Stay

Pale morning light bathed Eleanor's skin as she sat with her back against her headboard, sheets pooled at her waist, watching Max as the woman bent over the bowl of rose scented water Eleanor always kept on her dressing table.

Never shy, Max was still nude as she had been when she'd slipped out of bed, and Eleanor's eyes roved appreciatively up her shapely legs, over her perfect bottom, and up the smooth, tantalizing planes of her back.

She presented a tempting sight, as always, but Eleanor did not remove herself from the bed or attempt to call Max back to it, because she knew from experience that Max would not, that Max could not, stay with her any longer without risking Noonan's wrath.

"I can feel your eyes on me," Max said, her melodious voice filling the room before she lifted the embroidered towel that always lay beside the bowl of water up to her face to dab away the droplets that lingered on her skin. "Max can feel you brooding."

"How could I not brood when you're preparing to leave me?" Eleanor asked softly, her displeasure at the situation showing through in voice though her words themselves were relatively light and teasing.

"You know I cannot stay," Max sighed, turning around to face the blonde. "Max has to earn or Max cannot eat," she continued, sounding no more pleased about the situation than Eleanor as she walked towards the bed. She sat down on the edge, next to Eleanor's leg and leaned over pressing a gentle kiss to Eleanor's lips and then her cheek. "You must know, Max never wants to leave your side," she breathed out, reluctantly pulling away from Eleanor's soft skin.

"Then don't," Eleanor replied, leaning forward so that she could reach out and draw Max back into her body. "Stay, I'll have a bath drawn. We can have breakfast in the tub," she continued, dipping her head down to kiss Max's shoulder and then her neck.

Max tilted her head back instinctively, giving Eleanor's lips more access to her skin even as an irritated sigh escaped from her throat. A moment later, she pulled away from Eleanor and slipped off of bed.

"It is cruel to tempt one with things they cannot have," Max pronounced, unhappiness and exasperation coupling in her tone as she pulled on the robe Eleanor always lay out for her when they had agreed upon a nighttime rendezvous. "You know I cannot stay," Max went on, glaring at Eleanor from the spot where she was standing at the foot of the bed. "Noonan …"

"Can be handled," Eleanor interjected fervently, her eyes blazing as she pushed the white sheets covering her lower half off of her and the rose to her feet. "If," she paused then as she became aware of the archness of her tone. She took a deep breath, trying to force herself to calm down. "If," she continued in a gentler tone, "You allow it," she finished, reaching out to take Max's hands into her own.

"How?" Max breathed out as her eyes searched Eleanor's face.

Her heartbeat sped up as her eyes scanned Eleanor's face, the possibility of being free of Noonan filling her with excitement. However, even as hope swelled inside of her, anxiety also twisted her stomach into knots because she had thought about their situation, long, hard and often, and she had not been able to come up with a truly good solution to their problem.

Eleanor was quiet for a few moments, her thumbs stroking the backs of Max's hands as she considered how best to broach the subject. Max's instinct, she knew, would be to fight against what she had to say, but if she could make it all the way through her proposal without Max storming out of her room, Eleanor was sure that Max would see the value of her idea.

Reluctantly, Eleanor released Max's hands and stepped to the side so that she could retrieve and put on the night shirt Max had hastily stripped her of in the early hours of the morning.

"Promise me you'll hear me out," Eleanor began as she walked back over to Max, her words drawing a deep from the brunette. "Max," Eleanor prodded gently. "Promise me."

"Extortion," Max breathed out harshly, but nonetheless she turned to face Eleanor. "Max gives her word. Speak."

"I'm sure," Eleanor began slowly, carefully, "that I could talk Noonan into accepting an exclusive arrangement between us."

"Arrangement?" Max asked, her eyes flashing, knowing that whatever arrangement Eleanor was proposing would involve money exchanging hands, which she absolutely did not want. Which she had made clear the first night they had slept together and Eleanor had paid Noonan for sake of expediency. "And how much would this arrangement cost you? How much would you pay for Max?"

"You said you'd hear me out," Eleanor said when Max took an angry step away from her and made to turn away. "You promised."

Max sighed, deeply unhappy, but did not move further away from Eleanor.

"Go on then," she breathed out, crossing her arms defiantly as she looked over at the blonde.

"This isn't exactly my dream scenario either Max, but he won't let you go," Eleanor began, Max's defensiveness making her more than a little defensive as well.

"How do you know?" Max asked a touch petulantly.

"Because …" Eleanor began, hesitating uncertainly for a moment, unsure whether what she had to say next would please Max or piss her off. "I may have … I have spoken to him about you, about your debt," Eleanor continued, powering through even when Max's lips pressed together unhappily and her expression hardened. "I expressed a desire to clear it," she went on, and at that Max's lips parted in surprise and her gaze became more curious than hostile. "He refused my offer," Eleanor sighed, dipping her head down slightly, feeling the failure as acutely as she had at the time Noonan had turned her down. "He insists that you must pay the debt yourself. Of course, the idea came to me that I could simply give you the money and you could hand it over to him, but the man is craftier than I've given him credit for in the past, and before I could leave, he amended his previous response, adding that you must pay off the debt with your earnings."

"What does it matter to him where the money comes from as long as it ends up in his pocket?" Max asked.

"I don't think it does generally," Eleanor sighed, lifting her hand to scrub at her eyes tiredly. "I think with most of the other girls he would have taken the money - especially when I proposed paying triple the amount owed. It's you he won't part with. You're young, and beautiful, and new. He looks at you and sees endless opportunity for profit. In his mind, no matter what I propose to pay, it will seem a pittance in the face of the vast mountain of coins he envisions you will earn him over the years."

Max's eyes dropped from Eleanor's after the blonde finished speaking and her shoulders slumped slightly. However, a few seconds later she uncrossed her arms and when she lifted her eyes to Eleanor's, the expression that shone in them was one of determination.

"Exclusive how? You said he wants me to work," Max said and Eleanor sighed with relief, knowing that Max was now willing to truly listen to her.

"I cannot free you from having to work for him," Eleanor began slowly, the relief she had felt moments before evaporating as set her mind to going about having a conversation that she desperately did not want to have, but had to go through with nonetheless because in the end it would ease some of the burdens of Max's life, and give them an opportunity to be together without having to sneak around at ungodly hours of the night to avoid Noonan. "But I think I can strike a deal restricting the work you do," Eleanor continued, choosing her words carefully. "Which … which of the services you provide is least objectionable to you?"

"Why do you need to know this?" Max whispered, looking away from Eleanor as she spoke.

"We'll need to offer him something," Eleanor began, placing her fingers under Max's chin so that she could gently tip her head back up. "In order to keep you from the other things. Do you understand?"

Max's eyes closed and then she dipped her head down, nodding.

"My hands," Max said, knowing that Eleanor would not need her to explain further. "With that I can stay clothed."

"Okay," Eleanor breathed out, lowering her head as well so that she could press her lips to Max's cheek, and then the corner of her mouth, before properly bringing their lips together in a tender kiss. "I'll see to it."

Max sighed but dropped her head to Eleanor's chest nonetheless. The idea of Eleanor going to Noonan to arrange a price that would secure exclusive rights her pussy and mouth did not fill her heart with joy, but Max was a pragmatist, and as such was able acknowledge that this arrangement Eleanor proposed would make things better than they had been.

No matter how Eleanor phrased it to spare her feelings, Max knew that she was being paid for, but if this deal meant that she would not have to feel anyone besides Eleanor inside of her, then she could accept it. If it meant that she could luxuriate in bed with Eleanor in the morning and spend entire evenings in bed with her, then so be it. If it meant that Eleanor never again hesitated before touching her because she no longer had to worry that some man's hands had just been where hers sought to go, then okay.

Eleanor's arms immediately wrapped around Max when the brunette lay her head over her heart, and Eleanor dipped her head down, burying her nose in Max's hair as she tightened her arms around the woman, holding her securely.

"Max," Eleanor breathed out sometime later.

"Ssh," Max sighed.

She knew that Eleanor was going to try and reassure her again that she was not paying for Max's services and she did not want to hear it. She understood the proposed arrangement and she had agreed. There was no reason for them to discuss it any further. Not right then at least.

"Max knows that for now it is best." She lifted her head off of Eleanor so that she could see the blonde's face. "You'll see Noonan today?" Max asked.

Eleanor nodded.

"Then call for a bath," Max continued, her lips turning up the slightest bit at the corners. "Max will stay for breakfast."

At the sound of her words, Eleanor's lips curved up as well, and then she was lifting her hands to Max's face and leaning forward to kiss her eagerly as Max's hands moved around her waist, holding Eleanor flush against her.

"Perhaps the bath could wait?" Eleanor asked, toying suggestively with the ties of the robe that covered Max's nakedness.

"I think so," Max murmured, her lips curving up wickedly as she moved her hands to cover Eleanor's and then guided them down, helping Eleanor remove the robe.

"Come," Eleanor whispered desirously, running her hand down Max's arm before she entwined their fingers.

"Is this a promise or a command?" Max asked teasingly.

Eleanor used their joined hands to tug Max into her body and then wrapped her arm around the brunette's waist.

"Both," she husked, and then she smiled and tugged at Max, using the hold she had on the other woman to draw her back to bed.

The End