Liara heard a knock on her apartment door: a strange fact, considering that a finger on the intercom would have been more simple and efficient.
She got up from her bed and put on a long white robe, which didn't cover a small portion of her abdomen. She typed the code on the keypad and the monitor became green. Successively, she slightly opened the door and peered through the fissure. As soon as she realized who it was she opened it wide. "…Shepard?" Her voice was clearly confused, but nonetheless astonished.
The commander raised her hand in a greeting gesture. "He-" She said, interrupted by a hiccup. "Hey!"
"Is the party over?" The asari scrutinized her thoroughly. "You posture is very…" She thought for a moment. "…relaxed."
"Yeah… I… drank too much." She revealed, mumbling a bit.
Liara smiled. "Your love for alcohol is well known in every corner of the galaxy. However, I've never seen you like this… the great commander Shepard has got drunk. No one would believe me."
"The others at the party would…" She hesitated a bit. "Damn ryncol!"
A moment of silence followed. Neither one of them spoke a word. Then, the soldier's eyes fell on the uncovered belly of the alien. "May I come in?"
"Yes... yes! Of course! Forgive me, I should have asked." Liara was so embarrassed that she shook her head. "Leaving a host standing on the threshold… by the Goddess, I don't know what has gotten into me." She excused herself one more time and took a pace back to let the woman in.
"You don't have to apologize." Answered Shepard, looking at her big blue eyes.
Liara remained a little stunned from the intensity of her gaze, since she didn't understand the reason. "Would you like something to drink? Some water?"
Shepard simply nodded.
The Asari walked in the direction of the mini fridge, located beside the queen size bed which dominated the room. In that instant the marine noticed that the bedsheets were lifted on the right side. "Were you sleeping? Did I wake you?"
Liara, who was bent over the fridge, turned her head. "No, I'd just gotten into it when you arrived."
Shepard, as if she was hypnotized, slowly approached the bed and sat on the uncovered corner of the mattress. She caressed the pillow with a single stroke and this gesture didn't went unnoticed by the alien, who was standing behind her as she was staring at the scene and holding the bottle of water; her heart slammed against her thoracic cage as soon as the redhead laid her head on her cushion. "Are you feeling well, commander?"
Shepard raised her head and then her whole body. "Yeah." She said. However, her eyes kept moving, making Liara doubt about the veracity of her words. A few seconds later she stood up, closed the distance between the two of them, took the bottle from Liara's hands and eagerly drank almost half of it. After she was satisfied, she asked: "Can I smoke? Near the ventilation system, of course."
"Yes, commander. It's in the bathroom, near the bathtub."
The soldier walked towards it and nodded her squadmate to follow her. She sat on the edge of the bathtub, rummaged in her jeans' pockets and produced a joint. She lit it and deeply breathe its smoke.
Liara was scrutinizing her, standing just a few metres away. Motionless. She had a lot of question marks in her head. "Is there something you… you have to tell me?"
Shepard nodded. "Yes." She confirmed and then added nothing more.
The asari, bewildered from her odd behavior, didn't ask any more questions. She thought it would be better to patiently wait but couldn't help rubbing her hands.
"You are… a wonderful person, Liara. The best I've met."
The alien blushed. She could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears. In that moment she understood that something would definitely happen during that conversation, which will change her forever.
"I'm an egoist. And I'm altruist only towards you. Do you know why I fight so hard to save the galaxy?"
Liara's eyes widened. "To protect everyone's future."
Shepard shook her head. "No. Your future. That's the only thing that matters to me now." She revealed after she blew a big puff of smoke.
The asari was petrified.
"I don't need a medal to carry on or the awareness of having saved some life. I just need, on a daily basis, your smile… and your big blue eyes. I don't have to hold you in my arms or kiss you… I can rub my fingers against yours… and that's enough to give me the strength to endure another day."
Liara's lips were trembling as well as every fiber of her being.
"You know… only when I smoke I can face this fact, this reality. Everything else it's just blurred or opaque and you… you're too distant. But then I close my eyes and I picture you in front of me… that's when I find a sense of purpose in my life. I don't care if I see you more inside my mind than in person. You exist and that's why I thank the universe each day."
In the silence it seemed that every quiver of the maiden could be heard.
The soldier went on. "I'm not only selfish but I'm also a coward. It's just like if two bubbles divided us and I couldn't even reach out with my finger and burst them." She giggled. "Funny, ah? I throw myself in fields filled with enemies, but I can't do this." She got up, turned the tap of the bathtub on, put out the cigarette and she then lifted the hot water faucet handle.
In the meantime, Liara hadn't move a muscle. She had suffocated her feelings for three years, believing that they were inappropriate and not reciprocated. She was a coward too, because she wasn't able to say anything. That speech had lasted too much and too little at the same time. She was deeply scared of the outcome, because it was time to act.
Half of the bathtub was already filled with water. "I cannot die regretting the only thing I haven't done… I'm certain of this because I already did it and I know how it feels like." Shepard confessed, turning her back on her lover. Successively she carefully unbuttoned her shirt and pants and threw them on the ground, leaving her in slip and underwire bra. With a quick gesture she undid it and let it fall behind her feet. She bent over and removed the remaining undergarment. Naked and vulnerable she dipped her toes in the water and then laid down with her whole body. She covered her breast with her arm and reached out her hand to Liara. "Come. Two steps. One after the other."
The asari clenched her fists and closed her eyes. She stepped forward. She hesitated and made the second step.
"Now open your eyes."
A bunch of seconds passed before she opened her eyelids. She startled at the sight of Shepard's naked body: her breasts were full, round and quite small as she had imagined over and over again. She couldn't take her eyes off her hardened nipples. However, as soon as she realized she was staring at them she looked at the commander's eyes, totally embarazzed. She hadn't been so frightened in her life.
Shepard pretended to be confident. "Touch them… with your lips." She challenged her with a seducing voice.
A sudden warmth in her azure caught Liara off guard. Her head felt dizzy. Clouded by the libido she bent over the redhead's body and with her mouth she went close to her right nipple.
Shepard felt her breath on her body and, involuntarily, she let go a moan of pleasure, which increased in intensity as the asari's lips closed all around one of her most sensitive part.
The maiden sucked and licked it. She wanted to feel it all on her tongue. A touch so intimate made her feel sensations she had never even expected to exist, which soon turned into tears.
The commander took advantage of her lover's position to slide her tongue on her neck folds, making her groan and scream.
The alarm clock rang. Shepard woke up from her dream. "Fuck." She hid her face in the pillow and sighed.