Author's Note: Thank you very much for all the reviews, messages and suggestions (I'll do my best to insert your suggestions, one way or another).

Chapter Five

Maura zipped up her skirt quietly. Her legs were still shaking slightly and her core was hot. Her body would need some time for the post-effects of her orgasm to vanish in a knowing silence. She glanced at Jane who was still dealing with the buttons of her jeans. Her hands were shaking as well.

"Are you thirsty?"

The double-entendre of the question caused Maura to blush. She hadn't done it on purpose. Jane didn't chuckle though. She simply gave her friend a nod. Maura grabbed two small bottles of water out of a mini-fridge. She held one out to her friend and took a long sip of hers. She wouldn't open the shutters of her office until late in the afternoon, way after Jane would have gone back upstairs to her own floor.

Maura didn't want her employees to see in it the signs of any kind of sexual activity, even if it was exactly what had happened. She liked the idea of being discreet and bold at the same time.

Luckily it matched Jane's fantasies.

Her eyes fixed upon her desk, the exact spot where Jane had just made her come. They had had sex everywhere in this room already and more times than Maura could even remember. Yet at the beginning it only happened in the evening. Now their sexual release could occur in the afternoon or even in the morning.

They didn't care if they weren't alone on the floor. They weren't afraid of it. As a matter of fact, they found the situation to be arousing.

"So Lucy's her name..."

Jane's tone of voice sounded too casual to be true. Maura couldn't understand since she didn't know that Jane had driven to her place the evening before only to walk in on her with Lucy but this woman had piqued up Jane's curiosity. They had even begun to talk about Lucy before abandoning themselves to the tantalizing effects of sensual caresses.

"Lucy McAllister."

Maura felt uncomfortable because she was afraid of Lucy's reaction. Lucy would make a remark, something that most of people would see as innocent but Maura was certain that she would feel like dying at the scene. Lucy was discerning: she would guess that Maura slept with Jane in no time.

"And she's...?" Jane squinted her eyes. She was just as uncomfortable as Maura was but for different reasons. The thought they were still panting on the desk five minutes before was unbelievable. The pace of their dynamic had changed rather suddenly. "You've never mentioned her before."

"Lucy and I bonded in college, she's an archeologist. We attended a few classes together but our respective parents were friends way before all this. We've kept in touch. She's presently in Boston for an international conference and since she forgot to book a room, I welcomed her home."

Maura almost added that she and Lucy had never slept together but she was afraid of Jane's reaction if she did. There would be vain justifications, mumbles and apologies that shouldn't even be said out loud.

"And she wants to meet me. Like, really?"

Maura made sure to keep a reasonable distance with Jane because she couldn't afford to have sex again. Not now. She had files to revise and research to do. Yet the beats of her heart and the wetness between her legs betrayed her current desire for Jane. She hadn't had enough. Not just yet.

"My mother told her about you and since she's in Boston..." Maura shrugged. She didn't know why she hadn't let Jane know about Lucy's visit earlier, why she had kept it for herself. When Jane had asked her whether she wanted to spend the night over, Maura had simply told her friend that she couldn't because she had other plans. She hadn't mentioned Lucy. "She's nice."

"Is she some kind of Indiana Jones? Have you... I thought you didn't have friends before."

Jane's fingers brushed the edge of the desk. The inconscient gesture still made Maura swallow hard. She wished her friend's hand had been caressing her inner thigh instead. Touching a cold piece of furniture was a waste of time and opportunities.

"I started socializing a lot more in college. This is when..." The tip of Maura's tongue drew an invisible line on her lips. She looked at Jane in the eyes before taking a deep breath. "This is when I understood who I am."

The coming out in disguise didn't pass unnoticed to Jane but her discomfort became such that she didn't say anything back. She vaguely gave Maura a nod then checked her cell phone. Nobody had called her nor had sent her a text message. Nobody required her presence anywhere.

Nobody but Maura.

"Fine. Then I'll be there tonight. 7.30pm."

...

Maura glanced at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. The dress she had chosen was not what she would call a subtle one. The lowcut was daring and even the knee-length looked outrageous. If she wanted to be crude then she would say that this dress literally yelled "fuck me now" but these were words that she only whispered into Jane's ear whenever her arousal drove her on the edge.

Lucy had just come back home and she was very happy to learn that she would finally meet Jane. Her cheerful tone of voice didn't reassure Maura whose heartbeats were so loud that she could barely listen to the CD of Yo-Yo Ma that was playing in the background.

Flirting with Jane during a dinner had almost become a ritual and if it weren't for Lucy's upcoming reactions then Maura would have probably played a lustful game of hide-and-seek with Jane. But she was nervous as a wreck for the moment. Way too far from a toe going up Jane's calf or fingertips brushing Jane's inner thigh.

"Oh boy, you're gorgeous. I didn't know we had to dress up... Do you want me to go and change?"

Maura shook her head. Lucy's remark was fair though and it made her feel ridiculous now. She was over-dressed. It wasn't appropriate.

"Oh no, don't be worried. You are perfect the way you are."

The polite remark got its effect as Lucy gave Maura a smile before going downstairs to prepare dinner. She had insisted on cooking and, truth to be told, Maura had felt relieved about it. She would have never been able to focus on a recipe.

"I can't believe you're single. How come you haven't met anyone yet? Look at you: you're glowing. As a matter of fact, you've never looked so... I don't know. You're blossoming!"

The pout Maura made clearly betrayed the fact that she didn't share Lucy's opinion. She had felt tired lately and her near dependence to Jane worried her. Yet these sessions were also the reason why she smiled in the morning, why her heart beat faster whenever she looked into her friend's dark eyes. She wasn't in denial, she simply thought that Lucy's reaction was exaggerated.

"How about you? You're single too."

"It's different with me. I go from one archeological site to another... I barely spend like a month at home per year... I meet people, I do. But I don't have time to develop any kind of relationship. It's a miracle if I ever get offered a one-night stand, actually."

There was a time when Maura would have slept with Lucy. She found the woman to be very appealing. But whatever she may have felt for her had turned into something a lot more platonic. She was realizing it now. The crush she had had once was now gone.

"I may not travel from one continent to another within a couple of weeks but I do spend some time on what one could call an archeological site too... If it includes bones, that is. The mere fact of telling people I am a medical examiner is enough to make them run away without even saying goodbye."

"Then how about a sex friend? I'm sure you have one."

Lucy giggled and Maura froze. She tightened her grip on the glass of wine she was holding and swallowed hard. Of course, Lucy couldn't guess.

She couldn't guess that, if Maura had been alone right now, then she would send Jane a text message. Perhaps they would have chatted for a while before deciding to put an end to their distant foreplay. Jane would have arrived and Maura would have pushed her against the first wall at reach to pass a hand under the hem of her boxers while her tongue would draw little circles on her jaw.

Then they would have moved to bed, or simply to another room.

"I don't have a lot of friends."

The whispered remark made Lucy laugh. Maura's remark was full of bitterness but the archeologist was in a good mood, too good to abdicate to this typical melancholy that often defined Maura. She looked up at her friend then winked almost mischievously.

"You don't, indeed. However, you have a lot of sex appeal. If you really wanted to get someone, for an hour or for the rest of your life, then it wouldn't be an issue at all. You're mysterious. It's exciting."

The ringing of Maura's cell phone put an abrupt end to the odd yet true conversation that she and Lucy were having. She grabbed the device and opened the text message that Jane had sent her.

Jane was on her way. She had bought wine.