Parallax

A/n: Join the Bioware social site. I am on there with the same name (fortunesque).

You guys are the lucky ones! The people on ff.net are missing half of this chapter. You will see why when you read it :)


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A voice roused Kaidan from his sleep and he groaned in protest. Dream-Shepard was about to remove her bra, and he’d missed out on the awesomeness that the dream was sure to provide. The Lieutenant slid his eyes open reluctantly.

It was worth it.

In front of him was the inquisitive face of the freshly cleaned Shepard, her green eyes wide and doe-like. Her mouth was set into an inquisitive ‘o’ as she blinked at him. God, but she was beautiful.

“Now what’s that look mean, mister?” she teased.

He wasn’t aware that he’d been giving her a look of any sort. Kaidan cautiously sat up as Shepard giggled at him. It was then that he noticed her state of dress.

It was a navy sports bra and a pair of tiny, spandex shorts. Or maybe they were underwear. He didn’t care. Shepard’s quarters were cold, just like she liked them. And her nipples were hard, just like he decided that he liked them. Kaidan grinned.

“And now you’re staring at my breasts and smiling,” Shepard raised a brow, “charming.”

The Lieutenant’s eyes grew wide and he stood. Ignoring the sudden spinning of the room, he grabbed her hands and stared intently into her eyes.

“Shepard,” he crooned, “you are so beautiful; I want to kiss your lips.”

Kaidan was lucid enough to notice Shepard’s cheeks flush red. He smiled shyly at her. Would she let him kiss her?

His hand brushed her cheek in hesitation before he leaned in to gently plant his lips on hers. Shepard responded with a sigh and deepened the kiss, drawing her arms up to rest on his shoulders. Kaidan couldn’t help but groan at the sudden explosion of ecstasy that danced along his nerves at her touch. Kissing Shepard was amazing; kissing Shepard while on meds was mind-blowing.

His tongue darted out to meet hers; without hesitation, she returned his touch. Kaidan reveled in her taste and the feel of the soft skin of her back under his calloused hands. Shepard languidly drew her nails down his chest and he shivered under her touch. After another passionate kiss, Kaidan drew back to catch his breath. He peered into Shepard’s eyes and it hit him:

He was absolutely madly in love with her.

The very thought terrified him.

Kaidan blinked and backed up from the Commander, the backs of his calves running into Shepard’s bed. He sat down and looked up at the woman in front of him. The expression on her face was indiscernible; an awkward silence pervaded the room. Kaidan had to say something. It was then that he remembered what he was going to tell Shepard before he fell asleep.

“I think the elevator is an elaborate prank, Shepard,” he shook his head then looked up at a perplexed Shepard.

“Oh?” she crossed her arms, “What makes you think this?”

The Lieutenant sighed and made a frustrated gesture with his hands.

“There appears to be many more tiles than there ought to be with the size of the elevator shaft,” Kaidan replied.

Shepard sat down next to him on the bed, wrapping her arm around his shoulder.

“So what you’re saying is that there’s a belt of tiles that moves at the same time that the elevator moves and its purpose is to make the Normandy look bigger than it actually is,” the Commander supplied.

Kaidan nodded cautiously; the idea was a good one when he first thought of it. He was having second thoughts.

Shepard shook her head and mumbled a quick ‘so adorable’ before kissing her Lieutenant on the cheek. Smiling, she laid back on the bed and put her hands behind her head. A blushing Kaidan followed suit.

“You know,” Shepard glanced over at the man next to her, “I really wonder who’s killing all those scientists that worked on the Akuze project.”

“I guess we’ll find out soon,” Kaidan mused, “hopefully we get there in time.”

A tense quiet set over the couple. The Lieutenant wondered if there’d ever be a time when he and Shepard would be able to have a completely peaceful, worry-free moment. And as he looked at her, he realized that it was unlikely. The reapers were coming. To say, “maybe when this is all over,” was a loaded statement.

Neither of them noticed the monkey that crept its way to the bed. Simon crawled up to nestle himself between the couple, making strange vocalizations as he did. Kaidan couldn’t decide if the noise was a purr or a hoot; he looked down at the newly washed monkey and ran his hands through the creature’s glossy fur.

No, there wouldn’t be a time where he and Shepard could truly be at peace, but Kaidan would spend as much time with her as he could. It didn’t matter if she loved him back or not. Somehow, her life had become intertwined with his and he knew that he would never be the same without her.

Kaidan gently picked Simon up and relocated him to the foot of the bed. Scooting closer to Shepard, he drew her into his arms and stared deeply into her eyes, silently begging her to read his mind and know that he loved her. His hand crept up to sweep her hair behind her ear; Shepard rewarded him by scooting closer and snuggling herself against him. She kissed him on the forehead and began to gently run her hands through his hair.

Her face was the last thing Kaidan saw before he fell into a deep sleep.


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Shepard waited for Kaidan to fall asleep before she gently extracted herself from his arms. She sighed wistfully as she gazed on his sleeping form. The meds had made him rather affectionate. And though it was wonderful for him to say such sweet things to her, Shepard had to force herself to remember that it was pain meds that made him act so tenderly and nothing more.

She turned away from her sleeping Lieutenant and went to her terminal. At least she could catch up on her work. The console blinked to life under Shepard’s touch. Soon, the Commander lost herself in the Eletania report.

A pair of hands settled on her shoulders and began to knead gently. Shepard glanced over at the bed and sighed; her mystery massager was Simon, not Kaidan. Receiving a massage from a space monkey was among one of the strangest things the Commander had experienced yet. Still, it wasn’t quite what she wanted.

But what did she want?

Shepard looked over at the man in her bed once more. To say that she wanted him was an understatement. She shook her head, turned back to her console and zoned out.

Kaidan had changed her.

She'd always been looking out for herself only. She enjoyed her 'kill or be killed' lifestyle. It was simple; there were no rules other than the premise that nothing was to stand between her and herself. Shepard was convinced that she'd die in a blaze of glory. She didn't need or want anyone.

She wasn't afraid of dying; she was afraid of growing old.

Then she'd met Kaidan. Shepard wasn't sure when things had changed for her. In her experience, change had come quickly. Change was an epiphany or a sudden experience wrought from a brutal struggle.

But this change was different. She didn't know how it happened and it was the most terrifying and exciting change Shepard had experienced.
She found herself wanting to do everything she could for Kaidan; she needed him. Maybe it was because he'd shown her respect and caring out of a genuine heart.

Shepard chuckled to herself. Kaidan was one of the only people she'd known that wasn't out to get something from her and she didn't know how to deal with it.

The tricky part was that she wanted to give him something in return and always found that her efforts fell short. Nothing could compare to the amount of kindness he'd shown her. Nothing could compare to the new outlook on life that he'd provided for her.

She found herself feeling like a normal woman when he was around. She wasn't a galactic savior or the first human Spectre. She was Shepard, a woman with thoughts and feelings.

Her brows knit in confusion. She was in love with Kaidan Alenko.

Shepard sighed as Simon's massage stopped for a second then began to intensify. His previous aimless kneading turned into a pinpointed targeting of various groups of nerves.

“You look like you're thinking about something,” Kaidan murmured directly into her ear.

Shepard bolted upright in her chair.

“Simon let me switch,” the Lieutenant smiled, “you looked stressed out.”

The Commander laughed awkwardly, the sound coming out in a squeak. Kaidan's hands slowed in their massage.

“Do you not want me touching you?” he asked, fear creeping into his voice.

“Oh, it's fine,” Shepard regained her composure, “You just startled me. Feel free to touch as much as you want.” She glanced at her terminal's clock and realized that she'd been working for three hours straight. Deciding that she deserved a break, Shepard shut her work down and sighed.

Kaidan lifted a brow and ushered her over to the bed to continue the massage. Shepard knelt on the bed, removing her bra without thinking. The Commander laid face-down on the bed as her Lieutenant moved to straddle her hips.

His hands roamed Shepard's back, seeking out key points that were sure to be sore in their line of work. Kaidan marveled at the soft paleness of her skin. And as he sat on her bottom, he was taken aback by how small Shepard actually was. Her personality was so huge and her confidence was so strong that he'd never noticed that behind them was a small-framed, lightly muscled woman. It struck him again that Shepard was so beautiful.

He shifted to get a better angle for the massage.

“Is the gun online, Lieutenant?” Shepard chuckled below him.

“Yes, the gun is online,” Kaidan chuckled. “You're topless and I'm all over you. Of course the gun would be online.”

A strange silence settled over the pair as their lighthearted mood shifted to one more primal. Shepard mentally weighed her options. On one hand, Kaidan was high out of his mind on meds. On the other hand, it was clear that he was interested in her in some form, even when he was sober. They were alone and would be alone for a few hours. Shepard pursed her lips; she'd made up her mind.

“Does the masseuse want to trade happy endings?” she asked.

The Commander heard a sharp intake of air from the man above her. Kaidan's hands massaged idle circles in between her shoulder blades as he tried to wrap his mind around her proposal. Shepard wanted to fool around.

“I'd like that,” he murmured, his hands sliding up to massage around the base of her neck.

Kaidan leaned over and planted a tender kiss on Shepard's jaw before nibbling lightly on her ear. Encouraged by her gasp, he suckled on the spot where her jaw ended and her neck began. Shepard hissed and wriggled beneath him, her bottom rubbing against his manhood that strained against the confines of his pants.

He'd be lying if he said he hadn't wanted this for a long time.

Kaidan removed himself from Shepard and she rolled over to face him. Putting his knee between her thighs, his mouth met hers in desperation. Their tongues dueled as his hand trailed up her ribs to gently grasp her breast. His other hand slid down her waist to tug on the waistband of her shorts. They slipped down her hips to and fell onto the floor as Kaidan moved to suckle her other breast.

Shepard gasped and arched her back when her Lieutenant's middle finger unexpectedly slipped between her folds. And as he nipped at her collarbone, Kaidan began to gently stroke her, his fingers never coming quite close enough to where she needed his touch most. The Commander squirmed; she almost begged him to touch her in earnest.

After what seemed like an eternity, Kaidan allowed his fingers to slip inside her. Shepard hissed in pleasure as her hands grabbed at the sheets below her.

“Mmm,” she moaned, “that's it.”
Shepard closed her eyes as his other hand had joined its partner in its caressing. He gently massaged her clit, his finger rubbing in slow, sensuous circles. She paid no mind to the fact that his mouth had moved away from her breast.

A hot breath drifted between her thighs; she didn't have time to register what Kaidan was doing until she felt him kiss her hairless mound.

They hadn't agreed on this, but Shepard was extremely pleased. She ran her hands through his hair and opened her legs wider to give him better access.

Kaidan's tongue delved between her folds. He moaned darkly as her unique flavor worked its way across his tongue. There was a part of him that was hesitant to do this to her; he worried that she'd feel like she had to reciprocate his actions. He roughly suckled on her bud, eliciting a shriek of pleasure.

His cock throbbed in response. Nothing excited him more than knowing that he pleased her. Kaidan continued to lick and suck, his fingers massaging her from the inside. He reveled in her gasps and moans.

Just when she thought she was about to die from over stimulation, her body gave in. Shepard arched her back, her whole body throbbing in ecstasy. All she felt were his hands and hot breath and the pounding sensation of her orgasm.

The world slowly came back into focus. Kaidan's fingers languidly pumped her still quivering passage. He planted a kiss on her hip and looked up into her eyes.

“Your turn,” Shepard smiled, her voice husky and breathless.

Sitting up, she directed her Lieutenant to sit with his back against the headboard. Her hands unfastened his belt and slid his pants down his thighs. Slithering up to him, she straddled his lap and kissed along his jawline before nipping on his earlobe.

“You're still high,” Shepard whispered, “it's going to feel like the first time all over again.”

She ground against his erection, reveling in the hiss of pleasure that escaped his lips. Scooting back, Shepard slid her hand down his chest and followed the trail of dark hair that began at his navel. A smile came to her lips as her eyes took his nude form in.

Kaidan was one hell of a man.

Shepard gently grasped his cock, her hand moving down. He hadn't been lying when he said he was well endowed. She stroked upward and watched his foreskin roll over the tip of his member. It was then that she saw it.

About mid-shaft lay a small, brown dot, nestled between two veins. Shepard lifted an eyebrow and chuckled.

“What?” Kaidan asked, worried about her reaction. Did she not like uncircumcised men?

“You have a freckle on your cock,” she grinned, “it's cute.” Shepard resumed her massage.

“Cute?” he hissed in pleasure, “It's majestic.”

“Whatever it is, I adore it,” Shepard replied.

She continued to stroke him, exploring every inch of his manhood that she could. With her other hand she gently cupped his balls. For a moment, she took her gaze away from her work and glanced up at Kaidan. His head lay back against the headboard, his eyes shut; his lips were parted as he panted in pleasure.

Taking advantage of his closed eyes, Shepard leaned over and licked the head of his erection. Kaidan's eyes shot open and he gasped.

“Don't feel obligated to...” his sentence got cut off as she drew him into her mouth, maintaining eye contact with him.

Kaidan gasped as her mouth descended, his head hitting the wall behind him. The medication had his set his nerves on fire and Shepard was stoking the flames.

She drew back, dragging her tongue along the underside of his inflamed manhood. Kaidan moaned loudly and involuntarily tried to thrust into her mouth. Shepard's hands shot out to hold his hips down before she began to repeatedly descend on him.

It was too much for the medicated Lieutenant to handle; he whimpered loudly as the inevitable approached.

The dam broke and Kaidan slipped off into oblivion, his whole body screaming in rapture. With each pulse of his member, he felt Shepard's mouth dragging him in as she swallowed.

Slowly, the tension left his body and Kaidan slumped onto the bed, boneless and exhausted.

“Woah,” he murmured.

Shepard replied with an 'mhm'. Kaidan felt her nude form curl up next to him. He was content to lie there with her, all the while trying to ignore how complicated everything had just become.

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