Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot.
Four years! Four damned long years and Angela was tired of waiting. All the covert glances. All the little touches. All the sleepovers. All the breakfasts. All the…. Everything! These girls were made for each other, even a blind man could see it and Angela was far from blind. All that she had to do was make THEM see it too; her stubborn, independent, brilliant and totally oblivious girls. And that was exactly what she intended to do! Yes, she was meddling, she knew that but that's what mums do and they'd thank her in the end. However, it was proving to be more difficult than she had anticipated, nothing she had done to get them together had worked and she was running out of ideas. Then the heat wave hit!
It was hot, unbearably hot. Boston had never had a summer like it and Angela was about ready to try anything to keep cool. Anything at all she thought as she passed herb-land and saw their 'Ask how we can help you stay cool' sign. Inside the store, the manager was very helpful and recommended she try the sweat tea from their tea shop. He claimed the spices in it would boost the function of her sweat glands; "a key element in the body's natural cooling system, however" he warned, "the tea could also have other, more primal effects on the body." Angela swept his warnings aside certain that all that aphrodisiac stuff was just gobbledygook. She was wrong! An hour or so later, she felt good, more than good and was gripped by an all consuming hunger which no food could ever hope to sate. Yes this was it she realised. This was the way she'd get the girls together, after a mug of this tea, all their hesitancy would vanish and they would finally consummate their far from platonic friendship.
Angela bounded from her bed early the next day feeling young and alive and ready to put her plan into practice; nothing could stop her from getting what she wanted. Maura had already left to go running with Jane and there wasn't much time. Throwing on the first outfit she could find, she dashed to the tea shop before heading to Jane's apartment; three large sweat teas in hand. She'd not been stood on Jane's stoop for long before she saw the girls running toward her, if running was the right word for their heat exhausted shuffle. When they reached her, she offered them the tea, trying to sell it to them just as the manager at herb-land had sold it to her. Obviously she had needed to leave out some of the details, if they knew what was in it, they'd never drink it. Angela thought her sales pitch was beginning to work, when her master plan was foiled by the stereo sound of two ringing cell phones. "Rizzoli. Isles." she mimicked in the background, frustration making her irritable.
That night she re-evaluated her plan and decided that divide and conquer might be more effective and so decided to focus on the more adventurous of her girls. The one who could easily be convinced to try new things, especially if they claimed to have health benefits. The one that could persuade the other to do anything at all. Maura!
The teashop server was pleased to see Angela for the third day in a row. This tea must really be working for her, and for an older woman she certainly has some fizz he thought as he brewed two more large servings. Angela managed to catch Maura on the steps to BPD as she arrived for work and she tried, once again, to get her to drink the tea. This time, it was Korsak who foiled her master plan, drawing her attention and distracting her with those emerald green eyes (damn this tea!); giving Maura time to pour the tea down the drain. Would she never catch a break? She thought and, refusing to be beaten, went back to the drawing board.
Throughout the next day, Angela's attempts to peddle her tea proved fruitless and as the afternoon progressed, she abandoned the attempt and focussed on the romantic plans she had for herself with herb-land's manager. (Maybe this tea wasn't so bad after all!) The scheme could wait one more night she thought as she returned to the guesthouse to prepare for her date. On her way to the Dirty Robber, Angela stopped off at the tea shop for a top-up.
As she sashayed into the bar, she spotted her girls; where else would they be at 7.30pm on a work night, but alone together in a bar!? At that moment they spotted her, their jaws dropping to the ground. Yep, that was the response she was looking for; hopefully her date would react the same way! But as the girls just happened to be there and she just happened to have some tea leftover, it would be rude to ignore the opportunity fate had so graciously provided her. Especially now that Maura, her brilliant, genius Maura had discovered the tea's special ingredient! Maybe, if she left them to it, their curiosity would prevail and her scheme would finally succeed! And so with a wink she invited them to try it, before being swept off by the tea shop manager.
Once Angela had left, Maura's curiosity was indeed piqued and holding her breath so as not to smell the tea's pungent aroma she took a large gulp of the spicy liquid."Caliente" she proclaimed with a shimmy that sent shivers down Jane's spine, then offered Jane the cup. Jane was more cautious than Maura had been and pushed the tea away with a self conscious giggle. No way was she drinking THAT! "Try it" Maura encouraged, "it's not that bad really." Tentatively, Jane retrieved the cup, just as the barkeeper reached out to take it. He glared at her, outside drinks were not permitted in the bar, but the detective and her friends were loyal, regular customers, so he turned a blind eye, just this once.
"Really Maur? Should I?" She asked, still uncertain. She'd seen the effect the tea had had on everyone who had drank it, including the dog!
"Yes, do it. One sip isn't going to have that much of an effect." Maura reassured her and so she too took a long draft, finishing the remaining tea. She didn't know what she expected to happen. This wasn't Hogwarts, with its magical love potions, but she was secretly disappointed when she felt no change.
"What's supposed to happen?" Jane asked.
"I don't know. The effects of Aji Charapita and all so called aphrodisiacs have never been conclusively proven, although there are copious anecdotal accounts of their efficacy, quite possibly resulting from a placebo effect." Maura reassured her.
Back at Maura's Beacon Hill home, the two women settled down on the couch to watch TV and eat the pizza they had bought for dinner, the intense heat having less effect on Jane's appetite than her mood.
"Maur, did you turn the aircon on" she whined giving Maura her best puppy dog eyes, certain that she wouldn't be able to resist granting her request.
Maura sighed and replied with a simple "no". The truth was, she didn't want Jane to cool down. She liked hot and sweaty Jane, the way the moisture made her tanned olive skin glimmer was more intoxicating than the strongest liquor and Maura craved to see it. To touch it. To taste it. The desire she had always felt for her bestfriend, ever since that infamous first meeting was becoming overwhelming and her reasons for denying that need seemed tissue thin. It was Jane, her Jane, nothing could break the bond that existed between them.
Moving closer to Jane, she slowly began unbuttoning her shirt, intensely watching Jane's response and the unmistakable signs of arousal emanating from her every pore. Apparently, Jane liked what she saw. Maura finished removing her shirt and then, spurred on by the look of desire shining from Jane's eyes, she reached out to pull Jane's t-shirt over her head. In silence, the two women gazed at each other; both afraid the spell connecting them would shatter if either looked away. Tentatively Maura reached out and purposefully dragged a finger across Jane's slick collarbone, before slowly chasing an errant bead down her chest and across the swell of her breast to the band of her simple white bra where it lay between small but perfectly formed mounds. Looking up once more she caught Jane's eyes in her intense gaze as she nonchalantly raised her sweat drenched finger. Mesmerised, Jane watched as she slipped it seductively between her soft full lips.
"Mmmmm" she moaned, her voice deep and low. "You should consider cutting down your sodium intake, Jane"
"Yeah? And why's that Doctor Smartypants?" Jane asked quietly, trying to force her breaking voice back into her trademark sarcastic tone.
"Because, it makes your sweat taste salty" Maura languidly zigzagged her finger up Jane's chest, drenching it in Jane's sweat once more as she spoke. Reaching Jane's throat, she drew back, offering the finger for Jane to taste. "See" She said, her entire body focused on Jane's lips and tongue caressing her finger. Reluctantly, she pulled her finger from Jane and pushed her hair aside, offering up her neck for Jane's examination. "Whereas, my sweat tastes sweeter" She purred, barely able to speak as Jane eagerly sucked upon the proffered flesh.
"Mmmmm, Doctor, I believe you may be right, you definitely taste sweeter than me, there." She placed her hand onto Maura's shoulder and pushed her backwards. "But that was not a fair test. To be sure I need to taste the sweat from your chest." She delicately skimmed the tip of her tongue up the length of Maura's chest, mimicking Maura's earlier movements upon her own as Maura shuddered beneath her, her head back and eyes closed, lost in the moment. Jane had never seen a more erotic sight, than that of her friend reclined on her sofa, her hair and skin damp with sweat, shuddering with desire at her touch. "I think it's bedtime" she whispered huskily into Maura's ear who nodded her ascent "I don't think we'll be needing the aircon after all".
The following morning, Angela let herself into the main house and looked around; the trail of abandoned clothing littering the floor confirmed that her plan had indeed, finally been a success. With a satisfied grin upon her face, she closed the door and returned to the guesthouse.