Work Text:
“Max?”
The soft whisper is enough to wake her from her light sleep. Stirring she raises her head and blinks wearily through the darkness, mildly annoyed until her eyes find Kate hovering in her ajar door.
“Kate? Mmm, is everything ok?” She croaks her voice slightly hoarse. It wasn’t unusual for Kate to seek her out since they’d started living together but it was the first time she’d woken her which did worry Max somewhat,
“Can… Can I sleep with you tonight?” She asks, the darkness of the room hides her blush somewhat but as she creeps inside Max notices it, “or… can we at least cuddle?”
It wasn’t the first time Kate had asked her that, she still struggled with her confidence and self esteem and the pressures of her overzealous family and the trauma from Blackwall that still lingered over her. When she was feeling particularly down or overly exhausted she found comfort in Max’s arms, her touch was soothing and she was always so kind and knew just what to say to make her feel better.
Max lifts the duvet off herself and lets Kate into her bed, her arms wrapping around her flatmate who instantly melts into them, “Of course you can,” she smiles and strokes Kate’s hair, sighing softly as Kate inhales her scent,
“Thank you Max,” she yawns, “you’re too good to me,”
“It’s nothing Kate, I’d do anything for you, just tell me what’s wrong, when you’re ready of course,”
“I just felt lonely,” Kate confesses, “when we were watching TV together and I started to drift off with my head on your shoulder,” she blushes, “when you’re close like this it feels nice, it feels right,” she presses her face into Max’s neck again and the photographer swears she feels a kiss,
“It does,” she agrees, her mind already racing as she realises she’s slightly underdressed compared to Kate, her sleeping shirt was slightly too short and exposed some of her belly and all she wore on her lower half was a pair of light pink cotton panties that suddenly sported an ominous dark patch at the crotch.
It’s comfortable and Kate was right, this definitely did feel right. Maybe it was all the time they spent together, she did far more for Kate than most people would ever do for a friend. She cooks for her, she walks with her to the coffee shop, holding her hand when Kate gets nervous or flustered or she thinks a panic attack might be coming on. They cuddle under blankets together when it’s cold and at least once a week Max will take her out to a nice restaurant or cafe to treat her.
She’d do absolutely anything for Kate. She still remembers the roof as though it was yesterday, even if the girl in her arms never technically went up there she knew Kate was at her lowest and did everything she possibly could to make her life better.
If she was honest with herself Kate had become far more than a friend in that time and she’s been head over heels for her for some time now, even if she felt conflicted about acting on her feelings.
She moves to get more comfortable, the weight in her arms still feeling like it belongs but her breath suddenly hitches, her body freezes when a thigh is pressed accidentally between Kate’s. The shy girl moans into her neck, shivers in her arms and definitely presses herself firmly against her thigh.
“Are you ok?” Max asks herself but Kate answers breathlessly,
“No, I feel hot.”
Max untangles herself from her friend and hovers above her, bringing the back of a hand to her brow, “You don’t feel like you’ve got a fever,” she whispers, concerned,
“Not there,” Kate blushes and Max feels a complete and utter fool for not realising earlier,
“Is that why you woke me up?”
“Yes, I used to feel like this sometimes in Blackwall when my thoughts lingered on Victoria for too long, now it happens whenever I think about you, and that’s a lot,” she blushes and Max feels overwhelmingly sorry for the poor girl who was kept deliberately ignorant from her bodies needs for far too long, “I thought you’d be able to help me, like you do with everything but when you started stroking my hair…”
“It got worse,” Max whispers, all the dots connected, “what you’re feeling… it’s perfectly normal Kate, I promise,” Max feels herself blush,
“Can you help me?” Kate asks, her eyes wide and helpless, a touch of fear born from misunderstanding in them,
“I can… but… we can’t just be friends anymore if I do,” she glances away, her own face heating up, her mind starting to doubt if she wanted to actually do this but her second brain between her legs couldn’t be ignored and neither could the growing stain,
“What?” Kate looks panicked, aghast for a moment but then Max’s lips meet hers.
Hair flows through her fingers as she’s kissed properly and consensually for the first time in her life, as the flames that roar in her belly flicker for a moment before burning even hotter, as the ache between her legs grows ever hungrier.
“Max,” she gasps, looking up at her best friend,
“Did… did that help?” Max asked, cheeks flushed and nearly falling over her words,
“For a moment but…”
Max kissed her again, moaning into her mouth and she kisses her back, hands fisting at the deer patterned nightshirt she wore as she clings to anything she can. The burning once again easing for a brief moment before returning even stronger.
“It’s worse again,” she whimpers when Max pulls away,
“It’ll get worse before it gets better, much better, does it feel bad?”
“No, it, it’s like I’m hungry, my body wants… sinful things, things I was always taught to ignore but when they’re brought on by you…”
She remembers the first time she thought these sinful things, back when she first laid eyes on Victoria Chase and something awakened inside of her. She’d had similar thoughts about a number of her dormmates back in Blackwall but Victoria brought them on stronger than anybody else, even Max. With Victoria though, they did feel wrong, the constant teasing and torment made those desires harder to accept, they came to her unbidden and unwanted and she dreamed up shameless things that she’d be caught dead before admitting.
None of that shame came with her desire for Max, Max was kind, caring, a friend, more than a friend and she felt no shame indulging those thoughts, imagining what it might be like to be with Max and fall in love with her. It was an escape, a fantasy, something she knew she would be shunned for yet right now when Max hovers above her like this they could all be damned.
“I can help you Kate,” Max breathes in a husky whisper, her voice thick with something foreign, “but you need to trust me and be honest with me,” Kate nods, “and I need to take your pyjamas off,”
“Can you take yours off too?” She asks and she’s not sure why she did other than the fact the sight of a naked Max has tormented her daydreams and idle thoughts for months now,
“Yes,” Max whispers, almost too eager and this time Kate is kissing her, pulling at the fabric which is over Max’s head in and instant and now she’s pawing at her skin, feeling her ribs through her sides, her waist then hands take her wrists and her own hands are cupping Max’s chest, her best friend moaning her name as she presses herself into them,
“Fuck Kate,” she gasps and stokes the fire which has grown big enough that the flames are beginning to lick her abdomen,
“You’re beautiful,” Kate blushes and Max’s lips are hot on her own again,
“Kate, please,” Max whines and Kate’s not exactly sure what she’s asking for until fingers find the hem of her pyjama top and she helps Max pull it off.
She instinctively covers her chest. Despite the fact she’d shamelessly stared at Max’s perky chest moments earlier she doesn’t afford her flatmate the same privilege.
“You’re so pretty Kate,” Max purrs and presses her body against hers, kissing her softly, slowly, intimately, kissing her in a way Kate had only read about in stories.
Her hands leave her chest to wrap around Max’s back and she presses her thighs together which seems to alleviate some of the relief.
“Max,” she breathes when the kiss ends and a finger on her lips shushes her,
“If you want this to stop, just say lighthouse,” she whispers and for a moment Kate’s entire brain is occupied trying to fathom a reason as to why she’d want this to stop until she’s brought back to reality and Max’s affection by lips ghosting down her neck,
“M, Max,” she whimpers when teeth graze her throat,
“Sorry,” Max stifles a giggle and Kate realises she’s trembling, “it’s been a while,” she blushes but keeps kissing down, over her collarbone until her lips close around the golden cross, still looped around her neck on a delicate golden chain.
Kate opens her mouth to ask Max what she’s doing but before she can manage to unscramble her brain find the words she’s tasting her own cross on Max’s tongue and suddenly her thighs are overwhelmingly sticky with something new and foreign.
She feels like she should be panicking, should be trying to push Max away but the feeling of the bare skin connecting them and the sensation of being kissed overwhelms those unwelcome impulses.
Max pulls away and the cross falls back down to her chest, slapping against her skin with a soft, wet sound. Max grins down at her slightly awkwardly, “Sorry, I thought you’d like that,” and if Kate properly knew what was happening to her body she’d know that was the sexiest thing anybody had ever done to her,
“I did,” Kate feels her heart swell in her chest, “Max, it aches, between my legs,” she whines,
“I should hope so,” Max grins back at her and Kate feels herself grow embarrassed,
“Is it normal?” She croaks in a quiet voice,
“Yes,” Max smiles, “I ache down there too Kate, badly,”
“I always thought it was sinful to feel like this,” she confesses and feels instantly like a fool for doing so, “sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
“You don’t have anything to apologise for, it’s not a sin to listen to your body Kate,” she kisses her lips softly again, gently and Kate does wonder how something that feels this perfect could possibly be sinful, “you’re absolutely, utterly perfect and you deserve this, to be loved and cherished and safe,” she swears Max’s eyes are watering but her own vision is too blurry to know for certain,
“Max…”
“Like I said Kate,” Max breathes against her lips, “we can’t just be friends if we do this.”
It finally dawns on her, why Max is being so reluctant, so careful, checking in with her at every opportunity, “Ok,” Kate gasps, feeling a tightness inside her, a horrible unease and dread as fear grips her, the frightening thought the Max might stop this before it went too far unable to be ignored,
“I love you Kate,” she whispers and all of that anxiety that’s balled up inside her seems to flip up and over in her stomach, as though it was riding a tidal wave of emotion and by the time it starts to feel right again she’s drowning against Max’s lips once more and clutching her close.
She feels tears streaming down her cheeks and watches helplessly as the most beautiful girl in the world kisses down her body, every time those swollen lips touch her skin she feels like she might melt into a puddle but Max never lingers in one place long enough to allow that.
She spends a small while on her chest, enjoying the soft, succulent noises Kate makes as her small breasts are worshipped and her impossibly sensitive nipples are licked and sucked.
Kate can only moan and writhe and uselessly grab at Max’s hair as she feels unusual sensations in her groin, sensations she needs more of but hurt her somewhat if Max sucks too hard or her teeth catch somewhere too sensitive.
She gasps out Max’s name and she once again blushes and apologises though Kate isn’t sure why. She actually feels marginally frustrated when Max leaves her chest and something feels missing.
Max doesn’t stop though, not this time, she looks up at her, her eyes ask a silent question but Kate is too mesmerised by how brilliant she looks that she can’t answer with words and a moan had to suffice instead, her pyjama shorts are taken between Max’s fingers as a tongue swirls around her navel.
Her hips lift instinctively and with a sharp tongue she’s suddenly very naked under Max’s wanton gaze.
“Wowzers,” Max breathes and Kate blushes, “Jesus Kate,” her eyes roam all the way up and back down every inch of her exposed body but Kate is too busy drinking in the sight of Max hovering above her to feel shy, “you’re so beautiful,” she lowers herself back atop her body but slips to the side this time, one legs hooks around hers and holds her open, her lips are hot on her neck and her fingers-
“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!”
She’s never felt anything like it before, nothing on Earth should feel this good yet the way Max’s fingers move between her legs ignite every fire inside of her, her entire body glowing and brimming with pleasure.
“Holy shit Kate,” Max breathes in her ear, “you’re fucking soaking,” she kisses the junction of her jaw and whimpers as teeth nick her skin but the sharp pain only seems to enhance the experience.
She tries to cry out Max’s name but her breath hitches and it comes out as a desperate, stifled noise instead of anything coherent.
Something inside her is building, she’s not sure what it is but the more Max’s fingers move, they way the curl inside her are almost overwhelming and she needs more.
“I’ve got you,” Max huffs in her ear before slipping back down her body with a deliberate intensity that makes something inside her tighten to the point it feels like it’s going to break.
She opens her mouth to say something, anything but all she can do is moan and whimper before crying out as Max’s tongue makes contact with her most sensitive, private place and all the tension in her body unravels at once.
It’s too much for her, her head spins and dark sports swim around her vision, everything has gone except for Max and she’s able to feel every movement of her fingers and tongue between her legs.
It feels so good that she never wants it to end until her body starts to ache in protest and she feels so sensitive Max’s touch begins to hurt her.
She sobs and that seems to get her lover’s attention.
“Wow Kate,” Max looks at her in wonder and amazement, “that was incredible, you were incredible,” Kate blushes, she doesn’t feel incredible, she feels tired and aches all over, even when Max lays atop her and kisses her it’s an effort to kiss her back.
The taste of whatever that was on Max’s lips sends a shudder through her as her brain slowly pieces everything together and she realises what Max has done to her despite the fact that she was a woman and they weren’t married yet.
It’s then Kate realises she’s clenching her cross in her fist. She lets it go and notices she’s squeezed so hard the shape of it is etched into her palm.
“Max, I… we…” she begins to panic but Max kisses her again which is a far more convincing argument that anything her rapidly firing, overwhelmed synapses can come up with,
“We did and you were perfect Kate, I love you so much.”
Despite contradicting everything she’s ever been taught she wraps her arms back around Max and hungrily kisses her, they roll over until she’s on top of her lover, “I love you too,” she whispers because it feels like the right thing to say, because it’s the truth, because she does love Max and trusts her. After everything Max has done so much for her, been there for her in ways nobody else ever had, done more for her than anybody else had ever done.
If what she felt for Max was love then…
“Do you want to be a good girl for me Kate?” Max interrupts her train of thought and the words ‘good’ and ‘girl’ said like that make something inside her flip over,
“Yes,” she whispers softly because she wants nothing more than Max to call her that again,
“Lay against me, that’s it,” Max slides her off her front so she’s on her side, “hook your leg over mine, that’s it, like I did to you,” Kate nods and manages to get into the place Max wants her, “good girl,” Max purrs and Kate feels her cheeks warm, “now here,” her wrist is taken and Max guides it down her body, her fingertips caressing her flat belly, brushing through prickly hair until they’re suddenly singed by something hot and wet between Max’s legs, “touch me like you’d touch yourself,” Max growls and kisses her hungrily, a wild, feral lust in her eyes,
“I’ve never…” she whimpers because it was true, the only experience she could draw on was what Max had just done to her,
“That doesn’t matter, just fucking touch me Kate!”
Max was right, it didn’t matter and if Kate would’ve known Max looked that pretty after being touched there she would’ve touched her there years ago.
She’s vocal, so vocal and the way she moans, vulgar and honest and so fucking pretty. The more she touches Max the harder the hand around her wrist squeezes, the hotter she gets, the more her deliciously attractive body dances on the sheets.
Her eyes screw shut and Kate wonders if she looked like this when Max was doing this to her but that was a foolish thought, she wasn’t as pretty as Max and she knew it.
“Kate!” Max gasps, “I, I, Kate!” She realises Max is telling her something but coherence has gone from her. It’s too tempting, too alluring, the way Max’s exposed throat gleams with sweat in the dim hallway light she presses her lips against it and kisses.
Max shudders and rambles, “Yes! Yes! There! Chlo-Kate! Yes!” She shudders and trembles and drowns Kate’s fingers in this molten hot liquid that her most intimate area had leaked in abundance before the hand on her wrist unceremoniously shoves her away and Max rolls into her so that they’re face to face, burning her head against her flat chest and panting heavily.
“Holy… holy fucking shit Kate,” she breathes but Kate is too busy looking at her dripping fingers to pay proper attention to Max. After a moment she decides sniff them and then kiss them. It’s strange at first but after a couple of licks she realises she likes the tangly, slightly bitter taste of Max and hungrily cleans the rest of her middle and index fingers.
“Wow Kate,” Max grins up at her and Kate realises she’s watching her, “kiss me,” and Kate does, soft, slow, loving, everything a kiss should be.
“How do you feel?” Max looks at her with kind concern,
“I, I don’t know,” Kate blushes meekly, “tired I think, maybe relaxed, the, the warmth is still there but it feels good now, I think,”
“Good, next time you feel like that just tell me, it’s perfectly natural to be turned on, I assure you,”
“It’s not a sin?”
“No,” Max cuddles her closer, “it’s only a sin if you ignore it, if you’re not being true to yourself,” there was wisdom in that and Kate wanted to believe those words over the words of so many people that now shunned her,
“Thanks Max,”
“You don’t have to thank me,” Max grins, “but you’re welcome, now roll over, it’s time to sleep.”
Kate is confused as to why Max wants her to face the other way but when Max fits against her from behind she understands. It’s so much more comfortable and the way Max’s arms wrap around her make her feel cherished and loved and safe.
She sighs happily as kisses pepper the back of her neck and looks forward to what tomorrow will bring for what feels like the first time in her life.