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Chloe looked at Max impishly and jangled her stolen keys, gesturing between the two change rooms on either side. “So Max, boys or girls?”
“Girls,” Max said. “Obviously.”
“Ooh, girls?” Chloe teased.
Max rolled her eyes. “You ever use a boy’s locker room, Chloe? Boymoding for gym class, yuck, still remember the stink. Never again.”
They made their way through the locker room and to the pool on the other side. Chloe dipped her fingers in the pool water. “Max, see if you can find the light for the pool. I want to see the sharks!”
“Otters don’t like sharks; they bite,” Max commented. Blackwell really went hard on its swim team ‘The Otters.’ Even someone wholly disinterested by school sports like Max couldn’t avoid it entirely.
“So do I!” Chloe excitedly said. “Hit that light.”
After a minute of fumbling, Max finally found the switch and turned on the underwater lights in the pool. The water lit up in glimmering light blue, sending refracted patterns all over the ceiling.
“Nice.” Chloe started stripping down, discarding her beanie, jacket and jeans in a pile. Max started doing the same, unstrapping her camera bag and shrugging off the comforting hoodie she always wore. Then Max stopped and her mouth went dry when she saw Chloe unhooking her bra.
“Chloe? What are you…” Max trailed off. She felt the heat rising in her cheeks.
“Ooh, we broke in but we need to follow the rules of appropriate swimwear. C’mon.” Chloe joked as her panties slipped around her ankles. “Live a little.”
Chloe dove naked into the water. Max swallowed, wide eyed, as she watched Chloe jump. Her lithe form smoothly parting the water, until the curve of her hips and long legs vanished under the surface.
Max had been expecting to swim in their underwear or something to the same effect. But then, this was Chloe she was thinking of. Nothing but the wildest possible choice for her punk princess best friend. Max took a deep breath and resumed undressing, trying not to let her mind linger on the glimpses she had of Chloe’s unclothed form. As she started pulling down her jeans, removing them eased a tightness she hadn’t noticed was there. She let out a surprised squeak. She had a… had a…
Chloe resurfaced and looked over expectantly. “Ok over there? You’re seriously taking your time, Max. Tell me you’re not just going to stand there like a zombie.”
Max hurriedly covered herself with her hand. This wasn’t supposed to happen anymore, not since she got her hormone prescription. Yet here it was, making a small but unmistakable tent in her briefs. Max had never been particularly endowed – she was conflicted over whether she was pleased or disappointed by that – but on this occasion, she was thankful she could keep concealed behind one dainty hand.
Chloe swam up to the pool edge and gave Max a concerned look. “Is this about, you know, your body, or…?”
“I mean, I’m not completely happy with it.” Max had stayed short and petite throughout her teen years, thank goodness, and more recently she had started filling in around the chest. But as nice as that change was, she still avoided looking at the bathroom mirrors in the dorm showers.
“Neither am I, have you seen how small my tits are?” Chloe joked. Max had in fact seen. That was one reason – two reasons – for her current situation. Chloe continued, “Max, you’re already hella cute. Honestly, I’m a little jealous. You just need to stop hiding it.”
Chloe was… why would she ever be envious of a tiny, shy trans girl? She was the one with confidence and attitude and style and sex appeal and, just, all the things Max didn’t have and wished she could.
“I… well, ok…” Shuffling on her feet, Max scrunched her eyes shut and put her hands behind her back, letting Chloe see the hard situation she was dealing with. There was a beat of silence, then Max heard Chloe laugh. She felt a pang in her heart and her stomach dropped. Chloe was laughing at her. Max resolutely kept her pose, though she wanted to shrink into herself. She wanted to cry. Was something wrong with her? She knew it, she always knew it, after all she did to become herself, it was never enough.
“So that’s what you were hiding.” Max heard a splash and water dripping as Chloe pulled herself out of the pool. She walked over to put a comforting wet hand on Max’s shoulder. “Sorry, I shouldn’t laugh. But, oh my god, did I do that? You’re so damn adorable.”
Max swallowed nervously, “You mean there’s not… nothing’s wrong? You don’t mind that I…”
“That you want to bone me?” Chloe finished, causing Max to blush deeper. “Nah, nothing’s wrong. I’m actually kinda flattered.”
Surprised, Max finally opened her eyes to see Chloe’s face startlingly close to hers. “You are?”
“Hey, maybe not all this wet is from the pool. For all you know I’m just as into this as you are…” Chloe leaned ever closer. Max’s breath hitched. A part of her wanted to bolt but all the rest wanted to close the gap. The two competing instincts left her completely frozen as Chloe got closer and closer. Was she… going to kiss her? Max’s lips parted in anticipation. It was just her, and Chloe, and the vanishing gap of air between them.
Then Chloe shoved her.
“AAAHH!” Max fell backwards into the water, resurfacing after a huge splash and some sputtering. “Chloe!”
Chloe cackled and cannonballed back into the pool. “Had to getcha in somehow, dork.”
Max splashed her in retaliation, which just made Chloe laugh harder.
“Why look, an otter in my water,” Chloe menacingly teased, humming along to the Jaws theme as she floated towards Max.
“You’re so obvious. And I still get freaked out by that movie, so stop!” Max splashed Chloe again, not that it stopped her in the slightest. Chloe splashed back and soon they were trading waves of flung pool water. Max was still the weaker swimmer, so she quickly found herself overwhelmed and dunked. She spat out water and got her breath back. “I’ll just rewind and harpoon you. Otter’s revenge!”
“Cheat.” Chloe started floating on her back, staring wistfully at the ceiling. “I wish Rachel could be here. She would have loved it in here at night…”
Max floated silently beside her, unsure what to say. She swallowed a lump of jealousy, chased immediately down her throat by guilt. Chloe was allowed other friends, it was a good thing that she had someone, she shouldn’t have had to cling to the girl who abandoned her. But Max was here right now. Why couldn’t she be enough?
“Wish you could have met her,” Chloe added. Like she had read Max’s mind and was trying to reassure her. Telling Max that she was still part of the reunited future Chloe was imagining.
“Maybe we will,” Max said. If all this mystery solving really worked out how they hoped… she wasn’t sure whether she looked forward to or dreaded that meeting.
“It feels like all this stuff going on is connected,” Max continued, taking her attention off the future and back to the mysteries around them now. “And we have to find out for Kate’s sake too. She almost died today…”
Max let herself drift over to the pool edge and held on. Chloe joined her.
“Your power is seriously changing you Max. For the better. You’re not so chickenshit anymore.” Chloe glanced dubiously at the bra straps still clinging to Max’s shoulders. “Well, mostly.”
“Sorry I didn’t properly join you in skinny dipping,” Max softly apologised.
“Max it’s fine.” Chloe shrugged and clung onto the side of the pool beside Max. “I mean, would’ve been fun, but I get that kind of thing is hard for you. Heh, hard.”
“It’s, uh, not anymore at least.” Shock and a fall into cold water had settled things downstairs. Now Max was just making sure to only look at Chloe’s face and not… anywhere else.
“I just hope you know you don’t have to hide anything from me,” Chloe said, “I’m not sure how stealth you’re being at Blackwell, but I knew you before you came out, remember? I, uh, I knew what was in your pants before you took them off, I guess? That’s a terrible way to phrase it, sorry.”
Chloe took a deep breath and tried again. “I see you for you, is what I mean.”
“Thanks Chloe, bad phrasing and all,” Max said. She avoided talking about being trans as much as she could, really. She felt sure people could tell just by looking at her, but she didn’t bring it up if she could help it. Most people had no idea how to talk about it anyway. It was sweet of Chloe to try.
“You act so terrified of being noticed but you’re becoming like this force of nature,” Chloe said.
“More like luck of nature. Come on, my power failed trying to rescue Kate,” Max reminded her. “It worked out at least. It just feels like I’m just stumbling back and forth in time.”
“You didn’t stumble when you saved me, Max,” Chloe said, giving her a reassuring smile. “So, we’re obviously connected, right? Since you wouldn’t have discovered your power without me.”
“Absolutely,” Max said. As if that could have possibly been in doubt. “You make me feel like I know what I’m doing.”
Superpowers and schemes and secrets… it would have all been way too much to handle without Chloe at her back.
Chloe wasn’t unhappy to hear that, Max thought. Or maybe hoped. She sounded wistful when she replied. “And you make me feel like I have a reason for still being in Arcadia Bay.”
“I hope so.” Max wouldn’t know what to do if Chloe left.
“Stop being so goddamn humble,” Chloe chided Max. “You’re like the smartest, most talented person I know.”
“More than Rachel Amber?” Max asked, more a grumble than a question.
“Dude, I’m not her groupie, ok,” Chloe said, letting out a frustrated sigh. “And I’m sure you have Blackwell Bros all over you."
Max felt her teeth clenching at the thought. “Ew, no, I do not want Blackwell Bros anywhere near me.”
“And that Warren guy you called earlier is…” Chloe prompted.
“Being let down gently,” Max answered, before resentfully muttering, “if he ever takes a hint.”
“Good. None of the guys around here are anywhere near good enough for you,” Chloe said, “and since you’re smart enough to figure that out for yourself, I don’t have to rescue you from them.”
“I don’t go for guys at all, Chloe,” Max said.
“Ha, knew it,” Chloe declared, seeming strangely overjoyed by Max’s disinterest in men. “Better that way, they’re usually trouble.”
“As if you aren’t trouble.” Max gently elbowed her. “You’re the bro-killer here, not me. The tattoos, the attitude…”
“You sure I’m not just a Max-killer?” Chloe teased. Then her expression darkened as she answered. “I am not down with these Arcadia Bay hillbillies. A few tried but they couldn’t keep up with me. You figured out how useless they are without having to learn the hard way like I did, so good job.”
Max sarcastically rolled her eyes. “Yes Chloe, I ‘figured it out’ with the power of my lesbianism and you’re such an idiot for not being one.”
“Yeah that, but this time say it without the sarcasm,” Chloe joked. “Declare that superiority. Once you get over yourself you could make the world bow.”
Maybe she could, Max thought. “As long as you’re there with me.” Otherwise, what would be the point?
“Don’t look so sad. I’m never leaving you,” Chloe promised.
Max lay on her folded arms and just looked at Chloe. All of Chloe, even the parts she had been averting her eyes from. Arousal didn’t stir in her this time, just awe. Chloe was everything Max needed, turning what should have been the worst week of her life into one of the best. And never leaving, yet still a step apart. The years away left a gap Max couldn’t bridge. Maybe she didn’t deserve to after abandoning Chloe. She wanted… she didn’t know what she wanted.
Max kicked off the side of the pool. “Now I’m getting cold in here.”
“Because we’re yapping instead of attacking each other, Otter vs Shark style,” Chloe splashed her again. “I think I’ve had my pool experience for the year, let’s jet.”
“We’ll call it a draw,” Max agreed.
Max and Chloe dragged themselves out of the pool. Max made a beeline for her pile of clothes and draped her hoodie over her shoulders. She wasn’t worried of offending now that her involuntary reaction had passed, but she would still rather cover up. Her hoodie got wet and stuck to her skin as she pulled it on. “I feel like we just went swimming in Chlorine Bay. Blech.”
“You look cute with your hair soaked in chemicals,” Chloe said.
Max laughed. “Thanks, you would know.”
Dressing themselves again was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. Blackwell Security!
“Back door!” Chloe hissed, “Now!”
They ran for the opposite entrance to where the security guards were coming in. No time to dress. Max ran with the rest of her clothes in a bundle to her chest. They burst outside and piled into Chloe’s car. There was no going back to Max’s dorm now with security on alert. Chloe gunned the engine and roared off into the night.
“Later fuckers!” She laughed and stuck a middle finger out the window, “Max, you rock! We are so fucking awesome!”
As she drove, with one hand on the steering wheel and one eye on the road, Chloe wrangled herself back into her long tank top. At least she wouldn’t be visibly topless to anyone else out driving this late. Once she pulled into her driveway, they got out and threw the clothes they were carrying onto the roof, preparing to sneak in Chloe’s window.
“I’ll boost you up,” Chloe offered, “since I’m still not wearing pants or anything.”
Max stepped into Chloe’s palms and accepted the lift. “I’m not totally dressed down there either.”
“I know. I’m enjoying the view.”
Max almost lost her grip on the roof. She looked down and glared at Chloe ogling her and pulling that trademarked shit-eating grin. Once she managed to climb up, Max pulled Chloe up behind her and the two of them clambered inside through Chloe’s window. The house was dark and silent. Chloe’s mother and stepfather were either long since asleep or not here.
Chloe turned on a dim lamp and then stretched her arms to the ceiling. “First up, shower, I am not sleeping in all this chlorine. You joining?”
Max sheepishly hovered by the door out of Chloe’s room. “I can- I can just go after you.”
“Oh, come on, you don’t want to drool over me again?” Chloe joked, “You’ve already seen mine, only fair you show me yours.”
“There’s not much to see… you wouldn’t really want…” Max nervously started.
“I asked, didn’t I?” Chloe said.
Max glanced away. “I just- there’s no way I could…”
“Max, you can afford to take chances. You can do anything,” Chloe said, an impish look growing on her face, “For example, I dare you to kiss me.”
“W-what?” Max stammered.
Chloe said it again with even more insistence. “I double dare you, kiss me now.”
Max nervously swallowed and wrung her hands. Her legs rubbed together in a nervous fidget that just made her rising blush worse. She would never have been brave enough to ask but she wanted it so badly. And Chloe made her feel like anything was possible. Before her moment of bravery could pass, Max cupped either side of Chloe’s face and got on tiptoes and kissed her.
It ended as suddenly as it had started. Chloe stepped back, shock playing across her face that Max had actually dared. “Damn, you’re hardcore Max. Now I can text Warren and tell him he doesn’t stand a chance. Unless he’s into girl-on-girl action.”
Chloe knew full well that Warren didn’t stand a chance. Max had told her as much. If Chloe was serious, Max supposed she should probably stop her from sending that message. Although maybe it would finally get the point across where Max’s gentle refusals had failed so far.
“You’re such a dork,” Max said, trying to play it off. Inside, her heart was thundering in her chest. She felt almost as shocked as Chloe looked.
“You better not rewind and take that kiss back,” Chloe joked, “You know I’m hotter than those Seattle art-holes, right?”
Chloe said it lightly but faltered at the question, like she wasn’t quite sure. As if Max might have ever met anyone more captivating. Max blushed as she admitted, “The only reason I would rewind that is to do it again.”
Chloe grinned and took hold of the door handle. “If you want to do it again you can just ask. You gonna come?”
“Yeah.” Max followed behind. Chloe was right, she could do this.
Chloe grabbed a towel from the hallway closet on the way across. The one with the pirate flag pattern that had been old even before Max first left Arcadia. She seriously still had that thing? Chloe set it on top of the closed toilet lid for use when they were finished. Then she stripped her top off over her head, leaving herself naked once more. Her gleaming eyes fixed on Max. “Your turn, Caulfield.”
Max reached behind her back and fumbled with her bra clasp. “I don’t know why you’re so excited for this.”
“Why wouldn’t I be excited to watch a cute girl take her clothes off?” Chloe teased.
Max glanced away to look anywhere but back at Chloe’s predatory eyes. By happenstance she found herself looking in the bathroom mirror as her bra fell from what little chest she had, and she pulled down her briefs. As always, she started noticing every unsightly thing she didn’t like in her reflection. Despite the budding that had started on her chest, she was still practically flat there. The line from her ribcage down to her hips had barely a curve to it, she was so rectangular. And the angle of her jaw to the point of her chin so clearly screamed boy to her, like it-
“So is your friend down there joining us?” Chloe asked. Max squeaked and her spiraling thoughts were overwhelmed by the rising heat in her cheeks. Max’s friend responded in kind.
Chloe smirked at Max as she stepped under the faucet and turned it on, letting the warm shower water soak into her blue hair and run over her skin. Technically speaking, this wasn’t even their first time doing this, but there was a world of difference between getting bathed together at three and four to sharing a shower at eighteen and nineteen. Max got in behind her, staying a respectful step away from Chloe, who laughed under her breath at the distance.
“Your punk girl friend won’t bite, Max,” Chloe said, pulling Max under to whisper, “Not unless you want me to.”
Max hoped the hot water on her skin was covering for her rapidly reddening face. She could feel the chlorine rinsing off at least. There had been a space between ‘girl’ and ‘friend’ when Chloe said it, right? She meant ‘punk-girl friend’ and not ‘punk girlfriend,’ that had to be it. It would just be wishful thinking to assume.
“Need help getting your back?” Chloe offered. As soon as Max calmed one wave of flustering thoughts, Chloe caused another. Max acquiesced, taking any excuse not to look at Chloe, and immediately realised her error as she shivered under Chloe’s hands. The firm touch lingered and held. It felt more like a massage than a rinse. Chloe slowly traced down from Max’s shoulders, over her lower back and in around her hips, inching towards…
“Does that need taking care of?” Chloe whispered. Unlike back at the pool, Max’s hard-on showed no signs of going away on its own. It twitched in response to Chloe’s enticing voice. “I could help…”
“I just… I’ve never…” Max trailed off.
“Really? There hasn’t been anyone?” Chloe asked. She sounded genuinely surprised. Max shook her head. Chloe seemed almost insulted on her behalf. “How dumb were the sapphics where you lived? How could they not be all over this? Now I have to show you what you’ve been missing, since every other girl around you can’t do her job.”
“Chloe!” Max objected between laughing at her friend’s tirade, “You don’t need to fix my virginity.”
Chloe ceased her assertions and for a flicker of a moment her expression turned vulnerable. “And what if… what if I just wanted to? Not to fix anything, just because it’s you.”
Max wordlessly tilted her head up and Chloe’s lips met hers in another kiss, longer and deeper than the last. They lingered until Chloe’s hand at Max’s hip closed the last intimate distance and gently gripped Max’s slender girl-cock. The touch caused Max to break off and gasp. She twitched and throbbed in Chloe grip and her legs quivered. She had to brace her hands on the shower wall to stay upright. Max was just the right length to fit snugly in one of Chloe’s hands, to be squeezed and caressed with slight strokes and small pressures that sent convulsions through Max’s body.
Chloe’s soft breasts squished into Max’s back, and her teeth gently nibbled the sensitive skin on the side of Max’s neck. “You ever imagined me doing this before, Max? Do you touch yourself and think about me?”
A dozen heady scenes flashed through Max’s mind. She could hardly speak under the weight of sensation. “Chloe, I… it was…”
She felt Chloe’s lips curve into a smile against her skin. “You have. It’s ok Max, I did too. So, tell me, what did you imagine me doing to you?”
“You, um…” Max swallowed a gulp, “I was on my back, and you were sitting on me so I couldn’t move, and you… you kissed me.”
“Oh, so when I dared you earlier,” Chloe guessed, “you’ve wanted to do that for a while, haven’t you?”
Max barely managed a nod. “And then you kept kissing down my neck and… and my body and… Chloe…”
It took all Max’s effort to even speak while Chloe touched her. She trailed off into wordless pants but had said just enough to inspire Chloe into making her move. “I think I could make something like that happen.”
Her touch withdrew just long enough for Max to whimper in protest. Chloe spun Max around and pinned her by the wrists, her back to the wall. Chloe kissed her forcefully, tongue invading Max’s mouth, then pulled away just as abruptly. She kissed down Max’s neck, tenderly licking the bite marks she had left earlier. Chloe lowered herself into a squat as she made her way down between Max’s slight breasts and stopped just above Max’s belly button. She took her hands away from Max’s wrists and held her against the wall by the hips.
“In this fantasy of yours,” Chloe asked, “how far down did I go?”
Max drew in a breath and held it, front tooth gnawing on her lower lip. Her penis throbbed in anticipation. She understood what that question was really offering, if she would only accept it.
Chloe prompted her again. “Was my mouth, say, somewhere around…” She drew out each word as long as she could and slowly drew the tip of her finger up the underside of Max’s length and circling the sensitive head. “…here?”
“Yes!” Max breathily exhaled all the air she was holding. Luckily the running shower covered the noise of her exclamation, or who knows how far that might have carried in the house. Max’s moment of worry was smothered by fresh haze of pleasure. Chloe’s lips sealed over her shaft and her tongue curled tight around it.
Max’s legs threatened to give out as Chloe drew her head slowly, reverently, up and down. Barely staying upright, one of Max’s hands found Chloe’s hair and she laced her fingers through the blue strands. Her other hand fingered grout between the tiles on the shower wall, desperately scrabbling for any purchase. Chloe momentarily stopped to kiss the inside of Max’s wrist where she held her head. “That’s right, hold me on it, pretend you’re even a little bit in control here… we both know better.”
Before Max could think of any retort, Chloe resumed sucking and once again stole Max’s ability to speak beyond quivering sighs and gasps. She felt a tightening tug down below and breathed out a warning, “Chloe I’m… ah…”
Chloe stopped just long enough to murmur, “Can’t have you making a mess,” before readying her open mouth and tongue as Max’s peak overtook her. She squeezed her eyes shut and a high-pitched yelp escaped her lips. A thin spattering of clear droplets spurted from her tip onto Chloe’s tongue, which Chloe swallowed down. She looked curiously up at Max. “Wait, is that it?”
“It doesn’t…” Max started between deep breaths, “It doesn’t work like guy dick anymore Chloe. It just does that.”
Max’s wobbling legs finally collapsed. Chloe, halfway up from her squat, caught Max as she keeled over. She held Max upright and turned off the shower, carrying the smaller girl out and wrapping them both in her big pirate towel. “There you go Max. You did so good. Was that everything you imagined?”
Max managed a slight nod. “Wish I could’ve done something for you too.”
“Oh, did you think we were done?” Chloe softly laughed, “Catch your breath and find your feet. We have all night, and I have so much more to show you.”
Chloe finished drying them both and hung the towel over the shower partition. Max recovered enough to stand while clinging to Chloe. She let herself be led back across to Chloe’s room, the punk herself eagerly leading the way. “Ready for round two, Max?”
Max hesitated at the door. Now that the overpowering emotions of her first assisted orgasm were wearing off, the old thoughts came racing back. Chloe didn’t want Max, nobody wanted Max except one frustrating nerd who didn’t understand the word ‘no.’ Max had been agitating about her insecurities all night, and then suddenly Chloe wants to treat her like she’s desired. Enticing her so forcefully it overrode all thought. It was a way to make Max feel better, that was all. She knew she wasn’t the real girl on Chloe’s mind. “Chloe, you don’t have to just for my sake.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Max, is it really that hard to believe that I want this too?”
“I mean I’m- I’m trying to be more… womanly but I’m just not…” Max trailed off and shuddered. Not girl enough, one thought said. Not Rachel, said another, darker impulse.
“Ok, one, you know I go both ways so if you were a boy – which you obviously aren’t – that wouldn’t be a problem.”
“It’s not that obvious.”
“And two,” Chloe smacked Max on the ass, causing her to yelp and stumble two steps forward into Chloe’s room. Seconds later, Chloe was behind her again, hissing a sultry whisper in her ear, “Only a girl could make that noise for me. Kneel in front of the bed.”
Max got to her knees like she was told. Chloe sat on the foot on the bed in front of her, one leg folded over the other.
“Good girl. Now, didn’t you say you wanted to repay me for making you feel so good?” Chloe uncrossed her legs and let Max see the wet slit in between them. “Think you’re up to the task?”
Max leaned in closer, just breathing Chloe in. She bit her lip as a very bad joke entered her mind at the sight of the trimmed triangle of blonde hair just above. “Guess the carpet doesn’t match the drapes.”
“Bad girl.” Chloe flicked her on the forehead. “I’m not going to dye my pubes just to amuse you.”
“Sorry.” Max planted a kiss inside Chloe’s thigh, near but not quite upon her centre. Then trailed inwards and kissed closer still.
Chloe looked down at her, flushed with anticipation. “Max, are you teasing me on purpose or just hesitating?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“And you think I’m trouble, you br-AAT!” Chloe gasped and threw her head back as Max finally brought her open lips and tongue to Chloe’s wet heat. “Damn… guess there’s my answer.”
Max didn’t deign to reply. She just kept lovingly lavishing her attention on Chloe, reverently kissing and licking as she knelt in worship.
“Little higher,” Chloe said. When Max did as she instructed, her legs clenched. “That’s the spot! The… ah… the important thing is enthusiasm. I can teach you technique. But you’re – god – not bad for your first time.”
Chloe’s fingers reached down and gripped Max’s hair. Her legs squeezed either side of Max’s head. Max buried her face deeper, even as her lungs screamed for breath, her airflow cut off by Chloe holding her in place. Chloe ground her hips against Max’s face. The hand on the back of Max’s head threatened to drown her in Chloe’s dripping, quivering sex.
The pressure ramped up until it felt like Chloe was going to crack Max’s skull and her face was covered in wet. Even more squirt exploded into Max’s mouth as Chloe’s whole body convulsed all at once and went limp. Max lifted her head to check on her. “Chloe? All good up there?”
“Good?” Chloe started breathlessly laughing. “Only you could make a girl cum then worry you did something wrong. You’re so fucking clueless.”
“Oh.” So that’s what that was. Beneath her burning fluster, Max felt a hint of pride.
Chloe sat up on her elbows and looked down at Max. “Oh, you’re hard again. You know you could have touched yourself while you ate me out. That’s like, allowed.”
Max glanced down in embarrassment. She had hardly noticed her own arousal in the moment, too caught up in Chloe to think of anything else. “I was pretty focused.”
“I saw, you looked entranced, it was adorable,” Chloe commented. “Hey, while you’re down there can you pass me my jeans?”
“Uh, yeah sure.” Max didn’t really get what for, but she retrieved Chloe’s pants from the pile of discarded clothes and handed them over.
Chloe fished her wallet from her pockets and checked in it for something. “Oh good, I do still have one.”
“You still have what?” Max asked as Chloe took out a tiny silver packet and enticingly crinkled it in her fingers.
“There’s one other thing we could do Max,” Chloe said, crooking a finger to beckon her closer. Max crawled onto the bed, perching on her hands and knees above Chloe’s body. Up close, Chloe revealed the packaging of a condom wrapper, twirling it between her fingers. “We know you’re ok with having your dick touched, but how do you feel about using it?”
“I…” Max tried to formulate a response.
Chloe whispered in Max's ear and stole all her words from her. “Do you want to fuck me?”
Max’s heart pounded in her chest. Everything about tonight had been beyond overwhelming, and the thought of taking one last step, crossing one more line with Chloe… her Chloe… there was only one thing she could say. “I do.”
Chloe flashed a grin and flipped them, leaving Max pinned beneath while Chloe sat over her waist. She eagerly tore the wrapping open. “There’s a trick to putting these on I can show you.”
“I know how to put one on,” Max said.
“Not like this you don’t.” Chloe winked, placing the condom over Max’s tip, then bent down and enclosed her mouth over, pushing the latex over Max’s length with her lips. Max could only stare at her, wide eyed and stunned, as Chloe straddled her hips again and lined them up. “Now, where were we?”
She slowly lowered herself down onto Max. Chloe parted around her slowly, easing each agonising inch of Max’s length inside. Max gasped as jolts of pleasure arced up her back. The walls of Chloe’s heat slid tightly into place until Max felt the wet kiss of Chloe's folds against her skin beyond the reach of the latex sheath. The sudden heat and pressure jolted Max upright. She clung to Chloe’s body in her lap, holding on as hard as her willowy, limp arms could. Chloe pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“It’s a lot, isn’t it? You’re doing so well,” She returned the embrace and drew Max’s head into the crook of her neck. Her fingers softly stroked Max’s hair. She gently rocked her hips, every tiny movement drawing sighs and gasps and whimpers out of Max. Chloe and Max’s breathing each came shorter and sharper, speeding in time with each other’s. With each enticing squeeze, Max felt a growing, throbbing pulse. She somehow, impossibly, stiffened even harder. Chloe’s breath hitched and her walls clenched as she felt it.
“Chloe, I’m… ah… I’m…” Max gasped and panted as she tried to get her words out.
Chloe shut her up with a kiss and whispered into her lips. “It’s ok. Just let it all out.”
She pushed Max down to be pinned to the mattress again, Chloe’s hands on Max’s wrists. She bucked her hips ferociously, biting her lip as she looked down at Max, never for a moment breaking eye contact.
“Chloe!” Max broke first, scrunching her eyes shut and squirming as she throbbed inside Chloe. Her back arched and her legs tensed and if she wasn’t being held down, she would have bent herself into a pretzel.
As that spike of intensity passed, it took all the tension in Max’s body with it. She flopped back onto the mattress, limbs haphazardly spread out, vision unfocused, eyes barely able to stay open. Chloe climbed off Max, removing her condom as she softened inside it. Chloe tied it off and threw it in her waste bin. “Guess I better get more of those.”
“I’m actually probably infertile,” Max weakly said. Hormones usually did that, and the thin state of her cum wasn’t exactly an indicator of virility.
“How about you check before we start taking that risk, yeah?” Chloe let herself fall onto the mattress beside Max. “How’s it feel to not be a virgin anymore?”
“Wowser…” Max breathily exhaled. Chloe started cackling beside her. Max whined indignantly. “What? Stop laughing at me.”
Chloe kept laughing anyway, keeping Max in frustrated suspense until her fit ran its course. “Only you, Max Caulfield, would say ‘wowser’ during sex. You’re so fucking cute.”
Max pouted but she was too tired to argue. Chloe yawned and rolled closer, draping her arms over Max and holding her as sleep overtook them both.
Max woke up to soft morning sunlight filtering in the window. She was still in Chloe’s bed, naked, curled up against Chloe’s sleeping form. Max eased herself away, careful not to disturb her partner. Or whatever Chloe was to her now. “Friend,” even “Best Friend,” didn’t quite cut it anymore after last night. She quietly reached down to where her camera sat beside the bed, sat up, and pointed the lens at herself. A moment she would never forget.
Chloe popped up beside her. “Photobomb!”
“Photo hog,” Max groaned. She clicked the flash and the picture emerged from the slot. “Your tits are out in this by the way.”
Chloe gave her an odd look. “Yours are in it too genius.”
“I know where I am in my frame,” Max said, “I’m not visible past my shoulders. Your everything is out.”
“Keep it anyway, I know how much you like ‘em.”
They lay in silence beside each other, lingering in the moment as long as they could.
“It feels like a different world from yesterday,” Max mused.
Chloe grinned. “We left a skid mark on Blackwell last night.”
“Not to mention the marks you left on me…” Max ached everywhere after what Chloe did to her, but knowing where it came from made the pain feel sweet.
“I wasn’t that rough, you baby,” Chloe objected. “You have no idea what kind of marks I could leave on you if I wanted.”
“Is that a promise?” Max asked. Chloe found a remote in the mess beside her bed and turned on her sound system. I quiet lilt of guitar strings filled the room.
“Only the beginning Max,” Chloe said, tiredly fluttering her eyes. “I’m so wiped out from last night, but it was awesome.”
“I have to ponder what kind of criminal I’ve become.”
“My criminal,” Chloe told her, “and you know that’s not the part I was talking about.”
Max felt the heat rising in her cheeks. It had seemed like a dream, but talking about it out loud made it real. Her first time, and it was with Chloe. There was nobody else who Max would have let it be. “And what does this mean about… about us?”
The answer to that question frightened Max, but she dreaded not knowing even more. Chloe met Max’s nervous eyes and for a moment it looked as if she was just as afraid. She thought for a moment about what she wanted to say.
“Well, I promised you a road trip to Portland, didn’t I?” Even once Chloe paid off her debts, she would still have a lot of leftover money from what they’d… borrowed from Blackwell. “So, weekend, we’ll take a break from sleuthing, or maybe we’ll have already solved it all by then. We can call it a first date and… see how it goes.”
The singer on Chloe’s sound system spoke a line that stuck in Max’s head. “What is simple in the moonlight by the morning never is.”
Giving herself to Chloe had felt so right, and now it had changed everything between them. And yet, in the morning light, Chloe beside her, Max had no regrets. They weren’t girlfriends or anything. Not yet. But Max’s heart fluttered as she thought maybe they could be. This was all complicated, messy, difficult, but… worth it, Max thought. Chloe was worth it.