The hardest part of leaving was finding a car. We didn't want to inform the agents that we didn't care about their actions to keep us safe, but we finally had to in order to get back home. They lent us an unmarked to drive back to Boston, sternly warning us to stay in Beacon Hill and not to inform anyone where we were, since I am believed to be dead and Maura missing. They told us our supplies would be provided by an agent and that Angela already moved in with Frankie. They hope Maura can go back to work after we get settled in, though my location will have to remain a secret.
After we finally reach Beacon Hill and get into Maura's house, exhausted is not enough of a describer for me. "Maurrrra, this place is a mess." I say it in a kidding way, but she takes it serious.
"Well, Jane, I've been utterly depressed for two whole weeks. I had no incentive to clean myself or anything around me. I was far too upset to-" I reassure her that I was kidding with a kiss on the cheek, which in turn sparks something else inside her. "Speaking of depression, I have a great idea for something fun we could do..." A smirk illuminates her face as she steps over to the stereo."
"Noo, Maura. Not Karaoke." I groan loudly.
"No, of course not. You know I cannot sing. I want to dance, Jane.." I hate to tell her no because of how happy she looks, but I truly am tired.
"Well..." I sit down on the couch. "How about I watch for a bit first. I'm really tired."
"Of course...I mainly need to get my endorphins flowing, which I can do on my own. Plus I am a marvelous dancer." She says it as a fact, not as boasting.
"Really, Doctor? You have me intrigued." I motion for her to speed up. "Go on, then."
She smiles at me lovingly, turning on the song "Night Fever" by the Bee Gees. Right when the words start, Maura is swinging her hips with the beat, feeling out the song before starting to dance. Her back is to me, and needless to say, I'm already enjoying the show.
Listen to the ground:
There is movement all around.
There is something goin down
And I can feel it.
On the waves of the air,
There is dancin out there.
If it's somethin we can share,
We can steal it.
I know the next lyric, so I sing softly to myself, causing Maura to look at me and smile while she gets more and more into the groove, body rolling from side to side with her hands above her head.
And that sweet city woman,
She moves through the light,
Controlling my mind and my soul.
When you reach out for me
Yeah, and the feelin is bright,
Then I get night fever, night fever.
We know how to do it.
Gimme that night fever, night fever.
We know how to show it.
During the entire chorus, Maura pops her shoulders back and forth with one hand on her stomach and the other above her shoulder, then switching to the other side. I can honestly say she is somehow sexy and adorable all at once. I smile in a dorky manner until she spins around, tossing her hair over her shoulder and leaning back, throwing her arms up into the air and just moving with the music in the most simplest of ways. Yet it's so enticing. Now I'm just sitting there, enthralled by her beauty. This reaction causes her to go change the song.
"Now that I'm warmed up..." She smirks cutely at me, putting on a song that I don't recognize. It has a killer beat, though, and I recognize the singer as Timbaland.
"Really, Maura...Timbaland?" I frown at her.
"Oh, trust me...You won't be frowning when I'm done with this song." She winks slyly, turning around a few times while thinking through her dance moves and waiting for the part of the song she wants to dance during.
Maura does something truly shocking as she rotates her hips around seductively, starting to sing along with the female vocalist. "Oh, baby, it's alright now, you ain't gotta flaunt for me. If we go and touch, you can still touch my love, it's free. We can work without the perks just you and me. Thug it out 'til we get it right." Then she throws her hair back, strutting like she's on a cat walk to where she's right in front of me to continue. "Baby if you strip, you can get a tip
'Cause I like you just the way you are." On the word way, she drops it down low, coming back up slowly while arching her back. I didn't even know she realized that people danced like this...How the hell is SHE doing it? She senses my confusion, and it makes her laugh out loud: literally, though she continues to dance. " I don't need the G's or the car keys. Girl I like you just the way you are. Let me see you strip, you can get a tip
'Cause I like, I like, I like..." I notice her saying 'girl' instead of 'boy', and my heart swells. THE Maura Isles is singing to ME. I'm going to have to tell Frankie, Frost, and Tommy the next time that I see them that I got the girl that they have crushed on for years. See how they handle that...
Once she finishes twisting her body and dropping it low with incredible grace and eloquence for such club-like moves, she changes the song once more, except this time, the song is much slower. I immediately recognize Gavin Degraw singing "More Than Anyone," and I think about how much I love this song. She turns around to look at me, slowly walking right toward me with a romantic look on her face, though she still is very shy when she speaks.
"Jane...May I have this dance?" My throat goes dry, and I try to swallow to help it, but nothing will. I nod, taking the hand that she has extended to me and standing up. She leads me over to the center of the room, holding my hand with hers and resting her other on my upper back. My arm glides around her waist as we slowly move back and forth to the words of the song.
You need a friend
I'll be around
Don't let this end
Before I see you again
What can I say to convince you
To change your mind of me?
I'm going to love you more than anyone
I'm going to hold you closer than before
And when I kiss your soul, your body'll be free
I'll be free for you anytime
I'm going to love you more than anyone..
Since both of us know the next lyrics and their meaning, we lean into each other with our foreheads resting together. I look into her eyes, searching for the reassurance that I seek from her emotionally and to see if this song resonates with her love for me as it does for my love of her. Her eyes are glistening with unshed tears, though she doesn't cry. She just holds my gaze, as if she knows that I'm trying to prove her feelings for me in that moment.
Look in my eyes, what do you see?
Not just the color
Look inside of me
Tell me all you need and I will try
I will try
I'm going to love you more than anyone
I'm going to hold you closer than before
And when I kiss your soul, your body'll be free
I'll be free for you anytime
I'm going to love you more than anyone
Free for you, whenever you need
We'll be free together baby
Free together baby...
As the song finishes out, I realize our bodies are completely pressed together in the most innocent of ways. It isn't as if we are trying to speed up our intimacy in any way, simply we just long to be as close as possible to each other. I open my eyes after savoring that moment, looking straight into her gaze that is full of love and adoration...more than I could ever fathom.
"I didn't realize you could slow dance, Jane..." She looks pleased, leaning in and kissing my lips once briefly before coming back in for a much longer, deeper kiss. In this moment of intimacy, a song by Evanescence had started to play. My inhibitions are gone, and I run my hand through her hair before cupping it around her neck. I listen to the lyrics, feeling the intense pain and heartbreak that the singer felt. I feel the suffering that I would endure if I ever lost Maura, and that causes me to pull her as close as possible to me, deepening the kiss considerably. I know she's thinking of the emotion she experienced losing me this past month. She responds with wrapping her legs around my waist and jumping into my arms. The lyrics reach their peak in emotion, and I listen to them very closely.
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along.
With the pain and sorrow that this song brings to the forefront of my brain, I use it as my drive for loving Maura while I still can and for not letting her go any time soon. I carry her into the master bedroom while she kisses me passionately, and I know she is reciprocating the very same emotion that I am as I feel her tears staining my shirt.