Author's Note: Thank you very much for all the reviews, it's a nice coincidence to learn that many of you have read The Lover.

Chapter One

Maura stared at the screen of her cell phone for long seconds. She finally put the device face down on the table and gave the man who was sitting at the table in front of her a bright smile. She had to focus on him.

"I apologize."

Her words were sincere but bitterness nonetheless showed in her voice. She bowed her head shamefully. Her attitude was terrible, extremely impolite.

"Oh, that's fine. Your job's very important, I get it. Don't be worried."

Except it had nothing to do with the morgue. There wasn't any corpse waiting for her on a metallic table. Nobody had to text her ab results. All Maura wanted was to receive a text message from Jane but her friend remained desperately silent. They hadn't argued though. Maura simply missed Jane even if she now was on a date.

She looked up and smiled at her date anew. The man was good-looking: forty-two years old, dark hair, green eyes. A killer smile. He was intelligent and Maura had many points in common with him. They had met at the public library a few days earlier and had immediately hit it off. The frenzy of novelty was already gone though. It had collapsed like a soufflé.

"This wine is excellent." Maura took a sip of wine to drown her quiet sorrow in alcohol. She didn't want to get drunk but the evening was going too slow for her taste. "Do you enjoy it?"

She wouldn't sleep with him. As a matter of fact, she would never see him again. She had no interest in trying anew. Her mind was somewhere else anyway. She would go back home alone and if loneliness ever passed underneath her skin then she would call Jane.

"Very much. I'm grateful you accepted this dinner in spite of your tight schedule. How's your case going?"

Maura didn't like talking about her job with people she barely knew but since the two of them had bonded over it, she felt obligated to answer him. They had to make conversation anyway or else the rest of the evening would be very awkward.

"The homicide unit is on it." She looked into his eyes but nothing happened. She didn't feel butterflies in her stomach. Her heart didn't begin to beat faster. He left her indifferent, completely indifferent. "I'm just here to help... As much as I can."

She had forgotten his name. Was it Daniel? Unless it was Matthew? Ashamed, she avoided the man's look before locking herself in a very uncomfortable silence.

There was a time when she enjoyed going on a date. It used to happen on a frequent basis. Sometimes she brought them home for the night knowing that none of this would become a serious relationship. She was fine with it. It was even what she really wanted. Sex for the pure pleasure of it.

But it had ceased to be appealing.

"I'm sure you're doing a great job. There's a reason why you're the chief medical examiner of Massachusetts."

Any woman would have found the smile Daniel gave Maura gorgeous. Any woman would have fallen for his dimples and for the deep green of his eyes. Any woman. Maura swallowed hard. Any woman but her. Not tonight.

...

"Good evening, Bass." Maura knelt down to pat the shell of the tortoise. "Did you miss me?"

The tortoise didn't move. Maura was sure that he was listening to her. Somehow. They didn't communicate the way humans did but they had their very own way to understand each other. As a matter of fact, they were a bit alike.

Maura's shell was simply a transparent one.

Just as planned, she hadn't invited Daniel over for a last drink. She had excused herself before driving back alone to her house in Beacon Hill. Jane hadn't sent her any text message. Her silence wasn't surprising as it was part of their rules. Maura accepted them. She simply missed the current possibility to talk to her friend.

What she had with Jane wasn't an affair, even less a relationship. A bottle of wine and the odd sentiment to not be alive enough had led them one night to a degree of intimacy they hadn't shared before. Yet what could have been a mere one-night stand had turned into something a lot more regular and that was how they had become friends with benefits.

They didn't talk about it. They didn't put words on what was happening. They kissed and caressed each other. They reached orgasms together. They had sex. Sometimes it was rough and sometimes it was sweet. There was no anger, no bitterness and no regret. No frustration whatsoever. Just pleasure in its purest form.

"I'm going to take a bath, sweetheart." The kiss Maura gave Bass resonated loudly in the quiet and empty house. "Good night."

It was late and she had to be at the morgue first thing in the morning. At least she would catch back on her sleep if Jane didn't show up. Maura stood up. She walked to the first floor before taking her stilettos off.

If they had been allowed to talk then she would have asked Jane a thousand questions: Had she ever slept with other women? Why was she always so quiet when she came? Was her behavior exactly the same when she happened to have sex with men?

They were both singles but dating people was not out of the question. On the contrary. Jane often pushed Maura to go on a date with a third party, and vice-versa. They didn't find any pleasure in it but it was still comforting.

Maura closed her eyes to enjoy better the heat of the water and the softness of the soap bubbles on her body. She liked taking baths in the evening. She find it to be relaxing.

There was no bath tub in Jane's apartment, just a small shower. The two of them fit in it but they often preferred to have sex in bed or in the living-room. Maura had a thing for the kitchen counter. Jane often liked the roughness of leaning against the wall.

"Jane..."

The memory of her date with Daniel had already faded away. Maura didn't even feel ashamed. It hadn't worked out, these things happened. At least she had tried. She had given him a chance. Nobody had a hold over chemistry.

Her cell phone vibrated.

She grabbed it in a rush and almost let it fall in the bath. What she hadn't felt with Daniel was finally happening now. Her heart was beating faster and a well-known warmth had invaded her lower stomach. She hadn't even read Jane's message yet but the first signs of her arousal were clear. She didn't hold anything back.

Are you alone?

The question made Maura smile. She thought about Jane, about her apartment in Back Bay. Since it was quite late, her friend was probably already in bed with the television on. Maybe there was the rerun of a game on. Basketball, baseball. Any sport.

I am. Currently taking a bath.

Jane wouldn't ask her about the date. She would only do it the next morning if Maura didn't speak about it herself. It would be curiosity and nothing else. Just curiosity.

Where's your left hand?

Their friendship wasn't purely sexual. Maura saw the sexual part as a bonus. They still had their moments that weren't driven by fantasies and desires but their bond was such that they could implicitly feel when the other wanted more than what a friendship is supposed to bring.

In the water, brushing my hip.

The boldness Jane often showed had surprised Maura at first. She hadn't imagined that her friend could lead sexual encounters. Maura liked thinking that it only happened when Jane was with her even if she hardly believed it in the end. Why would Jane act differently with others? It didn't make sense.

Caress your stomach with your hand, make it draw circles on it and count until ten. Then massage your breasts.

Jane wouldn't come to Maura's place. Not tonight. It was too late for her to drive till Beacon Hill. Maura didn't mind. The text messages were a good alternative to the game they usual played.

She followed Jane's instructions with the seriousness of a good student even if she could have skipped these foreplay. Her arousal had reached a high level without her even touching herself.

What's next?

She didn't need to close her eyes to imagine that the caresses came from Jane, that it was her friend's hand and not hers that was now massaging her nipples. She briefly thought about Daniel but the guilt she could have felt never reached her.

Then spread your legs. Enjoy the heat of the water on your flesh, pretend it's my breath there.

Maura swallowed hard. She wasn't simply turned on anymore. She actually needed relief, and now. Jane's skills to get her aroused even from a distance were fascinating but her needs were a lot more primary for the moment.

I need more than just this.

The next seconds seemed to last forever. The wait over the text message oddly looked like the sweetest torture Maura had ever had to face.

Tease yourself. Brush your flesh. Are you panting yet?