nodded, leaning in to nuzzle the side of her neck. “Yeah,” he breathed. “Just wanna be close to you anyway.”
She knew what that meant; she stroked his back. “I love you too, Garrus.”
Thane returned with the lube and set it beside them, dropping to one knee. He slid a hand between his legs, stroking himself back to full hardness. Shepard watched, biting her lip with anticipation, then tapped Garrus’s back. “Okay, honey, off. Just for a bit.”
He complied slowly, moving back so she could sit up. His eyes flicked between her and Thane, then the lube, but he clearly could not put two and two together. Though, considering the bright blue, throbbing length of his cock, she was lucky she was getting anything out of him besides caveman grunts.
She stretched out on her side and rested her head on her arm. Her own heartbeat thudded in her ears; Garrus had worked her up again, her whole body pulsing like a neutron star. “Thane, take the lube and touch me here. You remember how?” She gestured where she wanted him.
After a moment, she felt warm fingers gently probe her hole, slick with lube, and warmer breath on her ear. “I remember everything, siha,” he whispered in her ear. Oh, fuck, that voice and the things it did to her. Her whole body came alive at that voice, and now she could finally indulge herself. He eased her open as gently as the two of them had drawn out Garrus’s cock—and thinking of Garrus panting and begging beneath the two of them made her squirm too, arching back toward Thane’s fingers. He was warm inside her and gently, spreading her open. She didn’t have an eidetic memory, but she could recall his cock easily enough, and she had to bite her lip to keep from begging for it now.
As he eased her open, he pressed close to her, kissing and biting the back of her neck, breathing sweet nothings against her skin. She had almost forgotten the way he fucked her, a form of worship all its own, how it felt to be treated like something precious.
His fingers curled inside her, and she groaned softly, biting back a louder moan. “That’s good enough,” she said, as firmly as she could when her entire body was loose and soft and open. “Now have the two of you figured out the agenda yet, or do I have to spell it out?”
Garrus was watching them open-mouthed, his hand twitching toward his cock but not quite taking it. “Are we taking turns?” he said roughly. “’Cause you know I hate to disappoint you, sweetheart, but I’m not lasting through a round of watching him fuck you.” He did not sound in any way upset.
She considered it for half a beat. It would be satisfying, to watch him spill into the sand while Thane played her like an instrument.
But tonight was a special night, so she wanted to swing for the fences. “You’re half right.”
Garrus frowned for half a second. Then the light went on in his poor lust-addled brain, and he let out a full-out whine. “Spirits, Shepard, I want to come back from this trip alive.”
“Don’t be such a baby.” She patted the space in front of her. “You first. Thane is a little better at adjusting to difficult terrain than you.”
Thane’s voice was low and drenched with lust behind her. Her whole body knew that tone, and now she did moan. He bit her shoulder, hard.
Garrus made an incoherent noise, then slid in front of her, carefully lining up their bodies so he could take her sideways. She was already loose from coming and from fucking, so it wasn’t difficult, but it did feel good. He curled in close to her, his whole body tense with need, his cock motionless inside her.
She was already full in the best way. She was going to pop off like a rocket when Thane entered her. She couldn’t wait.
Thane, though, leaned over her. He kissed her mouth briefly, hard, then gave Garrus the same treatment. Garrus whined again, his hips jerking, and Thane let out a soft little laugh that did not in any way disguise his own lust.
He settled behind Shepard again and kissed the top of her shoulder, then lightly nipped her earlobe. “Hold still for a moment, siha, please.”
“Mhhmm,” she breathed, closing her eyes so vision wouldn’t distract her from the sensation. Garrus was warm in front of her, his cock a pleasant pressure between her legs. Thane’s cock brushed against her other hole, and for a moment, she thought there was no possible way they could both fit in her. But she breathed out, and Thane slid home inside her. He groaned, wrapping an arm around the swell of her stomach.
“Siha,” he breathed in her ear. “Siha, please…”
“If both of you just sit there after I went to all this work, vacation’s over,” she growled. This was ordinarily the point she’d take over, working her hips until the man beneath her was nothing but a mess, but she was trapped between them in the best way, so full it was almost painful. Her clit sparked like a second heartbeat, but she couldn’t get her hand between them to touch.
Thane, as he usually did, read her mind. His hand crept lower, finding her most sensitive point even as he began to thrust, slow and erratic. Each thrust pushed her toward Garrus, who moaned, reaching for her hip to stabilize her. She dug her fingers into his waist to urge him on, and Garrus began to rut too, though his movements were weak and shaky, already on the cusp.
That was fine with her. The two of them were in perfect sync already, pushing her back and forth, driving in and out. The moment she got relief from one man, the other shoved home inside her, until she was gasping. And Thane never forgot anything, which meant he knew exactly how to touch her. Not gently, not the second time around. No, now she needed it as hard as their cocks pulsing inside her. Her pussy clamped down hard on Garrus’s cock as Thane brought her closer to her peak, and he groaned, his thrusts turning shallow and fast.
“Shepard, please,” he breathed, his face creased with pleasure so great it nearly doubled back to agony.
“Yes,” she breathed, and he thrust one more time into her, hard. The pulse of his cock as he emptied inside her, combined with the steady pressure of Thane’s fingers, pushed her over the edge with him. The world exploded into sparks as bright as the stars overhead, and Shepard thought she might actually shatter from bliss.
“Siha,” Thane groaned, pulling out of her to empty onto her bare back.
Even dazed as she was, she could still grin at him. “Proud of your handiwork, Krios?” she murmured. Her entire body had gone slack, her breasts and thighs streaked with sweat.
Thane wiped her off, then tipped her head to kiss her—gentle, reverent, even though he was gasping for breath. “Grateful,” he whispered, tracing her chin and the soft, full line of her neck. “I do not know what I did right to bring me here, but I swear I will never jeopardize it again.”
She reached back to pat his thigh. “Well, you’ve gone pretty far to make up for it tonight, as far as I’m concerned.” She glanced over at Garrus, who was limp beside her. “Garrus? You still in the land of the living, big guy?”
He managed to open one eye. “Gotta be. Turian afterlife doesn’t have sex that good. Just don’t ask me to do anything for the next week.”
She snorted. “Please. You’ll be up and begging for it before the sun rises.”
Garrus only huffed out a breath.
Shepard rolled onto her back. Now that the dizzying burst of desire had passed, she was sore, but pleasantly so. She would take this over battlefield bruises any day of the week.
She studied the stars and listened to their slowing breaths. The night was cool enough to make her shiver, but she didn’t move to dress or get in her sleeping bag. “I think this is where it really starts.”
“What does?” Garrus mumbled, scooting closer to take her in his arms. Thane moved in too, protecting her from the wind.
“The rest of our lives.” She rolled over to snuggle into Thane’s chest, glad to let that be the final word on the matter.