Inspired by a photo I saw on Tumblr. Hope you enjoy. :)
The photograph had been hanging in Maura's bedroom for as long as Jane could remember, but she'd never thought a whole lot about it over the years. She figured she'd just gotten used to it, simply in the background like so many other things in Maura's house.
"The guest bath upstairs is being renovated, so you can use mine to take a shower. Just use my toiletries if you'd like. Towels are in the linen closet, of course," Maura informed Jane.
"Cool, thanks. I'll be back down in a few."
It was the first time the two had gone on a morning run together and though they had nearly two hours before they needed to be at the station, it was just easier for Jane to shower and get ready at Maura's.
Jane entered Maura's bedroom, change of work clothes in hand, and headed to the right for the bathroom. Hanging centered on the wall between the closet door to the left and the bathroom door to the right was a black and white photograph in a silver-colored frame.
Immediately Jane came to a halt, eyebrows briefly raised in surprise.
The photo was of a nude woman standing strategically so that shadows, presumably from window blinds, fell across her body to maintain a certain level of modesty, including hiding her face. Despite also covering her pelvic region, the shadows didn't cover her nipples. Her arms were raised above her head, her back slightly arched off of the wall she was leaning back against, her ample breasts thrust slightly forward.
An erotic but nevertheless tasteful photograph.
Jane made a mental note to ask her best friend about it when she went back downstairs.
With a yawn Jane slid out of bed and headed toward the bathroom to brush her teeth. She looked toward the opened closet when she heard a drawer close and smiled to herself.
After years of dancing around their mutual attraction, she and Maura had finally admitted their feelings the night before and fallen quite quickly and passionately into Maura's bed in a desperate attempt to show each other the depth of those feelings.
Her eyes stopped on the photograph still hanging between the closet and bathroom doors. Something about it made her pause and she stepped closer to it, inspecting it closely.
"No," Jane whispered to herself as she noticed a small spot right on the woman's hip bone. A small, simple, black outline of a double helix. DNA. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Um, Maura?" she called out hesitantly.
"Yes?" quickly came the reply from the closet. Maura poked her head around the door frame. "Is everything—" She stopped speaking when she saw where Jane's attention was. "Oh."
"This...this is you?"
Maura, dressed only in a simple black bra and a matching thong, approached her new lover. "Yes," she stated simply.
Shaking her head briefly, Jane looked to her lover. "All these years I've actually been looking at a photograph of you naked?!"
"A more appropriate term in photography would be nude, but yes, you have. I thought you already knew this was of me."
"So, I noticed that you have this photo of a naked woman hanging in your bedroom."
Maura nodded as she stirred her coffee and then looked up from the morning newspaper. "Yes, I've had it for many years. An acquaintance of mine took it in college."
"So you just have it...hanging in your bedroom?"
"I know that erotic photography has a tendency to make some people uncomfortable, so I've always kept it on display in my bedroom instead."
"It's nice. I mean, I guess? I don't know much about art, but it seems nice."
Maura smiled. "Thank you."
"How would I know it was of you? I've never seen you naked before and I didn't know you had a tattoo on your stomach until last night."
"Technically it's on my pelvic region close to the mons pubis, but I truly thought you already knew it was me in the photograph."
Jane shrugged.
Maura stepped close to her lover and wrapped her arms around Jane's thin waist, pulling their hips together and looking up to meet her eyes. "You're the only one who'll see it from now on."
"The photo or your tattoo?" Jane raised an eyebrow and settled her hands on Maura's hips.
"The photo. I do see the gynecologist regularly and I could hardly hide my tattoo from her, considering its location."
Jane narrowed her eyes. "Fine. You're off the hook, but only because of a technicality."
Maura chuckled. "Nobody else though, I promise."
"Mhm, just me," Jane murmured in agreement as she leaned down to kiss Maura's neck. "Come shower with me."
The sensation of Jane's lips on her neck made Maura weak in the knees and she couldn't hold back her moan. "Mmm, I already showered though," she protested, but still tilted her head to expose her neck further.
"Just put your hair up, babe," Jane countered softly as she continued kissing Maura's neck and brought her left hand around to cup Maura's breast.
"Babe?" Maura repeated, but didn't pull away to meet dark eyes.
"Just what kinda came out. That okay?" Jane asked with uncertainty.
"I like it. You've used terms of endearment before toward me, but only a few times have you used 'babe' and that was only because of the ruse in front of Giovanni."
Jane resumed kissing her lover's neck, but between a kiss murmured, "I secretly enjoyed having to do that."
"Me too," came the quiet confession.
"Should've done this years ago. Now come shower with me."
"Well, I suppose we do have some time…"
"Yeah, so come show me the tattoo nobody else gets to see again."
"Except my gynecologist."
"Yeah yeah, don't ruin it for me." Jane slid both hands to her lover's hips and hooked her thumbs on the stretchy lace fabric to start pushing it down. Then she moved to the other side of Maura's neck and began placing kisses there instead.
Immediately Maura tilted her head in the opposite direction and pushed her underwear down far enough for gravity to do the rest. "Not too long though," she said as she stepped out of her underwear. "I'd prefer not to be late to work."
Jane pulled back and reached behind Maura's back to unhook her bra. She flung the bra to the side and took her lover's hands before she began to walk backwards. "Oh don't worry. We won't be, but the world won't end if we are. It's just a paperwork day for both of us."
"I never thought I'd see the day when I would actually be okay with that," Maura said, stepping forward to follow Jane.
"Never thought we'd get to this point, but here we are, about to shower together." Jane let go of Maura's hands and turned around to keep walking.
"Will you wash my back?" Maura asked seductively as she entered the bathroom just behind Jane.
"I'll wash anything you want me to." Jane looked at Maura in the bathroom mirror as she lifted her white tank top over her head, dropped it to the floor, and pushed her underwear down her hips and legs before stepping out of it.
"Oh I'd love for you to do some of my laundry too."
"Nice try, but no." Jane turned around to face Maura directly. "I don't even do my own most of the time. You insist on doing it for me."
"Perhaps we should change that."
Jane cleared her throat and blushed slightly as she quietly said, "I'd go down on you every day if it meant not having to do laundry."
Maura slowly licked her lips and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. "That could be an acceptable exchange. We'll see."
With a knowing smile, Jane said, "Never gonna have to do laundry again."