Author's Note: Thank you very much for all the reviews and messages, remember to change your filters if you want to be sure to see this fic appear in your updates since it's M rated.

Chapter Two

The world had stopped turning as soon as Jane's dark eyes had fixed upon the reflection of two women in the large mirror of the restaurant. The two women were sitting at the table in Jane's back. They simply looked like two friends who were enjoying a talk during their lunch break for most people but Jane had noticed the ballet of gazes and the discreet gestures of the hands. They weren't friends but lovers and the scene was oddly hypnotizing.

Jane often wondered if she looked at Maura the way both women looked at each other now. She and Maura weren't lovers but friends with benefits. The difference between both notions was very thin but it nonetheless existed. They thought they were in control but perhaps they didn't fool anyone. Just like these two women. Perhaps many people had already guessed that they spent the night together several times a week.

"Have you ordered our coffees?"

Frost's shadow put an end to Jane's daydream. She watched how her colleague sat down, how his frame blocked her view of the two women.

"Yes. It shouldn't be long now. Do you think we have time to stop by this art school? Cavanaugh wants to meet us at 3pm."

The restaurant was of average quality but it still contrasted with Jane and Frost's habits. They often bought a sandwich that they then ate in the car while driving from one place to another but Jane had felt the desire to sit down for a while. Besides, it was heavily raining outside. A fog rose from the hot asphalt. It smelled of storms, of humid days of July.

Their investigation over the Marguerite Duras' crime was going too slow for Jane's taste. She found the situation to be frustrating. They lacked clues, and leads. Maura had finally accepted to lend her The Lover but Jane felt confused when reading it.

"I suppose so... If we hurry up..."

Jave gave Frost a nod before folding her napkin. She was too focused on their case to even feel like talking about anything else. She had tried to joke about Maura's fail date but neither she nor Frost had showed eagerness to talk about it. An invisible pressure weighed on their shoulders: time was running against them.

She and Maura had briefly talked about the date. Jane had quickly understood that it hadn't worked out which made her feel glad. She was fine with Maura dating people just as Maura was fine with her doing the same thing but Jane had had a bad feeling about Daniel.

It wasn't jealousy but concern.

"I hope Dr. Isles got the lab results too. Did she send you a text message?"

Jane shook her head. Frost's question was fair but sadly her phone had remained quiet over the past two hours. Maura hadn't tried to reach her yet.

"She said it'll take a while."

"Of course, I understand."

Frost's reaction caused Jane to feel bad for him. She had implicitly urged him to be patient when she usually was the one who kept on rushing Maura to get lab results delivered. Jane didn't know why she had chosen a different kind of strategy, this time. It had simply felt right.

...

"You're tense."

The remark made Jane laugh quietly. She didn't mean to mock Maura but the nature of her friend's comment was anything but surprising considering she could barely turn her head.

"Really, Captain Obvious?"

The pressure of Maura's hands on Jane's shoulders stopped immediately. Regrets invaded Jane and showed in the way she bit her lower lip. Of course, Maura wouldn't get the sarcasm that lay behind her remark. She was a very literal person.

"O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done..." Maura's giggles rose quietly in the silence of the night. She was in a very good mood and it wasn't only caused by the latest release of oxytocin in her body after Jane had made her come. The nature of her happiness remained unknown but she didn't care. It was there, and she was ready to embrace it fully. "The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won..."

Jane turned her head in spite of her sore muscles. She gave Maura a frown but the smirk that played on her lips betrayed an obvious amusement.

"Do you often quote Walt Whitman while sitting naked on a bed?"

"There's a first time for everything." Maura let herself fall down on the bed. Flat on her back. She stretched her arms above her head then yawned. "Are you enjoying The Lover?"

Jane didn't hide her sudden surge of lust. She observed Maura's body the way a painting expert observes a masterpiece. The tip of her tongue brushed her lips. Maura lay there naked offering her body to Jane's dark eyes. There wasn't an inch of skin hidden from her sight.

She didn't know what had become of her modesty. There was a time when she used to avoid looking at her partner's body even after they had made love. But it was different with Maura, everything was different. Jane didn't hide herself behind a curtain of lies. She assumed her desires and comfortably lay naked next to her friend without feeling the mere ounce of timidity.

"I was hoping it may bring me a hint to our case but... Nothing shows up from it. It's a mysterious quote..."

"It isn't what I'm asking." Maura rolled on her stomach in order to look at Jane better. "Do you like the story? How do you find the novel?"

Jane closed her eyes in anticipation. She knew what was going to happen next because it had already happened a thousand times. Maura's lips would soon brush her neck and her hands would caress her lower stomach. The gestures would be meaningful, quite explicit as well: Maura was ready to make love again.

And Jane was more than eager to comply.

"It's... Well written."

The answer was barely average but Jane was unable to focus on a chat about literature. Maura hadn't kissed her neck. She had straddled her instead and was now rubbing herself against Jane's body.

Slowly, with this typical sensuality that drove Jane crazy.

"And...?" Maura's breath slid on Jane's hard nipple before it disappearing under Maura's tongue. She moaned against Jane's aroused flesh. "That's all you have to say about it?"

Jane swallowed hard. She had a thing for Maura's foreplay. They were direct, rough and oddly sweet at the same time. It was a pure torture to be at the mercy of her lips and hands.

"Marguerite Duras really had an affair with someone who was twelve years older than her?" Jane couldn't care less about the author's life at this point but she obeyed Maura's implicit orders because she loved playing along. "I mean..."

The movement of Maura's pelvis gained in precision which caused Jane to hold her breath and freeze. She hadn't seen the change of pace come. Maura had taken her by surprise knowing how Jane loved this position.

They had begun to sleep together five months earlier and if there was one thing that Jane constantly kept in mind from this odd relationship then it had to be how feline Maura was. She wasn't just feminine. Her gestures were graceful, and fluid. Her authority was subtle, and tantalizing. Jane loved it.

"The novel is part autobiographical so..."

It was the first time they talked while having sex. Neither of them had asked for a new set of rules. The conversation felt natural. Jane even found in Maura's hoarse voice a new factor of arousal. Her friend had only lost herself in moans and sighs until now. Hearing her voice added something to an already very addictive situation.

Maura showed a self-control that often made Jane green with envy. Her arousal barely transpired in her voice. Her breath was calm even if she kept on matching the pace Jane's pelvis now dictated. Jane was the opposite. She couldn't keep on talking. The words wouldn't pass her throat. She needed to concentrate not only to enjoy the sensations but also to make it last longer. Maura's wetness against her own core made it hard for her to not abandon herself to her upcoming orgasm.

She tried to think about Marguerite Duras but Maura's teeth teasing her nipples swept away whatever was left of her determination to pretend she had the mere control over the situation.

"It's a self-quest... The desire to lead your life the way you want to live it."

Maura's whisper sounded like a caress. Her hot breath slid on Jane's ear before dying in the crook of her neck. Jane smiled. Maura's short analysis of the novel was correct. Sadly it didn't weigh much against the way Maura's breasts now brushed Jane's.

Jane filled her lungs with air. The palm of her hand brushed her friend's buttocks. She pressed on her lower's back to intensify the touch of their respective pelvis. She had had enough. She needed a release. She needed it now. Maura abdicated.