Steve Cortez Appreciation Week
He woke slowly, the soft light of the new day filtering in through the open balcony doors. A gentle breeze stirred white curtains, willowy and thin, it promised perfect weather. The bed was positioned –just so- that he could see out the archway doors, endless ocean sparkling in the distance. It was breathtaking of course, but more than that it provided a frame for something else, someone else.
Shepard leaned against the railing, face turned towards the sun, eyes closed and small smile dancing along sharp features. He looked at peace, in that moment, shoulders and chest rising as he took long deep breaths. He looked happy. He looked so damn frail.
Steve had to fight for his own breath as he battled the rising flood of emotions that bubbled to the surface. Joy and lingering grief mingling, distant fear warring with present pleasure and contentment. How easily this moment might never have been. So many moments, close calls, narrow escapes, and just plain bad luck that had nearly taken Shepard from him. Yet, despite the odds stacked against them, here they were, on their honeymoon.
The war three years past, they were here, alive and together. They were happy. It was more than he ever thought he would get. A love that consumed him, a love that left him overflowing. It was a wild thing, thrilling and terrifying.
If he was being honest, Steve had never believed that he could find a love like this once, let alone twice. Robert had shown him that such a love was possible, and Shepard had shown him that it was possible to find it twice.
He rose from the bed, sheets falling to the floor and made his way softly over to Shepard. Savior of the galaxy, newly minted Admiral of the Alliance, Commander, friend and now, husband. Steve wrapped his arms around his husband’s waist and pressed a kiss to the back of his neck. He was rewarded with a pleased hum and Shepard covered Steve’s hands with his own, leaning back into the embrace.
They stayed like that, holding each other, soaking up the sun and each other, content with the crashing of the waves and their shared breathing. No words were needed in moments like this, and it was one of the things Steve loved most about being with Shepard. Unspoken communication; soft touches, gentle sighs, quick or lingering kisses and heated stares.
Steve felt it in Shepard’s gaze, eyes blazing with desire. Steve felt it in the way strong hands cupped his jaw and pressed ever increasingly desperate kisses to his lips. Steve felt it in the way his own body responded, the goosebumps and heavy breathing, hard flesh pressed against Shepard’s thigh.
All too soon, or not soon enough, they found themselves back on the bed; Shepard over him and surrounding him. This too was what he loved about his husband, the way the man gave of himself, to focus on Steve in a way no one else could.
Later they lay panting and fully sated, bodies still tingling in the afterglow. An entire morning gone and Steve couldn’t think of a better way to have spent it. The reality of the situation hit him in that moment. This was just one morning in an entire lifetime of mornings he would get to spend with Shepard.
A smile danced along his lips and he had to blink back tears. Turning to his husband, now dozing lightly at his side, he placed a gentle kiss along his brow.
Steve snuggled up nice and close, laying his head on Shepard’s chest. As he drifted off to sleep, he was still smiling.