Kaidan's eyes were glued to Shepard, as they had been the whole night. She was always beautiful, but tonight she was radiant. Avory's gun metal blue eyes had lost their usual deadly gleam and instead shone bright with excitement. Golden locks cascaded down her exposed back, loose waves swaying over the lean muscle beneath her tanned skin.
It had taken a lot of convincing to get Shepard to agree to a date, but Kaidan was persistent. They had a limited amount of shore leave after stopping Saren and Sovereign's attack on the Citadel and Kaidan was not going to miss his chance to take her on a proper date.
"You want me to wear a dress? I don't even own one!" Kaidan smiled remembering how reluctant she had been. She had blatantly shuddered at the thought of wearing a pair of heels.
Looking at her now, he wondered if she had been bull shitting him. The obsidian fabric draped her body as if it were made for her, and she moved effortlessly despite the pumps on her feet.
Whiskey flowed and conversation was carefree. For once they didn't have to talk about the enemy, the next mission, the odds of survival. Instead they shared stories, with Shepard taking particular interest in Kaidan's childhood and what his parents were like. She regaled him with tales of dumb things she had done as a homeless teenager, like sneaking her way into a bar only to be found in the stock room trying to smuggle out bottles of liquor under her shirt and subsequently kicked out. Laughter surrounded them. Kaidan's heart fluttered each time he was graced with the surprisingly feminine noise burst from her crimson stained lips.
Kaidan was intoxicated, drunk on her company. The whiskey probably had a little to do with it, too. The flush across Avory's cheeks and the way she placed her hand over his told him she felt the same. He rose and extended his arm to her, which earned him another chuckle. She took his arm, albeit it with a raised brow and in a playful mocking fashion, but the way she clung tightly to his bicep and leaned her head against his shoulder made his chest burn and a prideful smile spread from ear to ear. He wondered how he got so lucky.
They reached the front entrance of the restaurant and his smile faded, unable to hide his disappointment. Outside a torrential rain was falling. The streets were already covered in a steady stream of water.
"Why don't we go back to the bar and wait? I'll call us a shuttle." Kaidan offered. He had planned on walking back to their hotel so they could enjoy the cool night air and city lights, just the two of them, but the weather apparently did not want to cooperate with his plans for a perfect evening.
Shepard's eyes sparkled with mischief as they met his, sending a shockwave of infatuation through his body. "It's only a few blocks back to the hotel." She smirked, issuing a challenge.
Not one to back down from a Shepard-issued dare, he met her gaze and shot her a grin. "Okay, we'll walk."
He swore his response made her downright giddy. Still, he wasn't about to let her completely soak herself. Kaidan shrugged off his jacket and held it out for her, nodding down at her to put it on.
"What a gentleman." Avory teased, but obliged, and slipped her arms inside the sleeves he held out for her.
Arm in arm once more, they stepped outside into the down pour. Shepard shrieked as the veil of water covered them and she tightened her grip on his bicep. Kaidan, without the extra layer, was soaked to the bone almost immediately. But it was a surprisingly warm rain, and Shepard holding him close was more than enough to keep his spirits up. They made their way back to the hotel at a steady pace. They only made it a block before Shepard stopped him and unraveled her arm from his to remove her heels.
"Remind me why you wanted to walk in this?" Kaidan couldn't help but laugh at their situation.
Avory looked up at him, beaming, rivulets streaming down her face. "Don't you ever miss the rain?"
Kaidan was awe struck. This was the same woman he followed into battle, who he watched fearlessly crush enemies with her biotics and blast husks apart at close range with a shotgun. She commanded a crew who were so fiercely loyal they would follow her into hell. She was the first human spectre. She was Commander Shepard. And she stood before him in a puddle, barefoot in a dress with her heels hooked on one finger, completely drenched, glowing like a child on Christmas morning because she missed the rain.
He couldn't help himself. Kaidan pulled her into him, his arms wrapping tightly around her waist. Shepard giggled and slipped her arms around his neck. Their lips met in a gentle, wistful kiss. A static shock sparked between their biotics, sending chills down his spine. She tasted like whiskey and eezo and so unqiuely Shepard. Kaidan hungered for more, but he managed some self control and placed a final, chaste kiss to her lips.
"Alright, hop on." Kaidan released her and squatted down, holding his arms behind him, the universal symbol for her to climb on his back.
"You're kidding?" Shepard laughed in disbelief.
"Not at all, Shepard. I can't have my lady walking barefoot in the streets of Vancouver." He insisted, waving a hand at her.
"You're lady, huh?" She raised an eyebrow and chewed at the corner of her bottom lip. The subtle action made it hard for Kaidan not to pull her into him again.
"Yes." He answered confidently.
They had shared a bed nearly every night since the first time, just before Ilos. Shepard wasn't nearly as open to talking about "feelings", as she distastefully regarded them, as Kaidan was, so he was trying to take it slow for her sake. But Kaidan knew he was already enamored with her. He only hoped she felt even an inkling of the same emotion for him.
Shepard's resolve dissipated almost immediately and she climbed aboard Kaidan's back. His hands cupped her thighs, admittedly a bit closer to her buttocks than necessary, and shrugged her up higher into a more comfortable position. Avory laughed and wrapped her calves around his waist, her arms draped loosely around his neck. Kaidan carried her the rest of the way to the hotel on his back. His body burned with a pleasant heat where her body pressed against his. His breath caught in his throat when she leaned her head forward and planted a series of soft kisses along his neck, from just behind his ear down to his shoulder.
Within a few minutes they reached the hotel and Kaidan set her down outside the entrance. Shepard dropped her heels to the ground and he expected her to slip her feet back into them before they went inside. Instead she grabbed two fistfuls of his sopping wet shirt and pulled him against her. Kaidan was surprised by just how fervent her lips were against his, and he met her enthusiasm with hunger of his own, his hands snaking around her waist underneath his jacket and holding her tight. Teeth grazed his lower lip as she broke the kiss, and she chuckled softly when he damn near growled in response.
"Kaidan, I -" Avory hesitated, glancing down momentarily at where she still held his shirt in her hands.
His heart raced as he waited. He desperately wanted to press her to finish her statement, hoping she would say those three words he longed to hear. Kaidan knew, however, if he interrupted her now she might not say anything at all.
"I...thank you, for tonight." The rawness in her voice drew him in. Her slate eyes filled with a tenderness he had yet to witness. "I've never been on a date and this was...perfect."
Kaidan's head spun as he looked down at her. Everything else faded away. He hardly noticed the rain fall anymore. During all the nights he had spent with her, all the times he had felt her flesh against his, and in all the times he had traced every curve of her naked body with ravenous eyes, Kaidan had never seen Avory look so...exposed. In that moment, his heart melted and he knew he could no longer deny that what he felt for her truly was love.
"There are a lot more of these nights to come, Avory."
Shepard must have sensed the promise in his voice because she smiled up at him, blue eyes glowing with adoration. Kaidan wondered if she knew just how serious he was. If she would have him, he would give her a night like this every chance he got for the rest of their lives.