Chapter Text
How Kaidan had found his lips and tongue over Shepard's fluttering heartbeat was a whiskey colored haze. Unsteady hands wandering here and there. Teeth sinking into pale skin, and then moving to rake over the lone freckle beneath his ear that was usually hidden by the hood of a jacket.
Shepard was breathing sharply and a breathy moan bled from his chest as Kaidan traced a finger along the trail of hair leading to the waistband of Shepard's worn-out jeans.
"Shepard." Kaidan murmured hot against a bruised collarbone, laving his tongue over the love-bite.
Shepard smelled like whiskey and tasted like cinnamon gum, somehow more intoxicating than the alcohol itself.
Kaidan didn't know how long he'd been at it but Shepard wore a thick collar of red and purple and Kaidan couldn't resist brushing the pads of his fingers over the vivid bruises.
Shepard jerked and shut his eyes tight, squeezing his thighs tighter around Kaidan's waist.
"Hey." Kaidan rasped, moving to cup Shepard's jaw.
"Hey." Shepard sounded wrecked in the best of ways. He looked back up at Kaidan, long eyelashes fluttering as he blinked in the darkness. The way Shepard's blue eyes studied Kaidan's lips in anticipation had confidence swelling in his chest.
Kaidan swiped his tongue against Shepard's bottom lip, arms coming up to frame either side of Shepard's face as they kissed. He'd leave his lips pressed there all damn day if he could, if Shepard would let him.
Blunt purple-colored nails raked down Kaidan's back, leaving deep red lines beneath his shirt.
Shepard moaned around Kaidan's tongue as a hand trailed down over his binder and hips rocked against his own.
Kaidan nipped Shepard's bottom lip as he pulled away, the bed beneath them creaking as Kaidan rolled his hips again.
Shepard looked completely blissed out. His jacket splayed out beneath him like a halo. Lips swollen. Messy hair. Love-bites vibrant against pale skin. Thighs spread and Kaidan nestled right between them. Their hips rocking shamelessly together.
Kaidan couldn't be more in love with him.
Deft fingers unbuttoned Shepard's ripped jeans, Kaidan's hand finally daring to dip beneath his boxers.
Shepard tilted his head back against the pillow and shoved the knuckle of his middle finger between his teeth to silence himself, his back arching beautifully as his thighs fell further apart.
This was the farthest they'd ever gone together.
It'd become something of a habit. Shepard would climb through his bedroom window with a bottle of whiskey or vodka in hand and they'd sit on Kaidan's bed passing it back and forth between them until Kaidan had worked up enough of a buzz to move closer. When Shepard was relaxed enough to let his shoulders drop, Kaidan would start mouthing at Shepard's neck.
He'd actually asked the first time, tingling fingertips pressing against the pulse in Shepard's neck, and Shepard had said yeah. His answer for a lot of things.
It wasn't like when Shepard would call Kaidan in the middle of the night and they'd stay on the line together as their breathing got heavier, whispering each other's names into darkness. When Kaidan would wake up late the next morning because his phone had died.
And it wasn't like the time they'd spent the night in Kaidan's treehouse and Shepard, drunk off his ass and fully clothed, rode Kaidan's hips and sucked on his tongue until they set off the neighbor's motion detection light because Shepard was going at it so hard.
Yeah. That still left Kaidan breathless when he thought about it. He resisted the urge to rub at the places where Shepard had grabbed his sweater.
This? This was different, though. So good and right, but worlds apart from what they knew. That made it terrifying.
They jumped apart when there was a knock at Kaidan's door that sounded a lot louder than it should've been in the quiet lull of the room.
Shepard had jumped like lightning crackling between them, throwing his jacket back on and zipping his pants back up. Effectively undoing what Kaidan had spent the last two hours working himself up to. He even carefully hid the empty whiskey bottle beneath Kaidan's bed. And for good measure, he smoothed two hands through his hair and then stuffed them into his jacket pockets, visibly resisting the urge to clear his throat.
"Kaidan? I brought you some fruit."
"Uh—" Kaidan said dumbly, looking up at Shepard, and then back at the door. "Thanks, Mom. Sounds great." He said, standing up and moving to unlock and open his bedroom door.
She stood on the other side, holding a plate of fruit, carefully cut and arranged. Her dark brown eyes lit up when she saw Shepard standing in the room. "Hello, Shepard." She greeted.
Shepard looked like a deer caught in headlights. Maybe he was. "Good evening, Mrs. Alenko."
"It's good to see you. Are you hungry? Would you like to stay for dinner?" She offered. "We're having a lovely pot roast."
Shepard didn't look at Kaidan. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed and Kaidan felt like that shouldn't have been as distracting as it was. "Sure." His backup answer for a lot of other things.
Kaidan's gaze came back to his mother, standing in the doorway. He took the plate from her outstretched hands. "Thanks, Mom." He said again.
She just smiled a smile that Kaidan had never seen before and then closed the door behind her.
Kaidan stood dumbfounded, holding the plate of fruit. Strawberries, mango, and banana. No kiwi, because as much as Kaidan loved it, Shepard was allergic.
Thinking of, he turned back to Shepard, who still looked like he'd seen a ghost, and offered him a piece of the fruit.
Shepard took a strawberry. His favorite.
"You don't have to stay for dinner." Kaidan said. "Unless you want to." He added quickly.
Shepard licked his strawberry stained lips and then cleared his throat. "It's fine." He said.
As fine as it could be, all things considered. They were both still pretty tipsy and wound tighter than a guitar string, and the marks on Shepard's neck were obvious— even with the jacket.
Kaidan set the plate on his desk. "Oh. Good. That's good. Mom makes great pot roast." He said. "I'll go tell her you're staying for dinner, then."
"Sure."