Chapter 12: Sledding
Thursday, December 26
Maura could feel her consciousness trying to pull her awake, but she was having that dream again – one of her favorites. She willed herself to stay asleep to allow the dream to finish, to allow her to finish.
Jane's hand had a firm grip on Maura's left breast as she alternated between massaging her very full breast and twisting and pinching the taught nipple. Maura began to involuntarily push her hips back into Jane, who was spooning her from behind, seeking any kind of relief for the tension building in her core. She slowly moved her hips backward and forward hoping that dream Jane would take the hint and slide her other hand down past the waistline of Maura's sleep pants like she usually did.
This dream normally followed a set trajectory with Maura's own hands playing the role of Jane's in her dreams, but for some reason, this time, the dream wasn't progressing any further. Maura was growing more and more frustrated as dream Jane's hand continued to play with her breasts, working her body into a frenzy without providing any relief down below. However, Maura wasn't yet conscious enough to take matters into her own hands. She was so close, but she knew she wouldn't be able to reach the edge without some additional stimulation where she needed it most. Instead, in her dream, she heard herself groan, "Jannnneee."
The body freezing along her back was what finally woke her up. She instantly realized that real life had worked its way into her dreams. It actually had been Jane's hand on her breast, but before Jane could pull away completely, Maura trapped her hand still on her breast. She knew that Jane was awake now too, but she didn't want to make her any more uncomfortable than she already was by turning around. Instead, she resumed the massage on her own breast by guiding Jane's hand with her own. She felt Jane's breath hitch quietly behind her and was happy when Jane didn't try to pull back again. As she felt Jane relax back into her, she removed her hand from Jane's allowing Jane to continue her ministrations on her own. Maura reached for Jane's free hand with her own, pulling it up to graze along her abdomen. Jane's fingers grew surer and bolder the longer she played with Maura's breast, eventually switching to her right breast to give it similar attention. This switched caused Maura to let out a loud moan unexpectedly, which made Jane chuckle.
With her other hand running up and down Maura's stomach, Jane asked quietly, "What do you want?"
Trying to gather herself, Maura whimpered, "It's okay if you're not ready, Jane."
"I want this," Jane said. "I want to make you feel good. What do you want?"
Maura took the hand still on her stomach and guided it into her panties. "Touch me," she whispered. "Please touch me."
With more confidence than she actually felt, Jane moved her fingers down, passing through short, neat curls to reach Maura's clit. She started by circling her clit lightly, but it became evident very quickly that Maura needed and wanted more. Jane applied greater pressure to Maura's clit as she varied her movements trying to find what worked best for Maura. Quick pulses on her clit followed by a figure eight movement around her clit and back to her opening seemed to work Maura up the quickest.
"I'm so close," Maura whispered.
Jane surprised her by instantly inserting two long fingers into Maura, causing Maura to cry out in pleasure. Jane pumped her fingers in and out relentlessly as Maura's hips bucked uncontrollably. She made sure to hit Maura's clit on every thrust while timing these hits with squeezes to Maura's breast with her other hand. Maura continued to get louder with every movement, and it didn't take long for her body to freeze and then convulse around Jane's fingers. Jane continued moving and curling her fingers inside Maura to prolong her orgasm, finally withdrawing her hand when Maura collapsed back to the bed.
Jane kissed Maura's shoulder and neck, expecting her to eventually turn around once she had caught her breath, but she stayed facing away from Jane. Jane wrapped her arms around her girlfriend to hold her close and whispered, "Are you okay?"
Maura nodded but didn't say anything. Jane sat up and turned Maura so that she had to look at her. Noticing that Maura was fighting tears, Jane asked, "What's wrong, sweetie? Did I hurt you? I'm so sorry! I…I…I'm so so sorry. I thought you wanted…"
"Jane, no you didn't hurt me; not at all," Maura assured her through her tears.
"I was just that bad?" Jane asked horrified.
Maura let out a quick laugh. "God no. Jane, you were amazing. That was absolutely amazing," Maura said as she reached out to pull Jane back towards her. Once Jane was laying on her chest she added, "But you said you weren't ready. I never wanted to pressure you into anything you weren't ready for. I wanted us to take this step together when both of us were ready for it."
Jane pulled back slightly so that she could look Maura in the eyes but maintain as much physical contact as possible. "I did want this," Jane said. "Maura, I knew that if I needed to, I could have stopped at any time, and that, in itself, was enough. You would have told me if you wanted me to stop right?"
"Yes, I would have, but I wasn't concerned about taking this step," Maura said.
"I know," Jane told her. "I was scared, but maybe that's why my subconscious took control. I never intended for our first time together to start in a dream, but I think that's what happened for both of us. Am I right in thinking you were dreaming at first too?"
Maura nodded. "I've had similar dreams before," she admitted.
"Me too," Jane said. "But one of the main things I was worried about was over thinking it before we did decide to take that step. I was worried about messing up, I was worried about not being able to pleasure you, and I was…well, I was worried about a lot of things. Worrying about them right up to the actual moment probably would have just set me up for failure."
"Jane, as long as both of our intentions are good, as long as this is something that we both want, and as long as we always listen to each other, there is no failing. There will be times when one or both of us doesn't orgasm, but that doesn't mean we failed. Failing would be not stopping when the other person asks you to; failing would be using sex as a weapon, as a way to hurt the other person; failing would be taking advantage of the other person. The goal of sexual intercourse may be to orgasm, but the purpose is to be intimate with another person, to be close to them in a way you aren't with most other people – the purpose is to bewith the person you love."
"Damn it," Jane replied through her own tears. "You always know the right thing to say." Jane laid her head back down on Maura's chest and Maura began running her fingers through Jane's curls while they laid in silence for a while.
Neither woman was really sure what the other wanted to do next. Maura wanted to bring Jane the same level of pleasure that Jane had just brought her by making love to her, but she wanted Jane to indicate whether or not she was ready for that. Normally, she would ask directly, and eventually she would, but right now she didn't want to break the spell surrounding them.
Eventually, Jane spoke up. "We should probably wash up and get breakfast, but if it's okay with you, I'd like to pick this back up later today?" she asked uncertainly.
"I would love that," Maura said. "As long as you remain open and honest with me about what you are comfortable with."
"I will," Jane assured her. "But I also want to try new things with you – things I do want to try but may still be a bit uncomfortable with. I don't know if that makes sense."
"It does," Maura said. "I want to try new things with you, as well. Let's just promise to be open and honest about how we're feeling. As long as we communicate about everything, I think we'll be fine."
"I think we'll be great," Jane added.
"Well, if this morning has been any indication, I completely agree," Maura said.
They finally decided to get out of bed, but not before trading soft kisses and "I love yous."
It had snowed again overnight, and the fresh powdered snow looked so inviting out the back window.
"Do we have plans for today?" Jane asked Maura as they finished breakfast.
"Not really. Is there something you would like to do?" Maura replied.
Jane's eyes sparkled when she answered, "Let's go sledding! Fresh snow is the best for sledding."
Maura laughed. "That sounds fun, but I'm not sure if we have any sleds," she said.
"If you did, where would we find them?" Jane asked. "If you don't have sleds, I'm sure there is something there we can use."
"Probably the garden shed," Maura suggested.
"Okay, cool," Jane replied.
"Let's go change into warmer clothes; then, we can head outside to see what we have," Maura said. "And this time, you're keeping your gloves on."
Jane laughed but agreed. After bundling up, Maura led Jane to the gardening shed. "Can I just look around?" Jane asked when they got there.
"Of course," Maura said.
Jane started exploring the shed, which she decided really shouldn't be called a shed. Just like everything else here, it was by far the nicest so-called 'shed' that she had ever seen – it was nice enough to live in. Finally, she found a stash of old outdoor toys, which included a beautiful toboggan. "This is almost too nice to use," Jane commented.
Maura laughed. "We can use it," she said. "It was meant to be used. I think I may have used it once as a child."
"Okay, let's take the toboggan and these old inner tubes," Jane said indicating two large pool tubes as she handed Maura the toboggan. Once they were back outside, Maura pulled the toboggan behind her and Jane carried the tubes. Jane looked around the property, trying to decide which hill would be best for sledding. Eventually, she decided on the hill behind the barn that led down to the lake. The barn, hill, and lake were visible from the back windows of the house, so Jane had been eyeing it for a few days.
When they got to the barn, Jane leaned the inner tubes against the barn so that they wouldn't blow away. "Let's go down together first," she suggested. She lined up the toboggan before holding it still so Maura could sit down. Jane sat behind her with her legs on either side of Maura's. "Ready?" Jane asked.
"I'm not sure if this is safe," Maura commented nervously.
Jane laughed. "We'll be fine. I promise."
"Okay, I'm ready," Maura said, still sounding nervous. Jane pushed them off and down the hill with her hands before wrapping her arms around Maura, holding her tight. Jane had been right, and the snow was perfect for sledding. Maura shrieked when they started moving fast on the steepest part of the hill, but Jane was pretty good at keeping them balanced, so they didn't fall over. When they finally slowed down, both women were laughing like children. As soon as they stopped, Maura jumped up. Her face was alight with happiness and her eyes were sparkling. With her cheeks rosy from the cold, Jane didn't think Maura had ever looked more beautiful.
"Let's do that again!" Maura exclaimed happily when she stood up.
"Race you to the top!" Jane yelled as she took off, pulling the toboggan behind her.
"No fair!" Maura yelled after her as she tried to catch up. "You had a head start."
They were both out of breath when they got to the top, but that didn't stop them from going right down the hill again. They went together a few more times before Jane suggested they switch to the inner tubes. "We can race each other," Jane suggested.
They lined up the tubes, both sitting with their butts in the tubes with their feet going down the hill first.
"Push off on the count of three," Maura said. "One, two, three!" Maura couldn't keep the huge smile off her face as she pushed off the ground as hard and fast as she could. However, she wasn't as adept at keeping the tube heading straight as Jane was. About half-way down the hill, they collided. On instinct, Maura grabbed onto Jane as her tube flipped in their air. They landed in the snow together, their tubes continuing down the hill without them. They were both laughing so hard that they couldn't move. They laid together on their backs in the snow, Maura still in Jane's arms.
Still giggling, Maura stood up quickly. Echoing Jane's earlier challenge, Maura called, "Last one to the top has to carry the sleds up!"
"Hey!" Jane called as she scrambled up, running after Maura. "Now that wasn't fair," she said laughing when they got to the top. "I wasn't even standing."
"Is Jane Rizzoli going to fail to pay up after losing a challenge," Maura teased.
Jane tried to glare at her girlfriend, but she couldn't keep a straight face, eventually letting the laughter overtake her again. "Fine," she said as she pulled the toboggan forward. "I never fail to pay up." Maura climbed into the toboggan first with Jane behind her as Jane aimed the sled towards their inner tubes still laying at the bottom of this hill.
When they got to the bottom, Jane went to gather the inner tubes so she could carry them up the hill with the toboggan. Just as she grabbed the first tube, she heard Maura call her name. Despite the fact that she knew Maura was tricking her, her subconscious wouldn't let her ignore Maura calling her name, so she turned towards her voice. As soon as she turned, Maura nailed her in the face with a snowball.
"Oof," she grunted when she was hit, but she couldn't help smiling at her girlfriend's antics.
"Yes," Maura yelled, jumping up and down.
Jane ran towards Maura and pulled her down with her into the snow. Both women were laughing hysterically. Jane put her cold hands on Maura's face; barely able to talk because she was laughing so hard, she said, "I'm gonna make your face just as cold as you made mine."
"No!" Maura squealed as she tried and failed to pull away.
Still laying in the snow, Jane pulled her hands away, but leaned in to give Maura a soft kiss to the cheek, whispering, "There; that's to warm you up."
Maura smiled, reaching up to pull Jane in for a more passionate kiss. They made out in the snow for a few minutes before Jane felt Maura shiver beneath her. Pulling back slightly, she said, "Let's head back inside."
Maura nodded, but she held onto Jane long enough to give her another loving kiss before letting go and allowing Jane to stand up. Jane held her hand out to Maura, helping her stand up, and brushing the snow from her clothes. Jane grabbed the inner tubes, and Maura pulled the toboggan behind her as they climbed up the hill to return the sleds to the garden shed.
Giving Maura a huge smile – one of the smiles she kept just for Maura – Jane led them hand-in-hand back to their room.
A/N: Part of the sledding scene (where they end up in the snow) was originally going to be in chapter 6 with Maura joining the snowball fight, but I hope you actually enjoyed this chapter a bit more since they are finally together at this point (and a soft kiss to the cheek could become a bit more)!