Okay, so maybe he was a little bit drunk.
It wasn't like he was the only one. The entire crew of the Normandy had gone out for drinks in a last-ditch attempt to forget, even for a moment, the war that raged just outside their door. Apparently, they weren't alone. Purgatory, the Citadel's hottest club, was buzzing with activity. The asari dancers on the stage worked with an enthusiasm Kaidan had never seen before, and Shepard...
Well, let's just say he was sitting with his legs crossed.
The slight loss of inhibitions had caused him to allow his eyes to wander in ways he wouldn't have dreamed of had he been sober. However, the buzz and the dressed-up (or, in this case, down) state of his commander, her N7 uniform replaced by a slinky black dress that could've been painted on, it wasn't like he was lacking in things to look at. And god, she was a sight for sore eyes.
He didn't even notice that he was staring, nor did he care. Besides, it wasn't like he was the only one. After a few drinks of her own, Shepard had taken to the dance floor to show off a few moves of her own. Okay, she wasn't a great dancer by any means, and every now and then a laugh would rise up from the table where her crew sat, but every now and then she'd do it just right. She'd sway just in time to the beat, she'd move her hips just so, and a bolt of electricity would flare through his spine and leave him tingling and painfully aroused. This was a fantasy come true if he'd ever had one.
That is, until Vega decided to join her.
He moved like a vulture homing in on carrion, Kaidan noted spitefully. He slipped in behind her, also moving in time to the beat, though she only seemed to notice he was there when his big, calloused hands found her hips and pulled her against him. At the sight of it, Kaidan had downed the rest of his drink all at once, the burning sensation in his throat a poor distraction from the sight before him. No matter how hard he tried, however, he couldn't tear his sight away from the pair; not yet.
Vega's fingers dug into her hip bones and he began to alter her dancing, moving her along with him and in time to the beat of the music. God, they were grinding- and Shepard was laughing. She let James get away with it for a few moments before turning to face him and he shifted his grip, hands now firmly around her waist. Kaidan hadn't noticed before, but those hands- they were so big that together they wrapped almost all the way around the circumference of her body. He didn't like that. Shepard was a soldier on the field, but in her personal life she needed someone gentle. Everything about Vega screamed hot, passionate, and violent. Shepard needed more than that. Kaidan could give that to her.
He'd almost resigned himself to watching in sullen, moody silence when something changed. He watched as Shepard curved her arms around Vega's neck and entwined her fingers there, using the other soldier to help keep her inebriated self on her feet as the two of them continued to dance far too close for comfort. That was the last straw. Ignoring the catcalls the pair received from the rest of the crew, he stood up- so abruptly he knocked the table, spilling a few drinks in the process- and prowled over to the dance floor, dark eyes glaring over the back of Shepard's shoulder and meeting Vega's.
Before James could realize what he was up against, he'd been (quite ungracefully) body-checked away from a stunned Shepard and the second human Spectre had taken his place. His hands, smaller but equally calloused, caressed her waist as he pulled her into him and resumed the dance. He was shocked into reality, however, when rather than fall back into it, she shoved him away with an indignant glare, her face flushing bright red either from intoxication or embarrassment, he couldn't tell. Probably both.
"What the hell, Kaidan?" she spat venomously.
He shrugged and stepped closer to her, unafraid and reaching for her again. Okay, he was definitely drunk, she realized without surprise. "Thought it was somebody else's turn." he muttered.
"You don't just interrupt a dance." she hissed in response, flustered by this brash side of Kaidan. It was one she hadn't seen before, and she wasn't sure what she thought of it just yet. She didn't have time to decide, however, as he closed the distance between them and pressed himself flush against her then, his arms wrapping protectively around her and ignoring the growing number of eyes on the two of them.
"Watch me." With that, his lips were on hers and he was kissing her hotly, aware only of the taste of her on his probing tongue and the feel of her smooth curves underneath his hands, only a thin layer of black material separating them. If she let him- if she still wanted him- he'd be happy to correct that.
To his surprise (and relief), he felt her lips move under his, her hands raising to tangle in his hair as she deepened the kiss. He was vaguely aware of moaning her name into her mouth, though which one was up to debate- he'd called her so many names over the years. Commander. Ma'am. Shepard. On a few occasions he'd even used her first name, Johanna. She'd blushed like a virgin when he'd done it, but he could tell she liked it. It made what they had seem less like a forbidden affair and more like a real, honest-to-god romance, the kind they would've had if it weren't for pain-in-the-ass Alliance regs.
"Are you two almost done?" The voice coming from behind Kaidan wouldn't have been enough to draw him away from the kiss, but the hand on his shoulder immediately following it and the need for air was. Breathless, he pulled back and turned around only to punch Vega square in the jaw, sending the larger man stumbling backwards a few steps. He felt Shepard's hand on his arm and she tugged him back, inserting herself between the two men before the fight could escalate into a full-out brawl.
"You're both drunk. I think it's time to call it a night. Cortez, get Vega an ice pack for that jaw. I'm going to make sure Alenko gets back to the ship before he can cause more trouble." she shot Kaidan a glare that melted him right then and there, replacing the fire of arousal inside of him with the feeling of a man scorned. In his eyes, he hadn't done anything wrong. In his eyes, Shepard was still his, whether they were still technically together or not. She still loved him- she'd said so herself. In fact, he'd been the asshole that kept pushing her away. What he was doing right now was rectifying that.
His attempts at winning her over didn't seem to be going so well, though.
As the rest of the crew returned to gossiping, drinking, and helping Vega nurse his wounded ego (and jaw), she dragged Kaidan out of the club and towards the elevator. The entire time he followed obediently, like a scolded child heading to the principal's office to be punished for his actions.
What he didn't expect was her to turn to him the second the elevator doors had closed behind them and press her lips to his again, kissing him with a desperation that their moment on the dance floor couldn't hold a candle to. He instinctively kissed back, curling his arms around her with a moan and running his fingers through her short, red hair. She only held the kiss for a moment though before breaking free from him again, though the lust in her eyes as they met his own was unmistakeable.
"You're an asshole."
It took him a second to register just what she'd said, and once he did the grin that had dominated his face at the sight of her aroused expression faded almost instantaneously, replaced again by the kicked-puppy look that she often teased him for. His brow furrowed and he fought for breath as he spoke, the kiss having left his adrenalin pumping and his lungs empty, not that he was really complaining.
"But- Vega- all over you- you're mine -" he growled, reaching for her again. She smacked his hands away and stepped closer to him, getting right up in his face in an attempt to intimidate him.
"I don't belong to anybody, Kaidan. You pushed me away." she hissed, her voice lowered.
He practically growled, both as an acknowledgement of his own bullheaded stupidity and frustration towards her, but when his lips crashed down on hers again she returned the kiss feverously. He was vaguely aware of his back slamming against the wall of the elevator as they moved together, and only when the elevator dinged to signal their arrival at the docking bay did she pull back again.
"Meet me in my cabin if you want to make it up to me. It's time you learned whose ship you're on."
With that, she stalked off to the ship, leaving him standing in the elevator flushed, covered in a combination of both of their sweat, and painfully aroused. It only took him a moment to register her words this time and, sobering up almost instantly, he darted after her, unable to stop the grin that split his face at her promise. This was one threat he really wanted her to follow through on.