Out For Karma: Mass Effect

[Book Two] Chapter 12: Never neglect tactical retreat

Chapter 12: Never neglect tactical retreat

After getting back on the Normandy with a Samara pledged to Shepard, something that bothered Rick a lot, he went straight back to his quarters to find something to do. Mainly finding the leak who revealed the location of Miranda’s sister along any connection to Cerberus about the said leak. Cerberus may have been a dead end with no access to their servers but Henry Lawson wasn’t. While his cyber protections were at the top, as all billionaire businessmen ought to, he still found a lead. A simple name. Nicket.
From there finding information from that was easy as pie. It seems that Nicket had received a tip from an anonymous source about what Miranda actually did with her sister. From the conversation between the man and Henry Lawson, the former would receive a huge sum of money if he brought the girl to the latter.
That left the question of the anonymous source but Rick knew it was Cerberus, he’d have to confirm who knew about her sister with Miranda. It wasn’t the smoking gun he was hoping to turn the brunette away from the terrorist organization but it was enough to make her doubt, perhaps.

With his findings he exited his room and took the elevator to the crew deck to reach Miranda’s quarters. Going into the room through the door when it opens it didn’t waste any time to lock it up, prompting the brunette to raise an inquiring brow. Only when she took the datapad Rick was handing her did she finally spoke.

“A bit much don’t you think?”
“Considering the nature and subject of the information on this datapad, I don’t think so.” he said as he flashed his omni-tool.
“There are no bugs in this…” Miranda began when half a dozen were seen sparking in the room.

The Cerberus officer frowned at this discovery and looked at the man in front of her inquisitively. That earned her a negative from a shaking head before he pointed to the datapad in her hands with his chin. She stared at him for a moment then dropped her eyes to read the data. The more she read, the more her brows raised until finally her jaw clenched hard with a look of murder in her eyes.

“He’s dead.” Miranda announced. It didn’t take a genius to know who she was talking about. Nicket signed his death warrant the moment he contacted Henry Lawson.

“Snitches get stitches but that’s not what’s important, bubble, and you know that. Who knew besides him?”
“Very few people that I can count on one hand including Nicket.”
“I need names.”

Miranda looked up at him in silence for a moment then asked the questions she had in mind.

“What is it to you? Why are you invested in my personal affairs?”

“It’s personal to me too and to open your eyes about Cerberus.”
“... How is my personal affair personal to you?” she asked, ignoring the bit about the organization she was working for.
“I may have been older but I was in Oriana’s place. The notable difference between us two is that my big sister wasn’t a good one like you. Quite the opposite.”

His reply threw her back a little for many reasons. One it was an emotional response which was unlike him from what she knew of the man. Two because she just learned that he had or still has an older sister. Something that she will put in her file on him as soon as she can. And finally third, that he was perhaps under the same circumstances than her sister which would explain why his file is so empty in the first place.

“I need their names and if you read further you’ll see an interesting part relating the dealings between Cerberus and your father.”
“The illusive man wouldn’t…” she began as she already read the mentioned part.
“You know he would without hesitation.”
“It’s pure conjecture. That’s not proof.”
“No, but it’s a lead that needs and must be explored.”
“If that information is real to begin with.”
“Real or not, it doesn’t change anything. Though the fact that you had bugs in your own private quarters is pretty telling.” he said, shaking his head in disapproval before turning around and making an exit, leaving Miranda thinking alone.

____________________________________________________________

After presenting his findings to Miranda, Rick went up to the combat information center and made his way towards the cockpit.

“Joker, I’m out for some takeout, want something?”
“If you can find a burger joint I won’t say no.”
“Fries and soda?”

“Of course. And don’t forget the toy!” the helmsman yelled to the retreating back of Rick as a joke.
“Got it!”

Exiting the ship the helmeted man went to take a taxi for the nearest place where he could find a burger. He took Joker’s command and added a kid’s menu to follow through with the joke then took his own which was more consequent as he was a biotic. In fact he took twice his usual amount before going back to the area where the Normandy was docking but instead of going back to it he went towards Liara’s office. Nodding to her assistant without waiting for an answer he entered the room. Liara was currently focused on her terminal, probably trying to find some relevant data that she could use to sell or blackmail someone. Only when Rick put the bags of food on the table right in front of her that she noticed her presence.

“Rick!”

“Good evening.”
“What are you doing here?”

“I thought you could use a break and have dinner then talk.”

“I’m in for dinner.” she said as she opened one of the bags to look at what food he had brought before continuing. “ But not for the talk. There is nothing more to say.”
“There is plenty.”

“For you maybe, not so much for me.”
“You still didn’t tell me why you went into the broking business.”

Liara took out the food, both for her and for Rick and paused when she ended up with a kid’s menu in her hand. She looked at him with a bemused smile and an eyebrow raised.

“It’s for Joker.” he said as he went towards her side of her desk and leaned on it, right beside her and took a burger in one of his hands. Liara did the same and began to eat hers as both were looking at each other in silence. It was her that broke the tension first.

“Look, I have secrets, you have secrets, the difference is I don’t pry yours.”
“No, because I tell you everything.”
“Are you sure?” she said, knowing perfectly well that wasn’t the case.
“All but one, because it’s not mine to tell.”
“I doubt Aria will ever reveal to me how you got to know each other and what your relationship is.”
“The simple fact that you know that could put you in danger. To many I’m just her boogeyman, nothing more and it’s better if it stays that way.”
“After everything we went through together I doubt knowing that would put me in ever more danger.”
“It would, from her, from the terminus clans, the alliance, even the other species, especially the hierarchy. If any of them finds out who I am and my true connection to Aria…”
“They won’t. But not knowing… not knowing prevents me from protecting you.”
“I don’t need protection, Liara.”
“Neither do I.” she replied with a frown.
“I don’t think so, but if that’s what you believed…  I’ll just have to save your cute little blue ass then tell you ‘I told you so’.”
“We’ll see.” She answered, not convinced.
“Really… what happened to the innocent and a bit naive asari that I met on Therum?”

“She grew up.”
“A shame. I liked her.”
“Oh, she’s still there, but only when you’re not acting like an idiot.”
“I never act like an idiot.”
“What was your little rampage after you abandoned my mother and me on Thessia two years ago then? And the fact that you still didn’t tell her…”
“I apologized about Thessia already! Are you going to ever let me live it down?” he interjected, leaving out the second part of Liara’s burgeoning list.
“No. At least not until you apologize to my mother too. And in person. She took it hard, you know. I mean, what kind of guy leaves without a word after the first mother-daughter threesome of his life?”
“It wasn’t about her, or you.”
“I know but she doesn’t.”
“What do you m… She doesn’t know about…” he asked cryptically in surprise.
“Of course not. To quote you from earlier ‘It’s not mine to tell’.”
“I… Thank you.”
“Oh, don’t thank me. You’re still in the doghouse with her.”
“That bad?” he asked worriedly.
“Of course that bad. She’s a matriarch Rick, she had more sex than you could possibly imagine. In 1000 years of life you’re the first to disappear on her after a night of tryst. Her pride took a severe blow.”
“It shouldn’t have, it was the best night of my life.”
“Well your actions say otherwise.” she replied in annoyance.
“I guess I’ll have to visit her if I survive the fights against the collectors.”
“When. Not if.” Liara corrected him.
“You can see the future now?
“No but you and Shepard together are unstoppable.”
“You have a lot of faith.”
The asari smiled and stood up to wrap her arms around his neck.

“I know the man I love well.” she said before kissing him intently.

It was a brief kiss but with a lot of meaning for both of them. For Rick, that he was truly forgiven, for her, that she did still love him.

“I guess I can’t disappoint you anymore than I already have.”
“You never did. Make me sad? Maybe. Make me mad? Absolutely but never disappointed. Never.”
“You make me regret even more not being able to control myself back then.”
“Don’t. It’s perfectly understandable why you couldn’t.”
“Still… I missed the occasion to see you wearing that Indiana Jones costume in bed. I so wanted to use the whip on you.”
“The occasion will present itself again. Especially if you buy one for mother. I saw her try mine once and she was quite pleased with how she looked.”
“I’ll buy one immediately back on the ship.”
“Take one for her size though. The bust part was a bit small.” she said with a teasing smirk.

“Then it's the perfect size.” smiled back Rick.


He kissed her again and let her go back to work, despite being quite late. He too had some things to do and despite his desire to laze around in his bed he couldn’t. Picking up the food and the dirty packaging he waved her goodbye and left for the Normandy. On the way he met Shepard and her team back from her recruitment mission which was successful as a Drell was with them. As he entered the ship he threw the food to Joker who snorted at the sight of the kid’s menu and thanked him.

Rick went back to his quarters, leaving Shepard to give a tour of the SR-2 to the new member of the crew. Sitting down at his desk he checked the numbers for the anti-recoil system he was working on. Everything seemed in order, that is for the M-6 Carniflex as it was the weapon he began to work on. The difficulty of the system was to make it adaptable to all weapons. In itself having the system recognize which gun it was on wasn’t difficult, a simple reading of the Id from the software was enough, but producing a counter-balance force that varies from weapon to weapon was entirely something else. He needed Tali’s talents for that. There was no way he could, with his knowledge, create the system himself. He wouldn’t even know how to put it with the thermal clip around to take most of the place.What he could do however is calculate a new power output limit for the weapon that would not out-balance the heat generation of each shotIt was a Rick lost in his numbers that Tali found when she entered the room.

“I’m sorry I’m late! I was working on the Normandy’s shields and didn’t see the time fly.”
“Hmm?” the man replied, looking up from his terminal to look at his friend.
“I guess I wasn’t the only one focused on work.” she said, punctuated by a chuckle.
“It is that late already?”
“By the planet’s standard time it is 9:11 pm.” The voice of EDI announced.
“Oh! We’re late for our movie night, sorry EDI.”
“That’s alright.”
“What are we watching tonight?” Tali asked.
“The movie randomly selected was The lord of the rings: The fellowship of the ring.”
“Yeah, I’m not watching that without a lot of food and drinks around. And at least one bathroom break.” Rick announced.
“A bathroom break?”
“The movie is 178 minutes long.” EDI explained.
“Keelah…”
“It’s a very good movie though so it’s worth it but sadly I don’t know if my bladder could hold for so long.”

Tali simply nodded and Rick left to get a huge bowl of pop-corn and some bottle of water. He also took along dextro-food for Tali and went back to the room. The quarian was already under the sheet against the wall and left some place for Rick. Getting rid of everything he was wearing minus his shirt, underwear and helmet, he handed her the food he brought and put the bowl of popcorn on his stomach. Seeing her companions both ready, EDI played the movie but quickly put it on pause when Shepard entered the room.

“Rick, do you have a… What are you two doing?” she asked.
“It’s movie night.” Answered Tali.
“What are you watching?”
“What do you need?” Rick cut in, wanting to cut this conversation short to get back to the movie.
“The first movie of the Lord of the rings trilogy.” EDi replied to the commander.
“What is it about?”
“A meek Hobbit from the Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to destroy the powerful One Ring and save Middle-earth from the Dark Lord Sauron.”
“Except for the part of a group fighting a Dark Lord, I didn’t understand anything EDI.”
“It’s a fantasy movie with sword, bow and magic.” explained Rick further.
“Oh nice! Can I join?”
“If you two promise not to fight, I don’t have a problem with it.” announced Tali.
“As long as she doesn’t touch my food I’ll behave.”
“I won’t, now move over!” Shepard said as she began undressing.
“Wow! Wait a minute! What do you think you’re doing?” protested Rick at the sight.
“Getting comfortable?”
“I hope you’re not thinking of going under the sheet in your underwear or worse, naked.”
“Why not? You sure are.”
“That’s my room and I…” He didn’t finish his sentence as Tali put a big handful of popcorn into his mouth.
“Just pick one of his shirts in the back and wear it.”

Rick turned to look at his best friend who just shrugged. She didn’t need to see his face to know that he was scowling but she didn’t care.

“What do you want from me anyway?” Rick asked again to the redhead that was behind them.
“I wanted to talk about Miranda but that can wait until tomorrow.”

As she came back from behind, she dropped her folded clothes on his desk chair. Rick saw quickly that the only thing that Shepard was wearing was his shirt that reached her mid-tight. He couldn’t see any panties line and the juggling of her breasts indicated that clearly she wasn’t wearing a bra either.

“I’m burning that shirt tomorrow.”
“Why?” Shepard asked, puzzled.
“Because you’re not wearing anything under it!”
“So? Do you have any idea how liberating it is to remove Alliance’s standard underwear? The bra is awful! After a day of action the girls need to be free.”
“She got a point there, Rick. Underwear is awful. Did you think I wore some under my suit? Nuh-huh.”
“See?”
“I’m surrounded by perverts.” lamented Rick.
“You’re kidding right?” Tali replied with a flat tone.
“With all the shit you got on with Ashley it’s the pot calling the kettle black.” added the commander.
“At least EDI isn’t like you.”
“Technically my core is not covered by anything. By definition I am naked too.”
“... Just play the damn movie.” he ordered in a bitter and defeated tone.



____________________________________________________________


Tali was the first to wake up in the morning. She took a few moments to really come to when she noticed that this morning something was different. Turning herself around she immediately knew what it was. Rick wasn’t spooning her (and poking her) as he usually did. Instead, a very naked Shepard was sprawled on Rick, resting her head on his chest and was drooling a bit onto it.

Keelah! This is a disaster waiting to happen. I better get away and fast. How did Shepard end up naked in the first place?!

Not waiting to find out the answer to her question, she got out of bed as stealthily as she could. She certainly didn’t want to wake them up and witness the figurative explosion. She took a quick picture of the situation for posterity and went to the engineering room for a morning check up before breakfast. She wished a good morning to Daniels and Donelly and went to her terminal. She hadn't been at her post for a minute before the apocalypse started.
A loud and deep masculine yell was heard surprising the two other engineers in the room with her and making her flinch.

“What was that?” asked Kenneth.
“You don’t want to know.” Replied Tali trying her best to ignore what’s happening a room over.
“YOU DROOLED ON ME!” the male voice was heard again.
“I DID NOT!” This time the voice was female.
“WHAT’S THIS THEN? AND WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU NAKED?!
“DON’T LOOK PERVERT!”
“THERE IS  NOTHING I HAVEN’T ALREADY SEEN YOU EXHIBITIONIST!”

“EXHIBITIONIST?! I’M NOT THE ONE PARADING NAKED DURING THE NIGHT!”
“WILL YOU TWO SHUT THE FUCK UP?!” a third voice yelled.
“Ooooh. Jack is in the middle of it now, we’re doomed.” Gabriella said.
“We should run.” proposed Kenneth.
“Great idea.”

On those words Tali exited the engine room and met Jack who was on her way to give her roomie and the commander a piece of her mind. She grabbed her arm and dragged her towards the elevator.

“What are you doing?!” the bald woman protested, but quickly shut up when Tali showed her the picture she had taken.
“Damn!”

Jack had been briefed on the explosive relationship between Rick and Shepard, and while she found it funny she didn’t want to be in the middle of it. As the foursome entered the elevator more yells were heard.

“WHY WOULD I UNDRESS YOU?! I BARELY RESISTED THE TEMPTATION TO BLIND MYSELF LAST TIME I SAW YOU WITHOUT ANYTHING!”
“I CERTAINLY DIDN’T UNDRESS MYSELF! NEITHER WOULD I STRADDLE YOU ON MY OWN VOLITION!”
“OH YEAH?! DO YOU SEE ANYONE ELSE HERE?!”

“WELL THERE IS…”

““TALI !!!””

Hearing her name, the quarian quickly pushed the button for the crew deck repeatedly hoping that the door of the elevator would close faster. Thankfully just as she heard the door to her room open, the one of the elevators closed.

“Ballsy of you.” Jack said with a smirk.
“I didn’t do anything. I woke up and they were already like that.”
“Like what?”
“You don’t want to know, Kenneth.” Gabriella said, elbowing him.
“Whether you did it or not, you’re toasted.” Jack said, making Tali growl in frustration.
“It’s alright Miss Zorah, I have a recording innocenting you.” EDI announced.
“Keelah! Thank you EDI.”
“No shit! Can we see?!
“I’m sorry Jack but I do not share the privacy of the members of the crew.”

Jack uncharastically pouted but didn’t say anything. When the elevator opened and they arrived on the crew deck many members of the crew were up wondering what was going on. It was Garrus that asked.

“Dickhead and Shepard are fighting.”
“Is it finally time to collect the pool? It’s been two years.” the turian asked.
“What pool?” asked Miranda.
“Back on the first Normandy, there was a bet going on. Would Shepard blow up and shoot Rick sending him to the med-bay or would they resolve their problem in bed.”
“Damn, I owe Wrex ten credits.” In his mind, with how loud the two were, the bet was going in the direction of the shooting side and quite fast.
“I guess I’ll prepare the med-bay for Rick’s arrival.” Karin said and left.

Tali followed her, hoping to hide in EDI’s server room. The last place she would normally hide, hoping they would calm down before they found her.

____________________________________________________________


The atmosphere was tense and so was Miranda. It wasn’t because of the current mission to save her sister but because of her two companions on each side of her. The blow up Rick and Shepard had was a bit more than an hour ago and how no one died was a miracle that no one could explain.
When they had both reached the crew deck for an explanation from Tali, EDI was quick to show that the quarian was free of any wrongdoing. The commander on the other hand was not.
Apparently she had stripped out of the shirt she was wearing in her sleep because it seems she felt hot and stuck herself to Rick. After some time and because she wanted more space to sleep ( the bed being big enough for only two and half people), she ended up on top of him and from the video was quite content with the situation. She wasn’t the only one as her new human size pillow simply grabbed her and fondled her in his own sleep.

That revelation immediately had the effect of a blizzard and calmed down the hot tempered duo. Each having their own thoughts about what they just saw.

The redhead was of two minds. One part felt pride and glee at the sight of the man fondling her. After all his disparaging comments about her she saw it as a victory. The other part was more complicated, she was sad and angry at his reaction when he woke up. He clearly liked her body but the realization that it was hers sent him reeling. She didn’t understand why. It seems as a huge setback in their relationship as she thought they had finally built a solid friendship, a far cry from the time they met and began working together. He had no problem with Tali sharing a bed and intimacy with Tali, Liara, her mother and From the few stories she heard from her, Samara. Yet she clearly was an exception.
As for the experience itself, she loved it. Well… not the waking up that’s for sure, but she didn’t remember having slept that well since she enlisted. She cursed herself that she hadn’t had the chance to properly feel him against her pussy or at least remember it. Between Ashley’s recounting of their trysts, her long dry spell and the image of his cock in her head, the knowledge that she was so close to having actual sex made her hot and on edge. Close was a bit big of a word as he was wearing his boxer, her imagination took her further than reality however.

For his part Rick was not doing so well and was having an existential crisis. He didn’t have any nightmares this time, nightmares that he knew would have with Samara on the team. In fact he hadn’t slept so well since his time on Eden Prime before Saren’s attack. He had a problem as to why he slept well. Shepard. She was the reason and that didn’t sit well with him and for many reasons. He felt… he didn’t quite know. Anger for sure, that was his default emotion when he felt at loss about them. While he couldn’t name the others he knew that he felt both right and wrong about what happened as he more or less recognized it from his time with Shepard outside missions. A part of him just wanted to tear her apart, to let his anger talk so it would go away, another to just hug her and never let her go. That wasn’t something new, bit by bit, his time with her on the first Normandy shed away the intensity of any negative feelings he felt towards her and ever since their reunion and the different Shepard he faced, things had begun to change at a more drastic rate. That terrified him.
What he tried to not think of but that his subconscious did anyway, was that if it hadn’t been for his boxer he would have fucked her here and there and love every seconds of it. The feeling of her naked body on his, particularly the wetness of her lower lips on his hard as steel morning wood, has been exhilarating. He wanted nothing more than to just take a big handful of her ass, raise it and impale her on his cock. He would have vented his anger, frustration and hate of the woman or satisfied another feeling that even his subconscious refused to acknowledge. Why didn’t he do so? His subconscious didn’t know. In the end he just screamed.

“Could you please focus?” asked Miranda, irritated by their actions. She was right to be after all it was her sister’s life on the line.
“I’m focused.” Shepard immediately replied with conviction.
“I feel insulted that you believe I’m not, bubble.”

The brunette looked at the masked man with a dubious expression but let it go. The rest of the elevator ride was spent in absolute silence, which was fine with each member of the team. When their descent stopped they were on a remote part of a spaceport controlled by Eclipse. One merc in charge tried to rudely send them away but a powerful biotic charge sent him back twenty feet and hit a container so hard that his body was embedded in it. In a swift move Rick exploded the head of the man’s subordinate on his right with his shotgun and put a projectile in the woman’s on the left. Clearly they were not the top of the mercenary group as their shields were not activated while on job. Just because there was no trouble.

“I guess he was focused after all.” Miranda exclaimed as Rick blurred farther away to deal with another eclipse member.
“Did you doubt it?”
“Considering this morning's situation, yes.”
“No matter what happened outside the mission, it never interfered with the mission. While I just put it aside, Rick used what he feels on our enemies with deadly efficiency.” Shepard explained while shooting with her assault rifle at a merc on her left that Rick left alone.
“I can see that. He’s even more brutal than usual.” the brunette said as she sent a throw towards a mecha that came from a container.
“It was our biggest fight to date. And it was personal this time.”
“I’m really surprised you’re working well together despite your animosity towards each other.”
“We complete each other well, that’s how. Though I don’t have any animosity towards him, not anymore at least. It’s all on his part and I just answer in kind.”

“Any idea why? While no problem ever occurred on the field it may still happen. To be honest, I really thought that I would have to come alone.”
“We wouldn’t have let you, Miranda. You’re part of the team and we stick together no matter what. At least that’s the case for him and me, I can’t talk for the others.”

Miranda simply nodded and, with Shepard, joined Rick who was waiting for another elevator on the other side of their entrance. They cleaned three levels of the spaceport before coming face to face with Nicket, who Miranda immediately put down without even letting him say a word. The eclipse mercs and their captain followed him in death shortly after. Taking one last elevator back up to the upper level, Miranda stopped abruptly. She was looking at a young brunette in her late teens and her family. Rick pushed her forward from behind and the Cerberus agent turned around for some explanation at his action that Shepard provided.

“Go see her.”
“I can’t, she doesn’t even know me.”
“Then now is the time to change that. Trust me, she’d wished to know her guardian angel, besides what do you have to lose? You’ll watch over her no matter what.” said Rick.

Miranda, with a contrite face, looked at him then at Shepard who nodded in agreement. Thinking for a moment she let out a sigh of defeat and made her way towards her sister, to introduce herself.
Rick was looking solemnly in silence at the sight and if he didn’t have his face hidden, people wouldn’t have missed the longing in his eyes. Alas he was wearing his helmet and Shepard couldn’t make out his expression, neither what he was thinking, she could feel that something was wrong though. Grabbing gently his arm she brought him out of his musing.

“Are you alright?”
“... I have some thinking to do.” was all Rick said before leaving Shepard alone.

She let out a sigh of tiredness, wondering when they’d be back to where they were. They had made so much progress in their relationship and one morning, an unconscious mistake on her part and it was now several steps back. While it wasn’t a good situation, she wasn’t giving up.

____________________________________________________________

It was early in the morning, a bit before the skeleton crew got replaced, that a forlorn Jane Shepard was eating the breakfast she cooked for herself. She wanted to talk about the previous morning with Rick and patch things up but he never came back to the ship. She really hated that he needed so much time to deal with emotional things and hoped that this time it would not take two days. She was brought out of her thoughts when Miranda appeared in her field of vision, walking towards her quarters in a funny manner and with a very small contented smile. That made the redhead raise a brow as she didn’t remember the brunette getting hurt the previous day.

Maybe it didn’t go that well with her sister. Eh! She reminds me of Ashley after…

Dots were connected, her eyes grew big and the smile of amusement she had for a brief moment from the memory of Ashley immediately faded. In no time she was just on her feet and opened the door to the Cerberus agent who was surprised at the sudden intrusion.

“Shepard?!”

Jane didn’t even hear her, too focused on finding out if her suspicions were true. She grabbed Miranda’s suit with both hands and ripped it out revealing numerous hickeys and bite marks on her body, especially her breasts that were jiggling from the strength she had applied, proving her right.

“You slept with Rick.” the redhead stated in what she believed was a neutral tone but was in truth quite aggressive.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about Shepard. Now, if you don’t mind I...” Miranda began, getting out of Shepard’s grip and covering her chest.
“I saw Ashley walk that way enough times to know that you did, Miranda. No need to lie.”
“I.. fine, you’re right, I had sex with Rick. How is it your business?”
“As the commander of this crew it’s important for me to know what’s going on between the people in it. Fraternization is…”
“Shepard, not even you believe the bullshit you’re serving me.” interrupted Miranda in an unimpressed tone, her arms crossed under her chest which gave a good view of a very tempting cleavage.

“I…”
“You?” the brunette said, clearly not in the mood to be patient.
“I’m curious, okay?!”
“About sex?” a doubtful Miranda asked.
“Yes! I mean no! I’m curious about how that happened! He clearly wasn’t in the mood for…”
“I assure you, he was, commander.”

Shepard looked at Miranda who looked back. Both were silent and were waiting for the other to talk. It was the former who did.

“Do you mind sharing how it went?”
“How did it come to sex or the sex itself?”
“Both?”

That answer shocked Miranda a bit but nothing was displayed on her face. That was a new take on the commander that she didn’t know about and also a new take on the relationship she had with Rick.

“I mean.. Girls talk?” Shepard said tentatively.
“Girls talk?”
“Girls talk.” the redhead replied with conviction this time before explaining herself. “I got used to Ashley sharing her moments with him and well…”
“You used her stories to fuel your fantasies.” Miranda stated.
“Yes. I haven’t been laid in years! And I’m not including the two years dead. Do you know how difficult it is to find a good lay in the Navy? One who not only does the job correctly but doesn’t brag about it on the general coms of a ship?”
“Almost none.” Miranda said in understanding.
“Same problem in Cerberus?” Jane asked curiously.
“Yes. Jacob is alright though.”
“You and Jacob?”
“A long time ago.”
“Must not have been that great if there was no repeat since.”
“Don’t misunderstand, he knows his way with a woman’s body, he just didn’t do it for me.”
“And Rick does?”
“... Yes.”

Looking at the expectant eyes of the woman in front of her, Miranda sighed. After the night she had, she was dead tired and wanted nothing else than to rest but clearly that wasn’t going to happen any time soon. She’d have to soldier on and get on with it.

“Very well, after saying goodbye to my sister I went to a bar. Both to celebrate and…”

Walking towards the counter to ask for a drink, she saw her teammate nursing his own. She sat on the stool next to him and gave her order.

“So… Everything’s good?” he had asked.
“Better than good. She was shocked to find out I existed but thankful when I told her about what I did and our father. I learned a lot about her too, about things that I didn’t know about. Like the fact that she plays violin and just like me love the adagio movement of Nielsen’s fifth.”
“Glad everything went well. So… you’re here on your own to celebrate?”
“More or less. I’m also here to relax. I Haven't had much time for it since I started to work on Shepard.”
“Is that the only thing you did during those two years?”
“Yes, but enough about me. What about you? From what I gathered, you’re not the type to go to a bar and even less drink alcohol. What are you doing here?”
“I came to… vent I suppose.”
“By drinking?”
“I’m not really in the mood to bash heads, and I don’t have any friends with benefits on the ship, so the only solution left was this solution.” he said, raising his empty glass, signaling the bartender for a refill.

Miranda stared at him questioningly for a long moment. Long enough that Rick spoke.

“What is it?”
“Nothing, I’m just surprised, that's all. Last time you locked yourself up in your quarters when you fought with the commander.”
“My presence here has nothing to do with her, in fact I’m here because of you.”
“Me?” asked a surprised Miranda.

“Yeah, because you’re an awesome big sis. The kind I wish I had.” 

He put the glass against his lips and drank it down in one go then put it loudly on the counter. Turning around he took a good look at the people in the bar, before turning to Miranda.

“Since I know you and you’re the prettiest lady around you’re the first I get to ask.”

“Ask what?”
“Want to get out of here, find a room and have some fun?”

Miranda’s brows rose high on her head at the audacity and blunt way he was propositioning her for sex.

“I think you got too much to drink.”
“Perhaps but I’m horny nonetheless, and the alcohol didn’t do enough for me to vent. And since you didn’t get to have much fun during those two years, why not with someone you know and won’t make a big deal out of it?”

She looked at him dumbfounded for a moment before considering what he said. He made sense and wasn’t wrong. She has been taking care of herself for a while now and was tempted to subscribe to one of those dating sites on the extranet for a quick one night stand, to break that monotonous cycle. She looked him up and down for the first time under a sexual lens. She liked what she saw.

“Do you really think you have what it takes? That you can take me on?”

The question made him chuckle loudly.

“I specialized in your type.”
“My type?”
“Competent, very smart, bossy, always in need to be in control. Yeah I know my way around your type, my wife was like that too, so I know exactly what you need.”
“Oh, really?”
“You need someone to take control from you.”
“You think you can?” she challenged.
“I know I can.”

Miranda fixed his helmet with her eyes, to be more specific the location where his eyes should be. She turned around, bottomed up what was left of her drink and stood up from her stool.

“Let’s see if that’s true or if you’re bragging just like the others.”

She left the bar, Rick in tow and they took a Taxi to the nearest luxurious hotel they could find. In no time they entered their room. Immediately he grabbed her from behind and turned her around then gave her a searing kiss, grabbing her ass with one hand with force. With the other he grabbed the zip of her catsuit and pulled it down. Breaking the kiss, he let the suit fall and Miranda stepped out of it before picking her up and throwing her onto her back onto the bed without an ounce of gentleness.

“What are you… Aaaanh.”

Just as she began to complain Rick had put his mouth on her pussy and was already eating her out. He found out without any surprise that she was already aroused. When Miranda tried to put her hands on his head they were slapped away by one of his. Instead she tried to move her hips up to feel more of what he was doing but he pinned them down. He mercilessly went to town on her. His tongue caressed her folds inside and outside making her moan loudly. Suddenly he put a finger in her en began to fuck her with it, making sure to scrap the upper wall of her pussy, then lowered his head and began to rim her. The sensation of the hot and moist tongue on her rosebud made her jump in surprise. At least tried as he was holding her with his free hand against the bed firmly.

“Nooo!”

Rick ignored her cries of protest, he didn’t care. Right now she was his plaything, his pet, and pets didn’t have an opinion. As he broke open her asshole with his tongue making sure to lick every inch of the ring he added another finger in her pussy and he began to vary his movement. He separated his index in middle finger as much as he could to expand her snatch, scraping and putting pressure on her walls even more. As he did so he never stopped the back and forth movement with his hand but added a literal twist of his wrist. A considerable amount of fluid was being produced now, dripping from her cunt to her asshole, coating his hand and his tongue; proof that what he was doing was very effective on the brunette.

He kept going for a few minutes, paying attention to her moans and breathing. When the latter began louder and quicker and her breathing more ragged he knew she was close to her peak. He never stopped moving his hand now back to a simple two finger salute, back to scratching her upper wall and stimulating her g-spot. His mouth however left her asshole alone, making her moan in disappointment, before finding its way on her clitoris, which he readily started to suck in earnest while licking it for all it was worth. 

In less than a minute, Miranda came, grabbing hard with her hands the cover of the bed, her legs trying to close on Rick, to push him deeper, to have more contact, more pleasure, while her back arched and she let out a deafening scream. Her pussy walls contracted with so much strength that Rick wondered if he could ever pull them out. Finally after nearly half a minute of spasming, the brunettes’ body went limp. Her back touched the bed and her grip on the cover became inexistent.

Rising himself up from between her legs, Rick witnessed with satisfaction the result of his work, she was breathing deeply and quickly as if she had run a marathon, her eyes closed, sweat covering her body in a glint that made his cock harder than it already was. He began shedding his clothes, leaving only his underwear, then picked her body up and positioned her in a way that her head was hanging off the edge of the bed. She was so out of it that she didn’t even notice. He gave her a few minutes to come out of her post-orgasm state before speaking.

“Still thinking that I can’t take you on, huh?” he said, taunting her.
“I…”
“Don’t speak. Pet can’t talk after all.”

She opened her eyes to glare at him but aborted the thought when she saw the huge bulge just above her face.

“Pull it out.” he said in an authoritative tone that sent a chill down her spine.

She didn’t even question his order and slowly raised her hands, fascinated by what she was seeing. Putting them on the bulge, with one she tried to determine its girth and the other its length, fondling it gently. When he slapped her hands away he ordered again.

“I ordered you to pull it out, not to fondle it.”

This time she obeyed, gripping the helm of his underwear and pulling it down in one stroke, freeing the biggest cock she has ever seen on a human, only a few inches away above her face.

‘My god! That’s going to destroy me! And his wife took that? Was she a size queen?!’

For the third time she raised her hands to grab the appendage which took most of her field of vision but lowered them when she saw the steel in Rick’s eyes clearly disapproving her attempt. She gulped and waited for his approval. She didn’t know why she did, especially since the only thing she wanted was to put her fingers on it and properly explore it. But she waited. When he told her to go on, she didn’t hesitate for a second. She put both hands at the base and while one was holding this pussy slayer the other slowly explored it, caressing the shaft, feeling his hot skin, tracing every angry vein, full of blood. Up and down, multiple times to be sure that she remembered such a unique specimen. Her support hand went down, grabbing his sack and began to weigh it. It was heavy, and his testicles were bigger than average. She couldn’t help but think how it would feel when he unloaded them on her, or inside her. She wanted to know she wanted to find out everything she could think of about it. And right now, she wanted to know its taste.
Moving both hands towards the tip of his cock she began to massage the area around the bulbous head. What she truly wanted was to let her tongue roam along its entire length and suck on it but she waited for his order.

“Worship it.”

It was all he said. Just two words, two simple words. But it was more than enough for her. In a flash she had the tip in her mouth stretching it a bit before she chose to just go with her first wish and lick every nook and cranny of the most magnificent cock she had ever seen. She liked what she was tasting and took her time to cover all of it with her saliva. She went beyond the base and began to lick his sack until finally she began to rain some light kisses on those heavy balls. Those kisses became little sucks, as if she wanted to leave hickeys on them, then finally she just locked her lips on one of them and sucked hard, trying to take it in her mouth where she caressed it sensually with her tongue before switching for the other. After going back and forth from one to the other she went back to take care of the shaft kissing it as many times as she could as she moved her mouth towards the top. Once there she just moved her head to feel his cock against her entire face and when she had enough signaled Rick to back up a few steps. It was time to blow that huge piece of meat and with her position she needed a good angle. 

She began with just the head, her tongue swirling around it, paying great attention to stimulate the underside of his cock while at the same time sucking it. Her lips were puffed and locked around it and very slowly glided down to take more of the shaft. Bit by bit she took more and more of his cock into her mouth taking time to adjust to the girth in awfully unhurried speed. When she finally reached a third of the log stretching her mouth she realize couldn’t get it into her throat the way she wanted, she needed his help to push more of it forward and she didn’t want that. Instead She removed it from her mouth and went off the bed to get on her knees in front of him. Looking up she focused her eyes on him with a lustful gaze and resumed her previous action without blinking. When she reached the point where he entered her throat again, she closed her eyes and forced herself to take a few inches more. At the two third mark, she found out she couldn’t go farther and began bobbing her head up and down, her tongue out and caressing the underside of his shaft, drooling abundantly. It was messy, her drool was absolutely everywhere, from all around her mouth to the carpet she was kneeling on. 

She deepthroated him one more time and held the position for a while before retreating to take air in her lungs. Thick threads of saliva were linking her mouth to his cock while she tried to catch her breath. Her eyes went wide when she heard him issue a new order.

“Take all of it.”

She looked at him to see if was joking. She couldn’t tell of course, with the helmet, but his demeanor indicated that he wasn’t. Lowering her gaze, she went cross-eyed, looking at his cock that was way too close. Putting her hands at his base, she obeyed without a second thought. When she reached the farthest she could she took his hands and put it on her head, gratifying him with a look that pleaded for him to do it.
He didn’t even nod and just pushed her head down as he pushed his pelvis forward. He was relentless and didn’t bring her up to breath a single time and went on and on until her nose touched his lower stomach. She had tears in her eyes ruining her eyeliner. When she couldn’t take it anymore she tapped his thigh and he brought her back up all the way where she coughed a bit and tried to catch her breath again.

“Open wide and finish me.”

As soon as she could she did. She grabbed his cock with both hands and began jacking him off furiously, while her mouth was opened as far as she could and her tongue out. After less than a minute he finally erupted on her face. The first stream landed right in the middle of her face, from her forehead down to her left cheek, the second went a bit more left, drowning her eyes. Moving her hands to redirect his cock she ended up with her face completely glazed. It was only with the fifth and sixth streams which were less powerful that she got some of his cum into her mouth and tongue.

“Don’t swallow. Keep it in your mouth, savor it.”

She closed her mouth and did as instructed, swirling her tongue in the hot baby batter that she had earned after a lot of work. She finally could have a taste of what those heavy balls she loved to have in her mouth contained.

“Show me.”

She raised her head back and opened her mouth obediently.

“Swallow.” he ordered and she did and loved every second of it.

“Get on the bed. On your back. Show me how flexible you are.”

You didn’t have to tell her twice. Miranda quickly got on the bed eager to finally have the monster she had been serving for the past ten minutes inside her very hungry pussy. She was so wet that she left a puddle of fluid on the carpet. Fixing him with her eyes she spread her legs and raised them as high as she could before grabbing them with her hands and pulling them down on each side of her head, raising her ass on the pressing and putting her pussy and asshole on display.

“Good.” said Rick as he got on the bed too.

Getting on his knees he moved forward and let his still erect cock rest on her pussy, doing some back and forth with his length, separating her lips.

“You want it, don’t you?”

Miranda was about to answer vocally when she remembered that pets don’t speak and simply nodded in consequence.

“Talk. Tell me what you want.”
“FUCK ME! RUIN ME WITH YOUR FUCK-STICK!” she yelled as she moved her hips up and down along his length.
“In one thrust or slow?”
“SLOW PLEASE!”

“Very well.”

He put his hands on the back of her thighs and placed his cock at her entrance. As asked, he slowly penetrated her. Inch after inch, he fed her hungry cunt everything he had until their pelvis collided.

“YEEEESSSS!”

He didn’t move but instead let Miranda adjust to him and enjoyed the sensation. He unwillingly compared the brunette’s pussy to the two women he had bedded in his life. Ashely and his wife. While she was a bit tighter than the former Miranda couldn’t hold a candle against his wife. Perhaps because his decision wasn’t just physical but also emotional. In the end however, it didn’t matter, being inside the Cerberus agent felt extremely good and he could barely stop himself from pounding away with everything he had. Instead he lowered himself, put his hands around her and kissed the woman he was now empaling, not caring one bit that his cum was still on her face. Miranda answered in earnest and put so much tongue in her kiss that for a moment he thought she was trying to give him a throat exam. It was her that broke the kiss though.

“FUCK ME! FUCK ME!”

Rick didn’t say anything and just pulled back before slowly thrusting into Miranda’s delight. Every time his cock was ready to leave her pussy her folds stuck to it and tried their very best to pull his cock back in. That was entirely unnecessary on their parts but Rick loved the sensation. After a few minutes, Miranda begged him to really give it to her, which he obliged. He moved his hands to find some support with her ankles and began to thrust with everything she had, making her scream in pleasure and delight every time he hit her cervix. Finally, he changed his hand's location again to paw at her big breasts bringing them to his mouth. He licked and kissed every inch of them at first until he began to leave hickeys and bite marks while playing with her nipples with his fingers. Rolling them, pulling at them, pinching them and bit them one or twice.

“I’M GONNA.. I’M GONNA.”

She warned and Rick put even more effort in what he was doing. That lasted a few more minutes until he buried himself as deep as he could, his cock trying to pry open her cervix to reach her womb and unloaded everything he had. His orgasm started her own; her body began to shake as she screamed loudly until it became a silent one. Rick maintained the position way past the point of him being empty allowing Miranda to ride her orgasm without interruptions. When he felt her body relax and go limp, he slowly retracted himself from her folds bringing back with him her legs and put them back down on the bed. He was proud to see her pussy completely stretched and could see far inside. The sight of his cum slowly running down her cunt then down her asshole onto the bed made his cock twitch and fuelled his lust for a third round. Once again her breath was ragged but he didn’t care, he moved next to her head and put his cock across her face. Not needing an invitation, Miranda began to clean him up on instinct. She wasn’t all there after all her mind muddled in her post-orgasmic bliss, she couldn’t think at all. 

She did such a good job that in no time Rick was hard again, moving around to the end of the bed he flipped her over on her stomach.

“Raise your ass.”
“...”

Unfortunately for him, Miranda was still in lala-land and didn’t hear him one bit. She came too when she felt a sharp pain on her right ass cheek. Looking back she saw Rick and his cock at the ready, his hand on her ass.

“Raise your ass.”

Hearing him this time, she bit her lips. She wasn’t sure if she should or could endure more of him. One thing for sure she will feel sore tomorrow morning and perhaps for a few days. In the end she decided that she wanted more and that she could and will handle it, so she raised her ass high up in the air while burying her head into the bed. She felt his hands gently caressing the ass she was so proud of. She could feel the leftovers of his climax running down her thighs and along the anticipation of her next mind-shattering orgasm she felt bold and began to shake her ass from right to left.

“If you insist, pet, I’ll make this pussy mine.”

And in one thrust he buried all of himself inside of her.

____________________________________________________________


When Miranda came to, the sun was beginning to rise, it took her a moment to clear her head and remember the activities from the previous night. She had a lot of questions about herself that she never thought she would have and she needed answers. When she felt a small push inside of her any cloud left that was obstructing her mind went away. Only then could she finally notice the situation she was in. Still laying on her front, being crushed by a heavy weight. The most important thing was the log embedded in her cunt, trying to reach her womb.

‘Did we fall asleep, like that?’ she wondered.

She felt absolutely worn out, but completely satisfied and content. Well mostly content as she felt very sore. While she loved the feel of Rick's cock inside of her, she currently felt uncomfortable with it. Using her ass, she bumped it up to wake her partner.

‘I hope he won’t ask for another round. Or rather, order me for it.’

That was one of the questions she had. Why had she been so submissive to him? She didn’t protest, she didn’t fight, she simply obeyed him without questions.

‘He said he knew my type, maybe he knows?”

Hitting him with her ass again but this time stronger, Rick finally woke up.

“Good morning.”
“Good morning, pet.”
“Do you mind getting off of me?”

“Not at all.”

He raised himself on his arms and slowly pulled out from her pussy making her wince. Once done he simply lay on his back besides her and pulled her towards him. Miranda’s head landed on his shoulder and he began caressing her lower back sensually. Both enjoyed the moment in silence until Miranda couldn’t hold herself back up anymore and broke it.

“How did you know?”
“Hmm?”
“That I needed someone to take control of me? I still can’t wrap my head around it. It’s so… not me.”
“Because you’re a lot like my wife for one. She too was a leader with plenty of responsibility, a lot of stress and a lot of crucial decisions to make. Often she needed to unwind, to not make decisions, to not be in charge, but to mindlessly do what she was told to do. To put her brain on OFF. You remind me a lot of her.”
“I do?”
“Uh-huh. Same hair color, same eye color. An uncanny ability to lead and get her subordinates moved their asses.”
“So you asked me for sex because I looked like her?”
“No. The resemblance stopped there.”
“How are we different?”
“In a lot of ways. None are appropriate to say except perhaps that she had a great sense of humor.”

Miranda took some time to think about what he said, especially the “none are appropriate to say’ part but let it go. She knew she would not tell him and while she was curious she didn’t think it would do her any good to know.

“She was a lot taller too. She beat you there with her 6”2 .”
“You said ‘for one.’, what’s for two?”
“Your father was an oppressive and abusive asshole, you ran away young with a baby, shouldering responsibilities that no teenager should have. From then on, between your job in Cerberus and constantly keeping an eye on your sister you keep piling even more responsibilities. It’s not far-fetched for you to have a deep subconscious desire to somehow be back to doing what you’ve been told all your younger days and have it easy?”

Miranda was pensive for a moment and couldn’t come to an answer.

“The real question is. Did it bother you? Did it make you uncomfortable?”

She had to admit, it didn’t, to both. She felt good, better than she ever did during a sex session and it wasn’t just because of what Rick has between his legs. He was authoritative and controlling but he certainly didn’t push her to act. He just ordered and let her obey. So unlike some men she had the unpleasantness to meet. In a way she was willingly giving control of the situation while at the same time was free to take it back. Both in control and not. The idea satisfied her greatly.

“I guess not. Quite the contrary. Was it like that for her?”
“No. Well… Sometimes. She was more of a ‘take control from me’. There was a lot of wrestling.”

Once again she began to think about the situation. In the end what mattered was if she liked it or not. She did and wanted to explore more this side of her she didn’t know she had. The only thing she wasn’t sure was Rick calling her ‘pet’.

“Can… we do that again?”
“Straddle me.”

“What?” she asked, puzzled and raising her head and looking at his helmet.
“Straddle me, pet.”

She moved her body and straddled his midsection, putting her hands on his chest to support herself while she felt his hard and very erected cock lodge itself between her asscheeks. She hopes she wasn’t asking for another round because her pussy was out of order for a while.

“So you want for us to be fuck buddies then?” asked Rick, putting his own  hands on her ass and moving them up her hips then side before taking a good handful of her chest.
“Yes.”
“Do you truly? Do you really want me to come in your quarters and have my way with you?” he added as he began to play with her nipples.
“Yes.” she said as she started to get hot.
“To bend you over your desk?”
“Yes.” She pictured that happening in her mind and felt even more aroused.
“To plow you into your chair until you need help to get out of it?”
“Yes!” she said louder as she began to move her pussy back and forth against his body at the idea.
“To make you kneel in front of me?”
“Yes!”

“To make you choke on my cock?”
“YES!” This time, the tone of her voice went higher in the middle of her answer as one of his hands rubbed her clit.
“To fuck you like a two credit whore?”
“YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS!” she screamed in ecstasy  as she came from her clit being pinched hard.

To Rick's surprise, Miranda squirted a bit. She was too, when she got down from her high and looked at the mess she created.

“That… never happened before.”
“You must have been really aroused, to come like that and so fast.”
“Yes.” she answered as she got up from him. “I’m sorry about the mess.”
“Meh it’s fine. I take it as I see it, that I did a very good job.”
“You did.”
“Good. And yes I’d be your fuck buddy, though don’t hesitate to call me if you are the one in need. It’s a two-way relationship.”

Miranda nodded and watched him get off the bed and walked towards the bathroom for a shower. She let herself fall down on her back and thought about the last 24 hours of her life and what the short term future had in store for her.

____________________________________________________________

Minus the discovery of her submissive trait, Miranda shared everything with Shepard who seemed to be hot if the red on her face was any indication.

“How… How much of what you told me is true?”

The brunette simply smiled smugly and avoided the question.

“I’m tired Shepard, so if you don’t mind I’d like to catch some more sleep.”

The redhead wanted to protest as she opened her mouth, but decided otherwise. She stood up and thanked Miranda before exiting the room.

I really need to find myself another dildo. Was the thought on her mind.

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