Summary: Not much more to say except read the author's notes. Nyx snatches Kaidan's senses to try something new and distracting.

a/n: A Smut Fic Prompt from painterofhorizons for Nyx Shepard and Kaidan Alenko. They asked for E. Kinky 4. Sensory Deprivation. I thought about this way too much and I decided that maybe this might end up with a pair of experiences or maybe even stories, but I'll have to see. Since I always wrote Kaidan as a very visual lover, and a bit of a voyeur, I can only imagine this could be difficult for him. But then I also started thinking about how Shepard might react, especially given the circumstances of Alchera and their demise—that, however, is not included in this piece because it has expanded into its own story.

The First Try

-1-

Dim lights cast the room in a warm orange-yellow hue. The fish tank filters hummed their low comforting sound, which was only broken by the wet smack of lips and desperate gasps for breath. The occasional rumbling growl of wantonness of the smooth surfaces of the bulkhead. Nyx Shepard slipped her hand into Kaidan's and used that grip and a bit of leverage from the thigh against his hip to flip them over and get her lover beneath her.

"Kaidan," she purred, leaning down to kiss him before he could answer her.

He just hummed against her mouth, both his hands going to her ass to pull her hips more firmly against his as he pressed his erection against her.

She managed to get hold of hands again and pressed them into the mattress above his head as she loomed over him. Her blonde hair cascaded around them as he smirked up at her. He lifted his hips under her as if to prove he didn't need his hands to excite her. This, however, was a fact that Nyx would never question, hell, sometimes him just dropping his voice by a handful of notes could take her apart and set them on an erotic excursion.

"If you don't cooperate, this is not going to work," she lectured with a bright laugh.

"This was your idea," he countered, lifting his head off the mattress to try and steal another kiss.

Of course, Nyx met him halfway, because how could she not? He sucked on her bottom lip as he leaned back once more, adding a quick nip before she could escape completely. Clearly, he was not going to make this easy for her, even though he'd eagerly agreed when she suggested it. She shifted his hands until they were both above his head, so that she could get the soft restraints on him. He bent upwards once more, this time sucking her nipple into his hot mouth.

Nyx froze there, her eyes slipping closed as she hissed and arched into him. With a soft hum, she savored the rough sensation of his tongue and the careful scrape of teeth against tender flesh. "Fuck," she breathed, leaning heavily against his wrists. She was loathe to pull away, to steal his fun, break his attention. "Could you behave?"

A lurid pop sounded through the room once he released her. "Not with your breasts in my face," he teased, leaning up to pepper her blushing decolletage with lingering tender kisses.

She did her best to ignore him; Kaidan did not make that easy at all. But she just needed to reach the bedside table is all. If I can just, she thought as she held his hands in one of hers and stretched over him. His mouth latched onto the underside of her breast, sucking downright hard this time. There was no way it wouldn't leave a mark, a deep purple bruise formed quickly and pulsed under his tongue.

Struggling with his hands and her own breathing, it took longer than it should have to get the Velcro ties around his wrists. When she shifted again, to try and attach the anchor to the frame of the bed, Kaidan wriggled beneath her. The fact that he hadn't gotten her out of her pants yet was the only thing that kept Nyx from falling apart completely when he pressed his face between her thighs without the least trace of hesitation of shame.

Deciding to tease him, she slipped her fingers into his hair and rocked her hips. The greedy groan that rose from his chest sent a shiver along her spine. When she rolled away from him, Kaidan yanked at the restraints she'd gotten on him. Nyx giggled in victory; her hand trailed down his bare chest.

"Never hated pants so much in my entire life," Kaidan told her. The fire in his amber eyes took her breath away.

Nyx draped herself along his side, pressing her bare chest against his warm skin. "That sentiment doesn't carry the weight it used to, mo chuisle. Not when you say that all the time." She pressed a kiss against his lips.

A pensive look crossed his features. "Then perhaps you should just stop wearing pants altogether. It'd solve so many issues."

Nyx didn't fight the laughter. "That an order, Major?" Again, she didn't give him a real chance to answer before kissing him. Her mouth lingered on his; their tongues teasing and tasting each other with decadent sensuality. She loved kissing him, holding him tight, and focusing every ounce of her attention just on him. In some ways it was almost meditative, losing herself in this, in him.

He hummed when the tip of her nose brushed against his. "Would you listen if it was?"

"Probably not. My command, so I still out rank you." She kissed him softly again. "You ready?" she asked sweetly as she pressed another kiss to his cheek.

"You know this is going to be murder for me?"

Nyx brushed her fingers along his hairline. "If it gets to be too much, just tell me. And, I like I promised, we'll go slow."

"Watching you is at least half the fun," he argued.

"And as much as you've seen," she teased grabbing the blackout blindfold from the nightstand, "you'll have plenty of fodder for that brilliant imagination of yours to make up the difference."

Leaning against him, she slipped the covering onto his forehead, where she left it. Soft, chaste kisses deepened, and by the time she broke that connection, she'd inched the mask down over his eyes. Now, whether he opened them or left them closed, Kaidan would be trapped in complete and total darkness. There was one of his senses he wouldn't lose entirely, though it was being thrown off by the spiced candles in the room. The earthy fruity scent that wafted around them bore a strong resemblance to red wine—one of their favorites.

The commander pressed a kiss against his chin, then to the center of his throat. She felt the motion of him swallowing beneath her lips, and she couldn't resist opening her mouth to taste that divine Adam's apple. It earned her another healthy groan.

"How's that imagination working for you, Major?"

"Little spotty at the moment, Commander. Think you could dial it in for me?"

She grinned against the center of his chest. "Any suggestions?" she asked. Her lips teasing across the bare plane of his bare chest in a seemingly random pattern.

"Oh, you seem to be heading toward the neighborhood," he teased with a smirk.

"You always do enjoy that, don't you?" she breathed against his skin. She dragged her nails down the tops of his thighs, over the thick fabric of his duty uniform trousers.

Kaidan just sighed, the shakiness of it only encouraging her.

"My hands on your hips," she whispered against his skin between wet kisses. "Grabbing your ass." She drew her nails over his ribs, savoring the tremble in his body. "Pulling you deeper into my mouth," she teased. Her kisses and sharp little bites skimmed his waistband. She move her hands and gripped the tops of his thighs, pressing him against the bed.

"Fuck, Nyx," he crooned when she flicked the tip of her tongue against his navel.

One hand inched upward, pressing against the front of his hip, but purposefully avoiding the bulge straining against the fabric. No need to rile him up too much before she wanted him on the brink of losing control. With another warm kiss pressed against his tummy, she knelt between his legs. With a light touch, using just her fingertips, Nyx pried open his belt and managed to manipulate the fabric in such away as to avoid putting any undue pressure or friction against his cock.

With a growl he lurched forward as if to sit up and intervene, but his motion halted sharply and he fell back against the pillows as the restraints clanged against the frame of the bed. "Damnit," he muttered, remembering that practice was over and it wasn't just his willpower keeping his dexterous hands out of the game.

"Forget?" she asked, her breath caressing his skin.

"Not exactly," he grumbled.

"Lift up."

Kaidan hissed when Nyx scratched her nails along his backside as she inched his trousers and boxers down together. Drawing her index fingers over the side of his hips, she plucked his underwear up and over his thick erection.

She bit her bottom lip as she slipped off the edge of the bed and yanked his remaining clothing off. Her hands pushed his legs apart a bit roughly. Her lover chuckled. With a light touch, her fingers traced over his thighs before disappearing altogether. He'd hear her movement—the rustle of fabric, the soft tap of her boots on the floor as she walked. The bed sank to his right as she perched near his arms.

"You look amazing," she whispered as she leaned over to undo her boots. "All stretched out in my bed."

"You just like seeing me naked."

Nyx hummed and pressed her hand across the muscular plane of his chest. "Yeah, I do," she agreed, leaning over and kissing his lips.

Kaidan dove into it, stretching toward her and pressing his tongue past her lips. Shepard sucked at it greedily, a tease at what she had planned for him. He groaned as she pulled away, still tugging at the thick muscle.

"I know you can get those boots off faster," he stated. Impatience laced the wantonness of his lowered voice. She liked that register—the fuck me register.

"Thought you liked when I took my time?"

Kaidan grinned wide and mischievous. "I do. When I can watch," he clarified. "Right now, I think you're doing it just to drive me insane."

Her fingertip traced the pulse racing along his jugular. "I thought maybe you'd be thinking about it. The slow slip of buttons through fabric. Dark fabric shifting apart, baring skin burning with heat and blushed with wanton frenzy." Nyx let one boot drop with a heavy resounding thud.

"Fuck." The whisper escaped his parted lips on a ragged breath.

Shifting her weight, she worked at the other. "The careful deliberate reveal of bare skin in dire need of your touch." His hands yanked again at the restraints, testing them. Her other boot echoed off the floor when she pushed it off.

He turned his head toward her voice. "Nyx," he growled when she shifted off the edge of the bed again.

She said nothing, barely moved, leaving him in relative silence.

"Where'd you go?"

"Nowhere," she assured him. "I'm just enjoying the view." It was true. He was gorgeous. His neck and chest glowed with a heated flush. The muscles in his arms flexed almost regularly whenever he tugged at the restraints, which he now gripped like a kind of lifeline. Even his hips strained. His cock twitching against his belly as if every inch of him couldn't help but beg for more.

Kaidan growled when her observation continued.

Nyx decided to give him a bit of a reprieve, leaning onto the bed again. "If you want music, just say so. But I figured we could start with just the noise canceling," she explained. All he'd be able to hear then would be the sound of his own breathing, his own voice as she shredded his control. Maybe his own heartbeat racing in his ears.

"Ready?"

He flinched, then instantly relaxed when she brushed the backs of her fingers over the line of his jaw. His head turned toward her touch. "And if I say no?"

"Then we wait until you are." Nyx brushed her fingers through his hair and dotted his forehead with gentle kisses. "Do you need more time?"

His head lifted slightly, and she pressed her kisses more firmly over his brow. Kaidan took a deep breath then shook his head. "No, I think I'm good. Just want to fucking touch you." The movement of his hands resulted in another demonstrative rattle. "Or have you touch me," he added with a chuckle.

Nyx compensated for his lack of touch, and caressed his cheek tenderly as she smiled at him. "I love you. And remember, if it's too much … just tell me. Say something. You remember the word, right?"

"Yeah. I do. I will," Kaidan replied. He tipped his head toward the sound of her voice, and Nyx pressed her mouth to his. With considerable care, she set the little devices into his ears.

-2-

The world shrank even further when the sound of her breathing and her voice disappeared. For the moment, he could feel her lips on his, could still sense her presence. But when the kiss ended, he felt suddenly and strangely alone. A little bit vulnerable. He turned his head toward the side of the bed she'd been on, then finally stared straight ahead.

Damn, these things are effective, he found himself wondering. No matter what direction he looked in he couldn't even find a sliver of light. And the only thing he could hear was his own breathing, it sounded so damn loud. He knew he wouldn't see anything coming, wouldn't hear where she was, what she might be doing or planning … or enjoying. He clinched his jaw at that realization.

It was hard to imagine not hearing her. In fact, he rather disliked it when she muffled her reactions to him, even when it was necessary. His mind wandered to that time he'd cornered her in the cargo bay. Dared her to not make a sound. A rumble flowed through his chest at the thought of it.

In the next moment he was painfully aware that the only he could feel anywhere was the shift of the air in the room. He blinked a few times, tipping his head slightly. It couldn't be as long as it felt, he knew, because his groin still ached, but it felt like it had been forever since she'd put in the earbuds.

"How long are you going to just leave me here?" he asked.

His position wasn't new by any stretch of the imagination. Kaidan Alenko had been draped naked across Shepard's bed before. He'd even been tied to that very same and other pieces of furniture in that room, but this was different. Even knowing it was futile, his keen eyes darted back and forth still searching for the slightest sliver of light, his ears strained for even a trace of a sound beyond his own breath. He still found neither.

It was strange. He knew she still had to be there. She wouldn't just leave him like that.

When a soft touch grazed the inside of his knee, Kaidan jolted and whimpered in surprise. It wasn't a sound he expected, but then again the touch seemed to come out of nowhere. It happened again, brushing across his pectoral. The muscle in his chest tightened and jumped in response.

He wasn't sure how he felt about all this yet. Nyx was still playing with him, teasing him, taunting him. Kaidan wasn't sure if he wanted more or wanted it to end so he could see her, watch her or hear her, at the very least.

Soft touches danced over his body, and like she'd teased, his imagination took over quite easily in the absence of sight and sound. The next time that ethereal tickle brushed over his ribs, he groaned and imagined her leaning over him and tilting her head to let the ends of her hair graze his stomach. He was almost certain that was what caused that particular sensation.

Her lips grazed his nipple and he could swear he knew exactly the look she was probably giving him. The fire in her blue eyes and that wicked little smirk she saved just for him.

She kept it up. Little surprise touches and kisses here and there. Sure, his imagination was now completely dialed into this whole endeavor, but he wanted more.

"Touch me," he said, his words echoing in his skull. "For real, no more teasing." He swallowed and added a wanton but polite, "Please."

Her palm felt like fire against his skin as it pressed up the side of his ribs. He could only groan as he pushed into that touch. Then there was the tickle again, paired with damp kisses. He hissed when she playfully bit his nipple, groaning again when her whole tongue lathed over it as if in apology for the slight. His hands shot forward again; he wanted to bury them in her hair. Then he could guide her lips up to his, so he could kiss the breath out of her. A growl at the futility of his movement hung in his throat, and he wrapped his hands tighter in the straps for something else to hold on to.

Kaidan lay there, letting her touch him in all the places she chose, though none of them were the place he wanted to feel her most. He loved every caress, writhed beneath every kiss, but she'd planted the seed in his head. The promise of one of those sights he never got enough of. Hell, any time her hands ghosted over his hips and onto his thighs, he could see it. Blue eyes cast up at him, lips parted with shaky breath, that determined look in her eye that let him know he would fall apart at the whim of her tongue.

"Nyx," he hissed and pressed his hips upward. She hadn't even touched his cock yet, but he was aching for it.

With the bite on the inside of his thigh, Kaidan cried out. His entire bodied tightened painfully when the back of her hand grazed his testicles—or at least that was his guess at how she'd touched him. He could just be pulling at strands of memories from other times she'd teased him to excess.

His cock strained for her attention. She ignored it. Kaidan felt like his skin was going to crack open at any moment.

"Nyx," he gasped breathlessly. "I don't know if I can take much—" his admission fell apart on a guttural shriek that echoed inside his skull. Kaidan pressed his body back against the mattress with all his strength and he could fell the tingle and crackle racing along his skin with raised goosebumps. She'd just … he couldn't even think about it in the moment. Stars dazzled behind his eyelids and his body shifted with her as she eased him deeper into her mouth.

"Fuck," he groaned, grabbing onto the restraints a little higher, not to fight them but to anchor himself. He could only feel what she allowed him to. Eventually his imagination gave up trying to picture it; he couldn't focus. He was awash in a sea of sensation. His stomach tightened, then his groin. His incoherent voice echoed inside head, while his nerves sang. Her nails skimmed his hips, her hair tickling his skin, while her mouth did things he could not even guess at.

"Damnit, Nyx," he gritted out, yanking again at his binds. "I'm close. Fuck."

She didn't stop. Not that he ever expected that she would. In fact, she upped the ante and pressed her fingers to that spot behind his balls. A low groan reverberated in his ears. Even when he warned her, and despite the fact that he could not keep his hips under control, he knew there was no chance she'd pull away. She always guided him over the edge.

"Oh, shit. Nyx," he crooned, thrusting upward as sparks and static danced across his skin as he came.

His short panting breaths echoed in his clear mind. Every inch of him felt relaxed, if slightly sore from the tension that had built up. He just laid there, his skin chilling from the combination of sweat and the cool air. Eventually his breathing evened and the tension in his shoulders eased. He had no idea how long she'd had him cut off from the world, but as he lay there gasping for breath he was sure it had to have been hours. It felt like it.

Then she returned, inching up along his body and trailing soft kisses across his chest. Her bare leg brushed against his and he grinned. A soft groan lodged in his throat.

"I hope those fucking pants are gone," he said with a tired laugh, already knowing the answer.

The tip of her nose grazed the line of his sternum in what he took to be an affirmative nod. He groaned, his mind flashing back her trying to lash him to the bed.

"Then I think you need to come closer." Her lips grazed his and they kissed deeply. "Closer," he whispered against her mouth. Her body eased against his, making him hum in approval. "No, not yet," he said when her fingers curled through the hair near his ears.

He stole another kiss, trying to be as convincing as he could be with so few cues to her reactions. "I want to taste you."

She pushed herself up, one hand in the center of his chest. He could almost imagine that adorable wrinkle of her nose that almost always accompanied his request for her to sit on his face. "I didn't say it the way you hate," he argued. "And I can't see. Can't hear. Can't even touch you. Mostly," Kaidan conceded, licking his lips.

Nyx hadn't left the bed, maybe she was considering it. Maybe she was talking to him, arguing about why she was not going to straddle his face. He couldn't hear any of it, if that was what was happening. He just held out hope. Maybe she'll give in this time.

The kiss she planted on his mouth was gentle and soft. So, when he felt her hands in his hair and her weight shift on the mattress, he didn't dare move. He waited with unraveling patience. Kaidan growled in appreciation when her leg slipped under his shoulder. "Oh, fuck," he exhaled against her inner thigh. He didn't wait for her to settle over him. No, he couldn't wait; Kaidan lunged forward. This time when he buried his face in the apex of her thighs, he pressed his tongue through her folds and sucked her clit into his mouth.

Again, he found he didn't need to see or even imagine her above him. And as hot as it would have been to stare up into those brilliant blue eyes when she shuddered to pieces on his tongue, he still knew when it happened. Felt every quiver in her body, tasted the tang of her on his tongue, sensed the release in her tight, muscled body even as she knelt over him and tightened her fingers in his hair to the point that his scalp prickled from a thousand points of pain as she held onto him.

Feeling her relax, her hand covered one of his. Loosening his grip, his fingers threaded with hers. She squeezed his hand then he felt the bed move with the shifting of her weight. Another squeeze of her hand and her fingers slipped out of his.

-3-

Shepard released his hands, returned his hearing, and slipped the blindfold up onto his forehead. Kaidan didn't open his eyes at first. Leaning over him, she brushed her fingertips over his brow and waited. When he finally did open them, blinking and squinting at her in the low light, Nyx held her hand against his brow to shield him from the dim lamp on the nightstand. She didn't say anything, but waited for him

"Okay," he admitted with a slow swallow. "You might be onto something with that."

Nyx chuckled and pressed a kiss against his shoulder as Kaidan draped one of his arms around her. "Glad you enjoyed yourself."

"I did. I'm exhausted," he admitted as he savored her comforting touch. Her hands squeezed at the arm by his side, massaging at the muscle to relieve any soreness that might crop up.

"Did your imagination take over?"

"No, actually. You were driving me insane. I couldn't keep a straight thought in my head for more than a second or two," he admitted with a quiet laugh. Kaidan grabbed her and rolled toward her, pulling her beneath him. He wriggled just enough to settle himself between her legs as he leaned over her on his elbows.

Nyx grinned up at him, perfectly contented with the change. "The way you reacted," she teased.

Kaidan kissed her hard. "Yeah, well. We'll see how you react when I spend hours teasing every inch of you."

"Hours?" she countered. Nyx giggled when he buried his face in her neck to tease at the thin sensitive skin over her jugular.

"Yeah, even you, with your iron will, would be coming apart at the seems," he mumbled.

"That was only like twenty minutes, Kaidan."

His head popped up like a meerkat checking for predators. "What?"

Her fingers traced down the length of his back as she nodded. "Check the clock. We haven't even been up here an hour yet."

Kaidan peeked at the end table, a sly grin curving his lips before he looked back down at her. "Good to know," he growled at her, inching toward her again. "Then I don't have to feel the least bit bad about not being ready to sleep."

He shifted his hips against her and Nyx broke into a fit of laughter when he nipped at her collarbone. She draped her legs around him, steering his lips back to hers as his amorous attentions ramped back up again.

"Sleep's for the weak," she cackled when he retreated to her neck again.