The first time James Vega laid eyes on Ashley Williams he had a succession of inappropriate thoughts followed by a period of staring too long at her… assets.. and he completed the scenario by planning to ask her out (or in).

Of course then the Reapers hit Earth, and they were making a beeline for the shipyards to raise the Normandy.

Not that the situation deterred him from thinking unclean thoughts while she ran ahead of him, her suit made out of some sort of synthetic armor that looked like leather stretched tight across her curves and the pleasant warmth in his groin at the sight of her muscles flexing under the skin-tight material was a sensation even the Reapers couldn't cleanse from him.

She caught him staring a few times once they boarded the Normandy, and she flashed him a teasing grin before answering the call from Anderson. Yeah, he was sure he'd find a way to wiggle into those mercilessly tight pants in the next few days.

The first time James Vega found himself uncomfortably hard in front of Ashley Williams was a few days later when he had dropped his underwear on the way to the showers, not realizing it until he emerged in just a towel to see Ashley discovering them on the floor.

When she saw him, a mischievous smile spread across her face and she turned so her back was facing him before slowly - excruciatingly slowly - leaning down to retrieve them for him.

"Boxer briefs, Vega?" she asked mockingly over her shoulder before tossing them to him. "I never would've thought…" and she turned the corner leaving a perfect image of her ass imprinted in his brain. Of course that caused the blood to flow away from his brain completely, and he hurried back into the bathroom lest anyone notice his unfortunate circumstances through the thin fabric of the towel.

The first time James Vega wanted to kiss Ashley Williams was at Shepard's ridiculous apartment on the Citadel, at the not-quite-ridiculous-enough party. She had been shamelessly flirting with him all night, commenting on his physique, saying she wanted to take a closer look, making him speak to her in Spanish, and at one point she'd actually giggled.

He would have kissed her right then if Shepard hadn't been standing a mere five feet away. Not because of the giggle itself - though it did cause her to smile in a way he hadn't seen before. But because when the bubbly sound faded from around them, she moistened her lips with her tongue before biting on the bottom one and he just found it incredibly sexy.

The first time James Vega touched Ashley Williams was on their way to London.

When she met him in the shuttle bay it was all jokes and teasing, she challenged him to a sparring match and he won easily, though he figured she let him, pinning her on the mat in minutes. Her laughter died in her throat when he rocked against her hips from his position above her, and her eyes became dark with something that she'd been hiding for weeks.

Vega noticed Cortez and the other crew members getting into the elevator to give them some privacy and when he looked back down to Ashley she fisted her hand in his shirt and pulled his mouth to hers. It was incredibly hot, her tongue in his mouth in an instant, exploring with needy desperation and he matched it with all the eagerness of a teenage boy striving to impress his first love. She was trying to arch against him but she was pinned underneath his legs from their wrestling and he chuckled at her attempts to move him. Finally she reached a hand between them and palmed his growing hardness and he let her roll them so she could straddle him.

When she moved her hips against him he groaned, his hands going to her hips to encourage her movements and she obliged without hesitation. When he found the zipper at her back and pulled it down with none of the patience he had wanted to show during their first time together, she shimmied it down to her waist and his mouth went dry at the sight of her uncovered breasts heaving with each unsteady breath she took. And while she was still pulling the fabric down, he took a nipple between his teeth and she gasped.

He rolled them over again so that her back was against the mat, freeing her from the bottom portion of her suit and running his hands from her legs to her navel before pulling down his own fatigues. When she saw his underwear she chuckled at him again, and - remembering that day by the showers and the show she put on for him - he lifted her easily and turned her so her back was to him, his hardness against her ass. She didn't disappoint - rocking back against him slowly and purposefully - and she laughed again at the sounds she elicited from him. He freed himself from the briefs and slid against her - still covered by the thin fabric of her underwear - and he could feel the heat radiating from her core and the wetness already spreading there. He slid his fingers under the fabric, teasing her just millimeters away from where she wanted him to touch, and this time he laughed at her frustrated groan as she shot him a glare over her shoulder.

Not to be outdone, she reached behind him and stroked his cock ever so softly, not giving him nearly enough friction, and he was growling before he slid down the thin barrier that had been between them and pushed against her entrance. She gasped as he slid against her slit, and he reveled in how wet she was for him, nearly dripping against his hardness. He teased a little more, sliding up against her entrance, pushing against her clit, and when she threatened to grab an assault rifle out of the nearby weapons closet if he didn't fuck her immediately, he flipped her over on the mat, lifted her legs over his shoulders, and thrust into her in one swift motion.

She cried out and he stilled inside her for a moment, waiting for her eyes to open again before beginning a slow rhythm. She was hot and wet and tight and he wanted to pound into her harder and harder but he kept himself steady while she whimpered beneath him, the muscles in her legs flexing while her walls clenched against him. When he reached down to thumb her clit she threw her head back and her hands wrapped around his biceps, digging nails into his flesh.

She demanded harder and faster and he gave it willingly, thrusting into her without restraint, feeling her contract around him with her release, groaning at the sound of his name on her lips. He slowed his pace while her body shook from her orgasm and moments later she pushed with her feet on his chest, catching him off guard and knocking him on his back.

When she lowered herself onto his still-hard cock he made a noise in the back of his throat that he didn't recognize before rocking into her. He brought his hand to her clit again and she rode him harder, bringing herself down and rocking her hips against his fingers. He could feel himself on the brink of release and grasped her hips with both hands, moving her up and down at a brutal pace, surely leaving bruises on her skin and not caring because she clearly didn't. She was chanting his name with every thrust and when her muscles started to contract with her second orgasm, they coaxed his own release and he poured himself into her with a halted grunt.

The first time James Vega realized he had feelings for Ashley Williams was when Shepard handed her off to Garrus in the shuttle bay in London after she'd been injured by a flying truck. He felt the lump grow in his throat and the tightness in his chest when the door opened and she and the turian hobbled up the ramp. She was bloody and bruised and she still tried to argue with Shepard and insist on going to help and Vega nearly grabbed her arm and pulled her to him but Shepard told her to get out alive. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and tell her it would be okay, that he'd take care of her and that Shepard would find a way to win just like always, even without her help. But he just stood there, uncomfortably aware of the feelings stirring inside of him when he looked at her.

The first time James Vega asked Ashley Williams on a date was nearly a year from the first time he had wanted to in Vancouver. The Reapers had been destroyed, Shepard was fully recovered, the Mass Relays were being repaired, and they'd all rejoiced together in discovering surviving family members or mourned together for the ones who were lost.

She had looked at him with mild surprise and then covered it with amusement and lewd suggestions at his question, but he pushed on - insisting that he really wanted to take her out on a date, a real date - and she finally agreed.

The first time James Vega caught Ashley Williams off guard was in a dimly lit bar in London, she was dressed in an unfairly tight black dress with red high heels and matching lipstick. She was trying her best to make him flustered and he was trying his best to be serious but his pants were straining against her succeeding efforts to grind against him on the dance floor. When he spun her around to face him and kissed her with a tenderness that surprised even himself, she gasped into his mouth.

"I like you, Williams." he told her with a smirk at her surprise. "I think this could turn into a really good thing."

She had blushed, a sight he never thought he'd see, and jumped into his arms kissing him back with a fervor.

They spent that night together - not a rough fuck on the floor of the shuttle bay, but a long night of exploration and very little sleep - and James thought maybe there were some things that resulted from the war that weren't so bad.