In Shepard's Shadow

Fraternization


Space was cold. The coldest place an earth-born man could imagine had to be at least twice as warm as space. Absolute zero might be a bit of a stretch, but it wasn’t hard to visualize the very atoms of your body beginning to slow to a crawl as every last erg was sapped away into the vast, endless void of space.

“Maybe I just need another blanket.” Kaidan sighed.

Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko lay flat out on his bunk. In all truth, Kaidan could hardly call the bunk his. As standard procedure to save space he shared it on rotating shifts with another crewman, Corporal Richard Jenkins. Or he would have shared it, if Jenkins were still alive.

And that was it, wasn’t it? It wasn’t the ambient air temperature or the unseen reaches of space outside the Normandy’s hull that was keeping Kaidan fidgeting in his bunk; it was his mortality. He had been there with Commander Shepard when Jenkins had been cut down by a patrol of geth air drones. Those pseudo sentient mechanical killers had murdered Jenkins in seconds, he didn’t have a chance.

Kaidan closed his eyes, willing away the image of Jenkins’ vacant, dead eyes. Kaidan’s military training and experiences had shown him death before, but the geth were an enemy wholly different than any he had faced before. He craned his neck against the oncoming migraine he felt brewing in the back of his head.

“No, not now.” He pressed a palm to his forehead, then ran his hand through his thick black hair. “Damn, L2s.”

Kaidan’s biotic implants were a relic, long since improved upon in more recent models. The L2 bio-amps were far more powerful than the newer versions such as the L3, but that power didn’t come free of charge. Then again, being able to throw a krogan mercenary across the room with your mind was a pretty cool trick for the price of a few chronic migraines.

After a few minutes, the pain subsided. Not bad at all.

The door whisked open and a woman entered, walking briskly. She was tall and fit, walking with precise and measured movements drilled over and over in basic training. Racial distinctions became fairly useless over the past 700 years, but her tan olive skin and dark hair had been common among Mediterranean peoples back on Earth. She wore the same plain blue fatigues that Kaidan wore; standard issue ship-side. Her hair was swept back in a regulation friendly bun.

Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams was a fantastic soldier; Kaidan had seen so himself on Eden Prime. She handled an assault rife like a conductor with a baton, blasting those damn geth to pieces alongside Kaidan and Commander Shepard after Jenkins had been killed. Kaidan had liked her from the get go.

“Morning, Chief.” Kaidan’s gravelly voice came out a little grouchier than he meant it to, bringing Ashley up short.

“Oh, sorry, sir.” Ashley stepped back toward the door. “If you’d rather be alone…”

“No, no.” Kaidan waved her back in. “I can’t sleep anyway. I don’t go back on duty for another three hours, so I’m just staring at the ceiling till then.”

“Isn’t anyone else scheduled for sack time?” Ashley glanced around at the three empty bunks in the room. “I know we’re running with a light crew, but…”

“That would be Engineer Adams.” Kaidan sighed. “He’s installed cots in the engine room auxiliary storage area, so half the crew is sleeping down on deck 2. I think they all got tired of riding that damn elevator. Slow as it is.”

Ashley laughed, flashing a dazzling rare smile that glowed in the soft azure light of the crew quarters. “No kidding. They ever gonna fix that thing?”

Ashley sat down on the deck a few feet from Kaidan’s bunk, clasped her hands behind her head, and began doing sit-ups. Kaidan sat up, propping himself up on his elbow to watch.

“Say, uh…Chief.” His lips turned up in an amused grin. “Isn’t sack time meant to be spent…you know…in the sack? Sleeping?”

“If I were sleepy, I would sleep…sir.” Ashley’s voice was just a little too even.

“You can drop the ‘sir’, Chief. It’s just us in here.” Kaidan waved a hand at the other empty bunks.

“Then you can drop the ‘Chief’…Lieutenant.” Ashley cocked an eyebrow at him as her torso came up off the deck before dropping back down.

“All right then, Ash.” Kaidan smiled ruefully. “Where’s all the energy coming from, then?”

“Well, I’ll tell you, Alenko. The energy comes from a toned, muscular and near perfect specimen of the female body.” Ashley quipped sarcastically. “Energy is only a problem for me when I don’t have an outlet.”

“Upset that the Commander hasn’t been selecting you for missions?” Kaidan asked, ignoring Ashley’s breach of etiquette. He had started it, after all.

“Am I upset that he’s down on some uncharted planet right now traipsing around with a turian C-sec agent and a Krogan Battlemaster?” Ashley’s voice grew strained with more than exertion. “Am I upset that our commanding officer has been saddled with chasing down an elite Spectre, and has been working exclusively with our alien ‘friends’ every time he goes planet-side? No! Why would I be upset about that?”

“Commander Shepard takes his mission to apprehend Saren very seriously.” Kaidan assured her. He hadn’t known how strongly Chief Williams felt about Shepard’s methods.

“And him always selecting those two aliens doesn’t bother you?” Ashley stopped her sit-ups so she could face Kaidan. Her face glistened with sweat. “He hasn’t had either of us on a mission since we left the Citadel!”

“I’m sure he has his reasons, Ash.” Kaidan broke eye contact with the Chief, not trusting his own doubts to stay hidden. “Wrex and Garrus are both excellent fighters.”

“But they’re not human.” Ashley shook her head against Kaidan’s unspoken admonishment. “I don’t hate aliens, I really don’t. I just don’t think we should blindly trust other species with our own survival. Not yet.”

“You know, when Element Zero exposure victims started having us first-generation biotic children… well, I’ve been called ‘not human’ myself.” Kaidan spoke softly. “It isn’t a fun thing to hear when you’re four years old.”

“And it’s complete bull crap, Alenko.” Ashley’s brow furrowed with sympathy. “Biotics don’t make you any less human.”

“Yeah, I know.” Kaidan nodded. “I got over the name calling a long while back.”

There was silence for a handful of heartbeats.

“Of course.” Ashley broke into a grin. “You know those biotic magical powers don’t make you a super-human. Nothing like a friendly competition to make you feel more human. And bring you down a peg or two from super-human. Care to test your sit-up speed against the master?”

“Sorry,” Kaidan shook his head. “I’m very much at ease with my masculinity, thank you.”

“Oh, macho man.” Ashley held her hands up in faux fear. She then cracked her knuckles. “You know, my mother told me how to deal with macho men…”

“Of course, I don’t feel like getting the crap beat out of me by a girl, either.” Kaidan interrupted smoothly. “So, how about a compromise? I bet you fifty credits that you can’t do more than thirty sit-ups in as many seconds.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Ashley scoffed. “You know, Alenko, you could just delete the credits from your account if you don’t want your money.”

“Enough bravado, Williams.” Kaidan sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of his bunk. He narrowed his eyes and let his deep, raspy voice growl. “You in or not?”

“Oh, it’s on, Alenko.” Ashley lay back down. “Just tell me when.”

“Ok, Williams.” Kaidan checked the chronometer on the bulkhead above them. He began focusing his mind and soon felt the bio-amp implants react to his will. A tingling started down his spine and into his fingers. “Ready…set…GO!”

Ashley Williams became a blur of movement, her torso rebounding off the floor at an incredible rate. After ten repetitions, Kaidan raised his right hand and, with a slight gesture and a focused thought, sent an invisible wave of dark energy toward the Gunnery Chief.

Kaidan’s mastery of biotics allowed him to manipulate dark energy and thus be able to manipulate the relative mass of other objects for limited periods of time. Kaidan could make a 200 pound turian weigh less than the air around him, and with a gentle push of telekinesis, send the alien spinning away through the air.

The reverse was true as well and, at the moment, Ashley Williams’ upper body suddenly weighed three times what it had a moment ago. Ashley’s back barely rose three inches off the deck before being pulled back down. She made another effort before realizing what had happened.

“Oh, you jerk!” Ashley’s gasp of surprise was equal parts shock, anger, and amusement as she struggled up against the weight. “Cheating, are we, Lieutenant? I swear, when I get up…”

“Threatening a superior officer is against the regs, Ash.” Kaidan folded his arms over his chest, shaking his head admonishingly. With a thought, he returned her relative mass to normal.

As chance would have it, Ashley was in the middle of a Herculean effort trying to sit up when suddenly her torso suddenly became a fraction of its former weight. She heaved up off the deck, pitching forward in an awkward summersault that sent her colliding into Kaidan as he sat on the edge of his bunk. Their foreheads smacked together with a dull thud and the Lieutenant was knocked back onto the bunk with the Gunnery Chief falling on top of him.

“Owww…” Kaidan groaned.

“Yeah…” Ashley grimaced. “That smarts.”

“Uhh…Ash.” Kaidan looked up into Ashley’s dark eyes. She felt so warm against him. Warmth was a novel sensation in space. “Speaking of breaking regs…”

“I suppose I shouldn’t be lying on top of a superior officer.” Ashley winked at him, but she didn’t move. “That’s gotta be up there with threatening him.”

“Yeah.” Kaidan swallowed hard.

“Then again…” Ashley pursed her lips. “I think we might have found a solution to that excess energy problem of mine.”

“I don’t want to pull rank on you, Williams.” Kaidan felt his heart begin to race in his chest. He suddenly realized he could also feel Ashley’s pulse throbbing through her fatigues. His military training raised an alarm in his mind. “Listen, Ash, we could get in a lot of trouble…”

“If we have to talk this through, it’s no good.” Ashley shook her head. “You need this, and I sure as hell do too. It’s just you, me, this bunk, and three hours until you go back on duty.”

“Let’s keep it that way.” Kaidan stretched out an arm and the locking mechanism on the door sparked as it shorted out.

“Why don’t we find out what else those biotic powers of yours can do?” Ashley grinned as she sat up, straddling Kaidan’s waist. She grasped the bottom of her grey top and pealed it up and over her head, tossing it to the deck behind her.

Kaidan’s eyes roamed over her bare stomach as it glistened with sweat from her previous exercise. Ashley’s abs were astonishingly well defined even in the soft bluish light. His eyes came up to her military issue steel-blue bra, the material was stretched tight as it strained to hold her generous bust in check. Kaidan focused a dark energy wave that wrapped around the material, increasing its relative mass. The clasp behind Ashley’s back snapped under the strain and the bra fell away.

“That’s a nice start.” Ashley spoke quietly, her breath quickening. “Not a bad trick.”

Kaidan’s breath caught in his throat as he sat up and gazed at Ashley’s full, gorgeous breasts. He watched as a sweat drop trickled down her throat, over her collar bone and down between the two orbs of soft flesh. Soft and very warm, Kaidan realized, as his hands were now gently kneading Ashley’s bosom. The lieutenant did not remember telling his hands to touch her but, then again, why punish good initiative?

“Always figured you for the touchy-feely type.” Ashley smiled riley as she reached down to grab the hem of Kaidan’s shirt. “My turn.”

Ashley pulled off Kaidan’s top and tossed it behind her to join her own shirt on the deck. Her hands glided over Kaidan’s broad chest, feeling the contours of his chiseled pectorals.

“Not too shabby for a touchy-feely guy, huh?” Kaidan grinned.

“Nice to see that a big brain didn’t translate to a flabby belly.” Ashley’s fingers trailed down over his perfectly defined abs.

“Big brain isn’t the half of it, Ash.” Kaidan arched an eyebrow.

“Lots of talk, Alenko.” Ashley chided as she undid the belt at Kaidan’s waist.

“Then I’ll shut up the both of us.” Kaidan’s muscular arms wrapped around Ashley, pulling her fast against him. His mouth covered hers in a hungry kiss, their lips working against each other. Ashley’s tongue danced with Kaidan’s as he lay back, pulling her with him. Kaidan savored the intoxicating sensation of Ashley’s naked breasts pressing and rubbing against the bare flesh of his chest.

The Gunnery Chief’s hands pulled down his trousers while his own hands slid down Ashley’s back and helped ease her pants down over the luscious curve of her butt. Kaidan felt his cock slip free of constraint and he couldn’t help but let a low groan escape into Ashley’s sweet mouth as his manhood pressed up against her smooth belly. They both kicked away their trousers, never once having let their lips part from their desperate kiss.

Finally, Ashley pulled back, letting a single tendril of saliva stretch between their lips for a moment as they locked gazes, the sounds of their breathing filling the air. Kaidan suddenly tensed as Ashley’s hand curled around the length of his shaft. He held her gaze as she squeezed the hard rod of flesh, running her hand along the span. Kaidan gritted his teeth and raised an eyebrow.

“Report, Chief.” He ordered huskily.

“It seems promising. But I’d say it requires further field testing.” Ashley said breathlessly, a wicked grin on her sweaty face. “Let’s focus on endurance and firepower.”

Kaidan pulled her back down into another passionate kiss; his hands running over hear back and down to grasp Ashley’s taut buttocks. Ashley’s left hand had already been working between her own legs while her right hand had been inspecting Kaidan’s manhood, her fingers rolling his testicles back and forth tenderly. As she worked her own loins, Ashley began moaning into their kiss.

“Now…” Ashley whispered as she pulled back for a moment.

Kaidan reached down and, with the Chief’s hand guiding him, slid his cock past Ashley’s nether lips.

“Oh, ahhh!” Kaidan gasped, overwhelmed as he felt his cock slide ever deeper into Ashley’s warm, slick vessel. “That’s…oh, yes…”

“God!” Ashley squealed with delight as she leaned back, drawing a moan of pleasure from Kaidan as his rod tilted back with her. Ashley took a deep breath, luxuriating in the sensation of Kaidan’s pulsating length filling her to completion. “Hot damn! You’re…nnngh, it’s perfect!”

Kaidan reached up and grasped Ashley’s breasts once more. He glanced down to see the base of his shaft pressed against the dark patch between Ashley’s legs as she straddled him. Then Ashley began moving her hips, and Kaidan’s eyes rolled back in his head.

Ashley rolled her pelvis in a steady, aggressive rhythm, letting Kaidan’s cock churn within her, creating a delicious friction that sent pleasure coursing through their loins. Kaidan’s hands squeezed and kneaded Ashley’s smooth, warm breasts, his thumbs working over her dark olive nipples, bringing them to erect attention. Ashley bore down on him, her inner muscles squeezing Kaidan’s cock as he began bucking his hips up into her, trying to match her demanding pace. Kaidan’s eyes drank in the sight of Ashley’s toned abs undulating as she rode him, rolling her hips and basking his cock in a world of pleasure.

“That’s right, Alenko.” Ashley covered Kaidan’s hands with her own as he groped her bosom. “You’re…ahhh….yes…you’re not bad for an officer.”

“Nnngh! First threats…oh, yeah!... and now… insubordination? Aaargh!” Kaidan grunted, sweat beading on his brow. He sat up; wrapping one arm behind Ashley’s lower back to grasp her taut butt. Kaidan’s free hand continued stroking her right breast while his mouth mauled the left, nipping and suckling her.

“Oh, that feels good!” Ashley arched her back, forcing her bust forward. Her right hand grabbed the back of Kaidan’s head, grasping a handful of his thick hair and pulling him tighter against her bosom. Her left hand caressed Kaidan’s muscular right arm, feeling his triceps tighten and loosen as he groped her. “Oh…oh god…I’m…Ahhh…Alenko! AHHHH!!!”

Kaidan could feel his own climax begin to roil up within his groin. He bucked up into her, growling low in his throat as Ashley shook in his arms as she came. Her vessel clamped down on Kaidan’s rod as it shot out several volleys of his seed.

With a concentrated thought, Kaidan activated a subroutine in his bio-amp, reducing his refractory period to a matter of seconds. Even as Ashley was catching her breath, he rolled her underneath him, his manhood still hard and pulsing within her. Kaidan slipped his arms underneath Ashley to grasp her shoulders in an underhand grip as he lay between her spread legs.

“Oh, my.” Ashley’s eyes widened with sudden realization as she saw the fire burning in Kaidan’s gaze. She started nodding enthusiastically, flashing her teeth with a crazed smile of anticipation. Then Kaidan rammed into her, thrusting his cock deeper than ever into her intimate depths. “Oh. Hell. YES!”

Ashley wrapped her legs around Kaidan’s muscular butt, pulling him into her with every thrust of his powerful hips, her voice squealing with pleasure as she felt Kaidan’s testicles slap against her.

“Nnngh, yeah! Oh god, Ash!” Kaidan grunted with effort, rutting into Ashley with a power that surprised even himself. “Yaaahhh! So…TIGHT! God!”

“Harder, Alenko! Come on, HARDER!” Ashley wailed as she pitched her hips up to meet each of Kaidan’s manic thrusts. Her muscled thighs flexed as her legs tightened around his driving buttocks. “Holy! DAMN!”

“Ash, I’m going to try something.” Kaidan huffed. “Something…hhragh…something you’ll like.”

“Mmmm….ohhh….I, uh…I think you’re doing something already.” Ashley’s breathing was deep and steady; an athlete keeping pace in a triathlon. “And I’m already pretty partial to it!”

Kaidan concentrated, willing a dark energy field to permeate the length of his manhood. Kaidan had a theory of what the mass effect barrier would have on Ashley, but her sudden scream of delight surpassed his expectations.

“Nnnghhaa! Yes! You son of a…” Ashley’s voice faltered into a string of incomprehensible moans for a moment. “You were holding back on me, Alenko? Damn, it feels huge!”

“Thanks, Ash…gggrahh…” Kaidan’s cock tingled with power as it dove into the Chief. He grinned mischievously, thankful that the barrier’s reinforcing powers had no impact on the sensations dancing in his groin. “It IS huge.”

Kaidan’s sculpted leg muscles bulged with power, his feet digging into the bunk as he rode Ashley, driving his shaft into her warm, slick vessel. The bunk shook as the two Alliance personnel were joined in riotous sex, their voices calling out in strained cries of bliss when not demanding more extremes of pleasure.

“Bring it, Alenko!” Ashley snarled, her fingers digging into Kaidan’s muscled buttocks as it bucked into her. “Come on! Come on! Harder…HARDER!”

“Just try….YEAH!...try not to black out!” Kaidan hissed back at her.

“About to find out…ohhhh….OHHHH!!!” Ashley’s voice rose in pitch as her second orgasm exploded within her. Kaidan watched as the Chief’s head whipped back and forth, her mouth wide open and her eyes bulging as she rode out the intense pleasures.

“Holy…CRAP!” Ashley shook her head, trying to clear her mind. “That was amazing…whoa!”

Kaidan’s unrelenting thrusts cut Ashley’s recovery short. He caught her eye and winked, his hands reaffirming their tight grip on her shoulders. “That’s a start.”

“Best day ever.” Ashley shook her head in wonder and licked her lips. She grabbed the back of Kaidan’s head and pulled his face down to hers; letting her tongue wrestle his as his cock roamed deep inside her stunning body. She then pushed his head down past her neck and buried Kaidan’s face between her sweat drenched breasts. “I think you know what to do.”

Kaidan’s mouth ravaged Ashley’s considerable bosom, his lips suckling one moment and his tongue teasing here erect tips the next. Ashley Williams might have struck him as a tomboy, but she was nothing if not a woman. The knotted muscles in Kaidan’s arms rippled as he pulled himself into her with all his strength, wanting to bury his rod as deep into Ashley’s womanhood as he could.

“Oh, no way!” Ashley gasped in delighted astonishment. “Ahhh…it’s not…no way! Oh YES!”

Kaidan felt Ashley’s toned legs pull him in deep while her inner muscles clamped down on his hard length. Kaidan moved his head back up, pressing his left shoulder against the bottom of Ashley’s chin and resting his own jaw against her left shoulder, trying to brace her in place. Ashley bucked and rolled beneath him, her eyes rolled over white while her body was cast into a fit of wild spasms. Kaidan held her tight against him, listening to her screams of orgasmic epiphany which nearly left him deaf in his left ear. Ashley’s fingers clawed down Kaidan’s back, leaving thin red lines as she marked him.

“Tha…that’s not possible!” Ashley sucked down air. Her hips pitched up to meet Kaidan’s continual thrusts seemingly on their own volition. “Every time…ahhh….it gets better.”

“Ash! Graagh!” Kaidan growled as his own maelstrom of pleasure built within him. “I can’t…hold it off…much longer. Damn, it! It’s too good!”

“Give it to me, Alenko.” Ashley commanded; her voice strong and full of intoxicating authority.

Kaidan pushed himself up, raising his torso over Ashley’s body, supporting himself on his outstretched arms. Ashley ran her hands down his sculpted chest and abdomen, her eyes full of lust. Kaidan rode her madly, pounding the Gunnery Chief so hard that the bunk’s mattress began tearing beneath her. The Lieutenant looked down, his brow slick with perspiration, and saw Ashley’s breasts bouncing around beneath him from the force of his thrusts. Ashley’s hands wrapped around Kaidan’s outstretched arms and her head tilted down, gazing intently at something. He followed Ashley’s eyes further down her body, and for a moment they both watched his cock plunge into her moist, convivial nether lips over and over again.

“Ash…” Kaidan’s voice was strained. “I can’t keep it….nnnghhaa….I'm gonna…”

“Ladies first!” Ashley’s witticism was drowned out in a strangled shriek of climax. Her mouth shot open, and Kaidan saw her eyes roll back in excruciating ecstasy. “ALENKO! I’m….AHHHHH!!! NNNNGGHHAAA!!!

“ASH! RRRAAGHH!!!” Kaidan roared in orgasm, his back arching as he thrust deep into Ashley’s womb, burying his cock to the hilt in her hot flesh. His entire body convulsed as his loins exploded with ecstasy, pouring his seed into Ashley’s thrashing body.

Their voices joined in a natural harmony of passion, screaming as they rode out their climax together. No words were necessary, and no words were enough. After a moment, their bodies finally went lax.

Chief Williams’ hair lay in disarray as she held Lieutenant Alenko in her arms, stroking his bare back as they both gasped for breath. Kaidan looked in her eyes and saw a gathering storm he had not seen since Eden Prime. He was about to ask her about it when she pressed her palms against his chest.

“Again. Follow me.” Her voice was raspy and brokered no argument. Then again, Kaidan had no reason to disagree with her at the moment.

Ashley pushed Kaidan off of her and climbed out of the bunk. She stepped up to the cabin wall and leaned forward, pressing her outstretched palms against the cold metal bulkhead, presenting him her lush, sculpted glutes. She gazed back at him over her shoulder, her eyes fixed on his throbbing shaft as he stepped up behind her. The Gunnery Chief managed a sweaty smile.

“I’ve never really done anything quite like this before.” She breathed. A long wet strand of her dark hair hung crazily in front of one eye.

“Me neither.” Kaidan’s voice shook with excitement. “I’m not sure I ever want to stop, though.”

“No kidding.” Ashley licked her lips. “Don’t keep a girl waiting.”

Kaidan plunged into Ashley’s moist entrance once again, slamming into her from behind. He grasped her shapely waist, giving himself over to the uncivilized instincts he felt raging within him.

“So good!” Ashley cried out, encouraging Kaidan’s amorous onslaught. “That’s it! Drive it in! Yeah…yeah…yeah! Just like that! Nice and HARD! Oh yes!”

Kaidan threw himself into her, pounding Ashley as hard as he could. Ashley’s body shook with every thrust as his cock plunged into her over and over again. Kaidan arched his spine, tilting his head back, reveling in the carnal pleasures permeating his body. Ashley’s butt rippled with the force of his thrusts, each impact sending a sharp smacking sound into the air.

“It’s so warm!” Kaidan’s chest heaved as he breathed. “Ash…mmmm….YES! You feel…YEAH!!! Oh, you feel amazing!”

“Alenko…here it…yes …again…OHHHHH!!!” She moaned, her eyes full of awe.

“I know, Ash!” Kaidan pounded her unrelentingly.

Ashley reared back onto his cock as they came, their bodies shuddering together.

Ashley turned around and jumped into Kaidan’s arms, wrapping her legs around his waist as his shaft drove into her yet again. Kaidan pressed Ashley’s back against the bulkhead and grasped her wrists in his hands, pinning the Chief’s arms against the wall over her head. He thrust up into her, their loins slapping together in a desperate, crazed rhythm.

Kaidan pressed his forehead against Ashley’s. They gazed into each other’s eyes as their bodies writhed, entwined in a vortex of intense passion. Ashley’s full breasts slid over Kaidan’s hard chest, pressed tightly against his pectorals, sweat lubricating their bare flesh.

“Come with me…nnnnghhhaa!...grraahhh!! Come with me, Alenko!” Ashley’s eyes were bottomless pools of desire.

“Yes, Ash!” He had not realized how maddeningly aroused he was by her use of only his last name. “Yes, I’m….ohhh….here it…”

“Aaaahhh! Yes…. Oh, HOLY!” Ashley’s eyes widened even further with each thrust of Kaidan’s rod.

“Ash! GOD! OH, ASH!!!!” Kaidan plunged his cock as deep into her as he could, sinking the long, thick shaft of flesh into the wondrous embrace of Ashley’s inner depths.

They locked gazes as they came together, watching each other orgasm in miraculous harmony. Ashley’s vessel fastened down on Kaidan’s raging cock as it erupted with seed, milking him for all he had. Their voices joined together in a feral, untamed scream of uncanny ecstasy. Their bodies shook and convulsed in divine spasms, trying to survive inconceivable sensations of pleasure. Sweat poured down their entangled naked bodies, muscles twitching, hearts racing, lungs screaming for air.

They saw every moment in one another’s eyes.

Then the world went blank.


* * *

Kaidan swam back to consciousness, slowly but surely. He was laying on the deck with Ashley who was just beginning to come to herself. Her deep brown eyes blinked open and found his.

“Report, Chief.” Kaidan whispered.

“Here, sir.” Ashley’s voice was raw. “Field test was a success.”

“I’d say.” Kaidan smiled weakly.

“Uh…Alenko?” Ashley’s expression turned serious. “What exactly did we…what the hell was that?”

“I don’t know.” Kaidan answered truthfully, shaking his head. “I figured that you would be pretty…well…formidable in the sack…but…”

“But that was….” Ashley shook her head. “I don’t know, Alenko. I’m not sure what to call it, but it was...” Ashley’s eyes narrowed as she realized she had no words to describe it. “I’ve never felt anything like that. Nothing comes close. Was it your biotic abilities? Because if that’s it, then I’m gonna shoot the next person who insults biotics.”

“The mass effect fields didn’t exactly hurt, but they don’t account for everything. I don’t know what it was, Ash.” Kaidan stroked her hair absently. “But I’d like to find out.”

“Damn straight.” Ashley nodded, snuggling up against him. “Further testing is a definite requirement.”

“I don’t know if we’ll get another opportunity like this one.” Kaidan felt his stomach sink as he realized they might never be alone again. “And I doubt the Commander would approve of our fraternizing.”

“Well, if the skipper keeps taking his alien entourage down to land on every third planet in the galaxy, we’ll have plenty of time for fun.” Ashley caressed Kaidan’s chest, tracing his collarbone with her fingers. “And if his mission to find Saren isn’t enough distraction, I think Commander Shepard is even more interested in his hunt for trinkets.”

“He still seems pretty obsessed with finding those Salarian ID tags. Not to mention his collection of turian insignias.” Kaidan nodded. “Maybe you’re right.”

“Of course I am, Alenko.” Ashley smiled, sitting up. “In the meantime, I need to go clean my rifle.”

“Me too.” Kaidan sat up with her. “Join me in the showers?”

“That actually wasn’t a euphemism.” Ashley smirked. “But later… oh, yes.”

Kaidan returned her rye smile. He felt many things at that moment, but one sensation above all gave him comfort.

Kaidan Alenko felt warm, and very human.