Mass Effect 1. Chapter 1

Shepard had purchased an apartment in Zakera Ward soon after destroying the collector base. It was a large, open space lodged in a former warehouse and had been rather cheap due to its location. She and the crew had gotten much use out of it in the past year, and the credits they'd saved on temporary lodging fees had more than paid the yearly rent.

The two things that had sold her on the space had been the master bedroom and its adjoining bath. The ceilings were high and each room had a skylight to filter in the artificial daylight of the ward. The ensuite bathroom contained a huge garden tub, and she had envisioned elaborate bathing rituals involving citrus smelling soaps and shampoos and bubbly bath water. She so rarely indulged in such feminine extravagances, and it eased her mind to even consider resting in such a manner.

However, in the year that she'd owned the place she'd managed exactly one bath in the luxury tub, on an evening when Thane was dining with Kolyat. Thane was the crux of the problem. Despite the fact that his Kepral's was essentially in remission due to nanobiotic technology, he still harbored a deep mistrust of moisture in general. As Shepard's elaborate bathing fantasies had most often involved him in one capacity or another, she was naturally put off from the activity. She'd let the matter fall to the wayside as they were navigating the difficult path of human/alien relations, but eventually she'd come to a breaking point.

For many weeks she'd waged a persuasive campaign, chipping at his defenses with logic, reason, pouting and even outright bribery. She'd found bathtime clips involving drell and human partners on the extranet and mailed them to him, going so far as to set up a clip as the background on his omni-tool. They had been lying in bed, spooning in post coital reverie, when he'd murmured in her ear. "Alright, siha. I relent. I'll bathe with you." He planted a kiss on her neck as she smiled. "If I don't thoroughly enjoy it, will you respect my wish to refrain from it in the future?"

She turned to face him, kissing the tip of his nose. "Of course, love. I just want you to give it a try." Snuggling into his chest, she sighed contentedly. "Tomorrow night then, after dinner."

The next day Shepard spent several hours combing the wards for bath products. She found a store hidden away in a corner of the 26th floor selling a wide range of bathing accoutrements. An hour later she had a bag full of edible soaps in a variety of flavors, gentle (and supposedly edible) bubble bath), terry hand washers and sea sponges designed especially for sloughing dead skin. All in all she'd spent nearly a thousand credits, but she was just getting started.

Her afternoon was a flurry of activity. Green pillar candles sat in the corners of the tub, next to several small vases of fresh flowers. Fluffy blue towels were piled on the counter next to a dozen bottles of bath soap and bubble bath. She'd set up a play list full of classic love songs, mostly from the late twentieth century, queued up and ready to go for Thane's arrival.

Thane entered the apartment a few hours later to find a note on the counter. "I'm running a bath right now. Your robe is on the bed. Get undressed and join me." He still had his misgivings about the situation; after all, it was the moisture on Kahje and other such environs that had caused his people to develop a degenerative disease. However, the mating urge was apparently one that overrode hundreds of years of ancestral wisdom. He headed straight for the bedroom, folding his clothes neatly on the bed and donning the red silk robe that she had selected for him.

He had only entered this particular bathroom a few times, preferring to use the smaller room in the hallway for his minimal ablutions. There was no denying that she'd set the mood perfectly; the candles and yellow flowers offset the soothing greens and blues of the room. Citrus accented with ginger permeated the air, and the frothy water of the tub looked almost inviting. Thane took a deep breath, enjoying his ability to inhale the moisture-laden air without difficulty.

Shepard was leaning over the tub, testing the water and turning the taps to adjust the temperature. Sultry music played through the speakers as he drank her in; for once, Shepard had picked some appropriate mood music. Her burnished hair was pinned up, exposing the graceful curve of her neck. One foot rested on the tiled edge of the tub, the lavender robe hanging open to complement the paleness of her skin.

Approaching quietly, he moved into place behind her, leaning over and cupping her breast in his hand as he nibbled at the nape of her neck. "Beautiful." He growled next to her ear, taking her other breast in his hand as she stood, leaning back into his embrace.

"Are you talking about me, or the setting?" She chuckled, reaching her hand back to grasp his neck, pulling his head forward for a kiss.

"You." He replied, sliding his hands down to her abdomen. "The room is adequate."

She laughed; a full-throated and incredibly arousing response. "I spent so much time preparing this today. I'm disappointed, love." Turning towards him, she put her arms around his neck, pressing her bare skin against his robe.

Thane breathed her in, burying his nose in the softness of her hair. "It is difficult to concentrate on anything else when you're standing in front of me nearly unclothed, siha." He kissed her forehead chastely. "I do apologize. The room is transformed. My senses are overwhelmed."

Shepard grinned. "We'll see how well I've done when I get you into the tub, you cheeky bastard." Stepping back, she winked at him and let the robe slide off her shoulders. Before he even had the chance to admire the view, she'd turned and stepped over the side of the tub, standing in the knee high water. Turning toward him, she beckoned to him.

Thane eyed the water cautiously. His people were desert dwellers, having evolved on an arid planet where water was a much sought after resource. Even those who lived on Kahje generally shunned the water that comprised ninety percent of the planet, preferring to remain in the climate-controlled dome of their city. Yet here in front of him stood this lovely human, coaxing him into the very thing that had plagued his people for centuries.

It was a dilemma, to be sure, but a dilemma that was quickly solved as she ran a hand slowly over the curve of her breast and down her abdomen. She was looking at him hungrily as he opened his robe, her dark eyes raking his body. He could feel himself stiffen under her gaze and knew that the decision had been made for him; his secondary brain functions were fully in control at that point.

Leaving the robe and the comfort of the rug behind him he dipped a toe tentatively into the foamy water. It was warm, verging on hot, and he found the feeling more pleasant than he'd anticipated. He stepped in fully, standing close to her as he adjusted to the feel on his calves. It was like being brushed with currents of warm silk, he decided, akin to the robe he'd been wearing but significantly different in temperature and volume. He smiled down at her, scrunching his toes against the bottom of the tub. "This is quite pleasant."

"Hmmm… and we haven't even gotten started yet." She lowered herself into the water, pulling him down with her. As he adjusted to the warm soapy water swirling around him, he had to admit that the sensation was agreeable. His muscles were slowly loosening in the heat, and he moved his limbs around a bit to facilitate this. Shepard made a twirling motion with her finger above his head, indicating that he should turn and face away from her. He did so without hesitation, stretching his legs in front of him in the large tub.

Behind him were noises of activity, arms being swished through the water along with other objects. It was difficult to gauge such things as the swelling music in the background dimmed the ambient noises. "I'm going to wash your back and head now." She said, her voice close to his ear. "I promise that I'll be gentle, but let me know if something doesn't feel good." Thane was not at al prepared for the sensation that followed this; the half-groan and purr that he voiced was nearly embarrassing.

Drell skin was dry by nature. They were at least distant ancestors of aliens similar to Earth's reptiles; creatures that shed their leathery skin sometimes several times a year. The process in both cases was called molting, though drell did so on a much smaller scale, shedding patches of skin periodically as their bodies produced fresh cells to build new scales.

Thane, like many drell, had difficulty removing and refreshing the scales on his back due to location. The implement that Shepard was currently using on his back was doing a marvelous job of removing the dead cells as well as relieving the near permanent itch that they caused. It was divine; his feet jittered as she lathered his back with the stiff, bristly implement. His throat inflated slightly and he began to hum as she scrubbed the back of his head and neck. It was as if Arashu herself were sitting behind him, sloughing away the old and preparing space for the new.


	2. Chapter 2

Her body slid close, breasts pressing against his back as she reached her arms around his side, loofah still in hand. "Now I'll wash your front. Unless you have any objections?" Her breath was warm on the ridges of his cheeks as he shook his head. Her hands were slow and deliberate as she soaked the sea sponge, dipping it beneath the surface of the water to sweep from the plane of his abdomen to his shoulders. She was thorough, covering both his left and right half with equal attention. The feeling was wonderful; he felt completely renewed when she'd stilled her hands and set the loofah on the side of the tub.

"This part's a little more delicate. Best to do it by hand." Shepard's voice was low and provocative as she slid her hands around the sides of his waist, dipping them to take him in hand. She apparently took his throaty moan as assent, working each hand along his shaft in turn, twisting and slipping over the ridges and brushing the tip. Her hands worked him in this circular motion until he was painfully hard, leaning back against her and breathing shallowly.

"Siha, you must stop." His voice sounded weak and gravelly to his own ears as he took her wrists in his hands, stopping her motions. Turning his head, he gazed at her. "I would enjoy the chance to wash you in return."

She quirked her lips in a half grin as she turned her back to him, resting her head on his shoulder. Reaching back she tugged his erection with one hand. "I don't like leaving you like this, love."

He moved her hand gently to the side, resting his hands on her shoulders. "I'm not at all worried, my lovely siha." Reaching over, he picked up the large, porous object from the tub ledge. "What do you call this delightful implement?"

She leaned forward, sighing as he rubbed it across her shoulders. "It's a loofah. They grow on ocean floors and act as filtering mechanisms in marine reefs." As he continued down her back, she wriggled against the scrubbing motions, voicing little exclamations of pleasure as he worked. "It's so hard to reach your own back. I love having someone else do this for me."

He laughed quietly, raising an eye ridge as he continued. "I would hope that I'm the only one washing your back, siha. Unless there's something that you wish to tell me…" His voice several registers as he released the loofah, letting it float aimlessly off to the side. Trailing his hands over her arms, he grasped her shoulders and pulled her flush against him, cupping the water in his palms and pouring it over the back of her neck.

"Of course not." She was wriggling against him now, which was wreaking all kinds of havoc on his concentration. "I spend ninety percent of my time with you and the team. Unless you think that I'm seeing Grunt on the side." She tilted her head back to throw him a little smirk, which he successfully wiped from her face by dipping his hand below the surface of the water to graze her hardened nipples. "Oh my." She dragged the syllables out as her eyes slipped closed.

Thane traced the shell of her ear with his tongue, whispering. "You're correct, siha. The front is very delicate work; best left to the gentle touch of a hand." The hands in question were cupping her breasts, while his thumbs stroked her erect nipples, rolling around the areola's as they moved. Her back was arched as she pushed more firmly into his palms, creating a gap between their bodies that was filled with quickly cooling bath water. _That will not do_, he thought, moving his right hand down the flatness of her stomach to rest on the curls at the intersection of her thighs.

Suddenly, his attention was drawn to a yellow bottle on the ledge of the tub. Reaching out with his left hand, he grasped it, holding it in front of a suddenly grumpy Shepard. "Siha, what is this?" He turned the bottle in front of her, swinging it back and forth.

"It's bath gel. Lemon, to be precise." Her voice was obviously irritated and he could picture the pout sitting on her full lips without even looking down to verify it.

He shook it again. "What does it do? What is its purpose, so to speak?"

He could actually hear the pout in her voice as she replied. "It's for cleaning yourself. You put it on your hands or a sponge, like the soap by the sink. Seriously though, why did…"

As she was explaining its use, Thane was pouring a liberal amount onto the fingers of his right hand. Before she could even finish her protestation he had sunk his hand beneath the water again and dipped it between her legs. The gel had admirable staying power and it worked well, lubricating his fingers as they worked their way between her folds.

When he hit the small button of nerves nestled within, her hips jerked and she moaned a short "Yes, Thane" in response. He obliged her, stroking the area broadly at first, and then alternating with short caresses. His siha mewled, her head thrown all the way back onto his shoulder, her breasts jutting out of the water as she rocked her hips against his hand. Her hips were creating a delicious friction as they slid against him, but he ignored it, concentrating on her gratification over his own for the moment.

He varied his approach, circling the area broadly, then narrowly, flicking the little bud with his thumb as he approached. She purred his name over and over, the motion of her hips growing wilder as he increased the pressure of his thumb, stroking hard and short over her. She cried out when she came, shuddering against his hand and holding it in place with both of hers as she ground against it. "Damn." She whispered hoarsely, turning to kiss the side of his neck. "I'll never look at bath gel the same way again."

This struck him as funny, for no particular reason and he laughed as he wrapped his arms around her. "This was a very good idea, siha. I'm willing to admit that there is something to this bathing ritual that you humans obsess over."

"I can't believe you doubted me." She sounded pleased as she snuggled back against him. "Give me one minute to recuperate." Thane played with the wet ringlets on the back of her neck as she rested, twirling them around his finger and watching them spring moistly back into place. He had a sudden urge to wash her hair, burying his fingers in the soapy lather and washing it clean. Hair was still a novelty for him.

She turned in his arms, placing her hands on his shoulders and her thighs on top of his. "So." She began, her eyes bright and twinkling. "There's still the rather important matter of satisfying you, love." Her right hand moved down his shoulder, over his firm pectoral muscle, down the hardened mass of his abdomen to take him in her hand. "I still feel a bit guilty for leaving you hanging." She slipped her hand up and down the length of him as she spoke, keeping her grip firm.

Moving forward, she positioned herself over him, kneeling on either side of his thighs. She guided him into her with a sigh, resting her forehead against his. They stayed that way for a moment, quietly enjoying the intimacy. With small movements at first, she lifted herself to the point where they were barely joined, then slid back down, taking him in deeper each time.

He moved them backwards until he could lean against the side of the tub, bracing himself there. Sliding slightly downward, he changed the angle so that he could move his hips to meet hers with each downward thrust. The feel of her clenching around him was pure bliss; the way she ground her hips against his at the bottom of each stroke was maddening. Each time brought him closer and closer to the sweetness of culmination.

Through unspoken communication they quickened the pace; she rolled her hips fiercely and he responded with equal fervor. His hands buried themselves in the softness of her hair, pulling it from the pins holding it away from her face so that it fell around his head like a curtain as she leaned over him. "Thane… love…" She murmured her eyes locking with his as they moved against each other. Release came swiftly, a jolt of pleasure that stiffened them simultaneously. Her head drooped forward onto his shoulder as she fell against his chest, her breathes slow and even, matching his. She kissed him tenderly, fingers tracing the red ridges in the sides of his neck. His hands rubbed the length of her back, dipping into the water as they moved languidly. "I told you that you'd enjoy bath time." Her voice sounded sated, if a voice were capable of that.

"How often do you require a bath, siha?" Thane tried to keep his voice as casual as possible. "I was thinking that perhaps tomorrow I could wash your hair?"

She laughed, kissing the tip of his nose. "After tonight, I'll indulge you anytime you like." Her look turned considering. "I think that I might start ordering that bath gel by the case."


End file.
