Disclaimer: All recognizable Rizzoli & Isles characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners including, but not limited to Janet Tamaro, TNT or Tess Gerritsen. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this fan fiction story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No financial gain is associated with the publishing of this story. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note: Without giving it away, I'd like to say that this won't be the end of the Senses series. A recap: 1) Scent, 2) Touch, 3) Sound, 4) Sight and now 5) Taste. I am indebted to you for keeping me going on this. It has been a great way to get back to writing (not just fanfic, of course). With the announcement that season 7 will be the end of Rizzoli & Isles, I feel a certain degree of sadness. While I had read fanfiction going back to the early days of The X-Files, it was this show that pushed me into writing and sharing stories. I'll never be the same. With this beautiful and flawed show have come all of you that have been so kind to me. I truly can't thank you all enough. xo -dkc
Taste
The team had agreed a break from the case, the case that had not only torn them away from their lives for several days, but had put a halt to the progression of whatever had been happening between Jane and Maura that had included seeing one another naked, kissing and wandering hands.
A break would do them good, they had all agreed. Migrating to the Dirty Robber as the night wore on, Jane had texted Maura to join them. Frost, Korsak, both Rizzolis and the aforementioned medical examiner sat around a table attempting to decompress.
"When will Homeland be here?" the doctor asked.
Jane, who, like Frost, was only drinking coffee nodded to the beer-drinking Korsak for explanation.
He looked at his watch. "Nine hours."
"Jane and I are going back to the station to look over phone records one more time before they get here," Frost added.
Their usual waitress approached the table with a shot glass on a tray.
"This is from the gentleman in the corner," she gestured toward a smiling man. "For you, Dr. Isles."
Frankie, already a few beers in laughed out loud, seemingly privy to an inside joke of sorts.
"Why don't assholes like that get that it is rude to send a woman, a clearly not interested woman, a drink while she is surrounded by friends?" Jane barked.
"At the very least they could send a better drink," Maura said as she sniffed what appeared to be silver tequila. "I've never consumed a straight shot of tequila in my life."
Jane's head whipped around toward the woman.
"How is that possible?" she was actually shocked.
"Why this salt shaker?" Maura's question was met by amused smiles around the table.
Picking up the salt, Jane's eyes caught Maura's and the brash cop took that opportunity to offer the demonstration of licking her own hand between thumb and forefinger. Hazel eyes watched closely.
"You lick your hand like this," she showed the glistening spot on her hand before dumping salt there. "You put it in your mouth, throw back the shot and then bite down on the lime before the taste of the tequila can do its damage."
"Where do I put the lime?" the intrigued and somewhat flirtatious doctor asked. Jane answered by placing the lime between the tips of her finger and thumb.
"Give it a try."
While Jane's eyes were still on her own, Maura grasped the detective's wrist and surprised everyone including its owner by pulling the hand to her mouth, licking the salt off it, downing the burning liquid and then biting the lime held there near the salt.
Jane was floored. A mixture of surprise and arousal were written on her reddening face.
"Well..." she rasped. "That wasn't quite what I had in mind."
Grinning, Maura's eyes left Jane's to look to the corner where the dumbstruck man sat. She offered a slight wave of thanks and didn't wait to see if he picked his jaw up off the floor.
...
Detective Frost didn't offer to walk Jane back to the precinct knowing that his partner would rather take her time walking the doctor to her car. After the little show the two put on with the tequila, it was as evident now as it had ever been that something was happening between the two women.
"Goodnight, Dr. Isles," he smiled at her and began the walk toward BPD.
Frankie and Korsak were heading home for sleep. They had been awake the longest and it had been decided that they would take the next shift once their counterparts at Homeland were on scene. While it was fair, Jane was suddenly wishing she were going home. Correction: Going home with Maura.
"Will you be able to sleep soon?" Maura asked.
"Soon as they take the case," Jane took her friend's hand as they walked toward the Prius.
"You don't know that they will," Maura leaned into Jane and placed her other hand on the detective's forearm. It was as if they had behaved like this every day of their lives and nothing was out of the ordinary.
"This whole case leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
"I'll be glad when it's over, however selfishly," Maura dimples were on display.
"Oh, yeah?" Jane smirked, her voice dropping in response to the subtlety.
They had reached the Prius and were leaning against the car, facing one another with their hands still linked.
"Jane..." Maura didn't know how to proceed. She knew how she wanted to, but there was far too much they hadn't talked about to know how to go forward.
"Tell me something, Dr. Isles," Jane drawled.
"Anything."
"Do your lips taste like tequila?" the question took Maura's breath.
The question didn't hang in the air for long. Shifting her weight to her toes, Maura pressed her lips to Jane's. It was a firm kiss, but didn't immediately progress. She was surprised when Jane seemed to lose patience and deepened the kiss. Tongues tangled and lips burned from the hard contact.
"You can breathe, Jane," Maura chuckled as their lips parted, though her own nerves made the laugh louder than she had intended.
"You make it very hard," the detective's voice was hoarse.
"I should let you get back to work."
Neither woman could tear their eyes away, never mind their bodies.
"Maur…" Jane looked down to their linked hands and the way they stood so closely.
The doctor leaned forward and pressed a gentle, understanding kiss to her friend's cheek. She spoke, her tone serious, though completely tender: "Call me when you're done? The time doesn't matter, just call."
The hours would tick by terribly slowly.
…
Maura received a text from Jane at around 7:30 the next morning telling her that Homeland Security had arrived and the investigation was officially no longer the being lead by the Boston Police Department. It was both a relief and a frustration.
An invitation to come over needn't be spoken; Jane was on her way.
The doctor was dressed and drinking coffee in the kitchen when the detective arrived.
"You look terrible," she said matter-of-factly by way of greeting.
"Gee, thanks. You really know how to make a girl feel good, Maur," her sarcasm was weighed down by exhaustion.
Maura went about getting Jane a cup of coffee, watching out the corner of the eye as her friend sat down at the island and rubbed her face.
"Here."
Taking the coffee, Jane offered Maura a smile. That was enough to cause butterflies in the doctor's stomach. The memory of the kiss the night before flooded had an immediate affect on Maura.
"Oh, God," Jane muttered. "This is perfect."
A raised eyebrow was the only response Maura gave, expertly interpreted by the woman sitting across the counter from her.
"I've had so much of that swill at the precinct, I nearly forgot how good real coffee could be."
Jane seemed to have lost herself in that single mug of coffee. She hadn't noticed the woman making her way around the island and was therefore surprised to feel fingers running through her messy hair. The raven waves were hard for even the patient Maura to get through.
"It tastes a bit nutty. Acidic, but less than the stuff I've been drinking. A touch of chocolate?" Jane's voice dipped as she leaned back into the standing woman. "Yes, chocolate. Smoothe. Are these the beans your mother brought you from that market in Kona?"
Maura was still separating strands of Jane's hair, but had moved to the sides so the seated detective could lean against her chest.
"Very good, Jane," she softened her voice. "You have an excellent palate."
Reaching up to take delicate hands, Jane brought the doctor's arms around her shoulders, holding firm to the place where forearms met.
"I'm sure there is a great comeback here—some clever innuendo—but, I'm too tired to get there," Jane sighed.
Maura tightened her arms, hugging Jane, before pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
"I made the bed already. Feel free to mess it up after you shower. Get some sleep and text me after you wake up," it came out far more bossy than she had intended. "I mean, if you want."
At this Jane offered a wry laugh.
"Yes, Doctor."
Disappointingly, Maura let go of Jane and went in search of her keys and purse. She had her hand on the door and was turning to say goodbye when Jane caught her by complete surprise.
Knowing exactly how to be just as coy as her best friend, Jane spoke: "What do I get if I do as you instruct?"
"What do you want?" Maura said with the very innuendo that Jane hadn't been able to find.
"I..." Jane couldn't think of a single way to stall or deflect.
"Have a good day, Jane."
Maura left the house chuckling.
…
After a long, hot shower, Jane found herself standing at the foot of Maura's bed. Long gone were the days of Jane utilizing the guestroom. Looking back, she couldn't remember when that had changed. Maybe it had because when they were at her apartment they shared a bed anyway. She couldn't be sure. Why she was thinking about this now, she had no idea. She was too tired for history.
Crawling into the doctor's plush bed, she found herself nodding off almost immediately. She didn't fight it.
Woken by something she was dreaming, she looked at the bedside clock and saw that it was nearing lunchtime. She felt somewhat rested, though the thought of going back to sleep had crossed her mind briefly. Reaching for her phone, she tapped out a brief message to Maura.
4 hours sleep never felt so good.
She watched the screen of her phone until the three little dots signaling Maura typing stopped and a new message appeared.
4 more would be ideal. Maybe a long, hot tub? I'd suggest other ways to unwind, but I wouldn't want to make you blush. ;-)
Jane blushed anyway. She didn't need Maura to paint her a picture. In fact, the image in her mind was at hand and certainly included her best friend. She struggled to come up with a response and her phone chimed before she could.
I'd be willing to help, it read.
Jane was now flushed. How did Maura have such power over her?
Don't test me, Jane's hands were shaking as she typed out the characters. Where would this lead? she thought.
When there was no response, she couldn't help but think she'd gone too far. But hadn't it been Maura who had begun this particular line of thought? In the last few months much had changed between them and one of those things seemed to be that they were not talking as openly with one another as usual. Perhaps that was because when either of them had been at this stage with one of their many suitors, they'd had each other to talk to about it. How they talked to each other about their feelings for and in connection to one another, whether they be positive or the near negative juggernaut of fear, seemed to be an obstacle to be overcome.
The phone chimed and startled Jane out of her worry.
Getting through the rest of this day will be the test. :-)
Jane could relax. She smiled and fell back into the bed. It wasn't long before she was no longer so lost in her mind that she could notice the hints of Maura's perfume engulfing her. The bed that had been the M.E.'s refuge was now a fascination of Jane's. Somehow her mind traveled to the thought of her friend in this bed doing very naughty things.
The thought of Maura with another was painful and distasteful. The thought of being in this bed with Maura, doing things that were explicitly not sleeping, came into her mind.
She wanted to taste her skin. She wanted to know if after a long day of work there would be a salty flavor at her pulse points. When she closed her eyes she could see the doctor's naked body in front of her. She was the most beautiful human being Jane had ever seen. The image retained of Maura in the nude was the greatest gift, a gift she could call forward at moments like this.
Fuck.
Jane knew her body and mind well enough to know where these thoughts would lead and she wasn't about to go down that road in Maura's bed.
Not without Maura.
She forced herself out of the bed that brought such glorious memories to her mind and went to the shower. This time a quite different temperature than the one she'd had that morning.
…
The last thing Maura expected when she arrived home from work was to find Jane in her kitchen cooking dinner. When she had left she hardly expected Jane to stay there despite being told like Frankie, Frost and Korsak to take the day off. Jane rarely took a day off when told to and even more rare was her doing so while Maura was working. Even with the mandatory day off, it was surprising that Jane had stayed at Maura's all day.
"You look rested," Maura said as she walked in and put down her purse. "And it smells divine in here."
Jane came around from the stove with a wooden spoon in hand, holding it out for the doctor.
"Taste."
The doctor did as she was told, her face lighting up.
"That is delicious!" she was truly surprised, not because Jane wasn't a great cook, but because she knew it wasn't Angela's marinara recipe.
"I didn't expect to find you here when I got home," Maura followed Jane toward the stove and cozied up behind her as she was stirring the sauce.
"How could I be anywhere else?" Jane nearly purred, her body reacting instantaneously to the doctor's body pressed up against her back.
"You look like you got some much needed sleep," Maura's arms wrapped around Jane's muscular abdomen. "I'm glad."
As Jane turned off the stove, her breath caught. Maura's hands were no longer still.
"This will be better warm, Miss Isles," Jane rasped.
"Cheeky."
And as quickly as the movement began, the woman released Jane and walked away. She busied herself with plates and wine, almost as if nothing had happened and as of they hadn't just alluded to having sex. Jane on the other hand was clearly rattled.
"Mmm..." Maura was now focused on the wine. "This red is delicious. Have you tried?"
When Jane came close, shaking her head, Maura held out her glass. Jane looked at the glass and then looked at red lips. There was no comparison. She leaned in and pressed her lips to Maura's, clearly surprising the M.E.
It was when Jane felt Maura's lips part that the kiss became foretelling. A curious and greedy tongue slipped past, lightly brushing the tongue within. It was teasing as much as anything. It was over before the recipient could really respond. She was left with eyes closed, lips still partially open and the acknowledgment of what had transpired beginning to color her cheeks.
"It tastes slightly acidic, yet rich and deep."
Eyes opened to reveal expanding pupils.
How would they ever get through dinner?
To be continued…