~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter 3~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Starbuck POV~

With only a few days left before our sealing Cassi cornered me as were walking and discussing the details of the ceremony and, my favorite part, our post‑sealing trip.

"Starbuck," Cassi censured, correctly deciphering the gleam in my eyes. What harm was there in planning a few hands of pyramid while she was, um, resting?

"Aw, Cass..." I began to cajole when something caught my attention.

Had it been anyone else, I wouldn't have even paused in conversation, I would have just kept going. But it wasn't just anyone. It was her. With another man. Someone else who might hurt her. Someone who wasn't me.

One micron I was discussing my post‑sealing trip and the next I was microns away from taking apart the Captain from the Green Squadron. I realized in that micron that it was something that I had been wanting to do for sectons. Long before he was strangely present when Athena informed me she was resigning her flight status and would no longer by my wingmate. Clearly, my suspicions about his presence were being confirmed.

"You sure move quickly," I hissed as I stalked over to them, forgetting about Cassi, about our plans.

"Hmmm, what?" Athena asked, turning towards me with dazed eyes and moist, swollen lips.

My hands balled into fists. I couldn't stop the words from spilling spitefully from my mouth. " Orion, Bojay, me, and now him!" I hissed.

"Can we speak privately?" she raised her chin, not letting the tears that flood her eyes fall. Good girl, I thought irreverently. My stomach fluttered.

I looked her over, as if she were offering me more than conversation. I took pleasure in the spark of anger I aroused as I grabbed her arm and dragged her off into an empty room.

"You sure you just want to talk?" I leaned in closely as we stood alone a few centons later.

"What exactly is your problem, Starbuck?" Athena asked, not backing off my my closeness. I could feel her breath against my lips. Her heat warmed my body. "Am I suddenly not allowed to kiss whomever I want?"

The swift transition from being on the offensive to the defensive caught me off guard. Aroused me.

"Funny, now you have nothing to say," she hissed, an undecipherable gleam in her blue eyes.

"Are you getting sealed to him?" I blurted out.

"He asked a few days ago and I've been thinking it over," she admitted.

"And he was trying to convince you to accept? Did you?" I grabbed her arm, our faces were mere millimeters apart. My other hand slid over her hip.

"I said I was thinking about it." I felt her breath on my lips.

"Then think about this," I said recklessly as my hand slid up her arm and under her hair. Clasping her neck I barely had to move to press my lips over hers. "And this," I whispered as my teeth nibbled her bottom lip and then my tongue soothed the damage. Her breath teased my mouth, daring my tongue to slip into her warm, moistness. I could never turn down a dare. My hand moved to cup her head as I drank my fill, tasting, soothing, arousing.

I could feel her breasts crushed against my chest. My other hand stroked the sides of them through her shirt eliciting shivers from her form just as my tongue elicited moans from her throat. Her fingers were buried in my hair as I continued to fuse our mouths. I reveled in her desire as I urgently stimulated the rest of her body. Her breath came out as a groan as I moved my lips down the curve of her chin and neck. Her hips pressed impatiently to mine as I nipped her collarbone.

"Feel that!" I thought as I buried my pulsing shaft against her pelvis. I cupped her firm ass and pressed deeper as my teeth nibbled her sensitive nipples through her uniform. First one, then the other. Nothing existed but the heat, scent, and taste of the woman pressed against me.

~Athena's POV~

Frak! One micron with this man and my senses desert me! Taking a deep breath and I moved back and straightened my spine.

For a few days I let myself be swept away in Biehn's plan. It was convenient, but wrong. I had to tell him the truth and face the consequences for what I had let happen between us.

"I need to tell you something," I said, as his hands slid under my shirt and cupped my bare, throbbing breasts.

My voice startled him and he stiffened and let me go. He stepped away and looked like he was going to run. I was tempted to let him, but I kept on track and grabbed his hand and tugged him towards some crates to sit down.

"We've never talked about what happened on Agro Ship Talus," I started, feeling him stiffen against me.

"Is that why you're thinking about being sealed to Biehn? To get back at me?" he interrupted.

"No, yes, partly. What do you mean get back at you? How..." I sighed. He was doing it again.

"Are you in love with him?" he asked.

"No, will you..."

"If you're not in love with him how can you consider sealing to him?" Starbuck jumped out of his seat and glared at me just like my brother Apollo would have.

"Because I'm pregnant!" I stood up and yelled at him, without mentioning the doubts I had been struggling with that aligned with his consternation.

"I mean, really...you're what?" Starbuck's eyes widened and he took silent and still as he digested my announcement. My heart constricted, but stopped myself from apologizing from the confession he had wrested from me so unceremoniously, instead I stared mesmerized by the play of expressions over Starbuck's face. Waiting for his reaction.

After a few aborted attempts to speak, he whispered, "Bojay?"

I raised my chin and let it fly. "It's yours Starbuck. I have medical scans to prove it." The look of Starbuck's face rocked me and for the first time I began to think about how this would impact him beyond his immediate sealing plans. He had just thought he'd found his father, was preparing to be sealed, he had been reaching out for family in a way I hadn't seen since Apollo brought him into ours. I really had no idea what I had unleashed and I felt a moment of fear that had me covering my stomach with my hand protectively. I watched warily as his eyes followed and remained on that part of my body.

"This doesn't have to change anything. You can be sealed to Cassi in a few days and I'll raise our child!" I blurted out in sudden panic.

"No other man is going to raise my child!"

"Oh. If you want." I cleared my throat. "If you want you can be involved."

"This is not how I imagined it," Starbuck said quietly, looking broken.

"What did you imagine?" I asked in a whisper. My heart was squeezing uncomfortably. I had no idea what he was thinking, but I was thinking about the time we spent in the wood many years ago and I officially adopted him into our family. Woods like the ones he had been found in as a child after his family had been lost to a Cylon attack. Then about the approximation of those woods where our child had been conceived. My reverie was interrupted by his hand reaching out and touching mine.

"May I?" he asked.

"Of course, but it's too soon to feel anything?" I moved my hand and he placed his where mine had been. I put my hand over his, it was automatic. And it was intimate. I heard his breath catch and he stepped closer and put his other hand on me. His eyes were fixed on that spot. He had to have felt my heart speed up. He sucked in a breath and looked me in the eyes. They were wetter than he had been.

"I need some time to think about this, promise me you won't do anything rash," he asked.

What else could I do but agree? Before I had time to consider what I would do next we walked back into the corridor to discover that Cassi and Biehn hadn't been fuming over our rude abandonment, but instead were coming to an understanding of their own using their lips. And tongues.

"It's beginning to make sense!" I heard Starbuck growl as we approached them. I flushed and looked away in guilt. Staarbuck's fingers tightened on my shoulder and I looked over at him. "I guess all sealings are off!" He said loud enough to get the attention of the couple still in a clinch.

"How long has this been going on?" he demanded. His focused attention didn't miss the glances that both Cassi and Biehn shot my way.

"You knew." The glare pointed at me told me that it wasn't a question. I just nodded. Starbuck struggled with himself, seeming to not be able to decide who to attack first, but then he just shut down and stormed away.

"He's right about the sealings." I confirmed. I was tempted to follow Starbuck and try to reason with him, but the truth was while I felt guilty about not telling him about his fiance's dalliance with my ex, none of us were innocent in this situation. We all had a lot to process. Biehn tried to apologize to me, but I patted his arm and let them both off the hook before I took off on my own. I needed nap.

End Chapter 3