Down But Not Out

Chapter 8

Christene's attention was riveted by the chaotic interactions happening in front of her. Mr. Rizzoli was placidly consuming his dinner as his ranting wife, arms wildly akimbo, paced behind him. Jane, arguing with Angela, was standing near her brother Tommy who was filling his plate for the second time. The other brother was juggling pieces of broken ceramic, assuring his mother that it could be put back together 'like new'.

"Is it…always like this?" She asked Maura in a diminutive voice.

"Tonight's rather calm." Exhaling, the ME said, "It'll settle down in a few minutes. I'm sorry I didn't…warn you. I hope you know-"

Christene grinned, her hand coming to rest on the blonde's arm. "Not everyone understands OCD. I get it."

"Jesus Christ, Ma! It's not like it was from the Ming Dynasty." She groaned, hands on hips.

"Your Uncle Roscoe gave that to me on my wedding day!"

Snorting, her daughter crossed her arms over her chest. "Yeah, from the boardwalk in Jersey Shore! I'll go buy you another one!"

"And she'll get yah a back-up. You know…just in case!" Frankie chimed in. When his mother pinned him with a scowl, he carefully set the pieces on the china cabinet.

"Aw, Christene! What you must think of us! We didn't mean nothin' by it." Angela gushed, coming up to her. "I'm so sorry about your OPP-"

"OCD." Jane retorted, taking her seat. Out of habit, she lightly slapped Tommy on the back of his head.

"Damn, Janie. I'm eatin' here!" He muttered, elbowing her in the shoulder.

"Learn to chew with your mouth closed then, damnit."

The ME retook her seat. "I think it's safe to sit down now, Christene."

Maura's nerves were frayed, not from the familial outburst but because of her best friend's apparent change in sexual preference. Jane's behavior appalled and aroused her. Incapable of controlling her body's response, the doctor in her was lecturing, spewing cold facts that bounced off the simmering heat of her desire. The woman in her wanted desperately to drag her friend off somewhere in private and see just how long Jane could last. Pulled in two directions, Maura resisted dominance of either side. Further complicating matters was Christene, albeit, innocently in the middle.

Everyone was finally seated and plates were being passed around again. Angela carried the conversation, steering clear of earlier topics and providing a steady stream of noise. When Jane passed her friend the bowl of pasta, their fingers met. She took the opportunity to lean in, their cheeks brushing as the brunette's lips made their way through a wave of scented honey strands, hovering over the delicate shape of Maura's outer ear.

"I'm sorry. I'll apologize to Christene later."

Jane's warm breath stirred the tendrils around her ear causing them to skip across the sensitive skin of her throat. Helplessly, she canted forward, driven by an irrepressible need to touch, to invite further exploration.

"We really need to be alone, Maura." Jane said, placing the lightest of kisses against her neck.

The ME exhaled and turned her face away. The intimacy of their closeness didn't go unnoticed.

When Maura had invited her out, Christene was a little astounded, not expecting much. The medical examiner was elegant, beautiful, and intelligent, the kind of woman that belonged at a White House benefit or attended a fundraiser at the Rockefeller family complex. However daunting to be on a date with such a paragon, Christene couldn't have passed up the prospect. She hadn't factored in Jane, wasn't even aware she entered into the equation at all. Until tonight. Irrefutably the detective was acting like a suitor, jolting given the belief around the precinct that she was heterosexual. The obstacles were mounting and the officer felt her confidence wane.

It was time to begin eating. Christene tried to refocus her attention but the overwhelming tide flooded her anyway. There were two portions of food on her plate, carefully positioned not to overlap. Cringing, Christene stood up, and hoped. No one paid her any undue attention. Jane's mother asked whether she wanted more wine, her face only showing friendliness. Maura quickly squeezed her fingers then set the bowl of pasta down on the table. Relaxing, Christene began eating her eggplant parmesan, relief like a warm blanket in the winter.

Anxious now that the evening was coming to a close, Jane excused herself to get the dessert wine. Safely tucked away in the kitchen, she located the corkscrew and opened the last two bottles of wine.

As she reached up in the cabinet to pluck a clean wine glass from the shelf, Maura entered. "Jane."

The glass jiggled in the brunette's hand. "Jesus, Maur!"

Jane leaned against the counter, one hand resting on the edge. Her best friend took a step closer. Their eyes locked and the bottom of Jane's stomach simply fell, hurtling downward as the blonde closed the distance between them.

"Maur…?"

"We're alone." She said, breathless and eager, licking her bottom lip.

Without hesitation, Jane threaded her long fingers through her best friend's silky hair and pulled her close, their lips brushing. "Yes." She breathed just before capturing Maura's pliant lips in a bruising kiss. Her free hand clasped the side of the blonde's face, her thumb skating across the bottom of her chin. Maura's arms wrapped around her slim waist, fists filled with material, pressing against her lower back. Their mouths opened, angled, tongues stroking in wet heat. She pushed Jane's shirt up, whimpering when her fingers made contact with smooth skin. Jane groaned, arching her back. Every molecule in her strained to press against Maura, to lose herself. She never imagined a kiss could so thoroughly undo her, the taste and feel of it spurring to test the boundaries inherently respected in her mother's house. Mindless, her hands had a will of their own, roaming down her best friend's front. When Jane's palms cradled Maura's firm breasts, the blonde, moaning, pulled back, eyes closed with a hand over her mouth.

Eyes glazed, lips red and swollen, the detective braced herself against the counter once more, panting.

"Holy shit!" Frankie gasped like a ten year old girl, immediately blocking the door. "You guys kissed!"

Jane was set to brazen it out but the ME's mortified expression and blushing skin prevented the ruse. Ever adaptable, she angrily muttered, "Shut the fuck up."

Recovered, her brother grinned. "Me? You want me to shut the fuck up, Janie? I aint the one kissin' my best friend with her date in the other room! Yeah, I don't think-ooooffff!"

Maura took that instant to bolt, pushing past Frankie who instantly restrained his sister from running after her friend.

"Hey, hey, hey…easy, Jane." His voice was infinitely kind. "Calm down a little. We already embarrassed Christene. You goin' in there…like this…not so good, eh?"

"Shit, Frankie, I don't know what I'm doin'. I was gettin' the wine, then Maura came in…and I just lost it." She raked an unsteady hand through the tangles in her hair.

"So…?"

Frowning, Jane rubbed her eyes. "So, what?"

"Does this mean I can have all your dresses now? I've been dyin' to try on-"

"You are an ass." Jane laughed, punching him in the arm then pulling him into a tight embrace. "I love you."

Brother and sister bumped shoulders then gathered up the wine bottles and more glasses. When they returned to the dining room it was only to discover Maura and her date had brusquely departed. Anger and hurt welled within Jane.

"They had to…leave." Angela explained, ineffective, throwing her hands in the air. "I dunno what the problem was. Maura was upset and had to leave. She said to tell you she's sorry."

"Damnit!" She hissed. "I gotta take off, Ma."

Ignoring their protests, Jane wrenched open the door.

The drive over to Maura's didn't take long, especially since the detective disregarded a few traffic lights. She pulled into a vacant space across and up the street from her house. A dark colored two door Ford was stationed in front. Jane gripped the steering wheel, the pounding in her chest echoing in her ears. The thought that Christene was likely staying for a nightcap was like a stab in her heart. A deep and uncompromising need to see her best friend buffeted her. It wasn't exactly appropriate for her to be present, Jane knew. Calmer heads would prevail in the morning was an idiom she despised, however much it was apropos.

It took precisely thirty-seven minutes for Christene to exit Maura's home. She didn't linger under the porch light which Jane took to be a positive sign. Once the other woman left, the taillights no longer visible, she rushed across the street and up the front steps, knocking on her best friend's door.

When Maura promptly opened it, her face showing wariness, words started spilling from Jane's mouth.

"Why did you leave, Maura?"

Without a word, she bade the brunette to enter, locking the door behind them.

"What are you doing here?" The resentment wafted off the blonde like vapor from a hot road. Arms crossed, she stood in the foyer, a tactical position.

"You don't get to be angry, Maur! You just left! Without a word."

Trembling, the medical examiner seethed, "What did you expect me to do after that maneuver in the kitchen?"

Jane, her tone dangerously low, said, "'Maneuver'? Maneuver?!"

"The last time I checked you were straight."

Trying to regain a semblance of control, the detective took a few deep breaths before speaking. "Check again." The words were plaintive.

A flash of hunger darkened her green eyes then hastily vanished. "What am I supposed to say to that?" Pacing, Maura ran her fingers through her hair.

The conversation wasn't going exactly how the brunette envisioned. "You aren't supposed to say anything." Jane stood close, her hand suspended in the air over her friend's shoulder. "I'm…I want you, Maura. I want you."

"No. No you don't. Don't say that. You have no idea what you're saying."

Jane gently encased the smaller woman's shoulders, waiting for her to look up. When she did, her green eyes glistening with unshed tears, the brunette whispered, "Yes, I do, Maur. I want-"

"Just, stop it Jane! Please, I can't…it's too much."

Hesitant, the brunette backed away, stuffing her hands in the front pockets of her jeans. "Should I go?"

"I need…a minute. And a drink."

Jane released the apprehension she hadn't known she was holding. The relief was short-lived, however, when Maura stalked over to the liquor cabinet and withdrew the bourbon whiskey. She poured two fingers from a bottle of 1958 Glen Garioch into a crystal tumbler, knocked it back and repeated.

Impressed and a little worried, the brunette sat down on the sofa, tucking a leg under her. Maura, glass in hand, gracefully sat down in the chair across from the coffee table that separated them.

"So, you want me?"

Although her friend's speech was audible, a faint drag of certain words alerted Jane to the distinct possibility that Maura was on her way to inebriation. At dinner she had picked at her food and her wine glass was always full.

Very carefully, Jane stated, "We should save this conversation-"

"Really?" Maura lifted a brow then finished the rest of her third drink. "Oh, but you were so determined a minute ago, Jane."

"I don't think you're in any cond-"

With a swiftness that belied her ostensible condition, the blonde had moved to the couch, sitting close to her friend. "Was it permissible for you to bombard me all evening long while I was on a damn date? Where's your hubris now?"

"Hubris?! You're kiddin' me, right?" Narrowing her eyes, she continued, "It was all me? And my arrogance? I don't suppose you enjoyed it at all."

Recklessly, Maura inclined into the last inch of space keeping them apart. "Oh, Jane, I'm sure you could do better, if you put some thought into it."

Glaring, the detective allowed the silence to elongate as emotions roiled common sense. She was perilously close to pushing the proverbial envelope.

"You're pushing buttons."

Unconcerned, the blonde gracefully reclined, propping herself on an elbow and crossing her legs. Her eyes peered into tormented black ones, the air between them static and lanced with painful need. Very intentionally Maura rubbed a shin across her friend's knee.

"I haven't begun." The words were confident, a cool disdain sharpening their impact.

The enticing body position sent one signal to Jane and the clear scornful attitude sent a completely different one. Torn, she managed to swallow, drowning in the fascinating conflict.

"Am I to presume you want to take a 'vacation' into my lesbian world? Perhaps work off a little built up steam, try it on for the thrill of it?" When her friend merely blinked, Maura slid her calf along her shin. "Or maybe you just want to fuck me, Jane?"

The brunette caught herself, feeling the blow to her midsection caused by her friend's wholly sinful taunt. She fought the unerring urge to launch herself at Maura. Her body was primed to take action, to physically expunge the wild compulsions the blonde's choice of words generated.

"No witty comeback?" Maura lazily moved away. Looming over the shocked detective, she said, the words cutting, "It's time for you to leave, Jane."