Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Mass Effect world or characters or races or anything. I'm just a lowly fangirl!

A/N – Thank you so much to the wonderful people who read my last chapter and the people who are following along! An especially big shout out and thank you to Jules Hawke (her ME fics are brilliant! Check them out!), crystal hainline 33, Brooksterman, geoavenger, Misstressshadow, oratorio and the lovely guests who have reviewed Burn. Your reviews were lovely to read and made me feel all warm and glowy inside – so thank you!

Kaidan lay on the couch with Shepard sprawled lazily on top of him, her head resting on his chest as her fingers idly stroked his arm. They had stuffed themselves silly with the takeout food and were planning to head out to the Casino later, but for now they were resting and letting their food settle. Kaidan traced his long fingers lightly over Shepard's back, feeling the ridges of her battle uniform and following the seams down to the rise of her derrière.

"You and your busy hands." She purred softly, shifting slightly under his touch.

Kaidan grinned and said nothing, just squeezed her posterior a little harder, pressing her down onto him. She chuckled and snuggled closer, planting an arm on either side of him and sitting up in a push-up position so she could look down into his face. The shadow that he'd seen in her eyes earlier was gone and she looked happy again; content even. She stared down at him quietly, seeming to studying his face just as he was studying hers.

Her eyes, which he called golden, were in actuality a dark copper around the iris that faded to a golden yellow around the pupil. Wolf eyes, he told her once, and she'd laughed and told him that he'd better be careful or she'd eat him up. They suited her pale skin with its dusting of fine freckles and her bright red hair; hair that rarely saw the light of a sun and so had stayed a vibrant bloody red. Her hair and eyes matched her personality; fiery and passionate.

"I wish we didn't have to go out to the Casino," Zillia complained as she looked down at him, a small knowing smile creeping over her full lips as she felt his hands begin to move up her back and then down again. "It would be so nice to stay in."

"I don't think Garrus and Tali would appreciate being stood up, do you?" Kaidan reluctantly dragged his hands away from Shepard's body, quite aware that if he kept touching her they wouldn't make it off the couch, let alone to the casino.

Shepard grinned and sat up, straddling his waist for a moment and flashing him another knowing smile as she stretched slowly over him, ensuring her got a good look at curves through the layers of the uniform she wore. When she was done with her small show, she stood up and offered a hand to Kaidan which he took, and though he was tempted to use her hand to pull her back down, he stood up too and gave her a dirty look.

"You're a tease, Commander."

"Just you wait until later tonight, Major." She countered swiftly, her eyes twinkling as she ducked away from him and took off up the stairs to the main bedroom.

Kaidan considered following Zillia as he watched her lightly jog up the stairs, but he knew that Shepard would take far longer to get ready than he would and there was another bathroom downstairs. Plus if he was in the bathroom with her there was every possibility of neither of them getting ready.

The sexual tension between them had been explosive enough as it was, but after yesterday's foreplay and almost-consummation, Kaidan felt as though he was burning up with desire; it was like something in his body had been wound tight, tighter and tighter still. Every time Shepard touched him it raised goose bumps on his skin, every time he looked at her he imagined all the things he wanted do to her and every time they kissed it was all he could do not to sweep her off her feet and carry her to the nearest bed.

It took every ounce of his self-control not to give in whenever Shepard flirted with him. She'd made it clear that she felt every bit as needy as him, but he wanted their first time together since their reconciliation to be special – not some quick tumble in the nearest bed. He wanted to take his time to explore every inch of her body and to make her feel good; he wanted to love her in every sense of the word.

It was a good thing he was great at self-control because his first instinct when Shepard had said James had kissed her had been one of extreme violence. The red rage had passed as quickly as it had come, but only because Kaidan had trained himself to control his emotional outbursts. Vyrnnus' death at Jump Zero had taught him how dangerous his outbursts could be if he didn't have absolute control. Even still, it had been a long time since he'd come so close to losing his temper.

Kaidan went to the smaller downstairs bathroom and took a fast shower. He quickly shaved, a futile act since he almost perpetually seemed to have a five o'clock shadow, and splashed himself with aftershave. Reluctantly, he put on a pair of black slacks and a button up black shirt. He hated wearing civilian clothing, preferring to wear his battle uniform or dress uniform, but sometimes Kaidan made exceptions and tonight was one of those nights.

He loitered in the bathroom and glanced at himself in the mirror once he had finished getting ready, wondering how he compared to James in Shepard's eyes. He didn't know James' exact age, but guessed he was possibly close to ten years older than the lieutenant. It was hard to tell though, James looked like he was in his late twenties but his behaviour made Kaidan slide his age down to the mid-twenties or lower. Kaidan knew he tended to be a little introverted and controlled, an effect of his biotic training as a teen, whereas James was almost his polar opposite; loud and opinionated – acting on instinct rather than logic.

Physically Kaidan knew he didn't compare all that well to James, at least not in terms of strength and size as the younger man dwarfed him. Kaidan worked out and was happy with how he looked, but James seemed to spend all of his free time doing weight training and it showed in his ridiculously over-muscled frame. Plus he'd been tapped to guard Shepard on Earth, which meant he was also physically capable and very good at his job.

Kaidan tried not to think about what might have happened on Earth during those months when James and Shepard had been spending all that time together. Not that he thought anything had happened, but clearly they'd been close – especially if James had managed to fall in love with her.

Kaidan saw his jaw clench in the mirror at that thought and he forced himself to relax. Getting angry at James for falling on love with Shepard was futile; it wouldn't change anything and he quite understood why Vega had fallen for her. He could remember what it was like when he had first met Shepard on the Normandy; he'd been attracted to her instantly and as they had spent time together he'd soon fallen head over heels in love with her.

He'd never told Shepard he'd loved her back in those days and it had been one of the sharpest regrets he'd had after she had died. He'd be damned if he didn't make sure he told her at least once a day for the rest of their lives, however long that might be.

"Are you ready, Alenko?" Shepard called, sounding strangely eager to be off.

Kaidan ran a quick hand through his hair, which always seemed to stick straight up no matter what he did, and made his way back towards the front door where he could see Shepard waiting. He felt his heartbeat speed up as he caught site of the dress she was wearing and his mouth instantly went dry.

She looked incredible.

The azure halter neck dress covered her like a second skin, hugging her curves in a way that made Kaidan envious, before flaring halfway down her thighs where a long slit showed tantalising glimpses of her long creamy legs. The dress was edged in a slightly darker shade of blue, which also framed an oval cut-out on her chest which showed the tops of her breasts and a nice spread of skin. He let his eyes linger there for a moment, before he let them wonder up the column of her neck to her face. Her hair was up in an artfully messy style that looked both sexy and sophisticated, and her makeup was understated and elegant.

"You look amazing." It was all he could think of to say, but he was sure his eyes and the look on his face said enough. He'd always found her attractive in whatever she wore – uniform, armour or sexy short dresses – but he'd never seen her in a dress like this and it suited her in a way that was quite unexpected.

He reached out and gently traced the oval cut out around her chest and then gently laid his hands on either side of her waist, fighting the urge to haul her into his arms and kiss her senseless. Shepard's eyes, when he looked down into them, were molten pools of fire and he very carefully, so as not to rub off any of her lipstick, kissed her; an almost chaste press of his lips onto hers.

"It's for you, you know." She whispered as he pulled away, her eyes dancing with fire and heat.

Kaidan pulled her to him, holding her gently, as though she was something fragile and delicate and not the brutal warrior that she was. Time seemed to slow down and the world narrowed until it was just them, Shepard and Kaidan, alone in the room and lost in the moment. The rest of the world and the Reaper threat could have vanished for all they knew – there was only them.

"We're never going to get to the Casino at this rate." He commented in the silence and Shepard chuckled sheepishly as the moment was lost.

"I can change if you like…" She said airily as she pulled away, clearly having no intention to do so, but Kaidan played along.

"No, that's okay. I'll behave myself." He made a show of pulling the door open and waving her through, then planted one hand firmly on her ass as he followed her out the door, Shepard's laughter music to his ears.

The evening at the Casino had gone well to start with and Garrus and Tali, who Kaidan thought were possibly the cutest inter-species couple he'd ever laid eyes on, had been great company. The two of them had been happy to hear that Kaidan and Shepard were together again; both of them being among the few people who had known about their relationship on the original Normandy. Kaidan did think that Garrus was slightly surprised at the news, but it could have been paranoia on his part as Garrus had been on Horizon when he'd turned his back on Shepard and said those hurtful things.

Throughout the evening, Kaidan couldn't help but notice that Tali was drinking almost twice as much as the rest of them, and as the night drew on and Tali got progressively drunker and drunker, Kaidan began to wonder if the Quarian had a drinking problem. She seemed a happy enough drunk, burbling away to Shepard about the Normandy's engines and some plans she had to get them running even more efficiently, but Kaidan noticed that Garrus watched her carefully.

Finally, when Tali began hiccupping and slurring her speech, Garrus announced it was time for them to get going and ushered a protesting Tali to her feet. The Quarian could barely stand by now and wobbled unsteadily as Garrus said something quietly to Shepard before putting an arm around Tali's waist and leading her out of the Casino at a slow and careful pace. It was obvious that Garrus and Tali were very much in love, but it was also clear that the older Turian was the more sensible of the two in the relationship and that Tali was either going through a late partying phase or liked drinking a little too much.

Shepard was smiling slightly as she watched them leave, "Garrus is a little worried about Tali getting so drunk." She confided to Kaidan as the Turian-Quarian duo vanished from view. "He's concerned she's going to end up tearing her suit and getting an infection. Apparently she's had a few close calls with getting it hooked on things in the hotel they're staying at."

"Sounds stressful." Kaidan turned his attention back to Shepard, who was still looking like a goddess that had descended to mingle with mortals.

"Oh, I don't think she gets drunk that often, but it's a concern when you're as physically vulnerable as she is." Shepard swirled the rest of her wine in her glass and drained it. Kaidan wasn't sure how much Shepard had had to drink, but she seemed relaxed and pleasantly tipsy. He'd had a few glasses of beer himself, but aside from being slightly light headed he was feeling fine.

He was on the verge of suggesting that they follow Tali and Garrus' cue and leave when a friendly shout interrupted him.

"Hey! Shepard!"

Kaidan glanced up at the yell to see a man who seemed vaguely familiar waving at them from the bar, and with a sinking feeling in his gut he recognised Cortez and James sitting alongside him. Next to him Shepard waved back and stood up, tugging at him to stand up beside her as she grinned broadly at the man.

"I didn't know Jacob was still here! Let's go say hi." She glanced up at him expectantly, accustomed to having Kaidan go along with whatever she wanted, and surprised when he looked at her reluctantly. "Jacob's great, Kaidan. I know you didn't really get a chance to speak to him when we got his people off Gellix, but he helped keep me alive during the fight against the Collectors."

"Maybe Shepard, but he's with James." He nodded in the direction of Vega, who hadn't seen them yet but soon would. He was sitting almost slumped at the bar with a bottle of beer in one hand, Cortez talking animatedly next to him and gesticulating wildly.

"So what? We can't avoid him forever." Shepard didn't look quite as certain she sounded, but she was determined and pressed on. "Anyway, its best he gets used to seeing out together, right?"

Kaidan decided Shepard had had more to drink than he had realised, because he was sure that her logic was slightly skewed on this point. The last thing James needed right now was a reminder that the woman he thought he was in love with was with another man, and a friend at that. But Shepard was already walking towards her friend Jacob, and Kaidan had no choice but to follow along, definitely not wanting to leave Shepard alone in the Casino tonight.

Especially not in that dress.

James sat slumped at the bar, slowly drinking his sixth, or possible seventh, beer and wallowing in self-pity. Cortez had convinced him to come out for a drink, intent on cheering him up, and once at the Casino they had chanced upon Jacob, who had been out for a night on his own. They'd started talking after Jacob had heard them mention Shepard and introduced himself - it turned out he had served on the Normandy when Shepard had been working with Cerberus. Normally, James would have been keen to have heard about their adventures on the Normandy, but he'd just felt himself growing more and more resentful as the night had drawn on.

Cortez was excitedly talking about some mission he had flown on years ago, but he had long since stopped listening and instead was staring at the bottle in his hands as if it was the world most exciting object. His thoughts were a million miles away though. He couldn't stop thinking about Shepard; had he done the right thing in the docking bay? Was she going to throw him off the ship for kissing him? His stomach churned every time he thought about the look in her eyes when he'd asked her for a chance; for an instant she'd been tempted, he knew she had.

If only he'd made his moved before Kaidan had…

"Hey! Shepard!"

He heard Jacob's shout, but for a few seconds the words didn't register with him, he was so busy thinking about Shepard that hearing her name seemed perfectly normal. Then, through the seemingly endless stream of words from Cortez, he felt is brain click and he realised that Jacob had been shouting to someone in the room. He slowly swung around in his chair and looked across the bar and the dance floor to where restaurant section of the casino was.

When he saw Shepard he almost dropped the bottle in his hand; she looked so exquisitely beautiful it was almost painful to look at her. He knew he was staring but he couldn't help it as his eyes roved down her body to the long strip of leg that flashed every time she took a step, to her small firm waist that the dress clung to seductively, to the cut out panel that framed the rounded curves of the tops of her breasts. Her hair was swept up into a casual hairstyle, but loose tendrils had broken free and floated around her face.

She was walking towards them with a smile on her face; a grin that aimed exclusively at Jacob. James felt himself willing her to look at him too, he wanted her to see him, for their eyes to meet so she could see what he was feeling at the moment, but she stubbornly kept her eyes on Jacob. As she neared them his eyes moved next to her and he finally noticed that she wasn't alone and as he watched the man beside her slid a hand around her waist and leaned close to murmur something in her ear, which broadened her smile.

He felt something inside of him twist painfully at the sight of Kaidan's hand so casually on her waist and he glanced up to see the biotic looking at him, but instead of looking smug as James had expected, his brown eyes could have been a mirror for his own. Kaidan looked wary and although he had a slight smile on his face it certainly didn't reach his eyes. James felt that squirm of guilt in his stomach as Kaidan held his gaze for a long moment, the look was intensely personal.

It was obvious that Shepard had told him about what had happened in the docking bay and Kaidan wasn't happy about it. His look wasn't threatening, if anything he looked deeply uncomfortable, but there was a slight challenge in his eyes. James broke eye contact first, looking away and hating that he was feeling like this when it was Kaidan who should have been feeling ashamed.

James looked back at the bottle of beer and took a few mouthfuls from it, feeling even unhappier than he had been earlier. He sneaked another quick look at Shepard, who looked even more beautiful in her dress than he ever would have dreamed, but then made himself look away again. Cortez had finally stopped talking next to him and James felt his hand on his shoulder as he saw Shepard and Kaidan walking towards them.

"Are they…together?" Cortez dropped into the seat next to him and glanced at James. He was the other person on the Normandy who knew how he felt about Shepard. They spent so much time together on the ship that Cortez had been the first person to realise that James had more than just a crush on Shepard. He'd encouraged him to do something about it, but, as James had so often lamented lately, he'd never managed to get up the courage to ask her out.

"Yup." James put the empty bottle down on the counter and signalled the bartender for another.

"I'm sorry, man." Cortez's hand tightened on his shoulder. "You wanna talk about it?"

James shook his head, "No."

"Fair enough." Cortez handed him a new beer and turned to face Shepard and Kaidan as they came closer, watching as Shepard shook Jacob's hand and then hugged him. Kaidan hovered for a second and then reluctantly drifted closer to Cortez and James, nodding at James briefly and greeting Cortez more warmly.

"Major, I haven't seen you around much in the last few days." Cortez shook Kaidan's hand and made room for him at the bar.

"I've been relaxing." Kaidan glanced back at Shepard, but she and Jacob were talking excitedly about something. He turned his attention back to Cortez and James, "I haven't had any down time in a while."

"I bet." Cortez continued on without battering and eyelid, "Say, I didn't know you and the Commander were dating." The pilot grinned as Kaidan looked taken about at his directness. "I thought I knew all the gossip on the ship, but I have no idea about this."

"Yeah, we decided to patch things up." Kaidan didn't elaborate, and instead turned to the bar and signalled to the bar tender that he'd have the same as Cortez and James.

"Oh, you and the Commander used to be together?" The Cortez sounded genuinely surprised and James felt himself scowl as Kaidan turned back and nodded.

"A few years ago."

Again, Kaidan didn't go into details but Cortez wasn't an idiot and nodded, knowing the story of Shepard's death and resurrection thanks to Cerberus. When Kaidan turned back to get his drink, James saw Cortez glance at him quickly and hated the sympathy in his eyes. He determinedly looked away and inadvertently met Kaidan's eyes as the Major turned back from the bar. For a second James felt himself pinned under the weight of the look, but he forced himself to shake it off and take a sip of his drink, determined not to be intimidated

The silence between the three of them quickly became awkward and contrasted sharply with Shepard and Jacob, who were in a world of their own and laughing about something related to a mission they'd once gone on for Cerberus. James let his gaze wander over Shepard again, hating how his eyes were drawn to her against his will. She looked so happy, leaning against the bar with a brilliant smile on her face, a different person who he had chased out of the docking bay yesterday.

"Well, this is fun." Cortez sounded slightly amused and slightly exasperated. "I think you two need to get everything off your chest while Shepard is distracted by Jacob. Just say whatever it is you want to say."

James looked back at Cortez and frowned, "I'm all good, man. There isn't much to say, anyway."

Kaidan crossed his arms over his chest and threw a mildly annoyed look at James. "So long as Vega can keep himself from kissing Shepard again, I don't have anything to say."

James felt anger and shame sprout within him as Cortez threw him a surprised look. He put his drink down, his lip curling slightly as he looked at Kaidan with barely contained anger. "You know, you fucking knew I was going to ask her out. You could have at least warned me you were planning on doing the same instead of playing dumb and sneaking around behind my back."

"I knew you thought she was hot, but that was all. You kept talking about asking her out, but you never did." Kaidan looked annoyed and a muscle contracted in the side of his cheek, "I didn't deliberately try to deceive you. God, I didn't even ask her out or go chasing after her. Shepard and I just…clicked, and we decided to give it another try. It just happened, James."

"You clicked?" James kept his voice low, but Cortez looked alarmed at the fury in his voice. "Is that what you call tossing her to the side on Horizon like she was nothing? You treated her like she was worthless! You hurt her worse than anyone ever had! You don't deserve her…"

"Guys…" Cortez tried to interrupt them but Kaidan cut him off angrily.

"You don't know anything." Kaidan hissed at James, his voice equally low but his body language rapidly becoming aggressive as James laid into him. "You have no idea what happened on the day Shepard died and what I went through. You don't know anything about how I felt on Horizon or what I said!" He put his beer down. "You're just jealous."

"Jealous!" James stood up and felt himself squaring at up Kaidan, forgetting that the Major was his superior and a Spectre. Cortez hovered slightly between them, not wanting to let things get out of hand, but not wanting to draw attention to them by breaking them up if nothing was happening.

"Yes, jealous." Kaidan visibly drew in a deep breath and seemed to gather his anger back into himself with a force of will that was noticeable. "You keep acting like I did this deliberately to hurt you, but Shepard came back to me. It was her choice to give us another go. I'm sorry you feel hard done by, but get over it." He shook his head at James, as though dealing with a frustrating child and then turned and moved the few metres over to where Shepard stood with Jacob, joining in their conversation as though nothing had just happened.

James felt like the floor vanished out from under him at Kaidan's words and he watched him move away, feeling like a puppet with its strings cut, unable to think of a thing to say in return. Shepard had gone back to him? Why? Why? For the last few days he'd envisioned Kaidan romancing Shepard and talking her into giving them another try, but the situation Kaidan had angrily painted had been vastly different.

Alenko was right, James realised with a growing sense of misery; he really didn't know enough about what had happened between Shepard and Kaidan. He knew Shepard had been broken hearted on Earth and he knew it had been Kaidan's fault, but Shepard had never given him any details other than the fact that Kaidan hadn't trusted her involvement with Cerberus. Given Cerberus' current track record, it seemed his mistrust of the organisation had been well placed so James couldn't even fault him for that.

But Kaidan had hurt Shepard.

He clenched his hands into fists and watched as Kaidan slid his arm around Shepard's waist and leaned close to whisper something to her. James forced himself to look away again, he wasn't going to watch anymore. No matter what Kaidan said, he still couldn't help but feel that Shepard had been needlessly hurt back on Horizon by Kaidan's actions and he didn't want to see her hurt again. He would find a way to make her see that Kaidan was a mistake and that he was the better man.

A/N – I'm super tired, so apologies if there are any really silly typos! The next chapter will probably have some sexiness…I think Kaidan and Shepard might ignite if they don't get it on soon. (Poor James!)

I hope everyone is enjoying reading this – please review!