At around 21:00, the elevator doors opened up onto the loft and Lieutenant James Vega stepped off, a pair of heels dangling from his fingers. It had been a rough twenty-four hours. Commander Shepard had allowed Legion to connect her into the Geth consensus, and she'd come out looking exhausted, but with a new strength of resolve for handling the situation around Rannoch. Even so, getting the Quarians and the Geth to agree to stop their fighting and work together had taxed the limits of her negotiating skills. She'd barely managed to convince the Quarian fleet to call off its attack. Tali had been shaken to her core when Shepard told Legion to upload the Reaper code to the other Geth, straining their years of friendship and nearly ending it. He was concerned, but she'd been ignoring him on the ship ever since their date the other night, so he hadn't had a chance to really talk to her. But someone needed to check on her. Sometimes he wondered if the rest of the crew thought she was some sort of robot, or that her heart was encased in ice that never cracked or melted.
He entered the cabin, and immediately heard the shower running in the bathroom. Not wanting to startle her, he walked over to the door, intending to call through it to let her know he was there. As he neared the door, it flew open, revealing a naked Shepard barely hidden by the shower's steam. She'd forgotten to activate the lock. The shoes slipped from his fingers and clattered onto the floor.
"Damn…." Startled by the sudden invasion, Shepard spun around.
"James!" She grabbed for her towel and quickly covered herself the best she could. "What are you doing here? Leave, immediately." James stood rooted to the floor, unable to tear his eyes away.
"Do I have to?" Blushing furiously, Shepard reached for her shampoo bottle and threw it with surprising force, hitting him on the head, where a small trickle of blood began to form. Coming to his senses, James lifted a hand to touch the wound, then stared unbelievingly at the blood on his fingertips. "Yeah…yeah, OK." He slowly backed away and the door slid shut, cutting off the curses coming from the other side, and made his way to the couch near the room's bed. Less than a minute had passed when he heard the bathroom door slide open again, and through the glass model ship cabinet he could see Shepard in a navy robe, gathering something from a drawer in her desk. Her bare feet padded down the short staircase, and as she grew closer, the lighting played on the wet sheen of her legs and arms poking out from the robe, having rushed out of the bathroom without drying off properly. As she plopped down on the couch next to him, droplets from her wet hair fell all around her, and the scent of her shampoo wafted up into his nostrils. She leaned forward and placed a white box on the table, and opened it to reveal a basic first aid kit. In silence, she cleaned his hand, wiped the blood trail from his face, cleaned the area with an antiseptic cloth, and placed a band aid over the small wound she had given him. He stared at her face as she did this, watching her concentrate on what was probably unnecessary first aid as if she were cleaning a bullet wound. When she leaned down to put everything away, her robe shifted over her chest, and when she rose she found Vega's eyes glued to the flesh that had been newly exposed. It took everything he had not to reach out and touch her, though it helped that Shepard quickly pulled the robe shut again.
"I'm sorry I threw something at you. Was there something you wanted?" She was flustered by the way he was looking at her, but irritated that he'd walked in on her, so her words came out harsher than they should have. James sighed and shifted slightly away from her on the couch, trying to control his impulses.
"I just came up to check on you. I was worried. Can't someone worry about you for a change?" She shifted uncomfortably, her hands clenching her robe shut.
"What could you possibly be worried about?" James opened his mouth to speak, shut it, huffed in frustration, then tried again.
"For fuck's sake, Lola. The fates of two races were resting on your shoulders just a couple hours ago. It's a heavy burden, even for you. Especially for you." Shepard stared at him. Normally no one bothered to "check on" her. Even James had only previously simply walked in at the right time, finding her an emotional wreck in progress. Never had he directly come to inquire about her well being before. He'd already seen her at her weakest, however; this little front she was putting up now was rather pointless, though she couldn't quite bring herself to tear it down, all the same. Lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice James's hand reach out to her face until she felt his warmth seep into her damp skin. "Lola?" His face had come closer, too, and she found herself staring into his hazel eyes, filled with concern for her. The walls began to fall.
"It's all right, James. I'm fine, really. They're all alive, and now they can build a new world together. Helping two long standing enemies come together like that…. It's all worth it. Every drop of sweat, every ounce of blood. Don't you think so?" He watched her carefully, listened closely to her even voice, searching for any hint that the burden was overwhelming her. Aside from looking downright exhausted, he heard a touch of pride, saw a glint of hope in her eyes.
"Of course I do. But I'm going to worry anyway when it's your sweat and blood falling to the ground." She nodded, the tiniest hint of a smile on her lips, and leaned back into the couch with a sigh, closing her eyes. Seeing her finally relax a bit, James cautiously slipped an arm behind her shoulders, and was relieved when she shifted to allow the movement. He was encouraged more when she leaned slightly into his side, resting her head on his shoulder, but he held himself in check, not wanting to scare her off again. However, when she had shifted nearer to him, her robe had shifted as well, giving him a nice view of her thighs. With his other hand, he slowly reached out to test the waters, letting his fingers lightly touch the slick skin of her upper thigh. Shepard gasped, and, predictably, grew tense at his side. He tilted his head down and whispered near her ear. "Lola, relax. I'll go slow, OK? And I promise to stop if you don't like it." She chewed her lower lip for a moment, and he worried she would push him away again.
"Just…just remember that this body's been frozen, charred, and rebuilt. I was up and shooting guns before my wounds had fully healed when I woke up in that Cerberus lab. I've been shot at, nearly blown up, and almost eaten by a thresher maw since. My body isn't as beautiful as you think it is." James chuckled softly, surprised by the admission of this insecurity. He took her hand, raised it to his face, and pressed her fingers into the scar along his cheek.
"Lola, we all have scars. And there's even more where people can't see. I'd want you even if I could see those, too." The small smile she gave him made his heart flutter.
"You're remarkably poetic sometimes, James." James smiled, lowered his hand back down, and danced his fingers along her thigh.
"I'm better with my hands." Shepard shivered slightly, and as his rough fingers slowly caressed her skin, she gradually relaxed, though she buried her face into his chest so he could not see the heat rising in her face. Taking his time, he gradually moved his hand up her thigh, chuckling as she clutched onto his shirt as he neared her hip. "Lola, you better rein that excitement in or you won't make it to the really good parts. Ow!" She had given one of his nipples a hard pinch in response to his teasing. "If that's the way you want it…."
The hand around her shoulders squeezed her in closer as he slipped his hand down the front of her robe. His fingers traced her collar bone, eliciting a quiet gasp of surprise from Shepard, before he stretched them down to lightly caress the top of her left breast. Meanwhile, his other hand slid across her lower abdomen, the tips of his lower fingers brushing against her hair. Shepard inhaled sharply and gripped his shirt, twisting the material in her fingers. Already tight around his large muscles, the material didn't hold when he slid a finger inside her. Her body shuddered, her hands tightened, and there was a quiet ripping noise. Wide eyes darted up at him.
"Shit, I'm sorry, I did-Ah!" He interrupted her apology by wriggling his finger inside her.
"Lola, it's just a shirt, and it's not a bad way to destroy one." He grinned down at her flushed face, which she immediately buried back into his chest in embarrassment. The rip wasn't very big, but it was enough to allow her hot breath to touch his skin directly, and he let out a contented sigh. Her still wet body should have been cold, but his hands seemed to stoke a furnace inside her, and the heat from his own body, as she pressed against his side, warmed her further. The finger of the hand below slowly stroked her inner walls, as the other peeled her robe aside and brushed against her breast. All of his movements were slow and careful, as he had promised, but the pleasure she felt from such simple stimulation surprised her. Her body trembled as she tried to control herself, afraid to give herself over to long forgotten passion. "Hey, Lola," he called to her in a husky whisper. She tilted her head up, and was rewarded with a soft kiss. His upper hand gently massaged her breast as he continued to press his warm lips to hers. Slowly, as his soft kisses drew out a quiet moan, her body relaxed and she leaned back into his arm, her own arms falling limply to her sides. Smiling against her lips, James slowly slid another finger inside her, and she gasped as the two fingers probed within, searching for the spots that made her shiver and moan. Very carefully James adjusted their positions, and laid Shepard down on the couch, then tugged open her robe with his free hand and brushed its folds out of the way. His eyes traveled over her exposed body.
"I don't see anything here but a beautiful woman," he whispered as he leaned down to kiss her neck. The press of his lips to her neck made her moan quietly, but when his thumb curled up to tease the bundle of sensitive nerves she had almost forgotten about, she cried out loudly. James grinned and nibbled her neck, moving his other hand back to her breast, where he grazed his fingers across her hard nipple. He trailed kisses down her neck, over her collarbone, and then ran the tip of his tongue across the swell of her other breast. She squirmed on the couch, her hips lifting up, shifting the fingers inside her, causing them to press against a spot that made her cry out without reservation.
"Ah! Oh…oh god…." Her hands reached for his shoulders, fingers digging into the hard muscle. Licking one nipple while rolling the other between his fingers, James worked his other hand against her, sliding his fingers in and out, pressing his thumb to her pulsing nub. Breathing hard now, Shepard's legs stretched out, tense to the tips of her toes, and her stomach grew taut. With a buck of her hips and a shout, her body trembled with release. As she sunk back into the couch, panting and moaning softly as the pleasure slowly ebbed away, he slid his fingers out and wiped them on a corner of her robe. He kissed her forehead, then her panting lips, before sitting up with a grin.
"I told you I was good with my hands." He traced random patterns on her stomach with a finger, watching her muscles twitch under the still sensitive skin. He was more aware of his own pulsing desire now that he was no longer focused on her, an obvious bulge in his pants that he couldn't hide. Fortunately, Shepard was still lying on the couch, eyes closed, indulging in her heightened tactile senses as he caressed her skin. He looked around the room, anywhere but at her, and took several slow, deep breaths to calm himself down. Tonight had been for her; his own desires could wait. "How do you feel?" She slowly blinked her eyes open at him.
"Mmmm…good…sleepy…." He smiled, stood up, and gently lifted her off the couch, letting the robe slip off her and onto the floor. A few steps around the furniture, and he deposited her onto her bed, then pulled the blanket up over her.
"Then you should get some sleep." He brushed off the damp hair stuck to her face and brushed her lips with his thumb before pulling away, having pushed the limits of his self control far enough for one night. Her eyes were already closing, her breath slowing, as he turned to leave the room, flipping off the various lights on his way out. "Good night, Lola."