Author's Note: Thank you to lanalucy for the beta.

Chapter is rated: M

Chapter 17

As he drove to the cabin with Laura, Bill couldn't recall the last time he'd felt this - happy. Not even the Friday late afternoon traffic was dampening his mood. He certainly hadn't expected Laura's spontaneous invitation to spend another weekend with her. While he wanted to interpret it as meaning that she was finally showing an interest in him, he didn't want to presume too much. He would enjoy it for what it was, an offer of friendship and a request for support as she continued to sift through the memories that returning to her family's cabin would undoubtedly bring to the surface. Just the fact that Laura was able to ask for support was a big deal, reflected Bill. She'd spent the past few years largely grieving in self-imposed solitude. He was flattered by her trust but he didn't want to get his hopes up too high that it meant more than it probably meant.

The sky was covered by a blanket of thick gray clouds as they pulled into the cabin's driveway. They'd stopped just once after leaving the bakery, to pick up some groceries for the weekend. Laura had insisted that this time around, she'd give Bill something more substantive than peanut butter and jelly. Bill didn't care what they ate. In fact, he wasn't sure how conducive to eating the butterflies in his stomach would be.

"It's supposed to be a rainy weekend," said Laura as she slipped the key into the door lock, balancing bundles in her arms. Bill had tried to scoop everything up but she was too quick and she shot him a fierce glare when he'd tried to relieve her of some of her bags. He did manage to nonchalantly wrest a couple from her steel grip. Bill had a glower of his own to counter hers, but her sharp look of reproach reminded him of how formidable she could be when pressed. The last thing he wanted this weekend was for her to fortify the old barriers. Her defenses had only just begun to come down so Bill knew that he'd have to tread carefully.

"I don't mind the notion of a quiet, cozy weekend," said Bill, as he deftly relieved her of two more bags once they were inside. "It's supposed to get pretty chilly tonight; does your fireplace work?"

"Yes. I've kept the maintenance of the place up. But I don't have any wood stored."

"I'll take care of it," said Bill. He watched her as she reached up to put some items away into a top cupboard. "I saw a general store on the road where I can get some.." Bill put the last few bags on the kitchen table. "Pretty sure it's still open. I'll be back shortly."

"You don't have to do that, Bill."

"Yeah, well I want to."

Laura rolled her eyes as she snapped up another bag from the table. "Stubborn."

"Mmmm, just like my hostess. You have a shed, don't you?"

"In the back. I'm going to start dinner."

Bill nodded and dug a jacket out of his duffel bag. "Anything else you can think of that you'd like me to pick up while I'm out, Laura?" Bill shrugged on the light jacket.

"No, Bill. I think I have everything I need here."

"I'll be back soon," he promised as he slipped out.

Bill wouldn't mind the rain and the accompanying mountain coolness that had been predicted for the evening. He liked the idea of being huddled up in the cabin with Laura, just the two of them. A crackling fire. A bottle of wine. He wasn't being purposefully romantic. But something deep-rooted and unnamed within the depths of his heart was already off and running heedlessly forward. The only thing his half-protesting intellect could do - was follow.

When Bill returned to the cabin, he could smell dinner cooking. Laura had left the cabin door unlocked for him and he suddenly felt a pang of fierce protectiveness. He was just about to lecture her on the importance of locking her doors if she was by herself when he spotted her curled up on the couch in the living room with a book in her hands, reading quietly. He'd never seen her look so serene and unguarded.

"Is it okay if I put my things in the guest room?" asked Bill softly. Laura had pulled a beige cardigan over her yellow and lavender floral-patterned summer dress. Her hands were inside the sleeves, fingertips poking out only long enough to turn pages. She'd slipped her sandals off. Bill suddenly realized that he was staring and promptly shifted his gaze.

"Of course," answered Laura absently, clearly absorbed in her novel.

After getting settled, Bill returned to the kitchen area and found Laura cutting vegetables up for a salad.

"Anything I can do to help?" he asked. "Smells good."

"I've got everything covered. Thank you, Bill. There are a couple of bottles of wine on the counter. If you want to open one? I actually found a corkscrew this time."

"Got it," said Bill as he went to work on a bottle of Pinot Noir. "How's Blackbird?" he asked as he pressed the corkscrew into the wine cork.

"So good," replied Laura. "Almost impossible to put down. I think Hector's a spy for the Conglomerate."

"You think so, huh? Well, I'll never tell." Bill grinned at her as he popped the cork off the bottle of wine while Laura scooted past him to retrieve something from the oven. The kitchen was small. And she was close, so close as she brushed past him that he could feel the heat of her body. He caught a hint of sweet fragrance, her perfume maybe, or it could be her shampoo. She smelled like fresh laundry and summer rain. Bill stepped back and watched her lean over the oven, pulling out a pan of roasted potatoes.

"Dinner's ready," said Laura, "if you want to sit down...pour the wine."

Bill brought two glasses of wine and the bottle to the table. There was salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing already on the table. Laura came in a few moments later and placed a plate in front of Bill. She'd made roast pork tenderloin with hot apples and cinnamon, roasted potatoes, and steamed asparagus in butter.

"This looks great, Laura."

"I hope you're hungry."

"I am. Where did you learn to cook like this?"

"You're kind, Bill, but this is nothing. Very easy to prepare. My mom did the fancy stuff. I don't get to cook too often these days, with working so many hours, and usually just me at the table."

"I'm used to a lot of frozen stuff on the ship, or something quick like a package of noodles." Bill took a bite of pork and apples. "Gods, Laura, this is delicious."

Laura took a long sip of wine. "It's Kara's favorite meal. Are you cooking more now that you have the apartment on Caprica?"

"I'm supposed to say yes to impress you but I'll opt for the truth - no, not really. Take out mostly. Ellen seems to have taken it upon herself to feed me regularly. You want to give me some pointers while I'm here?"

"I can't imagine teaching you anything."

"You think I'd be a difficult student?" asked Bill.

"I think you like to be in charge."

Bill laughed. "Says the teacher."

They exchanged mutual smiles. Bill liked the way her green eyes glittered when she was amused. This lighter, vibrant side of Laura was definitely an aspect of her that he hoped he got to see more of.

"Nobody pays attention in music class," said Laura with a light and playful shrug.

"You think you'd ever teach again?" asked Bill, more seriously.

Laura put down her wine glass. "I'm going to finish out my term as Secretary of Education and then - we'll see."

"You're going to leave politics?"

"It's time. I gave my notice a couple of weeks ago. I'll have more time for piano, for teaching maybe. And I'll probably still stay involved in the community. Old habits die hard."

"Yeah, they do, don't they?"

"If Kara and Lee decide to have children, I can help out more often without working those ridiculous hours." Laura was quiet for a moment. "So, I guess we'll both be retired teachers."

"I'll trade you a flying lesson for a piano lesson."

"Oh, Gods no, Bill. I don't even like driving a car."

"That's because you live in Caprica. Flying is so much more relaxing than driving. I'm surprised Kara never coerced you into a flight lesson. She's a great teacher. Like mother, like daughter."

"Some days I wish she were still a little girl; it goes by so fast. I know it's terribly selfish of me but I hope she and Lee can manage to stay close by." Bill saw a tiny trace of moisture glistening in her eyes as she tilted her head. Her quick laugh didn't quite cover the more raw emotion underneath. "Otherwise, the phone bill is going to be enormous."

"Well, we'll just have to be meddlesome in-laws and keep 'em here, won't we?"

Laura nodded enthusiastically, even smiled a little. But Bill could see a telltale chink in her armor and it hit him suddenly. This was hard for her, letting go of Kara. It was always a little sad for a parent when children grew up and got married. But for Laura, it probably felt like yet another type of loss. Even so, she'd been nothing but supportive and encouraging to Kara and to his son.

Laura pushed her chair back. "I made brownies for dessert but I'm stuffed; would you like one though, Bill?" Bill couldn't help but notice the abrupt subject change. He resisted the urge to reach for her hand. He wondered if she'd ever trust him enough to allow him to comfort her freely and without restraint.

"After, with you."

Laura rose and began picking up plates but Bill reached out and gently grabbed her wrist.

"I'll get the dishes," he told her firmly.

"But - "

His voice was almost a low growl. "Don't make me pull out one of my military moves on you, Roslin."

Her eyes flashed defiantly at him. "I'm perfectly capable of - "

"Accepting a heartfelt gesture of goodwill with graciousness?" supplied Bill as Laura glared at him from above her glasses. Undaunted, he picked up the plates and headed into the kitchen.

Laura didn't protest again. Instead, she wiped down the counters and put a few odds and ends away while Bill worked on the dishes.

"So how far again are you in Blackbird?" asked Bill as he dried off a plate. It wasn't often he got to discuss a favorite book with a fellow avid reader.

Laura picked up the book from the dry sink where she'd left it. "A little better than halfway. Hector is on the hangar deck with the diplomat's wife. I love how she subtly manipulates the people around her. She's simultaneously brilliant and awful."

Bill grinned. "Oh, it gets better."

Laura began reading a passage to Bill from the book to show him exactly where she had left off. He enjoyed the smooth cadence of her voice so much that he insisted that she continue reading while he finished up with the dishes. She hesitated with the book in her hands as she studied Bill without speaking for a moment, seemingly weighing the request. Bill was certain that she was going to refuse.

But then she began to read.

Bending over the counter to get the most benefit from the light over the stove, Laura read to him. She read with inflection and emotion but she never overdid it. She was captivated, herself, by the story, and her natural enthusiasm showed in her reading. Bill worked slowly at the dishes just so she'd continue reading to him, just so he could prolong hearing the sound of her voice.

Laura noticed that Bill had finished up with the dishes so she stopped reading. "You want to take this into the living room?" she asked.

"Yeah. You bring the book; I'll bring the wine. I'm going to work on that fire."

Bill refilled their wine glasses and left them on the coffee table while he got a fire going. The regular beat of the rain outside was a steady and comforting sound while Bill worked. He could feel Laura's eyes on him and he wondered what she was thinking. She was a difficult woman to read.

"Do you have any more newspaper?" asked Bill, his throat suddenly very dry as he swiveled his head to look at her. Laura was leaning against the sofa, feet bare, head tilted back slightly as she sipped her wine. She reminded him of a painting he'd seen once at the Caprica Museum of Fine Art of a bacchante celebrating the Dionysian rites, exotic and wild and beautiful.

"Mmmm," she said, her voice reverberating against the the glass as she released it from her lips. Laura left the room and returned a few moments later with some more newspaper. In no time at all, Bill had a steady blaze going. Carefully, he put the screen in place and they stood nearly shoulder to shoulder watching the crackling fire together. The glow from the flames illuminated Laura's face and hair with a dancing light that shifted and swayed across her features.

There was nothing accidental this time when Bill leaned toward her or when she reciprocated by tipping her head up toward him as he slowly lowered his mouth to hers. There was no question what his intention was and there was nothing tentative about the way she responded to him. As her hands slid upward from his chest to his shoulders, Bill dragged her closer, increasing the pressure of his mouth against hers. This kiss was nothing like their previous tepid exchanges. There was heat and urgency and need blended into the ardent press of mouth against mouth.

Bill hadn't anticipated the spiraling loss of control that was triggered in his body from the simple act of merely kissing Laura. He had always imagined that their first real kiss would be slow and sweet, a sensual and tender mutual exploration, not this desperate and immediate need for more of her.

"What are we doing?" Bill murmured against her mouth. His hands caressed her back, deliberate and slow. He hoped that the rest of his body would follow suit and slow down, too.

"I don't know," she admitted. She rose up, inviting another kiss, parting her lips when he obeyed. They were both a little unsteady on their feet and it had nothing to do with the wine they'd drunk with dinner so Bill maneuvered them to the couch for support, at least that's what he told himself, as he slid his body over hers while they continued to exchange a stream of long, languid kisses and the pair of them landed with an audible oomph on the sofa. Laura wriggled underneath him, slipping her arms out from between them and raising them above her head. Bill got the hint and helped her remove her sweater. Slender arms wound enticingly around his neck and Bill could feel the heat of her emanating through the thin fabric of her summer dress. He kissed behind her ear, nuzzling the soft skin there, breathing in the scent of her hair.

"Ow!"

Bill immediately stopped what he was doing and looked at Laura.

"My hair is caught between your elbow and the back of the couch and it's pulling," she explained.

"Frak," said Bill. They shifted positions.

"Much better," said Laura.

Bill grimaced.

"Bill?"

"Your knee is - "

As soon as he said it, Laura realized exactly what her knee was pressing into and she moved again. Bill's face instantly relaxed into an expression of relief. The woman lying underneath his body began to giggle profusely, shoulders shaking with irrepressible mirth. He could feel each and every little tremor of bubbling laughter.

"I'm glad that the sight of me in pain amuses you," said Bill drily. Laura merely continued to laugh, head tipped back, eyes sparkling. This close, he could clearly see the laugh lines at the corners of her eyes. There was no defense against laughter like that. Bill could do nothing but chuckle right along with her.

"Gods, but you are beautiful," said Bill softly as he stroked her cheek with the tips of his fingers.

They were both quiet as Laura's giggles slowly subsided and Bill continued to touch her face.

"Do you think a bed might be a safer choice?" asked Laura.

"Are you propositioning me, Madame Secretary?"

"Well, you did kiss me, Admiral. You can't expect to run around heedlessly kissing people without consequences."

"Oh, I think I'm going to like these consequences," said Bill as he carefully got up and pulled Laura with him.

Laura had never imagined that it would be so easy between them, certainly not from the way they'd begun when they had met a few weeks ago for Lee and Kara's engagement dinner. There was a little cautionary voice in her head warning her that this was probably a terrible idea, that she was being reckless, that she should think about this. But she pushed it down. The flimsy half-notion had little power compared to the much more palpable feel of Bill's hand in hers as they made their way into what used to be her parents' bedroom. The lull created by the change in venue slowed things down a bit and gave her a moment to catch her breath - not that she felt that Bill was rushing her. She was certain that he would adjust to any pace that she set; it was a comforting notion. At the same time, it was all a little daunting, too. There was nothing to hide behind with Bill. He knew more about her in a month than Richard had known in five years' time. They sat together on the edge of the bed smiling at one another before either of them made a move. Bill slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her against his body. She leaned into him as he kissed lightly along the curve of her neck, hands gliding against her back, up to the place where the fabric of her dress ended as he caressed her skin. She made a small, delighted sound at the direct contact.

"The clothes need to go, Bill."

"Already?" He sucked lightly on her earlobe and Laura shivered. She slipped her hands under his shirt, splaying her fingers outward against the skin of his stomach. She would enjoy the process of learning his body, the slow and exciting discovery of figuring out what he liked. She moved her hands along the contours of his chest and stomach, varying the pressure and the speed of her caresses, watching the changing expressions on his face while she touched him.

Bill growled into her ear. "Frak, yeah, they do. Immediately, in fact."

Laura shimmied out of her dress and her undergarments before untucking the bed and slipping under the blankets. Bill wasn't quite as quick as he was slowed down by zippers, buttons, socks and shoes, but he slipped into bed beside her shortly after discarding his clothing into a tossed heap on the floor. Laura noted that neither of them was overly eager to display their body to the other. She wasn't twenty any more. There was a time when she could be carelessly naked in front of a lover but those days seemed long past. Richard hadn't been particularly eager to see her. On most occasions, they'd both been half-dressed anyhow for those quick tumbles that filled a need and a void but somehow always left her resoundingly empty.

This was different - so different. And Laura wondered how she'd settled all those years. What did it say about her that she had?

"Laura?"

"Mmmm?"

"You just - you sounded -"

Had she made a sound? If she had, she hadn't realized it. Bill was rubbing her cheek with the pad of his thumb, looking at her in that way of his that made her feel that he could see to the very bottom of her.

"I'm fine, Bill," she assured him.

"Fine?"

She smiled. "Better than fine. Kiss me."

He did. A quick kiss to her lips and then a trail of kisses from her mouth down to her collarbone. He meandered a leisurely path to the soft skin between her breasts, darted his tongue out between his lips, and licked.

He was inching the blankets down as he lowered himself, supporting his weight with his elbows. His hands kneaded her breasts, thumbs grazing her nipples before he bent down and took one rosy bud into his mouth and sucked. Laura wondered if he'd notice how the left breast was slightly smaller than the right one, if he'd observe where the scar was, if he'd ask…. The fleeting thought disappeared when a jolt of heady pleasure coursed through her entire body, taking her by surprise, and drawing a moan from her. Bill shifted his position slightly and she could feel how hard he was as his cock pressed against her thigh.

Laura reached down to take him in her hand and wrapped her fingers around his length, stroking slowly, noticing Bill's sharp intake of breath the very moment she first touched him there. She wondered what he'd feel like inside her and her hips, seemingly of their own volition, undulated against his body with anticipation. The blankets were gone now, Laura suddenly realized, and it was only Bill's body covering hers. He caught her wrist and gently restrained the rhythmic motion of her hand. His eyes were glassy when he looked at her.

"If you keep that up," he warned, his voice trailing off.

"Too much?"

"Too much and not enough." He gave a breathy laugh as he moved back up, capturing her mouth again, kissing her deeply.

"Make love to me, Bill."

"Laura, I haven't even - "

"I'm more than ready." She kissed his jaw, his neck, his mouth. Bill slid his hand in between her legs and made slow circles with his fingertips against her center, eliciting a long sigh from her that made him even harder. She parted her legs encouragingly and arched her back as she wrapped her arms around him.

Bill couldn't resist that kind of artless enticement so he pushed inside of her slowly, allowing her to adjust to the feel of him. He didn't move until she did and the two of them found a rhythm together that seemed completely familiar, like this couldn't possibly be the first time they'd been together. It was like an improvisation of a well-remembered melody, the core of their song still the same even if a few of the riffs had changed, intimate and timeless and wholly theirs.

Laura clung to him when she came, burying her face in his shoulder as she cried out. He only lasted a few more thrusts after that as he felt his body dissolve into hers.

They snuggled up together under the blankets. Bill rested his chin against the crown of her hair and wrapped his arms around her pliant body, while her fingertips curled against his chest.

The fire in the fireplace had long ago died out and the rain continued its steady beat against the roof.