A/N: This chapter was a calvary, I don't even care if it's shorter. Anyway, I'm getting busier, so the rhythm of this fic will slow down considerably.

Chapter 7

"Stay still."

Maura's eyes flutter open, the sun is a little lower than she remembers, but its lights is still too bright for her, her hand comes up above her face to shield her.

Kate rises to her feet next to her, the t-shirt that she put back on swings as she moves. She bends on her legs and fidgets with her helmet, a ray of light brightens the exposed skin where the fabric slides up the small of her back. She strolls toward her then, letting her eyes drop to her camera while she adjusts the settings.

She stops a few steps away from her, eyeing the white blouse resting on her left.

"Do you want to cover yourself?" Kate asks.

But Maura is already shaking her head, a fierce no that makes Kate grin. She watches her drop to her side again, on her belly, shifting to rest comfortably on her elbows.

"Close your eyes, like before," Kate instructs. And Maura complies, lets her head rest on the blanket and rolls her shoulders to relax, an arm under her skull. Is she beautiful enough to be taken pictures of? Her skin tingles and her lips part under the scrutiny she can't witness.

It's not discomfort. She's learned how to say no.

It's deeper, a warm feeling at the bottom of her belly.

"Bend your head backward."

Kate's hand lifts her chin slightly and she follows, revealing the skin of her neck and arching her back a little. Kate murmurs something she can't detect; Kate runs a hand in her hair, forcing her blonde locks out of her face as she positions it at her pleasing.

Maura smiles and she hears another sharp click. It's easy, then, to straighten her back and turn toward Kate, her hazel eyes fluttering open in front of the lens, the sun warms her left cheek and her stomach.

"Have you posed before?" Kate asks and she continues to take pictures of her, her eye squinting near the viewfinder. Maura props herself on her right elbow, her head rests against her hand as she stares at her camera.

"No," she whispers, brushing her hair off her shoulder.

"I did," Kate replies, moving to kneel next to her. Maura's head chases her and Kate smiles, tilting her chin higher another time. "I posed naked for an art class."

She can't stop her eyes from widening at her confession, and her breath catches a moment later when she internalizes her words. It kind of makes sense now her easiness to undress in front of her. If she focuses she can almost hear the scratch of the pencil as it draws her curves, her fingertips smearing the graphite where the shadows hide her skin.

Her muscles and her limbs and her flesh for her to portray.

Another click snaps her out of her thoughts. Kate looks down at her camera, a smug grin tugs on her lips. She wonders if Kate knows what went through her mind.

Maura averts her eyes and her hand reaches out for her blouse; she can feel Kate watching her and she hears other clicks as the silk fabric slides along her skin and covers her.

"What are we doing, Kate?" she asks, sitting cross legged in front of her, her hands reaching for Kate's camera. She lets her, watches her as she turns it in her hands.

"You are not talking about the pictures, are you?"

Her hair covers her face as she shakes her head, her fingers fidget with the camera until she rest it on the blanket, her eyes never meeting hers. She should have an answer, since she's been flirting with her since the first time they met, since Maura made her feel things she can't even recognize.

It's silly and juvenile and good.

"Do you need a label?" Kate asks, her hands combing Maura's hair out of her face without thinking, already so bold. The move forces them closer and Maura comes willingly, her cheek nuzzling Kate's shoulder until she rests with her nose at the base of her neck.

"I don't like uncertainty."

"Not everything can be black or white," Kate answers, her hands working at the base of Maura's skull; she sighs at her ministrations and Kate closes her eyes, feeling her chest swell and her veins fill with liquid bliss.

"You're too grey for me, then."

"But grey areas are where everything happens, Maura," Kate replies, her tone soft and her caresses tender, "where two completely different things lose their borders and meet."

Maura hums against her chest, her curves press against her front as her arms circle Kate's waist, forcing them closer. Her lithe body stiffens for a moment, before accommodating her. Maura's fingers rest low on her back, play with the hem of her t-shirt and balance on the edge between fabric and skin.

"So the only way to have you is in the penumbra?"

Her fingertips stumble off the brink and stroke. Lightly, but bravely. Enough to make Kate purr. She is aware Maura is teasing her when she leaves a kiss at the base of her neck, slowly and gently, nestling more closely. Kate's hands stop playing with her blond curls and Maura repeats the gesture.

"Maura," she warns, her voice low and shaky. Her chest heaves a little more intensely and her skin turns warmer at Maura's actions. She is lulling her in a state of daze merely with her touch and her kisses.

"I think I am willing to take the risk," Maura adds, her lips getting braver, moving higher along her neck. She smiles against her when Kate shivers, her hands gripping Maura's shoulders in a silent warning.

But Maura just arches into her, her lips brushing her jaw line in open-mouthed kisses. Kate swallows, fighting the need to sigh aloud as she proceeds toward her ear. Her body responds to her feather-like touch and Maura smiles.

Kate retreats to be able to see her, her cheeks red and her lips upturned. She just can't stop the surge of affection that fills her chest and make her lean forward again. Maura laughs, framing her face with both of her hands, her fingers tugging her locks back.

It's a little patch of anxiety the one that tingles at the bottom of her stomach, the awareness that something is shifting inside her as she closes the distance and meets her lips. Maura's smile fades away against her mouth, her hands grip at her nape and Kate sighs, her bodies pressing impossibly closer.

Their mouths open and move in a slow chase, Kate's fingers inch along Maura's sides until she touches skin. So addicting. It's a sweet anguish to long for Maura to be even nearer, to feel her deeper. She circles her waist with her arms and tightens; Maura just comes willingly, so easily, so naturally.

Maura hums in the back of her throat, the palm of her hands stroking leisurely her shoulder blades; no harsh grips or desperate lips. Just a tireless, slow study of her edges. Kate's body aches to reciprocate, but it just sinks into the comfort her caresses provide and she surrenders.

It calms her, to kiss her.

She has her eyes closed when Maura withdraws, her thumbs tracing the line of her cheekbones. She leaves a last peck on her mouth, their lips barely touching, but the tenderness of it makes it hard not to kiss her again and again.

"You always felt inevitable to me," Kate whispers instead.

The ride back home is fast, Maura keeps her arms under Kate's breasts, a little tighter, and she cuddles a little closer. Kate has no idea where this leaves them. She tests the word girlfriend in her mind and it sounds inaccurate. It feels too traditional, in a way. And too forward.

But just friend would be too little for this.

Too little after that kiss, too little since ever actually.

Kate tells herself she doesn't need to know what they are and Maura's body against her back makes it easy for her to forget.

When they reach Maura's apartment, her hands squeeze the soft flesh of Kate's thighs before she comes down. Kate almost forgets to censor her gasp. She watches as Maura takes off her helmet, her eyes twinkle as she comes nearer.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Maura whispers, smiling, as she leaves the last kiss of the day on Kate's cheek.

TBC