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Rachel and Max are sitting in Rachel's dorm, and it starts the way it almost always does, with Rachel giving her that impish smile and closing the distance between them one inch at a time. That is always Max's favourite part: the way Rachel manages to suddenly create that spark and then nourish it into a fire.
It's not long before Max is laid on her bed, slowly running her fingers through a familiar shock of blonde hair as she feels the soft flesh of her neck being suckled and teased between Rachel's teeth.
She lets out a small gasp as the blonde suddenly switches targets, her lips brushing against the bruises that have begun to bloom in the area she had just been teasing. A moment passes, then Rachel draws away for a moment - her pupils blown, eyes half-lidded, and a satisfied grin playing across her features - and looks straight at Max. Oh dog.
"So, I had a thought..." Rachel purrs, eyes closely observing Max as she speaks.
Max takes a moment to try and relax her breathing, "Y-yeah?"
"You know how a few weeks ago, we talked about... experimenting a bit?"
"Uh..." Max flushes for a moment as she recalls the conversation, "Yeah, yeah I do. I mentioned, er, bondage?"
Rachel's impish grin seems to grow a bit and something sparkles in her eyes, then she quickly dismounts Max and slides off the bed gracefully in order to pad across the room.
Max feels a pang of disappointment, which is quickly replaced by curiosity as Rachel returns with a small cardboard box.
"So, I remembered that conversation as well, and I figured if we were serious about experimenting then it'd be good to have... something to test the waters with?"
Rachel's hand quickly removes the lid off the box and grasps something within.
Dangling from a metal circlet held in Rachel's hand is a short chain connecting it to a similar circlet.
Max almost laughs out loud once she realises what Rachel is holding, "You... you bought handcuffs?"
Rachel quickly nods, "Well, you said you'd be up for trying bondage, right? Figured it'd be easier than us trying to figure out how to tie good knots that we'll still be able to get out of."
Max fails to suppress her laughter at that remark, her mind harkening back to when she asked Rachel to tie one of her sneakers back up while her hands were full - it took her half an hour to figure out that nightmare.
"You have a point there," Max replies, grinning. "So, um, how are we doing this then?"
Rachel drops the box still clutched in her other hand and climbs back onto the bed.
She pulls the chain between the two cuffs taut, slowly crawling toward Max. "Well, I have a few ideas..." she says, voice low and dangerous.
Max feels her heartbeat spike once again and licks her lips nervously, "Oh?"
Rachel's hand reaches out and grasps her wrist, pulling the brunette toward her. Max feels bold and closes the rest of the distance, chasing Rachel's mouth with her own. Their lips meet in the middle, and Max attempts to tease the blonde's bottom lip between her own teeth - her attempt is met by an approving hum that buzzes against her mouth, and Rachel's breath quickening as that spark of passion ignites for the second time that evening.
A soft click! sounds out, seeming like a gunshot in the room otherwise only filled with the faint rustling of clothing and the scraping of skin on skin. Max feels a sudden pressure on the wrist Rachel had earlier grabbed and breaks away from the kiss to look down.
Max blinks for a moment, observing the restraint now clasped around her wrist. "That was your idea?"
"No, this was my idea," Rachel whispers as she clicks the other cuff around her own wrist, smirking. "You're not going anywhere now, Max"
"Do you think I'd rather be anywhere else?" Max purrs, attempting to mimic the flirtatious tone Rachel often teases her with.
Rachel giggles and replies breathily, "God, when did you go from cute to hot, Caulfield?" before pulling Max toward her once again using the chain that now linked their wrists together.
Max takes the initiative this time, beginning the process of layering kisses on Rachel's exposed collarbone and slowly working her way up the blonde's neck. A gentle hand tracing shapes on her own exposed skin and the feeling of the golden skin pressed against her lips flushing with warm blood told Max that her efforts were appreciated.
The gentle pressure on her wrist was a minor annoyance - Max would definitely have to try and find a way to loosen these cuffs a bit - but the addition of the handcuffs seemed to make the entire encounter seem that much more exciting and risqué, and meant that Max had to stay locked in close with Rachel the whole time.
Rachel gently eased Max off of herself and sat up, her hands going to the base of the loose tee she was wearing - but only her unshackled hand was able to complete the trip.
Max blinks and looks at Rachel for a moment as if rising from a stupor. "You'll have to take the handcuffs off first, Rachel."
The blonde emits a small groan as she realises the issue, before attempting to reach over the edge of the bed to grab the box that the handcuffs had come in. "Yeah, give me a second... the key should be in here..."
A pang of embarrassment occurs as Rachel looks in the box. "Uh, Max? We've got a... small problem."
"What kind of problem?" Max inquires, craning her neck to look at the box Rachel is holding.
"The key is missing."
A beat passes as Max looks at Rachel, "The key? For the handcuffs?"
"Yeah..."
"What do you mean it's 'missing'?"
"It must've fell on the floor somewhere when I dropped the box earlier, it's not in the box."
Max suddenly looks anxious, "Oh dog, alright, we'll have to get on the floor then. I'll check under the bed, you can look by where you dro-"
"Max, wait a secon-"
Max attempts to slide off the bed and is instead rewarded with falling flat on her ass because her wrist is still bound to Rachel's, almost pulling Rachel down along with her in the process.
Rachel now lies on her stomach, her arm with the handcuffed wrist dangling off the side next to Max's restrained hand.
"Handcuffs, Max. We're in handcuffs still."
Max worries her bottom lip between her teeth as she glances back at Rachel's hazel eyes staring back at her, before speaking. "Chloe knows how to pick a lock, right?"
"Max, for someone who almost wrenched my arm out of its socket five seconds ago, you still manage to be a genius."
Max quickly reaches toward Rachel's phone, helpfully laying nearby on the floor. A few swipes later and Chloe picks up.
"What's up, Rachel?"
Max sighs, "Hi, Chloe..."
"Wait, Max? What's happened? Where's Rachel?"
Rachel leans over and shouts, "Right here, Priceless!"
Max lets out a smile and glances back at Rachel, before turning back to the task at hand. "So you know how to pick a lock, right?"
Chloe's confident smirk seems to be audible for a moment as she replies, "Oh yeah, I've picked plenty of locks before. This one time before you came back to the Bay, me and Rachel broke int-"
"I'd love to hear the rest of the story, Chloe, but we kind of need you to come down to the dorms, we're in Rachel's room and we have an issue..."
"Wait. You're in Rachel's room, and you need someone to pick a lock... Oh my god. Put me on speaker right now, Caulfield!"
Max raises an eyebrow before switching speaker mode on and looking at Rachel completely bemused. She suddenly flinches as an abrupt and loud sound begins to grate out of the phone's speaker.
Laughter buzzes out of the phone as Chloe finally speaks in a strangled tone, "You actually bought handcuffs, Rachel? I told you not to!"
Max is stunned for a moment as Rachel turns several shades darker, then quickly narrows her eyes and replies, "Chloe, get to my dorm now or I'm telling Max about that time you did acid and hurled on me then thought I was covered in cust-"
A beat passes as Rachel stares angrily at her phone, and Max gazes up at Rachel.
"Why does Chloe know about the handcuffs, Rachel?" Max finally says, face flushing with a mix of annoyance and embarrassment.
Rachel raises a hand to cover her eyes, "Look - I'm sorry - but we were both really high and it just kind of slipp-"
"Oh my god, that is so embarrassing! You mentioned our conversation?"
"Max, please, even if I didn't tell her she'd still be coming around here to pick the lock on these things!"
Max groans loudly, then relents. "Fine. You have a point. You're definitely telling me that acid story while we wait though, I need ammunition."