Chapter 2: The Dream

Vaguely NSFW


Fifteen months earlier

"It's been a while since I've been to the mountains," Jane said as they crossed the state border into New York.

"That's why I did some research…" Maura started.

"Research?" Jane questioned. "You roast marshmallows and sit by a fire drinking beer. What research did you need to do for that?"

"We need to be prepared for anything," Maura said. "We're camping in the unknown wilderness. Given that we both live in the city, I thought…"

Jane scoffed. "Unknown wilderness?" she teased. "Maur, we're going to a state campground. This barely counts as real camping."

"We're sleeping on the ground," Maura countered. "That counts as camping."

Jane laughed. "We brought an air mattress," she reminded Maura.

"Fine," Maura conceded because Jane was right; they had chosen to 'indulge' in the amenities of the state park system when they decided they were going to try camping. Neither one of them had ever been camping, so it seemed like a perfect getaway for the two of them. However, it turned out that they had very different ideas of 'roughing it.' Jane basically wanted to hike into some random woods and set up a tent while Maura thought a cabin in the woods was more her idea of camping.

Maura had even pitched the idea of 'glamping,' which was actually offered by one of the campgrounds in Adirondack Park. While Jane hadn't gone for that idea, it was how they landed on camping in the Adirondacks. Eventually, Jane had found a state park on the southern edge of Lake George that Maura had agreed to. They'd still be sleeping in a tent that they had to set up and cooking over a fire, but at least there was a real bathroom.

Once they had settled on Lake George Battleground State Campground, Maura's excitement had increased quickly, and that excitement had led to more research…lots and lots of research.

"But there will still be wildlife," Maura continued. "For example, over half of the black bears in the state of New York live in Adirondack Park."

"Um, what?" Jane said, clearly not expecting this conversation to be about bears.

"If you see a black bear, don't run," Maura said.

"Oh, hell no," Jane said. "If I see a bear, I'm running."

"No! Jane, don't run!" Maura said somewhat desperately. "Black bears are more afraid of you than you are of them."

"You did not just say that did you?"

Maura ignored Jane. "They only attack when they feel threatened," she pushed on.

"How is me runnin' away threatening?"

"They don't know where you're going," Maura explained. "It's threatening. Anyway, please, Jane, don't run. Don't approach them…"

"Psht, that you don't have to worry about."

"Back away slowly, and if you can't safely get away, make yourself as large as possible and make loud noises," Maura said.

Maura laughed but dropped the conversation, not wanting to scare Jane into turning around to go back to Boston. She watched the beautiful scenery pass as they drove to the campground, and her excitement continued to rise the closer they got.

Surprisingly, setting up their tent and campsite went more smoothly than Maura expected. Knowing that it would already be late by the time they finished setting up, they had packed sandwiches for dinner. The sun was setting as Maura pulled out their dinner and Jane started the fire. The rest of the evening passed pleasantly.

Maura woke up early the next morning, so she remained lying in bed, enjoying the sounds of the wildlife welcoming the new day. Jane was sleeping soundly next to her, so Maura took the opportunity to watch her friend sleep. It never ceased to amaze her how beautiful Jane was, and sometimes, Maura couldn't believe that Jane chose to be her friend.

Maura had no idea how long she laid in bed, enjoying the relaxing morning, when Jane started to stir.

"Mornin'," Jane grumbled, and Maura had to suppress a shiver at the huskiness in Jane's voice.

"Good morning," Maura said softly, smiling at her friend. "How did you sleep?"

"Good," Jane responded, stretching her arms above her head before sitting up. "You?"

"I slept well, too," Maura said.

"So, I know that even though you're trying to hide it from me, you scheduled out our entire weekend," Jane said as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She flashed a smile at Maura to let her know that she wasn't annoyed as she asked, "So, what're we doing today?"

Maura laughed. "You saw that, huh?" she asked.

Jane nodded. "So…" she prompted.

Maura laughed again. "Well, I was thinking that after breakfast, we could take a hike. I found a trail that's relatively easy, and we should make it back here for lunch without any trouble. Then, I figured you'd want to spend the afternoon at the lake," she said.

"Sounds good," Jane said.


Jane put the strap of the small cooler over her shoulder across her body before picking up the two beach chairs. "Why do we need chairs? I thought you were supposed to lay on towels at the beach," she complained.

"Well, you can do that, too," Maura said, her own arms full of towels and a ridiculously large hat perched on her head. "But I promise you, the chairs will be nice to have."

"Alright, let's go," Jane huffed, trying not to laugh at how much stuff they had for just two people.

The morning hike had been fun, but Jane was really looking forward to going to the beach.

The walk to the beach wasn't long, but when they got there the beach was crowded, much to Jane's displeasure.

"We'll find a spot," Maura said, leading Jane further down the beach. Eventually, she stopped at an area of open sand near the water and started setting up. Once everything was set up, Jane had to admit to herself that it was nice to have the chairs – but she'd never admit that to Maura.

"Okay, stupid question, but like do big lakes have tides?" Jane said as the water lapped at her toes.

"It's actually not a stupid question," Maura said kindly as she stood to remove her cover-up. "The largest lakes in the world do have tides – although, not as noticeable as the ocean – but even though this is a big lake relative to most of the lakes in New England, it's not large enough to have noticeable tides."

Except Maura's words went in one ear and out the other as Jane redirected every ounce of self-control she had to not staring at her friend in a bikini because fuck, Maura looked gorgeous in her dark green bikini that only seemed to highlight her perfect curves.

Luckily, Maura didn't seem to notice Jane's distraction as she returned to her seat next to Jane and stretched out. She was still talking about lakes, tides, and weather patterns. Jane tried to listen as she sat back, closed her eyes, and stretched out next to her friend. The sun was warm, and it felt good on her skin. She could literally feel her body relaxing.

Eventually, Maura's lecture trailed off, and they spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying each other's company. They spent most of their time on the beach, but they took a few breaks to cool off in the lake.

The rest of the evening passed similarly, and Jane had to admit that she was enjoying camping more than she thought she would (and she would never admit that having running water was a huge plus). They both showered after returning from the beach, and Jane made chicken and vegetables over the fire. Maura had prepared the meal before their trip, and it worked well.

They stayed up late talking around the fire, but eventually the fire started to die down, and they decided that they should head to bed.

Jane suffocated the remaining embers of the fire before turning to Maura. "Maur, I'm just gonna pee," she said. "I'll be right back."

"Okay, I'm going to go into the tent," Maura replied.

Jane squeezed Maura's elbow to acknowledge her before walking to the bathroom. On her way back, she grabbed her water bottle, which she had left by her chair next to the fire.

"Jane?" Maura's voice called out nervously.

"Yeah, what's wro–?" Jane asked as she hurried back towards the tent.

"No, stop!" Maura warned Jane. "There's something outside the tent."

"Who's there?!" Jane called out.

Jane could have sworn she heard Maura's eyes roll from where she was standing. "No, I think it's an animal or…wait, did you leave the food by the cooler? Jane…" Maura's voice changed from curious to exasperated.

But Jane ignored the implied reprimand. "Ohh, shit! I saw their eyes! They're racoons and there's more than one!" she whined. "Shoo, shoo," she hissed, but the racoons didn't even acknowledge her. Then, she remembered the water bottle in her hand. She quickly opened it and squeezed it, spraying the water in the direction of the racoons and the tent.

"Ahhh! Jane! The window's open!" Maura screeched as the water hit the tent. And of course, the racoons seemed unphased.

"Sorry!" Jane hiss contritely. "I thought the water'd scare 'em away."

"Hold on," Maura's voice sounded muffled, and then all of the sudden, there was a loud siren sound from inside the tent. Maura had used an app on her phone to scare the racoons away. "Did it work?" she asked when the sound stopped.

"Yeah, I'm comin'," Jane said, hurrying toward the tent.

"No, wait! You have to get rid of the food or they'll come back," Maura said.

Jane stopped in her tracks and groaned loudly. "Really?" she whined even though she knew Maura was right.

"Yes, just dump it all in the bag we brought it in and lock it in the trunk of the car. We'll deal with it tomorrow."

"Ugh," Jane groaned again, but she followed Maura's instructions. Luckily, Maura popped the trunk open using the keys from inside the tent. Jane slammed it shut and ran back to the tent as fast as she could.

"Errrrr, ugh, no, nope, ugh," Jane whined as she reentered the tent. Just as she finished zipping up the door, she fell backwards in her haste, landing on the air mattress and Maura.

"Umph!" Maura let out in surprise, but she was laughing hysterically.

"Sorry," Jane apologized as she tried to roll off of Maura. Instead, she ended up rolling more onto Maura due to the unpredictable movements of the air mattress. She froze as her hand landed on warm, soft, plump skin. Maura was still shaking with laughter underneath her.

"Uhh, Maura?" Jane asked as she awkwardly lifted her hand off of Maura, but she was still half lying on top of her, afraid to move again. "Was that?"

Maura rolled out from under Jane, barely holding herself together as she unsuccessfully tried to control her laughter. Apparently, Maura had decided they needed light to untangle themselves and the flashlight from her phone lit up the entire tent.

"Maura, you're topless?!" Jane whined, looking away quickly but not before the sight of Maura's gorgeous chest was seared into her memory.

"Oh, stop," Maura said playfully, still laughing at Jane. "They're just breasts. You have them too."

"Why are you topless?" Jane asked exasperatedly without opening her eyes.

"Because you soaked my top when you sprayed water through the tent window," Maura laughed.

"Please put something on."

Jane chanced a peek out of the corner of her eye to see Maura rolling her eyes as she turned to comply with Jane's request.

"Alright, I'm covered," Maura huffed, but despite her attempts to sound annoyed, she still just sounded thoroughly amused.

"Thank you," Jane grumbled. She opened her eyes and turned back to face Maura, who was chewing on her bottom lip in an attempt to stifle her laughter. Jane was sure that her face was probably bright red.

They both moved to lie down on their own side of the bed. Jane could hear Maura giggle every few minutes, so she playfully threw her pillow at the other woman. "Stop laughing!"

Maura laid on her back and threw the pillow back, letting her laughter flow freely. "I'll never understand why you're so uncomfortable with nudity," she countered as she reached to turn off the light.

Jane gently pushed Maura's shoulder to let her know that she wasn't actually upset. "Can we just…not?" she asked as they both laid down.

Maura laughed one more time before saying simply, "Goodnight, Jane."

"Night, Maur," Jane responded, her smile evident in her voice. She rolled onto her side, facing away from Maura. She was sure that there was no way she was going to sleep tonight between the racoons outside and the woman lying next to her. She tried her hardest not to focus on the sight of Maura's breasts or the feel of them in her hand. Eventually, she did drift off to sleep – unfortunately for Jane, it wasn't a dreamless sleep…

They were back at the lake, but this time, they weren't surrounded by people. Jane watched as Maura swam a perfect butterfly stroke while keeping her head above water out into the lake.

Maura stopped swimming and stood in the water. She was out far enough that the water came to just below the band of her deep green bikini top. She turned and smiled at Jane, despite the space between them.

"Are you going to join me?" Maura called back to Jane, who was still standing on the beach. Her voice travelled across the calm surface of the lake, and the smile was still evident in her tone as her words reached Jane.

Jane walked into the water, closing the distance between them more quickly than she should have given the slow pace she was walking. Before she knew it, Jane was standing in front of Maura as they smiled shyly at each other. The color of Maura's swimsuit brought out the green in Maura's hazel eyes, highlighting the happiness etched across her face.

Without a word, Maura reached her hand up and pulled at the string tied behind her neck. Her top fell, revealing pert breasts, nipples already hardened from a combination of arousal and the air against her wet skin.

Jane felt her own nipples tighten against the confines of her own bikini top as she stared unabashedly at her friend's chest.

Maura moved her hands forward underwater to find Jane's, guiding them up to cup her breasts. Maura's head fell back in pleasure as Jane gained confidence, moving her hands across Maura's sensitive skin with purpose.

Jane spent minutes…hours touching the woman of her dreams, learning every inch of her beautiful breasts. Maura's eyes were closed as she enjoyed what Jane was doing to her just as much as Jane enjoyed doing it.

Suddenly, Jane decided she needed more. She reached back into the water, grasping Maura's hips and pulling Maura toward her until Maura lifted her legs and wrapped them around Jane's waist. Jane wrapped her arms around Maura's back as they floated in the warm lake water, and her hands moved to untie the last part of her bikini top, letting it drop into the water, forgotten.

Maura moaned as Jane's lips wrapped around her nipple. When Maura started rocking her hips against Jane's abdomen, Jane felt heat and moisture rush to her center, and she moaned loudly.

"Jane!" Maura gasped when Jane gently tugged at her nipple with her teeth.

"Fuck, Maura, god, you're gorgeous," Jane mumbled against Maura's skin as she moved to provide attention to her neglected breast, and the vibrations of Jane's words sent a shiver down Maura's spine.

"Jane…" Maura moaned softly. "Jane…" her tone became more urgent, causing Jane to redouble her grip. "Jane. Jane," Maura's voice was becoming clearer and less breathy as Maura gripped her shoulder.

"Jane," Maura said again.