Okay, for all you sceptics (or whatever the proper term for this scenario is) let me say in my defence that while browsing the countless stories on this site, I've come across PLENTY of fanfics where the writer took a hetero character, and made him/her homo. So please try to be fair, and just give this story a chance. I mean, you've already clicked on it.

Also, this is my first time writing any sort of lemon, so let me know how I did, and where I could improve.

Chapter 1: I Play For Keeps

As Commander Shepard exited his shower, dried himself off, and dressed himself in his standard issue Alliance uniform, he sighed as he began his evening routine of filling out reports for missions that seemed to almost always be either suicidal, impossible to believe, or both.

Like every other night since he'd been reinstated into the Alliance as the commanding officer of the Normandy, Shepard would fill out these reports until he was too exhausted to keep his eyes open, and then he'd retire to an empty bed.

But he wouldn't sleep.

Because every time Shepard closed his eyes, all he saw were the faces of everyone who had died in this war.

Everyone he hadn't been able to save.

Everyone he had failed.

Shepard didn't sleep, because his nights were filled by images of that little boy being burned alive by the Reapers right in front of him. And he was powerless to stop it.

So he'd go on every single one of the Normandy's combat drops, chat with the crew, play politics with the galaxy's infuriating diplomats, fly around gathering any kind of support for the war he could find, and even fill out those damned reports if it meant keeping himself away from those nightmares.

As the commander began his third report, he heard the door to his cabin open, and turned to see who had decided to come up to his quarters uninvited. To Shepard's surprise, he was greeted with the sight of a visibly nervous Specialist Samantha Traynor.

His brow furrowed slightly, the commander stood. "Traynor, what are you doing here?"

The Normandy's communications specialist stammered slightly as she answered. "Commander, I..." Samantha took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself, and then continued. "I was wondering if, if I could still... take you up on that, that game you were interested in playing."

Shepard's confusion only grew. She wanted to play another round of chess? If so, why was she acting so nervous about it? The last time they'd played, her smugness had been radiating off of her, and by the time they were done their first game, it had been multiplied tenfold. Shepard wasn't particularly looking forward to getting, as Traynor had so elegantly put it "crushed" at chess again, but if it kept him awake, he couldn't complain. Besides, even if his ego took a couple blows in the process, he always enjoyed their talks.

Shepard put on a smile, hoping to ease her tension. "I guess I could try to reclaim my honour. Again." He then noticed that something was missing. "Wait, Traynor, where's your chess set?"

That did nothing to take away Traynor's obvious stress, in fact it only seemed to add to it. "You thought that... Oh god, I feel like such an idiot! This was such a stupid idea..." She turned to go.

Shepard was instantly moving. "Traynor, wait." He gently caught her by the elbow before she could hit the button to call the elevator, and when she finally turned back toward him, he softly laid two comforting hands on both her shoulders. "What's wrong?"

The two of them just stood there for a full minute before Traynor raised her head to look him in the eye. "Shepard... the night you invited me up here, and we had our little game of chess," she swallowed, "you said that you were... interested in playing a different game."

Shepard blinked, and then blinked again. 'Is she... no, she couldn't be.' "Traynor, I thought you said you were-"

"Yes... yes I am," the specialist interrupted. "But, I've... been thinking about you. A lot." She stepped away from Shepard, and began to nervously rub her forearms. "While I've never actually... been with a man, I admit I've always been somewhat curious." She lowered her head and shook it ever so slightly. "But a lot of the men I've met in my life turned out to be about as civilized as a rabid varren once I actually got to know them. So, I gave up on the male species and I've kept to girls ever since. But you, Commander..." Samantha walked up to Shepard, took his large, strong hands in her delicate ones, and squeezed them. "I trust you, completely. And if there were one man in this galaxy I had to spend at least one night with, it would be you."

"I'm flattered, Traynor," Shepard told the specialist. "But, do you really..."

"I've thought about this, and while I admit I'm not a hundred percent certain that it will... go well, I at least want to see what it would be like with you." Samantha stared into Shepard's eyes. "Let me have this, Shepard, just this once. Please."

"...Okay."

As a tiny smile came over the specialist's face, her confidence returned and she went back into Shepard's cabin, with Shepard himself following closely.

Traynor had gotten over her fear of whether Shepard would even accept her offer after she'd turned him down the night they'd played chess together, now she just had one more obstacle to overcome.

Shepard wrapped his strong arms around the woman, but he saw her agitation returning, and immediately backed off.

"Traynor, are you sure you want this?"

She slowly nodded. "Yes, Shepard. I do want to at least try this out." She sighed in exasperation. "I'm sorry, I'm not really used to this. I guess I'll just have to... get myself into the right mood."

"Why don't you let me worry about that?" The commander suggested.

The comm specialist turned her head to regard him with a curious expression. The commander told her "Just close your eyes, Samantha, I'll take care of everything."

He'd never called her by her first name before, and hearing it reminded Samantha of the trust she'd placed in him, leaving her helpless to do anything but what he'd asked her to do. Shepard went behind her, and brushed her soft hair to the side as he began to softly kiss the side of her neck. After a few seconds, her neck started to arch to give him more access, her breath began to quicken, and Shepard responded by slowly migrating around to her front, and once there he wrapped his arms around Traynor's thighs and lifted her. This brought a surprised gasp from Traynor, and she quickly grabbed Shepard's shoulders for support.

Shepard raised his head to see Samantha staring at him.

"Eyes, Traynor."

She hesitated briefly, and then nodded as her brown orbs disappeared from sight again. Shepard carried her to the bed, and softly laid her down. He then took the bottom of Traynor's shirt in his hands and slowly peeled it off her body. As soon as she realized what he was doing, Traynor tensed for just a second, then forced herself to relax again, and tore off the shirt herself. Shepard went back to kissing Samantha's exposed neck, and eventually moved downward. He kissed his way down to her still-covered breasts, and expertly manoeuvred his hands behind her back to undo her bra, which he then tossed to the side.

The commander traced an outline of the comm specialist's pert breasts with his lips, and did the same to her nipples. He then flicked her left nipple with his tongue, and a moan came from the woman he was tormenting. Shepard continued to lavish attention to her breasts, and after giving both the same treatment, he kissed his way lower.

When Shepard reached Traynor's waist, he didn't waste a second in undoing her pants, and then pulled downward. He cupped one of Traynor's round cheeks in his hand through her panties and ran it down her soft, smooth leg, causing a shiver to come from Samantha. He kissed the inside of Traynor's thighs, eliciting yet another groan from her. Then she spoke.

"Shepard... please..."

Knowing that she was now ready, Shepard made quick work of discarding her panties, exposing her wet, pink centre. He kissed the top of her mound, bringing forth a frustrated moan. Never being one to tease too much, Shepard finally brought his lips to her flushed core, giving her a single, agonizingly long lick.

Samantha cried out in pure ecstasy, which prompted Shepard to continue. He dipped his tongue into her folds, and Traynor's response was for her hands to grab his head so as to press it further down. As he continued to probe her with his tongue, Traynor arched her back, trying to lift her waist to bring him even deeper into her. Shepard responded by taking her waist in his hands, resting his forearms on her wonderful legs, and keeping her pinned with his weight. He then spread her legs in order to expose her more, and then he took two fingers and slowly slid then into her core, while his mouth occupied itself with lavishing her sensitive nub.

Samantha screamed.

Her orgasm made her see stars in addition to the ones she saw through the window in the roof of Shepard's cabin, and she was still panting when her lust drove her to grab Shepard – whom she realized, to her irritation, was still clothed – by the shoulder and bring him into an upright position, and tear his shirt off. But before she could get to work on his pants, Shepard's muscular arms were around her once again, and he brought his mouth close to hers, but stopped just short of actual contact.

Traynor's only response was to return the embrace, and kiss her commander with a passion that surprised even her.

Shepard brought them back down to the bed with Samantha underneath him once more. He made quick work of his pants, but when he turned back to the woman beneath him, she reached out to touch his face with her hand, and she breathed.

"John..."

Shepard was silent for several seconds. No one had called him by first name in years, and his only answer was to devour her lips with his own.

Feeling a level of trust and confidence she'd never imagined sharing with a man before, Samantha reached down to take his length in one of her hands, and place it at the tip of her core. Shepard saw the permission in her eyes, and kissed her as he slowly pushed into her. But when he encountered a barrier, he stopped.

He could see the longing in Samantha's eyes, but also the fear. Shepard pulled back out, and before she could protest he wrapped her in his arms and rolled them over so their positions were reversed, and she could do it when she was ready.

When seeing her trust in this man was justified yet again, Samantha was unable to stop herself as she attacked Shepard's lips. Once her passion had calmed down somewhat, she raised herself, then placed the tip of Shepard's member underneath her. And after taking a deep breath, she dropped down until her thighs met his.

Samantha cried out as the pain coursed through her, but Shepard was there – embracing her, comforting her, keeping her safe. They were both now sitting upright, face to face with one another. When the pain finally subsided, Samantha kissed him as she began to move her hips back and forth, and the pain was replaced by pleasure.

His length felt like warm velvet as she gripped him, and he filled her completely. Traynor moved her legs to wrap them around his waist, then she twisted to bring them back down to their original position with Shepard on top. Her arms stroked his strong back as the two kissed, their hips moving together in perfect rhythm.

"I'm... not gonna last... much longer..." Shepard panted.

Samantha squeezed her arms tightly around him. "Please... don't pull out." She whispered.

Shepard answered by intensifying his thrusts – pulling out until only the tip remained inside her, then slamming himself back into her. Traynor gasped with each thrust, her second orgasm fast approaching.

Shepard hilted himself in her on last time, then shuddered as his seed filled her, which in turn brought Samantha to her own climax.

By the time they were finished, Shepard was barely able to slide off of Traynor to come to a rest beside her. But rather than staying where she was, Samantha crawled up to rest her head on Shepard's shoulder, and smiled when she felt him embrace her once again. She turned her head upward to see Shepard staring at her, and the two silently pressed their lips together as Shepard brought the covers up over them both.

"So... have I ruined women for you yet?"

Samantha laughed. "I wouldn't quite go that far, Commander." She gave him a chaste kiss. "Even so, I have to admit that that was... incredible. I'm looking forward to round two."

Shepard ran his hand across her cheek as he stared into her eyes and said "I'm glad this wasn't just a one-time thing, Samantha."

"Don't you know, Commander?" The smug woman grinned. "I play for keeps."

An anonymous review was left by one "T-Ricky" suggested a fanfic in which Shepard and Traynor have a friendship where the sexual tension builds over time until the two eventually become lovers. I'm currently trying to juggle my other stories, but let me know if you want me to actually write that. Or if you want to go and write it yourself, feel free.