Hey everyone! Hope you are all well! This is for a reader on DeviantArt "Romeo-Juliet" who gave me the word prompt. So I dedicate this to her. The word was "risk".

Oh and... I'm looking for more word prompts. If anyone has any brilliant ideas (I like challenges too!) please feel free to drop a review and I'll do my best! If you are chosen the new piece will be dedicated to you!

Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or any of its characters, and am not gaining any money from this.

Risky Business

"I'm not going to play with you, forget it," Lieutenant Alenko said as he walked through the Normandy's halls.

"Come on, I'll let you start with Asia," Commander Shepard said, following him with a coy grin on her face.

He snorted lightly, looking over his shoulder at her. "Only because you know it's impossible to hold."

"For you, maybe," Shepard teased.

Alenko halted his march and turned to her and crossed his arms, but the tiny lift of his lips made it nearly impossible for him to look truly upset.

"I'll give you Australasia! Easiest place to defend on the board!" she offered before he could argue.

Her lieutenant leaned forward over his arms to get his face closer to hers. "I am not playing RISK with you, Shepard."

"Why not?!" she asked.

"Because you are ruthless!"

"It's a game about world domination!" She defended. "You can't conquer the world with 'hey, I'm terribly sorry, but I'd like to build my armies here, steal your resources, and destroy your culture. If you could only move over just a bit, please'?"

The right side of his mouth lifted in an adorable smile. "You are so cute… but no."

Shepard raised an eyebrow at him then looked up and down both ways of the hall to ensure they were alone. "Cute, huh?"

He instinctively did the same thing, appraising the hallway before daring to untuck his arms from his chest and slide them around Shepard's waist. "Yeah…" he smiled, pulling her closer. "Damn cute."

Shepard smiled, grateful that it was late and that skeleton crew was already in place. She trailed her fingers over Kaidan's biceps. "Come on, one game."

"Let's just say you won." He said smoothly, backing her slowly into the side of the wall.

"Somebody wants to skip to the prize," she purred.

"Mmm," he leaned in slowly.

Shepard braced herself, squeezing Kaidan's arms gently as his lips came dangerously close to hers.

The clicking of boot heels on metal had them jumping from each other like a gunshot. Within moments Kaidan's arm lit up in the orange glow of his omnitool. Before the blue camouflaged soldier even rounded the corner Shepard was looking over his arm at the amber screen, nodding along as he pointed to a random point on the monitor.

The ensign greeted them both as she passed, and Shepard gave her a returning nod of acknowledgment.

The couple continued their masquerade until the ensign's back had retreated around the next corner before meeting each other's eyes and snickering with embarrassment.

Shepard shook with silent bouts of laughter. A hand went to her mouth as she turned away from Kaidan, looking at the wall in hopes of regaining some composure before they were overheard.

The sound of a Kaidan's warm chuckle made her turn back to embrace him. The moment for their kiss was gone, but it was well worth the laughter and the hug.

Kaidan lifted her body into his and sighed amusingly. "You know what?"

"What?" Shepard asked as he set her feet back on the floor.

"I like our version of RISK better…"

Hope you enjoyed! And don't forget to drop a review if you have a new word prompt for me!

loves, Zingbaby