Only By A Few Seconds

A/n: This chapter is a sandwich topped with a bunch of awkward.


--------------------------------------------------------------------


A grunt was the only indication Liara had that Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams had indeed heard her. The scientist wrung her hands in nervousness, hoping that Williams would keep their conversation private.

“Well, I overheard Shepard and the Lieutenant talking…” she trailed off when Ash’s head whipped around to pin her with an intent stare.

“What did Kaidan say?” the Chief pressed.

“He and Shepard were talking about me repaying them for rescuing me,” Liara nodded, “in the form of something called a beej. What’s a beej?”

The wrench Ash had been holding clattered onto the table.

“Why? Did Kaidan ask you for one?” the Chief asked, her fists clenched.

“No,” Liara replied, “they didn’t see me. They said a beej would be a nice way for me to repay them. I just wanted to know what it was.”

Ash took a deep breath and frowned. She never thought she’d be working with a crew full of aliens, let alone have a sex talk with a one-hundred-or-so year old woman. Her space-side promotion was full of surprises.

“Okay,” she sighed, “Do you know what fellatio is?”

“Oral stimulation of the penis?” Liara asked.

Ash exhaled in relief. She did not want to go into detailed descriptions, though it was funny to hear the asari rattle off some form of clinical, dictionary definition of an action that defied comprehension until it was experienced, whether by a giver or receiver.

Whatever.

“A beej is a slang word for that,” the Chief picked up her wrench and began to work on tightening her sniper rifle’s scope.

“Oh,” Liara’s eyes widened, “I uh… I’ve never done that before. But I guess I’ll give it a shot.”

The Scientist stared at an unknown point in the docking bay, deep in thought. Silently, Ash put her gun down and regarded the other woman with calculating eyes. There was an air of innocence around the asari; it would attract any man like a moth to a flame. And even if Ash told Liara that giving a man a blowjob was an intimate act, she was sure that Liara would ask both men if they wanted one.

And of course they’d want one, but she would try to dissuade Liara first.

“Hey,” Ash brought the asari out of her musings, “you do know that what you’re thinking of doing is something very private, right?”

“Yes,” Liara nodded, “but I’ve heard that it’s one thing that all human males secretly desire.” She turned to look at Ash. “It is like a woman receiving flowers, is it not?”

The Chief closed her eyes, trying not to laugh. She didn’t want to know what the poor girl had been reading in an attempt to research humans.

“We asari are open with physical intimacy,” Liara smiled, “so I do not see a problem with my plans.”

Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams found herself at a crossroads. She saw the way Kaidan looked at Liara and found herself jealous. Ash knew she could turn heads, but she wanted Kaidan’s attention. And his attention was on the exotic asari next to her.

Daddy wouldn’t approve of what she was about to do.

“Do you want some tips?” Ash asked, unable to look Liara in the eye.

“That would be helpful,” Liara replied. She scooted closer to hear the human woman’s advice.

“Use…” the Chief hesitated. Was she really going to do this? She thought of the dark-eyed, brooding Sentinel that wouldn’t look her way. Ash hardened her resolve.

“Use your teeth,” she finished the sentence.

Liara’s eyes grew wide.

“But isn’t that a sensitive area? Wouldn’t that hurt?” she protested, looking around for anyone that may have overheard their conversation. There was nobody around, save the sleeping Krogan in the corner.

“That’s why you wait until they’re fully hard,” Ash lowered her voice in shame, “then you scrape your teeth all the way down.”

“Okay,” Liara nodded, “Thank you. I’ll definitely keep that in mind. You’ll keep this discussion between just the two of us, won’t you?”

“Of course,” Ash winced and watched the asari leave. Guilt washed over her as she continued about her duties. She heard the Krogan to the left of her shift and chuckle.

Wrex looked over at the human female.

“Teeth?” he rumbled.

Ash froze for a moment before clumsily continuing her work. Her face turned bright red when the Krogan began to laugh deeply. He lumbered over to her workstation, his prized shotgun in hand.

“I’ll clean my own,” Wrex mumbled and grabbed an unused cleaning cloth. “Damn, but you should have been a Krogan. You’re ruthless.”

Ash picked up the pace on her cleaning. She didn’t want to hear this.

“No,” the Krogan ordered, sensing her discomfort, “Don’t act like you’re ashamed. Either do something or don’t. Either you do the asari in and take the mate you want, or you let things happen. No matter what, don’t act unless you’re willing to commit to your actions.”

She closed her eyes and nodded. Daddy had told her something like that a long time ago; it was strange to hear similar words coming from the mouth of a Krogan Warlord. Though the message given was different. Her father would have been extremely disappointed with her actions, but she wanted a little bit of excitement in her life other than shooting her gun. She looked over at Wrex and laughed.

Ashley Williams would conquer; Kaidan Alenko would want her and nothing would stand in her way.

----------------------------------------------


Shepard opened the door to the ship’s middle level, nodding at the marine stationed at the doorway. There were reports to file and there was paperwork to fill out; truly, the life of an inter-galactic commander wasn’t as romantic as the vids led the public to believe. And yet the Commando kept a very carefree attitude when dealing with the press. In his line of experience, an enemy was far more likely to underestimate the grinning Commander than his stern counterparts. He’d maintain that grin whether looking down the scope of his sniper rifle or snapping the neck of his enemy with his bare hands. Still, the paperwork was pure drudgery. Shepard shook his head and trudged halfway down the stairs. He glanced up when he saw Liara on the landing.

“Hello, Lovely,” he smiled.

Liara shyly smiled in reply and stood in front of the Commander.

“Is there something you…” Shepard trailed off as the asari promptly knelt before him. He knew the look in her eyes and he almost laughed at his crazy luck. Weren’t he and Alenko just talking about this not more than a few hours ago?

She reached out and gently massaged his manhood through his pants. Shepard hissed at the contact; it had been a while since he’d had the time to rub one out, let alone find a lady to hook up with. Space was so lonely sometimes.

Liara clumsily freed his growing erection from his pants before sticking her tongue out for a small taste. Nodding to herself that it was acceptable, the asari began to lick up and down his half-mast shaft. Shepard could tell she had no clue about what she was doing, but he appreciated the effort.

His hand drifted to rest on the back of her head. Gently, he pushed her toward his cock, hoping that she’d know what to do next. Liara glanced up at him with questioning eyes.

“It can go in the mouth too,” he murmured.

Liara nodded and drew the tip of his erection into her mouth, sucking gently. Her reward was a strangled moan accentuated by an insistent grip on the back of her head. His cock slammed to full attention as her tongue circled about his sensitive head.

“Oh,” Shepard whispered, “that’s right. Good girl.” Damn he was going to explode. The Commander bit his lip to keep from moaning out loud.

The kneeling asari pulled back and prepared to draw him in all the way. Shepard held his breath in anticipation of what was sure to be quite the memorable blowjob.

Liara descended, teeth and all.


-----------------------------------------------------------


Kaidan looked up from his console when he heard the scream. Not more than a minute later, the Commander emerged from the stairwell, a teary-eyed asari following him. They parted ways at the mess table. Liara darted to the back corner of the medbay and Shepard waddled to grab a bag of ice, wrapping it in a towel.

“Alenko,” Shepard called out, “my office, please.”

The curious Lieutenant wrapped up his work and followed the Commander. Doors closed behind the pair as Shepard hobbled to a chair, sat, and shoved the wrapped bag of ice down his pants.

“Sir?” Kaidan questioned.

The Commander shook his head and sighed. There would be no sugar coating this one and Alenko had to be aware of the danger. Shepard wouldn’t wish such an awful thing on anyone, even Saren.

“Liara is a dick-eating monster,” he declared, his expression solemn.

“Niiiice,” the Lieutenant replied. The asari was a quiet one; those were the best kind.

“No,” Shepard shook his head violently, “like literally, dick-eating. Like, she raked her teeth down my dick.”

For a moment, the Lieutenant stood staring at Shepard, his mouth agape in shock and horror. What if Liara had run into him first? It could have been him and not the Commander.

“Better you than me, man,” Kaidan winced.

“Yeah, thanks, you ass,” Shepard rolled his eyes and sighed, “I told Joker to set course for the Citadel. We'll take some time there then head to Noveria.”

“Aye, aye, sir,” Kaidan saluted and shot the Commander a wry grin.

He left Shepard's quarters and returned to his console. Looking at the time, he saw that his shift was up for a while. The Lieutenant figured that Liara would need to talk to someone after what happened.

Thus decided, Kaidan entered the med bay and gave Dr. Chakwas a nod before opening the door to Liara's secluded lab. He'd been prepared for the sight that greeted him; a teary-eyed asari sat in a chair, her legs drawn up to her chest. Her arms hugged her legs and her chin rested on the tops of her knees.

“Hey,” Kaidan called out.

Liara jerked to attention and frantically tried to remove all evidence of her tears. Reaching out, Kaidan gently grabbed her arm and knelt down to face her.

“What's wrong?” he asked, though he knew the answer. He wasn't about to further upset her by letting her know that he was very much aware of what happened.

“I...” she sniffled as she tried to collect herself, “I have hurt Shepard. I didn't know...”

Liara trailed off as her tears renewed.

“Whatever happened, I'm sure it'll be fine,” Kaidan murmured, “Shepard's tough and he wouldn't hold a grudge.”

He put his arm around Liara and held her as her sniffles and tears slowed. After a while, he gave her a reassuring squeeze then let go. Liara sat back and shook her head.

“There's so many things I don't understand about humans yet,” she sighed, “It's a whole new culture to learn about. Humans do so many strange things, like kissing.”

“Kissing?” Kaidan asked.

He was aware that after first contact, there were going to be many cultural discrepancies between the many alien races. In fact, after some of the initial anger and mistrust wore off, Kaidan found that it had become in vogue for aliens to adopt various aspects of human culture. But kissing was one thing he'd assumed that the asari had been doing for just as long as humans.

“I do not understand it,” Liara replied, “though my kind are intrigued by new cultures and have adopted the practice, I must admit that I haven't tried kissing.”

She looked away for a moment, a blush spreading across her cheeks. Liara wanted to ask him to teach her, but her recent disastrous foray into human sexuality made her hesitant to say anything. But if she learned how to kiss, perhaps she could have a way to impress Shepard and hopefully smooth over her horrible blunder.

“Could you teach me?” Liara asked, finally overcoming her shyness.

It took all of Kaidan's effort to not cringe when she asked him to kiss her. He didn't want her mouth anywhere near his when her mouth probably still tasted like a dick. But the Lieutenant was running out of time to stall in answering her question and he knew it.

“He told you, didn't he? Why else would you hesitate to kiss me?” Liara's voice cut through his panicked thoughts. “Of course he told him. He tells him everything, foolish Liara.”

Kaidan couldn't help but smile at the last half of what she said. It was cute how she talked to herself. Shaking his head, he put a placating hand on her arm.

“I promise I won't tell anyone,” Kaidan chuckled, “Just use some mouthwash or something. It should be fine then.”

Liara nodded and set about rinsing her mouth. The Lieutenant's eyes wandered about the room, taking note of the large stack of Prothean data discs on the desk. There wasn't much in the room that personalized the space; even the cot in the corner had a generic-looking bag next to it. It seemed that Liara was very utilitarian. Yet there was a very feminine side to the asari; she wore makeup and meticulously penciled in a set of eyebrows every day.

His eyes wandered her form as she bent over the sink. She had a nice figure; a narrow torso with average breasts led to a wider set of hips and a soft looking bum. Overall, Liara was very different from the highly toned marines that he'd grown accustomed to seeing.

She turned from the sink and sat down in her chair again. That wouldn't do. Motioning Liara to stand, Kaidan picked her up and sat her down on the edge of the desk. The look of shock on her face reminded him that the idea of kissing was completely foreign to her.

“Um, so just do what I do,” he murmured.

Liara gave him a shy nod as Kaidan brought his hand to the side of her face. Leaning in, he let his lips gently brush hers; she hesitantly returned the gesture. His arm wrapped around her back as light his light kisses turned sensual. She snaked her arms around his neck, her nails lightly scraping against his scalp.

Liara gasped in surprise when his tongue ghosted across her lips; in an instant, he was invading her mouth. She hadn't been aware that kissing was so intimate and she had to admit that though it was shocking at first, she was steadily beginning to like it. Kaidan drew her closer to him, his hands guiding her legs to wrap around his hips. The unaware asari shifted to get a better position, her pelvis grinding against his growing hardness. Groaning, Kaidan thrust against Liara; his sexual signal was completely lost on her. His mouth drifted downward to ravish her neck, rolling his hips against hers. Her smell and taste were absolutely intoxicating.

“Umm...” Liara's breath ghosted across his ear, “What is this?”

Reality slammed back into focus as Kaidan jumped back from the asari in front of him. By the surprised look on her face, he knew that he'd gone a little too far. He felt his face heat up in embarrassment.

“I... sorry,” he stammered, “I got carried away. I didn't mean to...”

Liara simply shrugged in indifference. She had learned how to kiss, and that was good enough for her. Lieutenant Alenko was a very kind man.

Kaidan sighed and put his head in his hands.

So, Shepard had reached half of third base with Liara, and he had just passed first base with her. He wasn't sure what the hell that meant, but he was sure that Shepard would be no competition.

Liara would be his.