DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rizzoli & Isles nor any of the characters from the show. I am writing this purely for entertainment, not profit. Rizzoli and Isles are property of Tess Gerritsen and TNT.

Please find the full disclaimers in the beginning of Chapter 1.

Chapter 24

Jane sat in bed when she realized Maura was not there, but she grinned widely when she saw Maura walking back with a breakfast tray that had been just delivered to their door. She had Jane's crumpled sarong on top of her very naked body.

Jane looked Maura up and down, appreciating the view. The woman was a goddess.

Her skin tingled remembering each moment of their passion the previous night… Kissing, touching, caressing and exploring every inch of skin of each other's bodies, every curve of each other's geography, unhurriedly, as if time had ceased to exist, as if only the two of them remained in the world, and as if the world resumed in the few square feet of that shared bed. She would forever remember every modulation of sound emitted as reaction – whimpers, gasps, moans in all their variations. And she knew she was ready for a lifetime of study of the combinations of them two.

"Good morning…" Maura offered brightly, placing the tray in bed.

Jane pulled her sarong from Maura, and pulled her back to bed, kissing her deeply.

"Careful with the tray…" Maura laughed.

"If I could choose my breakfast, it was going to be you, every day…" Jane teased in a low voice that made Maura's skin explode in goosebumps.

"Eat… We need energy to keep up with all of our rather vigorous activities…" Maura teased, kissing Jane lightly before pushing coffee and juice and fruits and a plate of bacon and eggs in her direction.

Jane ate with appetite, realizing she was really hungry. She had no idea what time it was. And she honestly didn't care. She kept her eyes trained on Maura. On her beautiful skin. On her tousled silky honey blonde hair. On her bright hazel green eyes. On the feminine curves and shapes of her well proportionate body. On her delicate hands, her bountiful firm breasts, and her luscious mouth.

"Are you enjoying the view?" Maura teased, pushing her now empty bowl of oatmeal and fruits and sipping from her tall glass of orange juice.

Jane had the decency to blush, feeling like she was caught hot-handed, or, in this case, very hot-eyed. She took a moment to put the tray by the bedside table, out of the way.

"I was thinking to myself how I got so lucky to have a partner like you…" Jane admitted. "You are perfect, Maura."

"You know I am far from it." Maura blushed, self-conscious.

"You are perfect to me." Jane supplemented. "And I love you more than life itself."

"I can echo that." Maura replied gently, as she crawled to Jane to kiss her.

Jane pulled Maura into her lap, holding her tightly as they continued kissing for what felt like an eternity.

They repeated the previous day routine. But it took much, much longer for them to get ready… Their hands taking their sweet time lashing the other on sunscreen, and untying bikini strings that had already been tied. Walking hand in hand from one extreme to the other of the beach, side by side, enjoying the sun and the breeze and the sound of the crashing waves at their feet.

And then laying side by side to sunbathe, with playful hands sneaking in to touch the other, provoking giggles and weak hand slaps.

And when the sun became too hot, diving into the water, but this time, deft fingers pushed aside cloth to tease and to touch under water.

"We should head back to our room…" Jane proposed, breathless.

"It is not like there is anybody else around…" Maura replied sultrily, her fingers insistent.

"Fuck." Jane gasped, diving into the water to try to escape Maura's touch, and emerging spouting water and trying to get her hair from her face.

"That is the intention." Maura's voice was a hot whisper by Jane's ear.

Jane didn't think twice, an arm passing below knees, another behind shoulders, and lifting Maura from the water.

Maura didn't even protest. Instead, she held tightly to Jane's neck, alternating kissing and sucking and grazing her teeth gently on Jane's pulse point as Jane struggled to keep standing up as she walked past the surf and back to their bungalow.

"There must be something wrong…" Jane mused.

They were inside the jacuzzi in their bungalow, Jane sitting back, with Maura nested in her front, seating between her legs, her back leaning against Jane's naked front, as the fragrant water bubbled around them.

"Why do you say that?" Maura asked, leaning her head back on Jane's shoulder.

"I can't get enough of you, Maura…" Jane leaned to capture Maura's lips in a kiss. "And I don't want ever to…"

Maura chuckled. "I feel relieved…"

"Why?" it was Jane's time to chuckle in response.

"I thought there was something wrong with me, because I feel exactly the same…"

They had a relaxed lunch, and moved to the hammock to rest from the heat of the afternoon. This time, their limbs were tangled, Maura half on top of Jane, as they made out leisurely.

"When I am with you, I feel so grounded… And safe… And home… Even when we are in a beach, in the middle of nowhere, thousands of miles from home…" Maura mused as she laid her head to rest on top of Jane's chest.

Jane squeezed her tightly as she replied. "I think you taught me in practice that home is a person, not a place. As long as we are together, we are home…"

"Can we make that home permanent?" Maura asked, sheepishly.

"Isn't it?" Jane furrowed her brows.

Maura pushed on her elbows to look Jane right in the eye, hazel green boring into warm chocolate brown ones.

"Will you marry me, Jane Rizzoli? Be my rightful wife?"

"I felt I already was…" Jane replied, puzzled, making Maura grin. "But yes, and yes." She added, with a grin of her on.

Jane could almost hear the cogs and wheels of Maura's brain working.

"What are you thinking about?"

"My next project…"

"Care to share? What is the new idea for the Foundation?"

"Not the Foundation, this time. My next project is for us to make sure we will comply with the promise we made to your mother when we told her about us back in Boston."

"Oh… And what would be the focus of this next project?" Jane asked, teasingly.

"Us. Together. Getting married. And maybe starting a family? It is a long-term project…" Maura tried, unsure of what Jane's reaction would be.

"It is a fantastic cornerstone for our life project. I concur…", "Approve…", "And commit to get it done…" Jane mocked solemnity, but punctuated each word with a kiss to Maura's lips.

(The End)