Second Chances - chapter 4

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Your bid Starbuck."

She glared at Hotdog from behind her fanned out cards, telling him without words to shut up.

He got the message and flushed, burying his head back in his cards.

"Twenty cubits," she said slowly, flicking the required coins into the centre of the table flawlessly. Her face was grim as her eyes scanned the table to see who was willing to call.

Lee watched her narrowly, whilst appearing to be engrossed in play. He'd traded CAP shifts and made excuses to Dee in order to be at the game. He had the feeling she wasn't buying his excuses but since he outranked her she had little choice but to let him go.

"Too rich for my blood," one of the newer pilots said, throwing down his cards.

"Aw come on Bluebeard," with stakes like this?" Helo teased. "Starbuck's ass is on the line - literally." He broke out in laughter at Kara's pouty face. He loved teasing her.

Bluebeard - so named because of the earring he'd worn before joining the military that had left a hole in his left ear, blushed.

"While I like a nice ass as much as the next guy ..."

"Nice? You think my ass is just 'nice'?" Kara demanded. "It's the best," she added proudly, smirking at the rest of the guys.

"I've no doubt," Lee said dryly, before he could stop himself. His hand still pulsed with the memory of the one time he'd had it down her panties and even just the thought of it made him warm - everywhere.

"Well if you lose you'll get to find out Apollo," she said, a trifle acidly, throwing him a quick glance before turning back to smile at Helo.

He didn't miss the tension suddenly flowing through the room and though Kara had never confided anything regarding her and Lee to him he felt certain something had passed between them at one time. Something they were both resentful about, particularly Lee. His eyes were narrow and glittered like ice whenever he looked at Kara. It made Helo uneasy.

"We're letting ourselves get distracted here folks," he said. "Apollo, it's your call."

Lee glanced at him and their eyes met for a brief second. "I call," he said in a chilly voice, pushing forward his coins.

"Well that's more like it," Helo smiled. "I'm in too."

Kara smirked at the two men. "Hotdog? You willing?"

Hotdog glared at her. "Frak! For once I have a fabulous hand - well, fabulous for me, and it does me no good."

"So, you'll win the pot then. Can't sneeze at that," Helo said.

"Yeah, but that's not the prize I was hoping to get," Hotdog pouted in a whiny voice, throwing down his cards. "My hand's good, but it ain't good enough to win. I'm out."

"So there just the three of us left then huh?" Helo said with a big smile.

Kara smirked at the two men. "You like to live dangerously don't you?"

"Danger is my middle name," Helo stated, trying to keep a straight face.

Kara laughed out loud. "Danger? You? Come on Karl, who had to come save your ass on Caprica?"

He elbowed her gently. "As I recall, it was your ass that needed saving from those humanoid toasters. And I was the hero."

She laughed and leaned against him, head tucking into his shoulder for a moment. Then she became playful again.

"Well if you want to kiss said ass you'd better have a terrible hand there buddy. Worse than usual."

He looked at her and made a mock surprised face at her audacity. "Okay, that's it," he said, trying hard not to smile as he dropped his cards and lunged towards her, grabbing her around the middle and beginning to tickle her unmercifully.

She leaned away quickly, shrieking with laughter as his fingers connected with one of her many ticklish spots, knocking the chair over and falling heavily onto the floor, Helo now on top of her.

"Stop! Stop!" she yelled as Helo pinned her down with powerful legs and let his fingers roam around her torso, digging in whenever she wriggled more vigorously beneath him.

"Not till you take it back." he grinned mischeviously, fingers still busy.

She writhed wildly as his fingers hit 'the spot' on her ribcage that drove her wild.

"Karl, stop it please!" she begged, gasping for breath between gales of laughter.

He kept at it though, digging in deeper as she struggled against him, laughter rocking his large frame as well.

It wasn't till Lee cleared his throat to get their attention that the wild activity on the floor ceased.

"Are we going to finish the game?" he asked, a sarcastic note in his voice. "Because I can leave if you two want to be alone."

Suddenly Helo realized what Lee meant and he flushed instantly. In Kara's desperate movements to evade the tickling, her tanks had ridden up most of the way so her bra was visible. His hands were holding her rib cage, one partially covering a breast.

He pulled away as if burned and stood up, clearing his throat in embarrassment.

Kara stood as well, pulling her tanks down and her pants, which had ridden dangerously low, back up to meet each other. Her cheeks flushed a deep pink.

"Right the game," she said self-consciously, pulling her chair upright and sitting down. "This is all your fault," she said to Helo, grinning impishly as she poked him in the side.

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is too."

Lee watched as they bantered back and forth, observing Kara closely. Her smile was wide and genuine and her eyes sparkled with happiness, pupils dilated till they looked nearly black. If he didn't know better he'd have thought she was flirting with Helo.

His eyes drifted downwards - as they often did. Her chest was flushed to match her cheeks and her nipples poked through the triple layers of tanks and bra she wore. He felt a rush of desire spike through him, followed by a flood of regret. This was how she used to look when playing games with him. Now her attentions were elsewhere, whether she was conscious of it or not. And you're married - remember that Lee, he told himself. You swore to forsake Kara, no matter what it is she does to you, and be faithful to your wife.

"So we're all in, what have you got Starbuck?" he asked, trying to pull things back on a safer track.

"Three on a run," she said proudly, displaying her cards with a flourish.

"Damn," Helo said, grinning. "You beat me again."

"Yeah, but even if I get the money, you get to kiss my ass. That's more than a fair trade, don't you think?" she smiled sweetly.

Laughter erupted from across the room.

"What are you laughing at Hotdog? You didn't even make it past the second round. And what are you still doing here?"

"Come on Starbuck, I couldn't leave before finding out which lucky guy gets to kiss your ass could I?"

"So you could go back to your bunk and dream about it being you?" Helo asked, grinning.

"Shh! Don't tell everyone my secret fantasies," Hotdog laughed.

"It's not like we don't all know you're hot to get in Starbuck's pants," Lee said wearily. Since you're obviously one of the few who hasn't made it there yet, he added mentally.

Helo laid down his cards. "I got two pair."

Lee's eyebrows rose almost comically. "Looks like I'm the lucky one then doesn't it?" he said dryly, laying down his pair.

Helo looked from Lee to Kara and back again, not liking the look that passed between them.

"So, you gonna claim your prize?" Hotdog asked eagerly, standing up. The others followed suit and Kara began to gather the stack of coins from the table into her hands.

"Don't sound so eager Hotdog. It's not like she's going to show it off in a public place," Helo chided.

His face fell.

"Besides, haven't you ever seen me in the showers? We're all naked at one time or another," Kara laughed, but her cheeks began to burn.

Hotdog blushed as well. "Not up close."

Helo cleared his throat. "Speaking of showers, I'm going to head that way before I hit my bunk. No point in showering before a shift and I've got the early one tomorrow."

Hotdog clapped him on the shoulder - probably the only other pilot tall enough to reach easily.

"See you tomorrow buddy."

"Later," Helo smiled at him. "See you guys," he called back to Lee and Kara. "Don't have too much fun."

Lee caught the warning tone in the other man's voice, despite the fact that he appeared to be teasing them.

"Don't worry, we won't."

Kara frowned. Tension was definitely building here but it wasn't between her and Lee - which was highly unusual. She let it go though and stood still, waiting for Lee to make the first move.

He didn't.

"So?" she asked, a few minutes into the silence. "You want your prize?"

He spun to face her, expression carefully guarded. "I'm not sure you really want me to answer that," he answered quietly.

She stared him down steadily. Once upon a time I would have, she thought. Now? ... probably not.

"Besides, I don't think my wife would like it."

Kara flinched at the word. He may not have meant it as a barb, but it wounded all the same. Then again, this was Lee. He probably had meant it. He seemed to enjoy wounding her.

"You wouldn't want to upset her now would you?" she said, desperately trying to control the shaking in her voice and maintain a normal composure.

They stared at one another for a minute, the air charged with things unsaid.

"I'm going to take a shower and hit the sack too," she said finally, exhaling loudly. "See you tomorrow, sir." She stalked out of the room, hatch clanging shut loudly behind her.

oooooooooooooooooooooooo

Helo stood under the shower spray, facing the tap so no one passing could see him struggle with his erection.

When he'd first stepped into the water it had been cool, welcoming. But as it heated, so had his body. Thoughts of Kara half-naked, his hands exploring the curves of her very feminine body kept plaguing him. As his hands rose in his imagination to cup her breasts, his body rose right along with them. Those few moments he'd touched her, even through clothes, had branded him permanently it seemed.

Why? he asked himself. Why am I doing this to her? She's my best friend, someone I've known for years and yet never thought of in this way. Why now? Maybe it was because she was hurting, vulnerable and had opened a side of herself to him that even he, who knew her so well, had never seen before. Maybe it was because it was over with Sharon, and he was hurting and needing comfort.

Sharon. He'd been in love with her as long as he'd known her, even when she'd been in love with another man. Of course it figured that once she'd turned to him and told him she loved him, she'd ended up being one of the enemy, and had gone back to them and betrayed him. There's where we have yet something else in common, he thought ruefully, mind returning to Kara.

He sighed a few minutes later. This wasn't just going to go away. He had to do something about it. It wasn't like he hadn't gotten himself off in the shower before. Hell, most of the crew probably had, given the strict no-fraternization rules, inability to find privacy for a quick frak and the inability for most of them to have normal relationships, given how frakked up they all were mentally after fighting so long, but his fantasies before had always been about Sharon.

Now as he took himself in hand, surreptitiously glancing over his shoulder to make sure no one was around and watching, his thoughts were of Kara; of her creamy-white skin visible in all it's glory; of her body, curved in the most perfect way to fit his large hands; of her tucked firmly against him as he pushed in and out of her, finding all the right places to drive her into a frenzy.

He began to pant and gripped the wall for support as he felt his legs go weak. He was only a few strokes away from finishing when he felt the rush of cold air and the slamming of the hatch that signaled another occupant in the head.

He groaned mentally but kept working himself - most people respected privacy, especially in here, and didn't look too closely to see what anyone was doing. He was close, so close ...

The shower directly behind him turned on. Frak!

"Hey Karl," he heard Kara's voice say. Gods - of all people! His hand stopped dead. He peeked over his shoulder just in time to see her strip off her tanks and bra, exposing the breasts he'd just been imagining to him, nipples rising quickly in the cool air.

His cock jumped in his hand and with one more stroke he was there. He struggled to hold his hips still as his body ached to thrust into her imaginary body as he came hard against the back wall of the shower.

"Hey," he managed to gasp out before drawing in a deep breath and letting go of himself to grab the soap. A few minutes later he'd washed off the wall and himself and was ready to step out. He turned around and the most arousing sight met his eyes.

Kara stood under the spray facing him, hands up working through her hair as shampoo ran down her naked, wet body in multiple rivulets, caressing her breasts as they slid down the supple skin. Her eyes were closed and there was an expression of utter relaxation and happiness on her face - in fact she was looking much the way he'd imagined her just now.

Improbably, he felt himself begin to rise again so he grabbed a towel and covered himself, hoping she wouldn't see what she was doing to him once she opened her eyes.

"See you in the bunkroom," he called out loudly, heading for the exit. Hopefully he could cool off and get himself under control before she showed up. Then he remembered - she was going to be sleeping with him, like she had ever since returning to Galactica.

He sighed loudly as he walked. He was seriously frakked now.

TBC