Lee pushed himself inside Kara just as her eyes opened to meet his.
ooooooooOOOOOOOOOoooooooo
Kara made her way down the corridors of the ship and did her best to not attract attention. She didn't want people asking a lot of questions about where she was going. She knocked on the hatch to the long-abandoned office and, hearing Gaeta inside, pushed the hatch open. "I feel like I'm doing something naughty," she teased.
Her eyes scanned the room. It was in the middle of being renovated into quarters for married couples now that fraternization regulations had been relaxed. There was a lot of crates and junk sitting around, but somehow Gaeta had managed to make the one small corner look appetizing. There was cotton sheets on the bed and a large pile of pillows. Kara smiled. That was probably as good as she could expect it with the conditions of the Fleet right now.
Her eyes fell back on Gaeta, and she watched the tactical officer shuffle from one foot to the other. He looked nervous. That was wrong. He wasn't supposed to be nervous about this. "What's wrong?" Kara said, narrowing her eyes.
"There was this triad game last night," Gaeta said. He still wasn't looking at her.
"There's a triad game every night."
"I… um… I did something really stupid, but you see I thought I had him beat. I mean four on a run is pretty damn good considering. So I didn't think it was that big of a deal."
"Felix!" Kara yelled. That seemed to snap Gaeta out of his little funk.
"I know I promised you if you did this, I would make it as comfortable as possible for you, but I guess I lied."
Kara's mind flashed back to when Gaeta had come to her with the idea of a calendar for the Fleet, something that would improve morale and show the civilians that they weren't all hardened soldiers here. It had been a good idea, and Kara agreed with Gaeta when he said the project wouldn't be complete without Starbuck. Plus, because it was Gaeta, she knew she could trust him not to turn this into something that would embarrass her. He had promised her. "What did you do?"
"Everyone knows about this side project, and I guess it's been a rather popular idea for a lot of the men in the Fleet. I swear to the gods, I had him, but then he threw down full colors."
"What did you bet?"
"I told him he could take the pictures for one of the pages."
"One of the pages?" Kara prodded, sensing there was more.
"Whichever one he wanted."
"Oh, Gaeta, you didn't."
"How the frak was I supposed to know he'd have full colors?"
Kara shut her eyes and sat down on the bed. Her mind started playing through all the scenarios. Jammer babbling on about how he always dreamed of this moment. Baltar looking at her with that skuzzy smile of his. Helo cracking jokes about how she's going to be the subject of many men getting off. Duck not being able to stop blushing. Hot Dog asking her if she'd pull the sheet a little lower. Kara lowered her head in her hands. This was going to be a nightmare.
"Am I interrupting?"
Kara felt a jolt in her stomach at the sound of Lee's voice. She lowered her hands and realized he really was standing there. Gods, she had never even considered it could have been him.
A thought tingled at the back of her head. Didn't Gaeta say his triad opponent got to pick the woman he was going to photograph? Kara knew for a fact that there were a lot of attractive woman doing this thing, ones that she had caught Lee staring at appreciatively more than once. He could have picked Racetrack or Showboat or Seelix, but he didn't.
Kara jumped when she heard the hatch shut. She hadn't even realized Gaeta was leaving. The bed dipped beside her as Lee sat down. "You look a little pale, Kara," he commented.
"I'm okay. I just wasn't ready for this."
"You can trust me."
Kara nodded. She knew that. The problem wasn't that she didn't trust Lee to take these pictures. It was that she didn't trust herself.
"I…" Lee's words caught in his throat, and he coughed. "I guess I owe you a little explanation. When I won that pot, I almost wished I didn't. I'm the CAG. As much as I highly support this project of Gaeta's," He paused to see a smile playing at the corners of Kara's lips, "it's kind of inappropriate for me. So I figured you would be the safest one to pick."
Kara nodded and tried to ignore the slight feeling of disappointment at Lee thinking she was safe.
"I brought you a present," Lee said.
Kara realized he had been holding a cigar in his hand this whole time. "Is that…"
"The best Caprica makes. I've been saving it for when I really needed it. I guess it's my attempt to get out of this one without having you kill me."
Kara took the cigar and ran her fingers over the smooth length. They didn't make smokes like this in the Fleet. Her eyes turned to look at the white, cotton sheets, and she suddenly felt the nerves kick back in again. She was really going to do this? "I guess we should start."
Lee nodded and got to his feet. "I'm just going to look at the kind of camera Gaeta found while you…"
"While I take off my clothes?" Kara said with a smirk.
Lee rolled his eyes. She actually was delighting in his discomfort. "Yeah. Get to it, Thrace."
Kara took her boots off and then slid her sweatpants to the ground. The metal grating of the floor was cool underneath her bare feet. She dropped her zip sweatshirt to the floor and pulled her double tanks over her head. They landed in a pile next to her pants. The cold air hit her just as she glanced Lee's way, and she shivered. He was trying not to stare at her. It wasn't working. Kara felt herself shiver again. This time it had nothing to do with the cold.
She turned her back to him and lifted her sports bra over her head. She could feel his eyes burning into the skin of her back and had to fight down the sudden stab of longing in the pit of her stomach.
She jumped slightly when she felt Lee's arms draw a sheet around her body. She hadn't heard him move. "Do… do you…" Lee raised an eyebrow at her as she stumbled to find the right words. "Oh gods, this is embarrassing. Do you want me to take off my underwear?"
"It's up to you," Lee replied.
Kara held his eyes for a minute before shrugging. "Might as well go for broke." She reached under the sheet and looped her fingers around her underwear, pulling them down her legs and kicking them to the side. "Do you want me on the bed?"
Kara saw something flash across Lee's face. It looked a hell of a lot like desire. Lee nodded and turned around to pick up the camera. She sat down on the bed and tried to position herself right. It was hard having to hold on to this sheet and look like she didn't mind having pictures taken of her half-naked body.
"Ready?"
"Anything for Fleet morale," Kara joked.
Lee took a few shots but quickly stopped. "Would you stop smiling like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like an idiot. This isn't a grade school picture."
"Well, unlike you, I haven't seen a lot of these kinds of things so you're going to have to help me out a little," Kara growled. She jumped slightly when she heard the sound of the shutter clicking. "Did you just take a picture?"
Lee lowered the camera and smiled. "You're rather cute when you're pissed off."
Kara chuckled softly, but this time wasn't surprised when Lee took a few more pictures. "What? My laughter is cute, too?"
"It's downright frakable," Lee teased.
Kara rolled her eyes with a smile and shifted her body to a new position. The sheet rode up her thigh a few more inches as she pushed her legs apart. She leaned in a little, letting the sheet dip down in the front, and smirked. She would have felt a little stupid being this brazen if she couldn't see the flush that was starting to come to Lee's face. She must be doing something right.
"I thought you said you hadn't seen a lot of these types of things?" Lee whispered as he began shooting again.
"I haven't. My expertise comes from other areas."
Kara forced herself to relax. This was just Lee taking pictures of her. There was no need to worry or be scared. He wouldn't do anything that she didn't like. Soon it became a mantra in her head. This is Lee this is Lee this is Lee this is Lee this is Lee.
And then something shifted. She was sure what it was, but suddenly the idea that this was Lee taking rather steamy pictures of her started exciting her. She could feel her nipples tighten and a familiar tingling between her legs. She really should have left her underwear on.
"Hold on. I have to get more film," Lee said, stepping away from his position in front of the bed.
Kara shut her eyes and used the moment to try to calm herself. When she finally opened her eyes again, she saw that Lee was staring at her again. She looked down to do a quick check that the sheet was in place before looking back at him. She cocked an eyebrow at him in question.
"Will you do something for me?" Kara found herself nodding before she could stop herself.
Lee walked over to her pile of clothes and picked up the cigar he had given her. He held it in front of her mouth and waited until she had taken it between her lips before pulling out the lighter. Kara inhaled deeply and sighed. She really missed these cigars.
Lee looked through the lens of the camera before smiling. "Now that's Starbuck."
Kara let him take a few pictures before speaking. "You're a rather creative man, Lee Adama."
Lee shook his head. "Nope. Just observant."
"How so?"
"I was around those first few weeks after the attacks. Your little habit of coming back to the bunkroom after your CAP, peeling off your clothes, lighting up a cigar, and laying down in your bunk didn't go unnoticed."
Kara didn't know how to respond to that so she just took a long puff of the cigar and blew a smoke ring. "So you really think this calendar is going to help morale?"
"It already is. A lot has changed since the attacks. There's only a few things to be excited about these days." Lee lowered the camera to smile at her. "This is definitely one of them."
Kara's eyes held his as she took a few more puffs off the cigar. There was something different about the way he was looking at her, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
Lee let out his breath when Kara finally pulled her eyes away from him. He was doing his best to stay in control here, but it was getting harder and harder as she got more relaxed. Though he only had himself to blame for the whole cigar thing.
He started taking a few more pictures again while his thoughts drifted back to why he was here in the first place. He had lied to Kara when he said that he chose her because she was the safe choice. That was so far from the truth he was surprised she hadn't laughed in his face.
Kara Thrace was not and would never be safe.
The night before at the triad table, he had pretended to think over which girl's photo shoot he was going to take away from Gaeta. The decision had been almost immediate, but Lee didn't want anyone knowing that. They would only ask questions about why he wanted Kara's shoot so badly. Then he would have to explain how he had this insanely jealous notion that no one should get to see his girl like this except for him.
And that was another thing. He had no clue when he had started thinking of Kara as his girl. He had no clue when he started getting jealous of other men flirting with her, touching her, but it had happened. He trusted Gaeta, but it was a relief to know that he was going to be able to handle how Kara would come out looking in this calendar project.
"Shit!"
Kara's hiss of pain snapped him out of his thoughts. "What happened?" Lee said, setting down the camera immediately.
"I dropped the fraking cigar on my thigh," Kara growled. She silently prayed to the gods that Lee wouldn't ask her what had her so distracted that she lost her grip.
Lee walked over to the bed and looked down to see the small, raw pink spot on Kara's thigh. His finger reached out to touch the sensitive skin, and he felt her stiffen. "Does it hurt?"
"A little."
Lee nodded. "All right. We can stop. I think I have enough."
"No!" Kara winced at how abrupt and loud that had come out. "You weren't going to stop before I turned into a major klutz so you weren't satisfied. It really doesn't hurt that much, and I can just put that leg under the sheet." Kara demonstrated what she meant, pulling the sheet off her good leg. "Besides this one has my battle scars on it."
Lee's eyes roamed the length of her leg and saw that there were a few leftover marks on her knee from the operations she had had to go through all those years before. He had to admit she was right to think this leg would do just fine. There was something about scars that was so damn sexy, especially when they were on Kara's body. "All right," Lee agreed, standing up and walking back to his camera.
Kara twisted to the side, trying to get in a position that wouldn't cramp up her knee, but it just wasn't working. The sheet kept riding up and dipping down in all the wrong places.
"That looks real sexy, Kara," Lee teased.
"I'm fraking trying," she hissed.
A few more seconds of squirming with no success had Lee setting down the camera for a second time and walking over to the bed. "Let me help," he said. Kara stopped squirming immediately, and Lee suddenly realized what he had just gotten himself into.
Kara sat as still as she could as Lee turned her body at an angle. He adjusted the sheet to sit high up on her thigh. Kara smiled when he paused a second and then moved it down an inch. Lee let out a small sigh as his fingers shifted her hair to fall on her shoulder. Kara was surprised at how gentle he was being with her. He had never been one to treat her like she was made of glass, but he seemed to think that was exactly what she was made of now.
Lee let his fingers move down to where she clutched the sheet tightly against her chest. He knew he was treading in dangerous waters right now, but he didn't care. This was as close as Kara was ever going to let him get, and he was going to savor it. He shifted the sheet so that just a small glimpse of the side of her breast would be seen in the photos. If this wasn't the shot that sold a million calendars, Lee would quit flying.
"All set?" Kara whispered. Her voice came out in a husky whisper that seemed to surprise both of them.
Lee nodded and took a step back. He was going to have to get himself under control and fast. She was killing him. A small part of him was suddenly thankful that he had been the one to win that pot from Gaeta. If any other man was here with Kara, she would have been ravaged forwards and backwards by now, and Kara would have just another notch in her bedpost, another story to tell in jest over ambrosia and cards.
His eyes locked with Kara's a few moments before he lifted the camera and clicked the shutter. He sighed and set the camera down. "Done."
"Done?"
"Trust me. That was the one." Kara's skin blushed, and Lee couldn't figure out what she had to feel embarrassed about. Her head was cast down away from him, and he watched her tongue dart out to wet her lips. Then she bit her bottom lip softly and Lee couldn't help himself. He picked the camera up again and snapped off a few shots.
Kara's eyes darted up to look at him. "I thought you said we were done."
"Maybe those were for me." He meant his words to sound teasing, but they came out serious.
A flicker of a smile played at the corners of Kara's mouth, and Lee felt his pants tighten. He swore softly. He had lost his concentration for just a second.
Lee found himself staring at Kara where she sat unmoving on the bed. Why wasn't she getting dressed? He had said this was over. If she just kept sitting there, he would have to keep fighting the impulse to take more pictures of her to create more evidence that this had actually happened.
"Why did you really pick me?"
Her words were so soft that he almost didn't hear them. He wished he could say that he didn't understand what she was asking.
Kara looked up at him, white sheet still clutched to her body, with such a lost look on her face that Lee couldn't stop himself. He hated that Kara had these insecurities when she was the nearest thing to perfect in Lee's mind. He dropped the camera on the table and was kneeling on the bed beside her before she could blink.
Kara inhaled sharply as Lee's hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled her towards him. His lips crushed hers in a surprisingly gentle show of strength. She was too surprised to move let alone think to kiss him back.
Lee pulled away some time later to rest his forehead against hers while he fought to regain his bearings. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I…"
"Why did you pick me?" Kara asked again.
Lee shifted to look into her eyes. Teasing banter was on the tip of his tongue, but in the end, it was the truth that fell from his lips. "I thought it would be safe. I thought if I could just have you in this way, then it would be enough to get me through what would happen when those damn calendars came at. Everyone would finally see what I do every time I look at you, Kara. They're going to see that you exude that sexy, stubborn Starbuck mentality from every inch of you. And I wanted to protect you, make sure that you were okay. I didn't want you to feel stupid for doing this."
"You made me feel a lot of things, Lee, but stupid wasn't one of them," Kara whispered, a shy smile on her lips.
Lee ran her words through his head for a few seconds. She couldn't be saying what he thought she was saying. There was no way. This was Kara.
Kara waited for Lee to say something, for him to do something, but he just sat there with his hands still wrapped around her body, silently lost in thought. "I'm glad you wanted to protect me."
Lee shook his head. "It's more than that. I wanted…" The words fell away as Lee watched Kara's eyes flick down to his mouth. She licked her lips slowly in an action he was pretty sure he couldn't misinterpret even if he tried. Something stirred inside him again, and he figured if he couldn't tell her why he had to be the one to do this for her, he could at least show her. This time his kiss was gentle, less ravenous passion and more slow burning desire.
Kara felt the sheet slip through her fingers as she reached up to wrap her hands around his neck. Lee nibbled on her bottom lip, begging for entry, as he pushed their bodies flush against the bed. His tongue glided into her mouth, and Kara let out a small moan. This couldn't actually be happening. Lee's hand teased the sheet all the way down to her waist, and the flare of need coursing through her body told her this was definitely happening.
Lee let his hands run over her smooth ivory skin, the very thing he had been mesmerized by for the past hour. He felt her stiffen as his hand brushed against the side of her breast. The sound of his name falling from her lips was enough to tell him that he wasn't reading this wrong. By whatever miracle of the gods, she wanted him.
Kara drew Lee's mouth to hers as his hands circled her breasts, first in light, teasing brushes and then more insistent. Her hips started bucking against his body, and he pulled away from the touch of her lips. Lee placed a trail of kisses down her neck, stopping to suck lightly on where her pulse was racing out of control, and then continued down to suckle her breast. She moaned his name softly and used her hands to hold his head in place.
His eyes raised up to meet hers as he continued to taste her skin. She was already too much for him, and he had barely started. His hand traveled down her body until he could feel the heat of her on his callused skin. "Do you want this, Kara?" he asked quietly as he returned his attentions back to her mouth.
Kara pushed her hips off the bed, forcing his hand to rub against her. Lee figured that was all the answer he needed and slowly slid his finger into her. She let out a gasp, and her motions stilled for a moment until he started working her slow and smooth. She moved her hand down on top of his and guided his motions until it hit just the right spot.
Lee pushed a second finger inside of her just as she started to pant through the beginnings of her release. Her hand fell away from his along with the rest of the thoughts in her head. Her body squirmed underneath him, but he didn't let up with the pressure. His lips moved to brush a soft kiss across her temple before sliding down to tease her mouth. Kara gave herself to him on instinct and opened her eyes. His tongue came out to moisten his lips and then he smiled.
Kara could feel her body tighten around his fingers while he continued to slid inside and withdraw. His thumb pressed on just the right spot to make her tremble. "Oh gods."
Lee crooked his finger inside of her and felt the intensity of Kara's eyes locked with his own. Her mouth dropped open as she tried to form words and blissfully failed. All she managed to do was whisper his name, but it was enough to make him slid a third finger inside of her.
The heel of her leg locked behind his knee, and her hips started shameless bucking herself into his hand. She could hear his voice whispering something soft and low in her ear but couldn't focus enough to figure out what it was. She did take notice when his tongue ran along the edge of her ear, and that little sensation pushed her over the edge. She came calling his name.
Kara's vision finally cleared after a few minutes, and she quickly realized she was lying on the bed with a sheet barely wrapped around her naked body while Lee still had too much clothing on his body. There was something insanely sexy about being so bare in the cold air of the ship and yet so satisfied.
Her hands came out to the hem of his tanks and pulled them over his heads. "Now that's a little better," she whispered. She pushed Lee up off the bed and quickly joined him, ignoring the sheet now pooled at her feet. Lee smirked as her hands came down to unbutton his pants. She slid them to the floor along with his briefs, putting herself at eye level with his painfully hard erection. "That's even better," she said, her voice returning to the husky lowness of before. Unable to help herself, she leaned forward to take the tip of his erection into her mouth.
Lee shut his eyes and tried to think of all the reasons why he shouldn't be letting Kara do this to him. None of them added up to enough to make him push her away until he realized the longer he let her do this, the longer he had to wait until he was inside her.
Kara let out a small cry of protest when Lee latched on to her shoulders and pulled her to his feet. It was so small and cute that Lee was tempted to let go and have her finish the job, but then her lips were in front of his.
The momentum of the kiss pushed their bodies back down onto the bed, and Kara sighed as she felt his solid weight pressing her body into the mattress. She said his name, a quiet purring syllable that came from somewhere deep inside. Her hands made a smooth trail up and down his back, and Lee smiled against her lips. "I'm pretty sure I'm dreaming right now, but I'm okay with that," he whispered.
"Me, too," she agreed.
They shared a small smile before Lee shifted his body so that he was dangerously close to entering her. He leaned in to kiss the curve of her neck, tasting the sweat on her skin and finding it impossibly sweet. "You taste like heaven," he whispered.
Kara felt her hips buck slowly in response. Hearing words like that coming from Lee's lips was almost too much for her. She let her eyes slid shut and her body do the talking as Lee teased her entrance. His lips moved down to take in one of her hardened peaks, and Kara felt the excitement stir inside of her as the memory of where this had ended up the last time suddenly surfaced.
Lee pushed himself inside her just as Kara's eyes opened to meet his.
There was a flash of something familiar in her eyes. Her mouth dropped open as her body adjusted to the feel of him. Lee leaned in to kiss the furrows in her brow. She was concentrating so hard to stay in control he couldn't help it. Kara's mouth slid into a smile and then she leaned up to kiss him.
Lee let himself surrender to the complete bliss of her kiss before he slowly pulled out of her only to thrust right back in. This time Kara managed to gasp something that sounded a lot like his name. Lee continued to tease Kara, keeping her distracted just enough that she forgot how much she hated to not be in control. He didn't want this to be hard and fast, not when he was pretty sure she would come to her senses at any second.
Lee realized how wrong he was when her hand came down around him mid-thrust. He paused just long enough for her to tighten her thighs and use his momentum to flip his back against the mattress. She gave him that famous Starbuck smirk and then bore down on his cock as hard as she could. He could feel himself deep inside her and then she was maneuvering him at an angle that was so tight he couldn't help groaning. He was wrong. Hard and fast was very much the way to go.
Kara's hands rested on his chest as she twisted her hips to a steadily increasing rhythm. Digging his fingers into her hip was all Lee could do to try to maintain control. His eyes sought out her own, and he settled in to watch as she played his body like a finely tuned Viper.
Lee felt himself near the edge within a minute and pulled Kara's chest down against him. He kissed her with every ounce of his being while moving his hips to keep her from pulling away to far.
Kara bit down on his bottom lip, and the sensation of pain mixing with pleasure caused him to finally topple over the edge. He moved his fingers down to put pressure on her sweet spot and was pleased when she practically screamed his name. Her walls tightened around him, pretty much reassuring that he would have no energy for a second round even if she deemed him worthy of the chance.
"Frak me," Kara said, letting her body rest lightly on top of his. She shifted her cheek to lay right above where his heart was beating so steady and strong.
Lee gave in to the urge to hold her as close as possible and tighten his arms around her body. He brushed a small kiss across the top of her head and felt her smile against his chest.
"Lee?"
Her voice sounded slightly sad and lost, and Lee's mind immediately went to the haunted look that had started this whole wonderful encounter. He let his eyes drift open and twisted his head to look at her.
"How long did you tell Gaeta this would take?"
Lee weighed the words over his mind, trying to figure out where she was going with that question. "He said it could take anywhere from an hour to most of the afternoon. I told him that I would just give him the film tomorrow so that way he didn't have to go out of his way."
"So do you think…"
Lee could feel Kara's breath brush across his skin and was surprised to realize she was anxious about something. "Kara?"
"Do you think we can stay here for a bit?"
"Sure," Lee said with a nod. "I think you and I are entitled to play hooky every once in awhile."
Kara felt Lee begin to move and tighten her thighs to hold him in place. Lee's groan echoed off the walls, and Kara had to hold back a giggle. She had forgotten he was still inside her.
"Kara, you need to let me move if you want to get some rest."
She shifted to brush her lips against the sensitive skin behind his ear before purring, "I don't want you moving one inch, Lee Adama. I want you to stay right here like this."
Lee felt himself twitch to life even though he was pretty sure he was on his last leg. Kara always sucked the energy right out of him, and that was before they were intimate. "I'm not moving an inch," he whispered.
"Good." Kara sighed and let herself relax against him. It was only a few minutes before her breathing evened out. Lee didn't hold back the smile when she began to snore lightly.
Three weeks later, the calendar finally came out and with it a new round of rumors. Starbuck had been parading around the ship since the day of her photo shoot, and she had been very vocal about the fact that she had finally found someone who could make her feel well and truly fraked and not in a bad way. Seeing the picture of her plastered across the January page finally answered the question.
She was staring at the camera and even an idiot could see the look in her eyes meant something. Every cleverly concealed inch of skin radiated it. No doubt about it, Kara Thrace was in love. Someone had finally tamed the wild woman of the colonial Fleet.
Everyone knew that it would happen someday, but no one ever thought it would be Lieutenant Felix Gaeta.
