She had said his name. Not Lieutenant, not Alenko, but Kaidan. His mind was still processing the sound of his name coming from her lips. It took all he had to restrain the flare of biotic energy that was threatening to ripple over his body. He had to take a few minutes to control himself. He didn't want for her to know the effect she had on him just by simply saying his name.

Shepard frowned at Kaidan's silence. Okaaaay. That didn't have quite the effect that she wanted it to have. Maybe he was still mad at her for taking charge. She silently huffed. Men. Always wanting to play the protector and give out orders. She was fine, for God's sake. How many times did she have to tell him –

"Never."

Shepard froze. She had been so busy arguing in her own mind, she almost didn't catch the gruff whisper. Her heart sped up. Of course he had never let her fall. He was always by her side, through thick and thin. Her trust in him was implicit and absolute. She heard some shuffling and then his biotics illuminated the elevator again. He was kneeling in front of her and for one stupid moment she actually thought he was going to propose marriage. She almost laughed out loud at the thought as he motioned to his shoulders.

Kaidan waited until he was sure Shepard had settled herself on his shoulders and then stood up. She was surprisingly light. Her strong thighs pressed against the sides of his neck, and the feeling of her body on top of his sent his heart pounding. He urged himself to think about something else. He was already sweating from the rising temperature in the elevator. Having Shepard so close to him only made it worse.

"Mmm, nothing. Move a little to the right," Shepard said, her arms above her feeling for some sort of inlay in the ceiling.

He moved left, right, front, back all the while keeping his hands on her boots and trying not to think of her legs and butt resting against his chest and shoulders.

"This is bull!" Shepard cried out, wiping the sweat from her forehead. From what she could see the whole ceiling was just one big rectangle.

Kaidan felt Shepard's thighs tense in frustration. God, he didn't know how much more of this he could take. His mind was starting to wander off and imagine what he could be doing to Shepard's legs, thighs…other parts of her body.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice straining with the effort to control his thoughts. If someone had told him this morning that he would have Shepard's thighs around his neck he would have laughed in their face.

"There's nothing! No hatch, no vent, just nothing," she said. The heat was irritating her. Her tank top and pants were starting to stick to her body, and she had half a mind to just take everything off and just stay in her bra and panties. What a sight that would be. She was about to climb down from Kaidan's shoulders when the elevator lurched again. "Fuuuuu – aaaagh!"

Kaidan quickly reacted. Shepard's body slid off his left shoulder. Her hand grabbed a handful of his shirt, and he heard the material rip as he pulled her body to him. His right arm wrapped around her waist and his left automatically covered the back of her head as his legs braced themselves against the shift in her weight and the movement of the elevator.

The elevator stopped.

Holy shit, that was close. Shepard slowly opened her eyes. It took her a moment to gain her bearings. Her legs had somehow wrapped around Kaidan's waist. One arm was circled around his neck, and her other hand still clutched his shirt. She shot him a grin. He hadn't let her fall.

"Thank you," she breathed pulling her head back to look at him.

Her face was so close to his that he could feel her breath on his skin. He looked into her eyes, and Kaidan's heart nearly stopped. She was so beautiful. And she was in his arms. He tightened his hold around her waist and pressed her body to his.

Kaidan's left hand slowly moved around to cup the side of her face, and Shepard felt like time had stopped. Seconds, minutes, hours could pass and she wouldn't have known or cared. All that mattered was Kaidan and the wonderful feeling of his body against hers.

Chills erupted all over Kaidan's body. He threaded his fingers through Shepard's hair and slowly brought her face to his. His heart pounded against his chest as her breath brushed against his lips.

The elevator shifted again catching both of them off guard. Kaidan lost his footing. Shepard felt his arm squeeze even tighter around her as he fell forward.

Kaidan grunted in pain as his knee slammed against the floor, and he managed to twist around so that he wouldn't land on top of Shepard.

Shepard followed Kaidan to the ground, her body still wrapped around his. Her heart was still beating abnormally fast first from their near kiss and then from the sudden movement of the elevator. She landed softly on top of him and let out another slow breath. Being trapped in the elevator with Kaidan was going to be the death of her.

"Joker!"

Joker turned around to the group, a grin forming on his face. "What?"

"You ass! They were about to kiss!" Ashley looked like she was about to smack the back of his head.

Joker rolled his eyes. "Come on, guys. A little drama never hurt anybody."

Tali poked his arm. "You're just playing with them so that you can win the bet."

"Tali, I have no control over what Shepard and Kaidan feel for each other. The bets are legitimate."

"You can't mess with the elevator anymore," Wrex grunted. "That's cheating."

Joker raised his hands in defense. "I'm not cheating. I'm just…helping…them…"

"That's cheating!" Ashley accused, crossing her arms over her chest.

Geez, these guys were really serious about their bets. Even Dr. Chakwas looked mad. Didn't they know that if it hadn't been for his great idea, Shepard and Kaidan wouldn't even be there in the first place? "Okay, fine, I'll stop messing with the – "

"What is going on here?"

The room grew quiet. Joker quickly minimized the camera image from all the screens. The crowd parted and Navigator Pressly walked into the cockpit. Everyone straightened up, even the aliens.

No one said a word.

Pressly glanced at the screens around the cockpit and then turned to the crowd. "What are you betting on this time?"

Silence.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with the betting pool going around about Commander Shepard and Lieutenant Alenko would it?" he asked. "Because we all know the rules on fraternization."

Joker resisted the urge to raise his eyebrows in case it gave away what he was really thinking. How did Pressly find out about the betting pool? The crew had specifically left him in the dark because they knew how much of a hard ass he was. He stole a glance at Chakwas. Hmmm. She had been spending a lot more time up on the CIC deck…

"I want in."

Joker sat up in surprise. Did you just hear what he thought he heard? Judging by the looks around him, the rest of the crew was just as surprised as he was.

"Sir?" Joker asked skeptically.

"You heard me," Pressly turned to Joker. "Whatever you guys are betting on, I want in."