WARNING - Slight change of rate for this chapter, it's semi-M rated (a M-, somehow); thank you very much for all your reviews and messages, I really appreciate them.

Chapter Twenty-One

"Maura!"

Jane's voice rose so loudly that it caused Maura to jump and spill some of her drink on her in the process. Her hazel eyes widened as she stared at Jane as if her friend had lost her mind. Jane had literally yelled after her as if a terrible menace had been floating above her head. But she was at home - they were at home - and everything was going just fine.

"What?! Are you crazy?"

Jane made a step towards Maura. She pointed the glass Maura was holding. Her traits were deep and her lips were pursed. She looked concerned and quite angry.

"You're drinking whisky?! Do I have to remind you that you're pregnant? This has little to do with your glass of wine. This is strong alcohol! It's dangerous for Little M. C'mon, have you lost your mind? What's happened to you?"

Maura observed her glass. It was 7pm and Jane could have been right because everyone had a drink at 7pm in the Isles universe. Or at least her mother did. Yet reality was very different this time.

"This isn't whisky, Jane. This is organic apple juice." Maura had to admit that her drink looked just as dark – amber – as whisky. But there was nothing to worry about here. She held her glass out for Jane to check it by herself. "Here."

Jane grabbed the glass but her traits had already softened up. As a matter of fact, she felt a bit stupid right now. She took a sip of the drink nonetheless before bowing her head shamefully. She had freaked out. The moment she had walked into the kitchen and she had seen Maura drink an amber beverage, her world had collapsed.

"Oh. Then why using a whisky glass? Or a Cognac glass? Or whatever alcohol it's named after..." Jane went to give the glass back to Maura but Maura shook her head and she checked the damage caused by Jane's outburst instead. Jane set the glass down on the kitchen counter before grabbing Maura by the wrist. "No, let me do."

"Because it was at reached, Jane. That's why. I was... I was thirsty and most of the other glasses are in the dishwasher."

Jane's lips brushed Maura's inner forearm. The tip of her tongue slid on her friend's skin as she licked the drop of apple juice Maura had accidentally spilled while jumping of surprise.

Jane's dark eyes looked into Maura's hazel ones with a mischievous intensity that caused Maura to giggle. She didn't need to ask Jane what she had in mind. It was all too clear.

"I thought you were hungry." Maura let Jane do. She even made a step closer and she tilted her head to offer a better angle of her neck to Jane's lips. She smirked. "Aren't you anymore?"

"I think I can wait a little." Jane kissed Maura's neck. Softly. Suggestively. She then looked into her friend's eyes anew. "Am I done or I've missed another drop of apple juice?"

Jane's hoarse voice had turned husky, and lower. Maura bit her lower lip. She took a deep breath and let her latent arousal pass underneath her skin. She had not planned on making love right now but she could easily bring changes to the list of tasks she had had in mind for the evening. This wasn't a problem at all. On the contrary.

"There. There's some too."

Without breaking eye-contact with Jane, Maura showed the pale inches of skin between her breasts. Of course, it wasn't true. She hadn't spilled her drink on her chest but the occasion was too perfect to be missed.

"Oh, I see."

Their playful interaction was very unusual for they never really gave into such kind of scenario. They simply kissed or began to caress each other most of the times and it resulted enough for both to understand what was supposed to happen next. Maura didn't mind this shift into their intimate habits but it nonetheless stirred up a wave of timidity within herself. Against all expectations. She didn't really understand her very own reaction.

Her uncertainties vanished in the air the moment Jane's tongue slid between her breasts. She leaned her head backwards – arched her back – then sank a hand into Jane's dark curls in order to pull her closer to her body. For the very first time since she had come back home from work, Maura noticed how strongly the wind was blowing. Closing her eyes pushed her to focus on her other senses and the mere sound around her seemed to suddenly explode into her ears.

"Come with me..."

Maura grabbed Jane by the hand. They could have stayed in the kitchen – or they could have even moved to the couch – but Angela was in the guesthouse and the last thing Maura wanted was Jane's mother to walk in on them. Maura would not accept any interruption. Jane had started a tantalizing game: she better finished it.

Furtive kisses and delicate caresses led them to the master bedroom. Before Maura had time to realize it, she was lying down on the bed while deepening their kiss with authority. She rolled on her side then she slid a leg between Jane's.

Maura may feel uncomfortable because of her rounded stomach, her movements were still quite fluid. Lying face down was rather challenging but she still managed to find an improbable angle whenever she wanted to have control of the situation. Jane adapted to the position with easiness and – very often – with eagerness as well. Just like now.

As their kisses became longer and the fast beats of their hearts echoed the frenzy of their hands going up and down each other's body, Maura found a way to take Jane's top off. The gesture made Maura sigh into Jane's mouth and she couldn't help smiling in their kiss as she felt her friend's shivering skin under her fingertips. Breathless, Maura abandoned Jane's lips rather reluctantly and she decided to focus on the rest of her body. Things were going quite fast for something that hadn't even been planned.

They matched. The first time Maura and Jane had had sex, it was exactly the conclusion Maura had drawn: she and Jane matched. They not only got along in real life but them being sexual partners was just as good as the rest. It worked out naturally. Easily.

They hadn't been together for three months yet but Maura could say that she now was able to confirm the first feeling she had had. A sweet routine of some sort had wrapped them up but she and Jane still matched in bed.

It was still intense. And sweet. And rough, when they both needed it. They didn't even need to speak up to tell each other about what they wanted, what kind of desires they had. They simply guessed it.

Like now.

Maura sat up on Jane. She had unhooked her friend's bra and Jane's breasts now appeared free in front of her eyes. Maura subconsciously licked her lips as she looked at them. She planted a soft kiss on one of them before sitting up again. She took her shirt off and she got rid of her bra as well. She wanted to feel Jane's skin against hers. She wanted to feed herself of her friend's body heat, and to feel her shiver under her touch.

Under the tip of her tongue, and under her fingertips.

Maura and Jane were quite sexually active but then they were still in the honeymoon phase. They were so much in it actually that nobody knew for them outside a bunch of people.

Sometimes Maura feared that Jane may mistake her sexual drive but Maura simply wanted to take advantage of it because she knew that it wouldn't last. The last month of her pregnancy may push her to slow down and once her daughter would be born then she and Jane would focus on the newborn for a while. It wouldn't be the same anymore. Besides, the novelty of their relationship was exciting too. They needed this intimacy, as if to catch back on time and missed opportunities.

Maura captured Jane's lips anew, with eagerness. She bit Jane's lower lip and slid her tongue over it until Jane opened her mouth and she allowed Maura to deepen their kiss. The moment their respective tongues brushed, Maura shivered. She always did when it happened. The degree of intimacy the gesture owned drove her on the edge almost just as much as a caress.

She unbuttoned Jane's jeans before starting the exploration of her friend's body with her lips. She kissed Jane's breasts – felt her firm, aroused nipples under her tongue – while her hand played with the soft skin of her pelvis. By the time Maura reached Jane's lower stomach, she knew that it was time to be a lot more direct. She could feel it. She could sense it. In Jane's breathing, in the way she kept on arching her body.

Thus Maura helped Jane take her jeans off. The boxers she was wearing slid down her thin legs and caressed her olive skin with the same sensuality Maura showed in her kisses.

Maura undressed completely too.

A couple of kisses on Jane's inner thighs led Maura directly to what she had been thinking all along. She was panting – just like Jane – and foreplay were starting to lose their appeal. Maura wanted to step up her game. Right now.

She went straight for Jane's hot and wet flesh. Sometimes she liked teasing her friend in order to drive her on the edge but neither of them needed it tonight. Perhaps the unusual little scenario they had played in the kitchen had aroused them a lot more than they had imagined it to. Whatever it was, Maura only found relief in the way Jane arched her back the moment the tip of her tongue made contact with her sensitive body.

Maura liked having control. She liked dominating her partner. She found it to be extremely arousing to feel someone's orgasm build under her touch. She liked caressing her partner's thighs – and brush their aroused breasts – just to drive them even crazier. There was something satisfying about it. Satisfying and exciting.

With Jane, she liked resting a hand on top of her lower stomach. She didn't prevent her from arching her back. On the contrary. Maura simply felt the intensity of her friend's feelings a lot more with her hand pressed there, so close to her pelvis. Sometimes she just wished she could pass underneath Jane's skin. Then they would become one and something extraordinary would rise from it.

Something powerful like the unyelding love she had for Jane, the one that made her heart beat so quickly. The one she was addicted to. Her feelings may have taken her by surprise, Maura didn't regret any of the things she was now living.