It's official. I work too much. BUT…this chapter is super long so I like to think that that makes up for my slow posting time.

Chapter 35

Jane sprawled out on the queen sized bed she shared with her girlfriend. With her head dangling off the end of it and her feet amongst the pillows she watched – upside down - as Maura moved around the room putting away laundry and straightening things up while humming softly to herself. She knew she should get up and help but she loved watching the dancer move around the room. Toned legs were bare for her eyes to roam up and down, her amazing ass was just barely covered by a pair of light pink cotton shorts, a sliver of her abs were tempting her as they peak out from between her shorts and her white tank top, strong yet delicate arms opened and closed dresser drawers – she loved Maura's arms – but not as much as she loved her breasts. Her favorite part of Maura's body was straining against the tight top as she moved about the room.

'She's so delicious.' Jane thought to herself.

Maura moved out of her line of sight and just as Jane was above to turn her head to find her, upside down Maura appeared right in front of her.

The dancer pressed a soft kiss to the brunette's lips – careful to avoid bumping chins and noses before asking, "Are you on call this weekend?"

Jane didn't want to answer the other woman's question. Not when she could kiss her again. She tangled her fingers in honey blonde hair and brought their lips together again. 'We need to try this upside down kissing thing more often.' She decided by herself. When she pulled away she answered, "Just so happens that I am not. What's up?"

Maura ignored her question with a question of her own, "Do you think that you could get Friday off as well?"

"Probably…" The detective stretched out the word in a curious tone.

"Well," Maura sat on the bed next to her. Jane slid her body up so that her head was no longer hanging off the end of the bed. She propped her head up on her forearm so that she could see her girlfriend, "I was hoping that we could go somewhere for our anniversary. Maybe find a B&B not far from here or do some kind of stay-cation at the hotel downtown."

Anniversary. Right! How the hell could it have slipped her mind? "I think that's a fantastic idea!" Jane smiled.

"Do you have a preference about where we go?" Maura asked.

Jane sat up and slipped her arms around Maura's waist. She leaned in and nibbled on the smaller woman's ear, "I don't care as long as it is somewhere where I can have you naked and all to myself."

"That's easily arranged." Maura laughed, "I will take care of everything then. I've already got something good in mind."

"Fantastic!" Jane exclaimed, "Now about naked and all to myself – can I get that right now too?"

The dancer pulled her tank top over her head and threw it on the floor, "Once again, easily arranged!"

"What's eatin' you Rizzoli?" Max asked as she poured a beer behind the bar.

"Huh?" Jane was off in her own little world and barely caught on to the fact that the older woman had sad something.

"I said, 'What's eatin' you?' You've been out of it all night." Max set the last beer on the tray in front of her and sent it off with the waitress.

"It's our anniversary this weekend – I almost completely forgot about it which makes me feel like an asshole. Have you ever been so happy with someone that you have no sense of time? That it just feels like you've been together forever and the number of weeks and months don't matter?" Jane asked.

"No." Max said almost instantly. "I never felt that with either of my ex-husbands. You're a lucky girl! And if you're so happy then what's the problem?"

"I have no idea what to get her! She's planning this whole weekend getaway or stay-cation thing for us but I don't have a clue what I am going to get her." Jane whined.

"Have you thought about proposing?" Max asked simply.

Jane's heart stopped at the question. "Is it awful of me to say that even though I am really as happy as I just said that I am that I am not ready for that yet? I have no doubt in my mind that she's the one that I want to spend the rest of my life with but actually proposing right now doesn't feel right. We have talked about it a little bit – financially we're not in a place to make it happen, she's so busy with school and work, and we both know what a cluster fuck my job can be! The stress of planning a wedding right now would just be too much."

"If it's not the time then it is not the time." Max told her. "There isn't anything wrong with that; the fact that both of you know that and that you're on the same page about it is a good thing."

"Yeah." Jane sighed. She turned to look at her girlfriend dancing on stage. She never thought that she could feel a love this strong.

Max smiled as she watched the bouncer watch the dancer, "Just find her something that says how much she means to you, how much you love her. We both know that that is one thing that she has never had in her life until you. You'll figure it out."

"What should I pack?" Jane asked early Friday morning as she climbed out of bed.

The dancer stretched as she watched her barely dressed girlfriend cross to their closet. "I have already taken care of it." She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and reached her hands towards the other woman. Jane crossed back to her; threading their fingers together for a moment as she stood between the seated woman's legs. "We just have to be at the airport in an hour and a half."

"Where are we going?" Jane asked. The detective had had to restrain herself from asking Maura that question all week.

Maura remained silent; not quite ready to give up the surprise.

"Please?" The brunette asked again as she leaned closer. "Please?" She asked again when Maura didn't say anything. She pressed her lips to the honey blonde's in a sweet kiss. The dancer was so focused on the lips against hers that she didn't notice when the pair of hands slipped from her shoulders to her hips. "Please?" Jane asked again just before she tightened her grips on the flesh beneath her fingers and tickled the other woman mercilessly.

"Jane! Stop!" Maura shrieked.

"Not until you tell me!" Jane said as she continued her tickling assault.

"Stop! Please!" the dancer laughed, "It's a surprise!"

Jane did not relent, "I'm going to find out in an hour anyway so you might as well tell me now!"

The tickling continued until Maura gave in, "Alright, fine! Fine! Let me up and I will show you!"

The brunette let her up but kept close to the other woman in case she was trying to trick her and get away. Maura was true to her word though. She crawled up to her side of the bed and opened the bedside table. She extracted something and handed it to her girlfriend.

"We're going to Martha's Vineyard?!" Jane exclaimed looking at the plane tickets in her hand.

Maura beamed at Jane's excitement, "I booked us a private cottage on the beach. We just have to stop for food when we get there but everything else is provided. We have it until Monday morning."

"This is going to be so amazing. I am so excited to spend the weekend away with you – nobody else, no distractions, just you." The brunette smiled.

"I love you." Maura told her.

"I love you more."

"This place is amazing!" Jane exclaimed as she walked through the door to the cottage.

The flight had gone smoothly; just a quick half hour flight south. They picked up a rental car and headed to the grocery store to stock up on food for the weekend before steering the car towards their rented home.

"The pictures don't do it justice!" Maura agreed.

The downstairs consisted of a living room, kitchen, dining nook and half bath. The living room was to the left with a couch, armchair and coffee table all facing a fireplace. The kitchen and dining nook were to the right. Tucked away opposite the front door was a small staircase that lead to a loft bedroom and full bath.

"I'm going to see what upstairs looks like!" Jane said bolting towards the stairs.

Maura chuckled at her girlfriend's enthusiasm as she started to put away the groceries.

"Babe you've to the see the size of this tub! It's massive!" Jane called from the top of the stairs.

The dancer responded, "Just a second!"

It was silent for a moment before Jane called down again, "Maura get up here!"

"Hang on!"

"No really! You have to see this!" The brunette insisted.

Maura took another moment to make sure that all frozen or refrigerated items were stored properly. The dry goods could wait. She grabbed their suitcases and took them upstairs with her.

"Where are you?" Maura asked as she hit the landing and found that her girlfriend was nowhere to be seen.

"Out here!"

The honey blonde turned and followed the sound of her girlfriend's voice. She found the taller woman outside on a balcony that spanned the side of the house from one end to the other. There was a small fire pit surrounded by lounge chairs at one end. Jane was leaning against the railing and looking out over the ocean ahead of her.

"It's so beautiful out here!" Jane smiled.

Maura returned her smile, "Yes it is." The dancer crossed to stand behind her girlfriend. She wrapped her arms around her waist and stretched up on her tiptoes to look at the water over Jane's shoulder. She pressed a kiss to her neck in the process.

"I am not usually one for mornings but I can only imagine what the sunrise looks like here." The detective said.

"Well," Maura grinned, her tone playful, "I guess I might just have to keep you up all night so that you can find out."

Jane turned in the embrace and wrapped her arms around the smaller woman's shoulders, "I have a very important question for you Ms. Isles."

"Yes?" Maura inquired.

The brunette leaned down so she could whisper in her ear, "Which part of the house would you like to be taken in first?"

They spent the rest of Friday settling in and ended the evening with a long walk on the beach. When Jane woke up Saturday morning she was disappointed to wake up to cold sheets rather than her girlfriend's warm naked body. Looking around the room she deduced that the honey blonde wasn't in the bathroom. She crawled out of bed and slowly made her way downstairs only to find the lower level empty as well. What she did find was a note attached to the coffee pot. She smiled to herself as she picked it up – Maura knew that this would be the first thing that she did upon waking up alone. She read,

Went for a run. Love you! –M

Jane decided to go about making breakfast. She found that Maura had prepped the coffee pot and all she needed to do was turn it on. She was about to pull eggs and bacon from the fridge when the front door opened.

"Hey babe!" She called out to the honey blonde.

"Hey!" Maura smiled, still slightly out of breath.

Jane turned and grinned at her sweaty girlfriend, "How was your run?"

"It was good," Maura told her, "I thought about waking you up to come with me but you looked so peaceful I decided to let you sleep."

"I appreciate that." The brunette smiled. "I was just about to start breakfast. I figured you'd be hungry."

"You figured right." The dancer began to tug on the bottom of Jane's t-shirt, "but how about this…how about you come upstairs and take a shower with me and when we're done, together we make breakfast – or lunch depending on what time I finally let you back down here?"

Jane grinned, "Lead the way!"

A few hours later the couple decided to have a picnic lunch out on the beach. Jane's arms were piled with towels, chairs and an umbrella that they found in the hall closet while Maura carried the picnic basket.

"How about right here?" Maura finally asked as they reached a smooth section of sand.

"Sure, fine, whatever. I don't care at this point." Jane huffed with her arms full of equipment. She dumped it at her feet careful not to hit her own toes.

"I could've carried something else, you know." Maura said as she put down the basket.

Jane didn't respond but went about placing the chairs and umbrellas in the sand. Maura spread out the towels in front of the chairs and set out their lunch. The brunette was about to dig into the food when Maura held out a bottle of sunscreen.

"Will you do my back?"

Jane grinned and took the bottle, "Would I ever say no to rubbing something all over you?"

The dancer chuckled and lay down on her stomach on one of the towels. Jane worked slowly as she spread the lotion across her girlfriend's pale shoulders. She would occasionally press a kiss to a section of her skin before the massaged the lotion onto it. She found the Maura would moan whenever she started working on certain places of her back. The brunette was now finding it every hard to control herself.

Maura could feel Jane begin to toy with the tie that was holding her bikini together at the middle of her back, "Behave yourself." She said with a chuckle.

Jane asked defiantly, "What if I don't want to?"

The honey blonde managed to roll over onto her back while Jane was still straddling her hips. "Then I guess we will just have to go back inside won't we?"

"Oh come on, Maur," the brunette leaned down and nuzzled their noses together; "The next closest beach house is like a mile from here."

"You don't know…" she was unable to finish her sentence as Jane connected their mouths together. She was able to slip her tongue into Maura's mouth with little resistance.

The dancer was panting loudly when Jane relinquished her lips and began to travel down her neck. She nipped and sucked her way down Maura's pale throat and nibbled along her collarbone. Before Maura knew what was happening, the brunette pulled her bikini top to the side and latched on to one of the hard nipples she had just exposed.

"Jane!" Maura exclaimed. She was slightly surprised by her girlfriend's actions and felt as though she needed to do something to me her stop – the middle of a beach was not the place for something like this – but she couldn't find the will power to push the other woman away.

While Jane licked and sucked at Maura's left breast, her fingers massaged and tugged on her right. The brunette then managed to slip her unoccupied hand between their bodies and traced the folds between Maura's legs. Her finger never dipped beneath the fabric of her bikini bottoms.

The dancer gasped, "Oh, Jane!"

The brunette continued her actions along the three areas of Maura's body. Her mouth and hand alternated between breasts while the hand between her legs only stimulated her over the fabric. Maura dug her fingernails of her right hand into Jane's scalp while the other clawed at her back and shoulders. The dancer let out a strangled cry as she fell over the edge. Jane grinned as she sat back. She allowed the other woman's breathing to slow before kissing her sweetly. She picked up the bottle of sunscreen and flipped the cap open,

"Now, want me to do your front?"

They spent the remainder of the afternoon on the shore. Jane was horrified when she found out that her girlfriend had never built a sand castle and insisted on going back to the house to find supplies to aid in their construction of one. They laughed as they chased each other through the sand and splashed each other with the waves.

The day came to an end faster than either of them realized. Soon the sky was dark and they found themselves wrapped together in bed after hours of exploring each other's bodies.

"Can we just stay here forever?" Jane asked. Her voice was heavy; she was obviously on the verge of falling asleep.

"I don't think that forever is an option but we do have all day tomorrow." Maura smiled from her place on Jane's chest.

The brunette yawned, "Oh, alright."

Maura kissed the skin beneath her lips, "Goodnight babe."

Morning broke and when the two women rose they decided to explore what the island had to offer. They spent the afternoon exploring small shops and art stores. They stopped for lunch at a little shack that claimed to have the best seafood on the island. The sun was just beginning to set when Jane pulled the car into the grocery store parking lot.

"What are we here for?" Maura asked as Jane put the car in park.

"You stay here." Jane told her, "I am just going to pick up something for dessert."

"Does it involve some type of syrup that I get to lick off your body?" Maura asked with a sly smile.

Jane grinned, "Hmmm…maybe I will make that dessert part two." She kissed Maura quickly, "I will be right back."

The detective was very secretive about her dessert purchase. She didn't allow her girlfriend to get anywhere near that paper bag which stored her surprise. After dinner she left Maura on the couch with a glass of wine and told her to stay there until she was called. The dancer was thinking of all sorts of scenarios that Jane could be putting into place upstairs. Finally she heard Jane behind her,

"Care to join me upstairs?"

Maura turned to see that Jane was still dressed in the same cut off jean shorts and hoodie that she had been all day. She gave no hints as to what she had been up to on the second floor of the house. The dancer simply rose and took Jane's hand before she was lead upstairs. She had half expected a room full of candles and a bed full of rose petals but what she received as a fire in the fire pit on the balcony next to a lounge chair and a small table that held the ingredients for smores.

"I thought we could do a little star gazing tonight." Jane smiled.

Maura returned her grin, "I love it! What are we using to roast the marshmallows?"

"An old Rizzoli trick," Jane said as she picked up a long piece of metal. Upon further examination, Maura realized that Jane had untwisted two wire coat hangers and straightened them into roasting sticks. "You first," the brunette said as she handed her girlfriend a marshmallow.

Maura sat between Jane's legs and leaned against her chest as they both sat on the lounge chair. They giggled together as Jane told stories of she and her brothers making smores together as kids. Frankie had managed to set the living room rug and a bush in the backyard on fire while attempting to put out flaming marshmallows. Jane listened intently as Maura pointed out the constellations and shared what she knew about them.

The plate of dessert was almost half gone when Jane excused herself into the house. She came back a moment later but instead of reclaiming her seat behind the dancer she perched herself on the chair's edge.

"I love you so much." She began.

The honey blonde smiled, "I love you too." She could tell that her girlfriend had more to say but she took a moment to kiss her before she let her continue.

"I know that we have talked about how we should wait to get engaged and I still feel that we should. I don't want either of us to be super stressed out while planning it and I want to have enough money to give you the wedding of your dreams."

Maura nodded, "I still feel the same way."

"Good." Jane smiled, "But…everything that happened on Max's birthday a few weeks ago got me thinking." She paused for a moment. Maura could tell that she was trying to figure out how to phrase what she wanted to say by the way she was chewing on her lip, "I realized that there isn't anything that sort of symbolizes that we are together – nothing that a stranger could look at say, 'They're a couple.' And while I know we don't really need that, I know that we are devoted to each other no matter what." Maura nodded her head in agreement, "I just thought that it might be nice…so…"

Jane pulled a small velvet box from her pocket. Maura's eyes were instantly wet when she opened it to reveal what was inside, "I want to give you this promise ring as a symbol of my love for you. I promise that I will always be by your side no matter what. I promise that my love for you will never falter. And I promise that one day I will make an honest woman out of you and officially ask you to spend the rest of your life with me."

Maura couldn't form words as Jane slipped the ring onto the ring finger of her right hand. She crawled into Jane's lap and kissed her passionately. She could only hope that her lips were still telling Jane all that she wanted to say but with her actions instead of her words. Silent tears were running down her pale cheeks when the kiss finally ended.

"I'm sorry," Maura said as Jane reached up to wipe her tears away, "I just never thought that I would ever find someone to love the way that I love you."

"I know baby." Jane whispered.

The honey blonde wrapped her arms around Jane's neck and pressed their foreheads together, "I will never be able to truly tell you how much you mean to me Jane - how much you have changed my life - but the fact that you are willing to give me the chance to try to show you that everyday means the world to me. I love you so much."

Jane kissed her softly, "I love you too. This past year has been the best year of my life."

"Mine too." Maura said, "I could never imagine my life without you. The fact that I lived to find you amazes me every day."

"Well you will never have to know what life is like without me." Jane assured her as she tightened her grip on the smaller woman's waist.

"Can I take you inside and show you how much I love you?" Maura asked while her fingers toyed with the strings on Jane's hoodie.

The brunette's face split into a wide grin, "How could a girl ever say 'no' to that?"

First of all…I hope you liked it and I would love to hear your thoughts. Second of all…I'm going to beat you to it and tell you that there won't be a wedding in this story. There most likely won't be an official engagement in this story because to me that's not necessarily what I want it to be about. Hate to burst your bubble if that's what you wanted but I will do my best to give you anything else you want if you shoot me a message or a review!