A/N: This chapter picks up from the end of the first chapter...
"You're going to relax. No more control. Let me take care of you." This, Maura realised, was what she had been craving. Ever since she'd met Jane, all she could think about doing was controlling her. Sexually, that was. In all her previous relationships, Maura had never been able to fully express her desires, her wants, her needs. Every person was different of course, but they always walked away from the doctor when she got too dominant.
Jane, however, didn't. She had yet to show the taller woman just how serious and dominant she could be, but that one night, where she introduced the handcuffs to the bedroom and blew Jane's mind - that night was absolutely amazing and Maura was thankful that Jane seemed to enjoy it just as much as she did.
It allowed Maura to relax more into their relationship, to give even more of herself to Jane. To fantasize about all the ways in which she would please her, make her beg, scream, and writhe for her, knowing that there was a very real possibility that she could live these fantasies out.
She sat up in the bed, "Jane, come with me." She gently took the detectives hand in her own and stood from the bed, not giving Jane much of an option to argue. "I think it's time I showed you something."
Out of all the words Jane would use to describe Maura, cryptic was not one of them, yet, somehow now, that's exactly how she would describe her. She had picked up on the tone in the smaller womans voice and matched it perfectly to the tone she had a few weeks ago. She shuddered in anticipation, knowing that whatever Maura was showing her would lead to a very happy ending.
She took note of where Maura was leading her and frowned. She'd been in the large town home many many times over the span of knowing Maura, and had often wandered around knowing she was welcome. There was only one room in the whole house that she had never seen. She guessed, she had never been welcome in there.
Maura stopped outside the door. "You're finally gonna tell me what's behind there?" Jane questioned, amusement lacing her voice. "Please don't tell me it's another yoga room. I know how much you love it and how relaxing it is for you but I ju-"
"It's not a yoga room, Jane" Maura interrupted, smirking up at her girlfriend. "I need you to keep and open mind when you walk through this door Jane. You asked me a few days ago if I was holding back on you," It was true. Jane had stopped by Maura's on her way to her Frankie's house a few days ago.
As she walked through the house, Maura was on her laptop. Figuring she was busy shopping for shoes, Jane walked up behind her and wrapped Maura in a loving embrace. Only, Maura, not hearing Jane's entrance, jumped, closed her laptop screen in a millisecond and berated Jane for scaring her. Jane had been confused, rightly so, and after a brief discussion, asked what Maura was looking at that she didn't want Jane seeing.
At this, Maura had become quiet and retreated to the other side of the kitchen counter, not answering Jane's question. Jane had then asked if Maura was holding something back from her. She'd had no choice but to admit that she was, but explained her inability to share what it was. Until now of course.
"Um, yeah..." As seemed to be a running theme when she was around the genius, Jane was confused.
"Well I want to show you what that something is now..." She pulled a key from one of her pockets and put it in the lock to the door. "Just know that I love you Jane, and this... I really hope you can accept this."
With that she pushed open the door and walked inside, flipping a light switch on her way. She stopped in the middle of the room and turned to look at Jane. Her stomach dropped at the sight. Jane looked horrified.
Taking a slow look around, the brunette didn't quite know what to make of this room. Decorated in a dark deep purple and black, the room looked fairly simple - well, until she really took in the accessories that lined the room.
Covering the left wall were a large range of things she could only describe as torture devices. Whips, canes, floggers, all of varying sizes. Ball gags, harnesses, collars, all made of leather. The middle wall was empty, spare for a large king size bed that was placed in the middle of it. The bed seemed normal, until she noticed metal hooks and chains at the corners.
The right wall was lined with what looked like scaffolding pipes. Black metal and leather formed a sort of swing that she expected was used to restrain someone in explicit positions. Next to that was a metal bench with a leather padded cushioned seat. Attached to that were thick handcuffs, ankle cuffs, and a spreader bar.
The fourth wall, where she was standing, was accompanied with dark wood dressers and wardrobes. When she looked closer, she could see what was placed on top of the dresser to her left. Clamps and blindfolds. She closed her eyes and titled her head back, only to open them and gasp once more.
The ceiling was covered in black metal bars; the bars supported ropes; the end of the ropes held even more cuffs. This was... God, this was all just too much. What the fuck.
And then realisation dawned on her. The spanking, the dirty talk, the obsessive need for control in the bedroom. Maura. She enjoyed this. She had this room especially built because she enjoyed it so much. Holy fucking shit.
"Jane?" Maura tried, feeling stupid of herself for bringing Jane in here. The one person she loved, who loved her back. Well she hoped she still loved her back. "Jane, I need you to talk to me." She pleaded.
"Shit, Maura." She finally made eye contact and regretted it immediately. Maura looked terrified, and Jane was sure, she had the same look on her face. "Maura, is this... Do you... ummm... Ok, I really don't even know what to say."
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought you in here." She looked down, and Jane was sure she had never seen Maura look so ashamed, so close to tears. "Please, let's just forget about this."
"Oh, sure. Forget that my best friend, my girlfriend, has this secret sex room in her house. Yeah that should be easy enough." She scoffed, realising that her tell was showing - the edge in her jokes.
"Oh, God. I'm sorry Jane, please, can we -"
"What even is this?" The Italian cut in, walking further into the room, over to the left wall that held the majority of equipment in here. She picked up one of the objects, turning around to present it to Maura, awaiting an explanation.
Maura was caught off guard, stumbling through her words. "That's a flogger, Jane." She looked to the detective, hoping that would be enough.
"Ok, and what um, how do you, I mean, like what does it do?" She tried. Maura could tell that she looked genuinely interested, though she held back her opinion on that.
"What does it do?" Maura repeated the question, not sure how to answer, knowing her tendency to rattle of information that, in this case, could scare Jane away completely.
"Like, what does it achieve? Doesn't it hurt?" The taller woman tried again, not taking her gaze off of the flogger in her hands, running her fingers through the leather strips.
"Well, I guess it depends on how a person uses it, and for what reason." Trying not to get off track, Maura continued, "When it's used in a sexual setting, the aim is to cause a little pain, yes, but the main objective is to control it just so, that pleasure can be achieved." Maura finished, her voice trailing off ever so slightly, as she pictured using it on Jane. It wasn't hard considering Jane was playing with it right now.
She didn't want to admit it, but Jane was curious - and a little turned on by the look that Maura was giving her. She internally berated herself. She was not into this, just 5 minutes ago she was ready to run out the door, far away from floggers and pain. Now, she wasn't sure why, but she wanted to know more.
She was brought out of her internal musings by the feel of her girlfriend taking the flogger from her hands and placing it back in it's rightful spot. Once it was hung, she turned from Jane and walked towards the door. "Come on." She said as she exited.
They made their way to the living room, Maura stopping briefly in the kitchen to grab a beer and a glass of wine, before sitting on the couch. They sat silently for a few minutes, both processing everything that had just transpired.
Maura broke the silence, "You're still here." She sounded almost shocked.
"I'm still here." Jane confirmed, not really sure of what to say. Her head was filled with questions, but there was one that was overtaking them all. "Why have you never told me about this?"
"Jane, you looked terrified in there. Everyone that I have ever shown that room to has either ran out the door within the first few seconds, or eventually left after a couple of months. I... I really don't want that to be you. I'm not sure how I could handle you leaving." One of the things Jane loved about her girlfriend was her honesty, though it made her vulnerable, it also made her a great friend, and an even better girlfriend.
"Maura, I... I'm not leaving." She shocked herself with her words. She wasn't sure how she was going to approach this whole subject, but she knew one thing for sure, she loved Maura, was in love with her, she could never leave. No matter what.
For her part, Maura also looked shocked. Her eyes started watering and her breathing became somewhat laboured. No one had ever stayed.
"I just have some questions... a lot of questions actually." Jane explained and before she could get anything else out, Maura was hugging her so tight that she was sure her shoulder was about to dislocate.
"Okay. Okay. You can ask me anything, Jane. Just... God... Thank you for staying." She cried into the crook of the tanned neck. Needing to feel close. They stayed like that for a while, just holding each other. After a while, Jane yawned, and Maura looked up, noticing the dark circles under her eyes. Maura felt guilty for putting this on her when she was already so stressed.
"I'm going to call Cavanaugh and get us some time off. I'm sure it won't be a problem considering our near perfect attendances anyway. You go on ahead to bed, I'll meet you in there." Maura got up from the couch and went into the kitchen to make the call. If she was being honest, she'd just wanted to put some distance between the two of them to give them both time to process alone.
She knew that tomorrow would be spent in possibly very awkward conversation, and answering the most personal questions. But in the end, she didn't mind. She was kind of looking forward to it because it was Jane asking the questions. Jane. Because she hadn't run. Maura smiled to herself as she entered the bedroom, got under the covers and drifted off in the arms of her girlfriend.