by Cara Malone
“Oh, sorry,” Max mumbled, taking a step back, but Ruby didn’t make any of the usual moves people made after an unexpected collision. She didn’t let out an embarrassed laugh, or look away, or make more space between them. She stood her ground and kept her eyes on Max.
And then, before Max had fully processed all of this puzzlingly unorthodox stillness, Ruby put her hands on either side of Max’s face and pulled her close, planting a short but firm kiss on her lips before taking her hands away again.
If Max’s heart had been pounding before, it was galloping now, adrenaline shooting through her veins and something carnal and insistent tingling between her thighs. She shut off her mind and let her body take over, pressing Ruby against the shelves and kissing her. It was the most intense sensation she’d ever experienced, all of her consciousness floating out of her mind and distributing itself into each point of contact between them – their lips, her hands on Ruby’s waist, Ruby’s hands wrapping around Max’s back and pulling her closer, their limbs entwining and their chests pressing together. She felt Ruby’s tongue flick across her lips, and then slide into her mouth, sending her into the most extraordinary sensory overload she’d ever experienced.
And then just as quickly as it began, it was over.
“Ahem,” the circulation clerk barked behind Max. “Hey, this isn’t that kind of video rental.”
Ruby pulled away, sliding out from beneath Max’s embrace and taking a few steps away to straighten her clothes and compose herself. Max did the same, her body acting out of muscle memory to smooth the pages of her notebook that had become wrinkled in the fray while her mind reeled. What the hell just happened, and why did it have to end?
Ruby didn’t look at Max as she shouldered her backpack and said, “Maybe we should split up for a while. There’s not much going on in this department and we might have more luck working separately.”
“Oh,” Max said. “Yeah. That’s a good point, we’ll gather more data that way.”
“So I’ll just go out to the lobby and see if there’s anything happening at the circulation desk,” Ruby said, still not meeting Max’s gaze. “You know, holds and ready reference questions. Why don’t you stay here in case anyone comes to check out a movie?”
“Okay,” Max said, still trying to organize her mind.
She watched Ruby rush out of the AV department, and then she looked down at the half-completed list of Ruby’s all-time favorite movies, I through Z. It bothered Max more than it should that she was missing A through H, or maybe it was just easier to think about the list than the kiss.
Twelve
Ruby
The trip back to campus was somewhat tense. Max ended up sitting in the front seat next to Ruby, which was a bit of a relief compared to David’s uncomfortable and awkward attempts at flirting, but Ruby didn’t know what to say to Max. Not in front of the other group members, in any case.
Lydia and David sat in the back seat together, apparently having bonded in the library and joking about the quality of data they’d gathered. Ruby could tell by quick glances out of the corner of her eye that Max was more than a little irritated with them.
“What kind of information seeking behavior is asking for directions to the bathroom?” David was asking while Lydia giggled beside him. “Because that accounts for the majority of the questions I heard.”
“That’s not entirely fair,” Lydia said. “I also heard a lot of questions about voter registration forms.”
David snorted at this comment and Ruby rolled her eyes, hoping that this gesture wasn’t visible to him in the rear-view mirror. It was pretty obvious that he’d set his sights on Lydia after he figured out that he didn’t stand a chance with Ruby, and to his credit he was getting much better results by flirting with the only straight girl in the car.
“Maybe you should have paid closer attention or chosen more strategic areas of the library,” Max said to them, glaring into the rear-view mirror. “Ruby and I got lots of data.”
“I bet you did,” David said, then turned his attention back to Lydia.
Ruby wondered what exactly he meant by that. Had he seen them kissing? Was he just being a smart aleck? Ruby rolled her eyes again – boys were an enigma. Max… well, she was another puzzle, but it seemed pretty clear that they’d both enjoyed what happened this afternoon, and Ruby felt emboldened to press her luck.
When they got back to campus and David and Lydia hopped out of the car to head in their separate directions, Ruby walked around to the passenger side where Max was lingering beside the car.
“You live on campus, right?” Ruby asked.
“Yeah,” Max said. “In Founders Hall.”
“Me too,” Ruby said.
Max just looked at her, shifting from foot to foot and unsure of how to proceed. It was pretty clear that in all things conversational, Ruby would need to do the heavy lifting. Max had been more than capable of holding up her end when she’d pressed Ruby up against the stacks, though, and she’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that the idea of inviting herself back to Max’s dorm had already crossed her mind before they’d even gotten out of the car.
“Are you going back there now?” Ruby asked. “We could walk together.”
“Uh, yeah I am,” Max said, looking anxious.
Whatever it was they were currently engaged in – flirting? – didn’t seem to be something Max did often, and it honestly wasn’t all that comfortable for Ruby, either. She hadn’t flirted with someone like this in six years, and in high school Megan had done most of the chasing. But she knew thinking about Megan right now wouldn’t help her seduce Max.
She just needed a little sexual release. Grad school was harder than she expected, life was harder than she expected, and Max had told her pretty bluntly that she thought relationships were bullshit. Hooking up could be exactly what they both needed – regardless of whether or not they were adversarial in every other aspect of their lives. The physical attraction had been apparent to Ruby from the first moment she saw Max, and she knew since their kiss in the AV department that the feeling was mutual.
“Ready?” Ruby asked a bit nervously as she thumbed her key fob and locked her car.
Max nodded and they headed across campus toward Founders Hall. The sun was already beginning to dip in the sky, and the air was getting cooler. Goosebumps stood up on Ruby’s arms as they walked silently beside each other, watching groups of underclassmen and love-struck couples walk by.
They could have walked all the way back to the dorms without ever speaking – Ruby was learning that Max was a woman of few words, and the ones she did speak almost always had an explicit purpose – but Ruby wasn’t that kind of girl. She was chatty and verbose to Max’s strong and silent aesthetic, so she started the conversation.
“When do you think we should meet again to write up today’s findings?”
“Next week,” Max said definitively. “Could you book the study room again for Wednesday?”
“Sure,” Ruby said, and then they lapsed into silence again, Max looking frequently over at Ruby but offering no further commentary. Ruby tried to think of more topics – nothing too superfluous – and finally she came to, “How’s your speech going for the GLiSS meeting?”
“It’s finished,” Max said, a slight tone of curtness creeping into her voice. Ruby wondered if this was a subject she should have steered clear of since they were both vying for the same position, but it was too late now. Max added, “Mira helped me tweak it a bit.”
“Oh,” Ruby said, and then she fell silent for a few steps, trying not to let this comment get to her.
Of course Mira was helping Max win the presidency in any way she could. It rankled her, and before she knew it, Ruby was saying, “It must be nice to be the beneficiary of nepotism.”
“What does that mean?” Max asked.
“It means that you’re using Mira’s position to help you win.”
“I’m not using her. She’s my friend,” Max said. “
But you’re using your resume as sorority president, so if anything it makes us even.”
“We’re not even,” Ruby said irritably, even as she realized that she was being a tad unreasonable. If the tables had been turned and Ruby was the one with a personal connection to the current president, she would not have hesitated to use every resource available to her. That’s one thing that Delta Zeta taught her – the value of a strong professional network was not to be underestimated or ignored. But she probably also would have had the tact to avoid bringing this information to her opponent’s attention. It was too late to dig out now, so she kept going. “Mira’s on your side.”
“And everyone else is on yours,” Max snapped. “Is your ego so fragile that you really think I’m a threat to you?”
Ruby felt her blood starting to boil, and she didn’t know what to make of that comment – it was equal parts insult and self-deprecation, and entirely infuriating. In the end all she could do was ball up her fists and make a frustrated noise.
“You are so aggravating,” she said as they reached Founders Hall. She took out her key card and swiped it, granting them entrance to the building while still gritting her teeth over the complicated brew of emotions running through her. She couldn’t think of a single interaction with Max that hadn’t ended in irritation, except for that kiss – that inexplicable kiss that apparently had the power to turn her world upside down.
“And you’re clueless about your own privilege,” Max spat back.
They both tried to step through the door at the same time, bumping into each other, and Ruby was sick of being polite for the day. Instead of stepping back and letting Max walk through, she checked her shoulder into Max’s arm and squeezed through the doorway, and before the door had even swung shut she was pressing Max up against the nearest wall.
Their lips pressed together in the urgent, reckless way of two people who had about enough of each other’s words for one day. She felt Max’s hands going to her hips, squeezing her in a way that sent shivers through her. Ruby bit down on Max’s lower lip and growled, “Which apartment is yours?”
“Over there,” Max said breathily, waving one hand down the hall. “Third door on the left.”
Ruby grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the apartment Max indicated, and while she dug in the pocket of her jeans for her wallet, Ruby slid her hand around Max’s waist. Her hand crept up and found the curve of her breast, and Max let out a little gasp that Ruby wished she could replay again and again.
Ruby kissed and licked at Max’s ear while she fumbled with her key card. Finally she managed to swipe it and as Max opened the door, Ruby followed close behind. She needed this moment to shut off her brain and give in to her physical desires, and now that it was within reach she could hardly wait. Her whole body was already on fire, the irritation she felt at Max’s words – her accusations – only serving to feed the flame burning inside her.
Max turned around and Ruby grabbed her by her belt, pulling their hips together. Max pushed her against the door and glided her tongue along Ruby’s neck and the wetness made her shiver. Her fingers went quickly to Max’s belt, fumbling the buckle open, but before she could pop the button, Max grabbed her wrists and pinned them over her head.
She held Ruby firmly against the door, her knee inching between her thighs and sending bolts of electricity through her core. Then Ruby closed her eyes and felt Max’s lips on her jaw. Ruby tried to turn her head – she desperately wanted to taste Max’s lips on hers, their tongues dancing over each other. But Max dodged this move, her head dipping lower as her lips found Ruby’s neck and then her collarbone.
She kissed every inch of Ruby’s skin from the curve of her neck out to her shoulder, and then her lips traveled farther down Ruby’s chest. She felt her shirt lifting up as Max took the collar in her teeth, nudging it open and then resuming the explorations of her mouth. Ruby felt her soft lips and her tongue inching down the center of her chest, over the cleavage created by her pushup bra, and she shivered again.
Max let go of one of Ruby’s wrists to pop open the buttons of her blouse and Ruby used this freedom to push away from the wall, steering Max further into the room. They landed in a heap on the sofa – the same stiff orange couch that had come standard in Ruby’s dorm as well – and Ruby straddled Max’s lap.
She pulled Max’s shirt over her head and then squeezed her breasts through the slippery fabric of her sports bra, her hands making their way under the elastic band and then over the supple mounds of flesh beneath, squeezing and kneading as Max looked up at her, the pleasure written all over her face.
Ruby had been anxious about her decision to seduce Max, especially after everything she’d heard about the correlation between Asperger’s and asexuality – she wondered if Max would shove her hand away or regard her with disinterest – but it was the opposite. Max seemed more in her element, more relaxed, now than at any point when Ruby had seen her in the past. Ruby looked into Max’s face as her finger slid over her breast and saw an expression of calm bliss.
This quiet moment didn’t last long, though – no sooner had Ruby managed to liberate Max from her bra, yanking the thing over her head, than Max took charge again. She wrapped both arms tightly around Ruby’s waist and flipped her onto her back. Then Max finished the job of unbuttoning her blouse, careful not to rip any buttons off in the process while Ruby made quick work of unzipping her own pants. Max pulled them over her hips along with her panties, and then she was laying there naked on Maxine Saddler’s couch, or rather, the university-supplied couch of a woman she’d once described as her sworn enemy.
Her whole body was aching for her and in that moment she couldn’t think of a single thing to hate about Max.
Thirteen
Max
Sitting with her thighs straddling Ruby’s hips, looking into the galaxies in her eyes, Max was pretty certain that she’d died and this was Heaven. Nothing in life had prepared her for this sensation, the surreal sensory experience of running her fingers over Ruby’s chest and watching her nipples harden in response. Nothing had prepared her for the way her body had taken over the moment Ruby put her hands on her, like muscle memory from some ancient mating instinct.
And nothing prepared her for the overwhelming fullness that she felt in this moment. She thought the sensation might be called happiness.
It filled her chest and rose up in her throat, threatening to choke her in the most euphoric sense of the word. It was the fact that she was here with Ruby, and the way Ruby was looking at her with such intensity and desire. It was a sudden aching need to be one with her, and a corresponding feeling of wholeness that Max had never felt before.
Most of all, it was a sense of relief that she’d waited twenty-three years to experience. For the first time in her life, Max didn’t need to analyze every expression on Ruby’s face or question the intent of each of her words. She didn’t need her notes on the rules of love or the human experience. In this moment, she knew exactly what to do. So she just turned off her brain and acted.
She bent down to Ruby’s chest, letting her tongue flick teasingly over one nipple and then the other, thrilling at the way Ruby’s hips bucked under her at the touch. She kissed Ruby’s flawless skin, inching all the way down her stomach until there was no more room to spread out on the couch. Then Max dropped to the floor, getting to her knees as she swung Ruby around, pulling her hips to the edge of the cushion.
Max looked up at Ruby, their eyes connecting for just a moment before Ruby put her hand on the back of Max’s head and gently nudged her down between her thighs.
She put her tongue gently on Ruby’s clit, and with the slightest swipe Max could feel her whole body reacting, contracting and tightening her thighs around Max’s head. This muffled the sound of Ruby’s moans, but each one still managed to send a shiver through Max. It was the most wonderful sound she’d ever heard, and she never wanted to stop making Ruby moan.
Max wrapped her hands around Ruby’s thighs,
squeezing her flesh tight in her fingers as her tongue slid up and down through her wetness, and with every movement of Ruby’s hips and each moan from deep in her throat, Max felt herself getting more and more aroused simply with the pleasure of watching Ruby react to her.
Fourteen
Ruby
Ruby threaded her fingers through Max’s short hair, delighting in the feeling of her head moving in her lap. Max knew just how to touch her, sending wave after wave of pleasure through Ruby’s body as her tongue lapped at her. It was all Ruby could do to keep from clamping her thighs tightly around Max’s head, deterred further by Max’s hands squeezing her tight.
She closed her eyes and let her head drop back on the couch cushions as her hips moved to meet Max’s mouth. Ruby missed being touched like this, and she missed the intimacy. If she kept her eyes shut and her mind blank, then she could pretend for a moment that she wasn’t so terribly alone in the world.
Ruby ran her hands over Max’s hands on her thighs, then up her arms and over her firm biceps. Her fingers continued their path up Max’s shoulders and then into her hair once again, as Ruby wrapped her legs around Max’s back and bucked her hips against her tongue.
She could feel her body responding, getting closer to climax as an incredible heat built in her core, and she clenched her fists in Max’s hair in an effort to stave it off just a bit longer. As soon as she climaxed, the loneliness was sure to come crashing back to the forefront, but as long as Max kept her teetering on the edge, she could stay in this fantasy moment.