See Author's Note (Chapter One)

She smiles but holds me close. "Too early to get up," she answers. So we stay in bed two more hours kissing and snuggling.

Jane's POV

After a two hour cuddling session of kissing and hugging, we had to get up. Not only was my stomach growling, but we needed to buy some food for our stay. So we walked along the shore holding hands, heading towards a little market.

I love being connected to her.

I saw her struggling this morning and I know she is feeling insecure.

But I don't think it's me she is uncertain about. I don't sense she doubts my feelings for her or my honesty. I can feel it when she looks at me, when she touches me. I believe this goes deeper under her skin. I think she is afraid – afraid of what might happen.

Maybe she is anxious about what might occur when our family and friends will find out or about where all of this will lead.

I know it's still new, but if it makes her feel more secure, I would drop down on one knee and ask her to marry me.

Yeah, okay that's ultra sappy and sooo gay. But, hey, if that means I get Dr. Maura Isles exclusively for the rest of my life, I'm willing to be whatever they might call me.

Okay, I am not going to marry her right away, but definitely in the near future. I don't want to freak her, but I want to make sure she knows that I'm really serious about us.

So after our breakfast, I excused myself and headed out of the café in search of a present. I needed to hurry 'cause I didn't want to get her curious. I found her present much easier than I thought.

I remembered something about colors that my mother rambled about some time ago. I didn't even realize I listened to her, but I remembered as soon as my eye caught the perfect thing. I really hoped she likes it.

After we had stowed away our groceries, we shared a small lunch and walked along the shore down to the sea.

I left her present waiting on her pillow on the bed.

Of course, when we were as far as possible from the house, it began to drizzle. We raced back down the beach, but by the time we reached the patio, we were drenched. I convinced her to go upstairs and shower while I made a fire and built a nice bed with blankets and cushions on the floor. Then I headed upstairs myself.

As I cracked open the bedroom door, Maura sat on the edge of the mattress, her face streaming with tears. She held the box to her chest with her right hand and clutched the card in her left. It broke my heart to see her crying even though there was a little shy smile on her lips. She must have sensed me and looked up. In a heartbeat, she was in my arms.

"I love you. I don't know what to say… except for thank you," she whispered in my ear.

I kissed her slowly. "Well, there wasn't enough time to get it ready but I want you to have it now – not in a week. I want you to know that you don't have to worry about my loyalty and my honesty for you. So we need to take them to a jeweler so they can be connected."

She pulled me tighter to her. "I love you. I love you, too with my heart and my soul," she whispers over and over.

That is what I wrote in the card. 'With my heart and my soul' and that's exactly what her present is – a silver necklace with a heart-shaped pendant and a heart-shaped stone in the middle. Her birthstone – peridot.

I also purchased two tiny butterflies, the symbol for the soul. The female assistant at the jeweler suggested I choose two distinctly different butterflies.

The one representing me is a simple silver butterfly with diamonds – my birthstone. The other, also in silver, has wings full of gemstones – garnet, the birthstone for January.

Sometimes it's useful to have a nagging mother. She once rambled for an entire hour about birthstones and zodiac signs after noticing that Maura's light green dress was a perfect match to her birthstone.

"There is a warm and spacious shower waiting for us," Maura whispered.

As we made our way into the bathroom, discarded clothes created a trail behind us on the floor. She switched on the shower and pulled me in. I pushed her under the spray and turned Maura around. The water was cascading through her hair, over her shoulders and down her back.

Our bodies were flush together. I ran my hands through Maura's hair and reached for the shampoo. I washed her hair slowly and lovingly rinsed. Then I squirted shower gel in my hands and foamed it up.

I started at Maura's neck, rubbing my fingers and dragging my nails down the ivory skin – over her shoulders, down her back and then when reaching her butt, I kneeled. While I soaped her thighs, calves and shins, I gently kissed her buttocks. When I stood again, I lightly sucked the spot below Maura's ear while caressing the toned belly and tenderly massaging her firm breasts.

Goose bumps followed one after another on Maura's skin. She pressed herself hard against me and her hands wrapped around to grip my bottom.

"I'm afraid we can't shower together on workdays," Maura whispered.

"Who are you and what did you with Dr. Maura 'serenity' Isles?"

She turned in my arms. "She's still there, somewhere. But you… with you I lose the very last vestiges of any self-control I had."

Maura ran her fingers down my arms and held my hands, taking her time to kiss them gently all over. No one else could pay so much attention to my sensitive hands with me simultaneously staying so calm. But more than that, I absolutely loved it. Then Maura mirrored all the moves she received from me before. After we warmed up and before the water ran cold, we dried each other off with fluffy white towels, only dressing in underwear and robes.

While Maura dried her hair, I ordered food. Then I grabbed a bottle of wine and two glasses, arranged the recently arrived food onto plates and placed everything around the improvised bed. I took off my robe, then waited for Maura with only the gleam of the fire dimly lighting the area.

I heard her steps on the stairs and then she appeared, sitting down between my spread legs. She wore nothing but a low-cut front-close bra with crossed straps on the back and lace-trimmed cheeky panties.

Jesus.

I grabbed her hips and pulled her towards me – her legs over mine until the back of her knees touched my thighs.

We fed each other our dishes and some fruit I also ordered. We stayed in our position, just a small space between us and slowly sipped our wine.

I don't understand why she chose me, but I'll be damned if I complained.

With the tips of my fingers, I stroked strands of hair out of her face and then traced the path from behind her ears to her jaw. I touched every inch in her face, slowly. I stroked down her neck, over her shoulders, her collarbones, down to her chest. I touched all of her tiny freckles.

*"Voglia," I whispered.

"What?"

"Voglia, that's the name for them. It means wish or desire," I whispered back. "That's actually not correct. They are called *lentiggini. But when I was little, my Nonna explained that for every wish you made, a freckle would appear on your skin. I think she used the Italian word for birthmarks to make her story believable. She also told why I have my belly button. She said that as God created me, he tapped me there, to mark me as being finished."

Maura chuckled and I prepared myself for the scientific explanation that never came. She just smiled and touched my navel.

"That is the sweetest explanation I have ever heard. Sometimes I wish I could have grown up normal."

Her words broke my heart… just like every time she tells me about her childhood. I don't know the details, but she always seems so sad. I continued my tender loving caresses and shared more of my grandma's tales with her.

"You know at sunset on cold days when the sky is red, like it is on fire? She told me that happens 'cause the angels are baking cookies."

We locked our eyes as both of us constantly touched the other.

"When a bell rings an angel earns his wings." I leaned forward and pecked her lips slowly.

"Do you know how Nonna explained a thunderstorm?"

Maura smiled while she shook her head slightly.

"She told us that the clouds are siblings and sometimes they fight, like we do. Thunder is the sound they make while they shove each other and the lightning flashes are just the sun shining through when they push apart." I watched her relaxed face.

"I know that's really stupid, but it helped."

Maura cupped my face with both hands. "That's not stupid. Knowing what really happens doesn't make it any less frightening. Please tell me more. I love seeing the world through your eyes."

I pulled her closer, no more distance between us.

"The best story she ever shared with us was about advent candles. Every year while we decorated her house and set-up the Christmas-tree, she would explain that each candle is one piece of the human race.

One night on Christmas Eve, a long time before humans began to count years, it was deadly silent in a shanty in Jerusalem.

In every corner was a lit candle – four altogether. It was so silent you could hear the candles whisper.

The first candle sighed. 'I am peace, but humans don't want me. They fight about anything.' So her light slowly died.

The second candle flickered. 'My name is faith, but I am needless. No one wants to believe in me or God. There is no need for me to hold on.' A small breath erased the light.

Sadly the third candle whispered. 'I am love and I don't have the strength left to pretend. People set me aside all the time. They only see themselves and forget about the ones that should be loved.' With a last flicker she died, too.

The small child sleeping in the room woke and started to cry bitterly. 'You should be burning, you should be burning.'

The fourth candle started to shine brighter than all the others put together and whispered.

'My name is hope and as long as I burn, we can light all the others again.'

The child smiled heartily, clasping onto hope and lighting peace, faith and love again."

I reached up to stroke her tears away with my thumbs.

"I didn't mean to make you cry."

Maura shook her head. "I'm not sad. I'm just so happy that you share your memories with me. You so rarely let anyone close to you. Sometimes it's just overwhelming to feel the soul underneath."

*Voglia - birthmark *lentiggini - freckles

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