After straying from the path at least an hour ago, Jane had discovered many delightful woodland creatures and beautiful scenes of forestry, few of which she'd been able to enjoy as she became preoccupied with the fact that she'd become hopelessly lost. Her panic level wasn't set at ten (at least not yet), because she figured once the sun started setting, she'd at least have an idea of which direction to head.
I should've stopped wandering around. I'm probably miles away from where I should be at this point...
She had promised herself to ask for directions if she were to stumble upon another adventurous soul out here, but she wondered if she ought to reconsider that plan when she came across a nude woman meditating on top of a large stone outcropping.
Wavy, dirty blonde hair flowed over the woman's shoulders, almost obscuring her breasts from view. Her eyes were closed, a serene look on her face as she breathed in deep. Jane was maybe twenty yards away, and from there she could see that the woman's body may not have been very muscular, but was certainly fit. None of which answered why she was out in the buff.
Jane was about to just try and walk away as quietly as possible, but then the woman - still with her eyes closed - called out, "I knew you were going to come."
Jane's heart stopped in a panic. "I-I'm sorry?"
The woman's eyes opened, and she looked over in Jane's direction. Jane would've assumed that the response to being found naked by a complete stranger would have been one of intense embarrassment or at least alarm, but the woman's eyebrows merely rose in light surprise.
"Oh," she said. "You're not who I thought."
"I'm...I..." Jane's eyes darted nervously around the area, anywhere but the form of that gorgeous body which was still holding its meditative pose.
"Would I be correct in hypothesizing that you are lost?"
"Um...no, I'm actually...totally... you know what, I'm good. Really. Sorry to have um, interrupted your uh, thing. That thing you're doing. Good luck, have fun!"
"Wait!" the woman called as Jane turned to leave. She glanced back over her shoulder to see the blonde getting up and climbing down the rock towards her. Oh, God. Oh God oh God oh God, what are you doing?! oh GOD, Jane, eyes up! Fortunately (for Jane), the woman had been meditating on top of a large blanket, which she now wrapped around herself, clearly for Jane's own comfort rather than her own. "Please, I know that the cabin is quite far from the regular hiking trails, and it's really easy to get lost out here. Do you want to come in for a minute? Maybe get some water, or rest up for a bit?"
"Oh, I don't..."
"My name is Maura, by the way," she said, sticking a hand out from under the blanket to shake.
"M-Maura. Hi, I'm Jane."
Maura's face broke into the most gorgeous smile Jane had ever seen. "Hello, Jane. How about it?"
Jane couldn't help smiling back, albeit tentatively. "Well uh, it's very nice of you to offer. Kinda sounded like you were expecting someone though, and I'd hate to, uh..."
"Oh, don't worry about it," Maura said, already walking away and expecting Jane to follow her. "Susie and Alex said it was most likely that they wouldn't be able to show up, and if they haven't by now..." She stopped abruptly and turned around, almost bumping into Jane. Jane was startled, but Maura merely took hold of her wrist to check her watch. "Oh, it's already after four! Yeah, they're definitely not coming."
They rounded the bend by Maura's meditation outcropping, and there came into view a quaint wooden cabin. It was a little odd to see such a man-made manifestation after hours of wandering around in nothing but dizzying nature, but there was still a very natural, homey look to the place. Usually Jane might've been a little more interested in looking at the structure's architecture, but walking behind Maura was distracting: the way the sunlight bounced off her hair was distracting; the bare shoulders offered by the makeshift cover of the blanket was distracting ...and it was this that got her caught.
Maura turned around once more, and Jane's eyes quickly snapped upwards. She wasn't sure why she was blushing; looking at someone's shoulders had to be innocent enough? Either way, by Maura's grin, Jane had to assume it was all right.
"Just make yourself comfortable," she said, gesturing to a couch once they were inside. "I'm going to aid in that endeavor by slipping into some clothes."
Jane laughed uncomfortably, setting down her backpack on a mat by the door as Maura walked into another room to change. Despite the invitation to sit, Jane remained standing, looking about the rustic interior of the cabin. In addition to the couch, there was a coffee table and a bookshelf, and behind her was a stove, sink, and table with two chairs. She crouched down to inspect the bookshelf: Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass and Walden Pond, a collection of essays by Emerson, an Edgar Allen Poe compilation, and for some reason a stack of medical journals.
She straightened up at the sound of the bedroom door opening, still feeling bashful even now that Maura was fully-clothed. Her hair was pulled up into a loose, scraggly ponytail, still somehow seeming to glisten indoors. She wore a loose flannel button-up, dark green plaid in color, with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and the top few buttons undone. (No bra, it seemed.) The look was completed with a somewhat dirty pair of jeans, which looked almost too long for Maura, covering most of her feet.
"You don't have to worry about getting the furniture dirty, if that's your concern," she laughed, sitting cross-legged on the couch.
"Nah, uh, sorry," Jane chuckled, moving to sit on the other end. "So, uh... you live here?"
"Not full-time," Maura said. "It's just sort of a little getaway of mine, when things get too hectic at work or life, or what have you. It's so beautiful out here, so peaceful. It's nice to just get away to a place with no cell phone reception or WiFi, you know? You can pretend that you live back in the days where work ended with work and didn't follow you home to all hours of the morning and night."
Jane felt bad admitting even to herself that that did sound like a nice concept.
"And uh, what do you um...what do you do?" Jane asked. Is nudity part of it? Are you an exhibitionist? Is that a thing, professionally?
"I'm a medical examiner."
"Really! Well, I guess that explains the medical journals," Jane laughed.
"...in San Francisco."
"And you bought a cabin to get away from it all in New England?"
"It used to be my parents'," Maura said. "They sold it to me when they decided to get a loft in New York, and now I sometimes come out here when they're out here, which they are at the moment, so..." She wasn't sure if this was too much information, or if it came across as excessively privileged, which seemed indicated by Jane's quiet mouthing of "wow." "What about you, Jane?" she deflected. "What brings you to this fine forest today?"
"I'm with my brothers. We used to go camping a lot when we were kids, and one of 'em - his son's mother lives around here, so we thought we'd come visit."
"Are they going to be concerned that you've gone missing from the pack?"
"Nah, they know I can take care of myself."
"Are you a ranger?" Maura asked with a coy smile, the type which seemed to indicate that if the answer was yes, she and Jane might both be nude and sprawled in front of the fireplace within a matter of moments.
"Cop." (A glint in Maura's eye signified this might have the same effect on her as a ranger's uniform. It might even move faster. Jane's confidence received a significant boost.) "Nah, but seriously. There's only room for my brothers to stay with T's baby mama, so I was gonna just crash at a cheap motel someplace and meet up with them in the morning."
"Were you all hiking together?"
"Kind of, I guess. They were moving kinda slow with my nephew and all, and I was itching to get going," she laughed. "Man, that makes me sound like a real jerk! Guess I deserved to get lost, huh?"
Maura just smiled and shook her head. "We all need to go at our own speeds."
"Okay, speaking of that - I'm sorry, I have to ask. Do you meditate in the nude often?"
"I indulge in various nudist activities with a group here in New England, yes. My friend Susie and her boyfriend turned me onto it. It's very freeing. It is!" she chuckled, as Jane couldn't contain more embarrassed laughter. "The human body is a beautiful thing. I think it should be admired for what it is, no embarrassment or pride necessary." Then, with no segue whatsoever, "Would you like a drink?"
"Oh, um - water would be fine, I guess."
"How about some wine?"
"Ah. Sure."
And that was how Jane wound up getting a thirty-minute lecture on the history and culture behind nudism in the United States, sipping the most expensive wine she'd ever tasted in a remote wooden cabin. She found Maura's demeanor and approach to the discussion alternatively hilarious and fascinating, and couldn't believe how quickly she felt at ease. When dinnertime rolled around, Maura suggested they go fishing, and Jane, wondering if the surprises would ever end, happily agreed.
Maura led the way to a semi-secluded lake, and Jane was sure she could hear a waterfall somewhere in the distance. As they parked with their rods, Jane shared some choice anecdotes about childhood family camping trips, and Maura, with a very empty reserve of similar stories, ate it up. She hadn't laughed this much in a long time, and Jane hadn't been this open in a long time. By the time they caught their dinner, it had gotten dark outside, but Maura knew the route back to the cabin quite well.
"Oh! Gosh, you must be cold!" she said, when they got back and she saw that Jane was shivering a bit.
Wearing only a thin sweater, t-shirt and shorts, Jane said, "I did anticipate being in a motel by now, I guess!"
"Well, I'm afraid I can't accommodate you with a thermostat, but I've got a very warm blanket here," Maura said, reaching for the heavy one that was draped over the couch.
She threw it over Jane, who took it with a laugh and settled onto one of the chairs in the kitchen as Maura prepared the food. Conversation continued to flow easily, and Jane tried to remember the last time she had felt so interesting or found someone else so intriguing. Usually the only real individuals she seemed to come across were the ones she wound up putting behind bars. Maura was a delightful walking set of contradictions, new layers revealing themselves (no pun intended) with each few passing minutes.
Significantly, yet another one showed itself as she placed two plates and sets of silverware on the small kitchen table. "Jane?"
"Yes?"
"I...I just have to ask you something before we um, before we keep going on in this vein."
Not entirely sure what that meant, Jane said, "Go for it."
"Do you, um..." Maura sat down, uncharacteristically nervous. "Do you like fish?"
"Fine time to ask me, now that we're about to eat!" Jane laughed. "Yeah, of course I like fish! All kinds."
"ALL kinds. So you know what type of fish I mean, right?"
"Uh..." Jane quickly tried to think if there was some kind of slang she was forgetting, because the look on Maura's face seemed to indicate that she wasn't talking about their dinner. "You don't mean like... new inmates, do you?" Oh good Lord, please tell me you're not about to say that you're on the run from the law or something.
"No, not that," Maura sighed. "Fish as in pussy, Jane. Do you like pussy. And not pussy as in cats."
"O-oh!" Jane stammered. "Yeah, um, yeah. I ... yes. I do, I totally do."
Aha! I knew it. "You do?" Maura asked, her grin returning.
"Yeah, um...I mean to be honest, it's not something I've really fully explored yet," she admitted. "I've talked to my brothers about it, and they're both going on about how I should sign up for a dating website, and they're trying to track down any women they know who might be interested, and... I dunno, it's kind of exciting, I guess. Do... do you? Like... fish?"
Maura just nodded.
After that point, the fact that they were on the same page about each other did not need to be spoken aloud in so many words. Talk of San Francisco and Boston got them through dinner and some more wine, and Jane was loathe to leave.
"I could tell you the fastest way to get back to 'the mainland,' as it were," Maura offered. "I could even walk you there, find you a cheap motel. But you're welcome to stay here, too, if you'd like."
Jane smiled nervously, swirling the remnants of her drink. "If I wouldn't be eating you out." Maura choked on a sip of wine, and Jane blushed furiously as she corrected herself, "If I wouldn't be putting you out! Putting you - oh, my God."
"You wouldn't be putting me out," Maura insisted, trying not to laugh at Jane's flustered expense. "And I also assure you that you wouldn't put me out if you were to follow through on that Freudian slip, either." It was Jane's turn to choke, not sure if she ought to be embarrassed or amused or both. "But by no means would I want you to feel obligated."
"Good," Jane mumbled. "Because I think that might be a tall order." She leaned back in her chair and sighed deeply, contentedly, basking in the adoring look on Maura's face. "But I'll say this much. I feel like I've indulged in my fair share of woodland cliches today - hiking, getting chased by squirrels, coming to a cabin, fishing for my dinner... there's one more I wouldn't mind getting to."
"And what's that?"
"Making out on a rug in front of a fireplace in said wooden cabin."
Maura leapt up to make a fire, apologizing for not having thought of it earlier when Jane had come in cold. Jane still sat in the kitchen as she watched Maura move about, and the thought of the blonde chopping up firewood was more of a turn-on than she would've expected.
"Ooh, yeah, that feels good," she said, coming to sit down once the fire was lit. "I might even be able take this off." She removed the sweater, tossing it towards her long-abandoned backpack, then turned to look at Maura. "Oh. Wow."
"What?" Maura breathed.
The firelight made her eyes shine and her face glow, and Jane was momentarily at a loss for words. When she found them again, they felt very pedestrian and not at all worthy of describing the vision in front of her: "You're the most stunningly beautiful woman I think I've ever seen."
"Then I take it you haven't ever looked in a mirror," Maura replied.
Jane chuckled self-consciously, averting her gaze for a moment. "Ha! You're smooth."
Maura reached over for one of Jane's hands, bringing it to her waist. "I am," she whispered, guiding Jane's hand under her shirt to touch her skin. "Want to feel how much?"
Jane nodded needlessly before moving in for a kiss. Maura shifted her hands up to wrap around Jane's neck, pulling her closer and then down as Maura lay with her back to the floor. The crackling fire nearly drowned out the sound of wet kisses, and Jane was gratified to hear that when she started to grind harder between Maura's thighs and kiss her neck, the moaning which ensued was not so hard to pick up.
Again, the desire surging within Jane rendered her unable to speak more poetically about her interest in Maura, how funny and interesting she was, how attractive for her mind and her personality as much as her body. But that was all that surfaced in the very literal heat of this moment: "You're so hot," Jane groaned, bearing down more intensely.
"I'm inclined to agree," Maura panted. "Maybe I could cool off a bit if you'd get me out of these clothes."
And there went that beautiful laugh again.