Chapter 26

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I have a rare moment alone the night before Christian’s birthday and I take full advantage of it. Poor Gail has come down with a horrible flu that has had her stuck in bed for three days now, so I’ve been on my own when it comes to birthday preparations. It hasn’t been easy since Christian doesn’t seem to want to spend a single moment apart from one another that we aren’t forced to because of work. He had therapy with Flynn tonight, though, so the moment he was out the door with Taylor, I went to the grocery store to buy the things I needed to bake his birthday cake and prepare my best meal for him, with Prescott dragging along behind me. I frown as I put the last of the groceries in the fridge. My negotiation skills with Christian haven’t been as effective as they normally are over the past week and a half and I still haven’t been able to get Luke back as my CPO. He’s been moved back to Grey House while I’m constantly followed around by Prescott, the wet mop.

It hasn’t been all terrible though… Luke’s responsibilities at GEH are not as time consuming as his job being my personal body guard was so he’s had time to look into Elena and try and find some proof that she’s the one leaking things to the paparazzi about Christian and I. He hasn’t been able to find irrefutable proof yet, but I know it’s her. She’s the only person it could be… The Google Alerts haven’t stopped since Christian’s been home, they just include him now. They stopped for the two days Elena was in New York, but not four hours after she was back, there was a picture of me talking to Jack Hyde outside of SIP that was spun on TMZ as a “lover’s quarrel”. Last weekend Christian was “picking up a girl in a coffee shop” because he’d run down to the corner to get us coffee and muffins and some girl waiting in line had dropped her keys. Whoever it is leaking the photos got a picture of him handing them back to her, but in the photo, it looked like he was holding her hand and smiling down at her, “with unmistakeable love in his eyes”.

I shake that image away immediately, feeling a flash of guilt that I let it get to me at all. I know it was nothing, and I can’t allow myself to be jealous over pictures of him if I expect him to keep a cool head about pictures posted of me.

Once I have everything from tonight’s trip to the store put away in the kitchen, I hurry into the bedroom, to make sure everything I have set aside for tomorrow night is tucked discreetly away under the bed. Again, I run my fingers through the leather straps of the flogger that Christian had ordered last weekend, taking solace in the fact that it is not the same one that Elena had tried to give me in that sex shop. We’ve actually purchased quite a few things and even just looking through some of the websites together online has led to some… interesting and hot nights, but we haven’t used any of this stuff yet. I’m not really sure what he’s waiting for, I’ve been dying to put some of these things to use all week…

I smile to myself as I tuck the flogger back into it’s case and slide it easily under the bed with the rest of the items I’ve pulled aside. They’ll all be put to very good use tomorrow night.

The low ping of the elevator echos in the empty apartment behind me so I quickly push the case under the bed, straighten out the comforter to hide the evidence I’d been in here, and make my way back out to the living room. I pause when I see Christian come out of the foyer. He looks almost… shell shocked. He’s been increasingly agitated coming home from therapy over the last week, but this is different. This isn’t anger or irritation. He looks gaunt.

Shit, what did they talk about?

“Hey,” I greet him and he looks up to me, the corner of his mouth turns up into a small smile, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

“Hey,” He replies, his voice almost hoarse, and it just exacerbates my concern.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” He says, unconvincingly. “I have some work to finish, calls to make… I’ll be in my office.”

“Okay… do you want me to bring you something to eat?” I ask. It’s almost eight and he hasn’t eaten dinner yet and a small part of me secretly hopes that’s the reason for his mood. Though I’m not counting on it.

“Yes. Please,” He says, giving me the same weak smile and then turning down the hallway towards his office.

He spends the rest of the night locked away and working. I try to leave him alone for as long as possible, giving him the space he clearly wants in this moment, but eventually, I find myself pacing in front of his office door, listening to him yelling at different members of his staff, trying to deduce if he’s acting strange because of something going on at work, or something he discussed in therapy. It’s impossible to tell by the muffled words I hear him shouting through his office door and eventually those stop too.

At a quarter past ten, I stick my head through the door and look at him cautiously, not sure if he’s in the mood to be interrupted.

“Christian?” I ask, and he looks up at me sharply, his eyes only softening a fraction when he sees me standing there looking worried. “I think I’m going to go to bed.”

“I’ll be in soon,” He says flatly and I frown.

“Are you…” I want to ask if he’s okay, but I did that already and he spent the night locked away in here. I can see that he isn’t okay and I don’t want him hiding away from me in here the rest of the night because he thinks I’m waiting to pounce on him for details. I don’t think tonight is the night to push him… “Are you going into work tomorrow?” I ask, instead.

“No,” He says. “No, I want to spend my birthday with you.”

“Okay,” I smile. “I’ll wait for you in bed.”

“Goodnight, baby,” He says, and he looks back down at the laptop open in front of him, effectively dismissing me. I sigh, close the door and head off for our bedroom.

The next morning, I wake up feeling like I’m on fire. Christian’s body is flush against mine, his arms wrapped tightly around me, even his leg is resting over the top of my hip, and his heat his radiating over me like open oven. I squirm away, putting just enough distance between us so that he isn’t pressed against me and it helps. My body adjusts to the temperature change but just as I start to drift off to sleep again, he shifts and snuggles up behind me once me. I shake my head and let out a defeated sigh, but I smile a little too to know how drawn he is to me, even in his sleep. Then, he flexes his hips and I feel him press, hard and ready, into my backside.

Oh, good morning, Christian.

I look over my shoulder at him but he’s still asleep. I smile at the whole new realm of possibilities that opens up in itself.

My teeth sink into my bottom lip as the plan forms in my mind and I ease away from him again and, carefully, slide out of his arms. My body tenses as he takes a sharp, intake of breath through his nose and his eyelids move a little, but he doesn’t wake. Instead, he lets out a low, sleep induced moan and rolls over onto his back. Perfect.

Once I’m sure I’m not going to wake him, I duck underneath the comforter and shimmy my way down the bed until I’m level with his hips. With the gentle precision one might attribute to a surgeon, I reach out and slowly peel his shorts down over his hips to free his erection. He moves again and I freeze, a jolt of nervous excitement racing through me like I’m doing something I shouldn’t be and am just about to get caught. When he’s still again, I lean forward, and lightly run my tongue up his length. He still doesn’t wake so I wrap my hand around him and then guide the head of his erection into my mouth, enveloping him and sucking gently until I pull him into the back of my throat.

He groans.

I hum a low sound of approval, and move my tongue back and forth over him, squeezing him with my lips, as I pull him out of my mouth and then push down onto him again. His hips flex once more, encouraging me, and I take him deeper into my mouth. His hand reaches under the comforter and his fingers twist into my hair, pulling at the roots and then pushing me back down onto him.

“Oh, Ana…” I hear him moan as he thrusts up into my mouth. “That feels so good.”

I wrap my lips around the head of his erection, sucking hard and then rolling my tongue over the lip of his frenulum. His breath hisses between his teeth as he pushes himself deep into my mouth again. I feel him brush against the back of my throat and then pull back again. I run my tongue from side to side, sucking hard and keeping my lips tight around him as he thrusts in and out of my mouth, pushing the limits of how far he can move. I feel heat blooming between my legs as I listen to the carnal sounds spilling from his lips and sense the tightness in his thighs as he writhes beneath me, inching closer and closer to release.

“Anastasia, oh…” He breathes, his fingers tightening in my hair once more. “I’m going to come in your mouth, baby.”

I can’t speak so I suck harder to reassure him rather than tell him myself. He thrusts forward again, and I pull him as far into my mouth as possible, sucking and pulling like I’m trying to swallow him. He tenses and then explodes, and the warm, bitter liquid drips down my throat. I swallow it quickly, grimacing slightly as it’s not the easiest consistency to get down, but also feeling extraordinarily accomplished at having unravelled him with only my mouth.

His hands reach down and he pulls me up, the cool, clean air outside the comforter a welcome refreshment for only a second before his lips are on mine. I moan appreciatively, feeling his arms wrap around me, his fingers gripping tightly to me, as his tongue slips into my mouth.

“That was quite the wake-up call, Miss Steele.” He says, smiling at me.

“Well it is your birthday.” I reply and his eyes twinkle with salacious promise as he sits up and rolls me onto my back.

“My birthday, huh?” He says, “Well… if that’s the case, let’s see what else I can get away with?”

Well, his mood has certainly improved since last night.

I giggle and squirm a little as his hand slides up my thigh towards my panties but just as his finger hooks beneath the band, tugging my underwear to the side, and his index and middle finger find their way inside of me, we hear a voice echo through the apartment.

“Christian, good morning!” the chipper voice calls, and we both groan as we realize it’s Grace.

“Son of a bitch,” Christian growls, and I frown as he pulls his fingers out of me, adjusts his shorts so that he’s decent once more, and then rolls out of bed and heads towards the great room. I sigh, pull back the comforter and disappear into the closet to find some clothes. Once I’m dressed, I head out of the bedroom, finding Christian and, surprisingly, his entire family, and Kate standing around the breakfast bar. Grace is making herself busy around the kitchen and she smiles when she sees me come around the corner.

“Good morning, Ana!” She says brightly.

“Good morning,” I reply, “What’s everyone doing here?”

“My mom wanted to make me breakfast for my birthday…” Christian says, not bothering to hide the fact that he seems less than pleased by this perfectly sweet gesture.

“Now, Christian,” Grace says, “I know it’s been a few years, but this is our tradition. I’ve made chocolate chip pancakes for all of your birthdays, and all of your sister’s birthdays, and all of your brother’s birthdays, since you were all little. You love them.”

“Yeah, Christian,” Elliot says with a broad grin. “It’s not like you could have had anything better to do this morning… What were you planning to do? Lay in bed all day with your girlfriend? What could you possibly do in there that would be more appealing than spending the morning eating chocolate chip pancakes with your whole family?”

“That’s enough, Elliot,” Carrick says. “Why don’t you help set the table for everyone.”

“Ah man, I always have to set the table,” He grumbles as he makes his way into the kitchen to find plates.

“That’s because you’re obnoxious and people are always trying to get rid of you,” Mia quips and he glares at her.

“Don’t you have some over-angsty teenage brooding to be doing?” He asks. “I don’t think I’ve heard you complain about how unfair the world is all day today.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get to that once you get to moving out of our parents house you 24 year old mooch.”

My hand flies up to my mouth as an uncontrollable giggle escapes my lips, and Elliot’s mouth opens with shock. Christian grips tightly to his brother’s shoulder, giving him a solemn look.

“That was a pretty savage burn,” He says, fighting a smile and Elliot glares at him.

“Mom cooks me food, why would I ever leave?” He asks and Christian laughs as he moves to the cabinet next to the oven to pull out more placemats for the dining room table.

It finally feels just like old times being gathered around Christian’s table and having breakfast with his family. Even Mia isn’t acting in her, now usual, resentful manner towards Christian and I can tell how much that means to him. I have a hard time keeping the smile off my face as I watch him talking to Mia about her upcoming, and very first, professional dance recital. He’s completely enraptured with her, staring down at her in the adoring way I remember from the very first time he told me he had read Harry Potter for her.

“You’re coming to our house on Sunday, aren’t you, Christian?” Grace asks. “We’re having a barbeque for father’s day, around one o’clock.”

“Absolutely,” Christian says, “We wouldn’t miss it. Right, Ana?”

“No, of course not. Can I bring anything?”

“Just your wonderful self,” Grace smiles. “Speaking of Father’s day, how’s Bob doing, Ana? Are your parents coming out here for the holiday? We’d love to have them over to the house to catch up.”

“Oh no, uh… I think I’ll have to settle for a phone call,” I say and she frowns but nods in an understanding way.

“Do you want them to come out?” Christian asks. “I can make arrangements to fly them out here.”

“Oh, uh… no. Don’t worry about it,” I reply awkwardly. My mother isn’t exactly team Christian right now and I really don’t want to deal with the two of them in the same room until there is some headway made on that front.

“Well we should have them come at some point,” Grace says. “Maybe the Fourth of July. I’m sure they’d love to get out of that horrible Savannah heat for a few days.”

“Maybe,” I shrug, non-committal. Christian gives me a skeptical glance at my less enthusiastic response, but Grace seems placated.

“And how’s Ray?” She asks. “Have you heard from him lately?”

“Yeah,” I say, brighter now. “He seems to have finally gotten my address right and I got a letter from him a few days ago. In fact, I’m going to get to talk to him on the phone for a few minutes on Sunday.”

“That’s wonderful, dear. We’ll have to plan something special for his return.”

“That’d be great,” I say, smiling broadly at her.

Once breakfast is over and we’ve cleared away the dishes, each of the Greys pull out a brightly wrapped package or gift bag for Christian. He gets a pair of expensive looking anti-reflective sunglasses from Grace and Carrick that Grace tells us are specially made for helicopter pilots, Kate and Elliot gift him a beautifully made leather jacket by Salvatore Ferragamo, and from Mia, he unwraps a plain, platinum tie bar from Tiffany and Co.

“Thanks, Meems,” He says, wrapping an arm around her and kissing her hair. She blushes and smiles up at him.

“What about you, Ana?” Elliot asks with a sly grin. “You don’t want to let Christian open your gift in front of everyone?”

Kate snorts into her drink and I glare at her… Did she tell him what I told her I was getting Christian for his birthday, or is he just making assumptions? She shakes her head at me, a genuinely innocent look behind her eyes, and I breathe a little easier.

“Oh, she already gave me her present this morning,” Christian says with a knowing smile.

“Okay, okay…” Carrick interrupts him, and then quickly changes the subject. “Are you taking the day off, Son?” He asks.

“Yeah, we’re actually going to head down to the Marina this afternoon to take a look at boat I’m thinking of buying as a birthday gift to myself.”

“That sounds great, Christian!” Carrick says proudly. “Ah, I remember my first sailboat.”

Christian’s lips come together in a tight kind of pout and he nods along as his father tells the story. I have a feeling he’s hiding something, but I’m not sure what…

“You’re going to go out on the water this afternoon?” Elliot asks.

“Yeah, you want to come?” Christian offers and Elliot lights up.

“Hell yeah!”

Christian nods and then turns to Mia. “How about you, Meems? Wanna spend the day on the sound?”

“I can’t,” She says, not looking up from the cell phone in her hand. “I’ve got dance rehearsal this afternoon.” Christian frowns, but nods, and everyone gets up from the table so that we can head out. Grace gives me one last reminder about Sunday as she hugs me goodbye, and I feel a twinge of sadness as I tell her goodbye and watch her, Carrick and Mia walk through the foyer to the elevator. It’s like she doesn’t really expect Christian to actually show up… and as I think about it, I realize that’s probably true. Carrick and Christian have had a difficult relationship as long as I’ve known him, and it had never been worse than it had been over the last two years. It’s been good these last few weeks, but I can understand Grace’s apprehension in accepting it’s going to last. Christian’s been that way since I stepped through the doors of his office last month. Maybe he gets that untrusting nervousness from his mother.

“We should get dressed,” Christian says, interrupting my inner musings. “I’m ready to get out onto the water to enjoy our afternoon.”

Twenty minutes later, Kate, Elliot, Christian and I pile into Christian’s Maybach and head down to the Marina. Elliot presses Christian for details about the boat we’re going to look at, but he remains fairly tight lipped, and once we pull up to the Marina boat terminal in Smith Cove, I can see why.

“Ho-ly shit!” Elliot says, elongating his syllables as he looks up at the luxury yacht docked in front of us. It isn’t a boat… it’s a fucking ship.

The yacht has three decks. The lower exterior is painted a deep blue while the top sections are a clean, arctic white. It’s huge, so huge, in fact, that it doesn’t sway at all in the gentle current rolling its way towards the shore, and as I stare over the impressive luxury yacht in front of me, I look incredulously over at Christian.

“You’re joking, right?”

“Nope,” He says, a wide grin across his face. His fingers entwine with mine and he walks up the pier towards a man waiting next to the small ramp that leads to an open door at the base of the yacht.

“Mr. Grey,” The man says, smiling broadly at us as he holds his hand out to shake Christian’s. “Here she is, the Benetti 60, brought in all the way from the Dominican Republic.”

“Well, let’s see it,” Christian says, and the man nods and gestures for us all to go aboard.

He leads us through the grotesquely luxurious rooms of the yacht, all filled with a fine assortment of furniture and top end finishes. There are grand, sweeping windows surrounding us everywhere we go, giving us an amazing view of the sound around us. I have no sphere of reference to compare to the quality of this yacht, but, as we’re led up the winding marble staircase to the second level and the salesman rattles off the full list of specifications, I know it has to be one of the more impressive yachts on the market.

“She has six VIP cabins that can accommodate twelve guests, and seven additional cabins below that can house up to fifteen crew members. Your master suite cabin is just off the sitting room here, and in addition to the generous open space of the bedroom, it has his and hers bathrooms, a huge walk in closet, it’s own lounge, and a private office.”

“That’s fine,” Christian nods, looking around and examining the second sitting room we’ve been shown. I watch his eyes follow the wall up to the ceiling and he looks at it skeptically.”

“The top deck, is it helicopter accessible?” He asks.

“Yes, sir. There’s a helideck already installed on the stern section of the third deck.” He says and Christian’s eyes light up with excitement.

“Excellent. What’s her range?”

“Eight thousand nautical miles, sir,” He says, and as Christian turns to look around some more, he adds, “Would you like to take her out, Mr. Grey? Get a feel of her on the open water?”

“Yes,” Christian says. “I would.”

The salesman nods and then disappears to ask the captain to take the boat out into the sound. Kate and Elliot both excitedly rush out to the second level promenade so they can watch the boat sail away from the pier while feeling the warm, sea air whipping around them, but Christian holds me back with him.

“Let’s go check out our bedroom,” He says and I can’t help the smile that creeps across my face as he leads me into the master suite. The room is slightly rounded with floor to ceiling length windows covering one wall and a huge, beautifully made bed against the other. I crane my neck slightly to see through the door on the far side of the room that leads to what would be our own private balcony, but Christian distracts me by tugging on my wrist and pulling me into him, and then kissing me deeply.

“What do you think?” he asks.

“About the yacht?” I reply, my voice raising a little too high at the ridiculousness of the question. “It’s amazing, Christian, but don’t you think it’s a little much?”

“No,” He says, plainly. “It’s the best there is, Anastasia, and I want only the best for you. Just imagine, the two of us alone, out at sea, making love in this bed.”

I moan, a low, approving sound as I picture it, staring down at the very bed he’s speaking of. It’s right here, and we are alone…

“I don’t know how good my imagination is, Mr. Grey,” I say coyly. “Maybe you could give me a… demonstration to help sway my opinion on the yacht?”

“Oh, Miss Steele,” He says, his voice dark with salacious need. “You know that I would love nothing more than to take you here, and now, but unfortunately, I have other plans for you this afternoon.”

“Oh?” I ask, intrigued. Other plans? Maybe kinky plans..?

He crosses the room and sits down on the end of the bed, pulling out a small square box from his jacket. I stare at it dubiously, but go to him when he holds his arms out for me.

He stops me just as I’m standing in front of him, and then his fingers find their way to the front of my shorts and they quickly pull open my buttons and zipper. I glance nervously over my shoulder at the open windows behind me as he slides my shorts and my underwear down my legs.

“Don’t worry, baby,” He assures me. “That’s a private balcony. I wouldn’t let anyone else see you this way.”

I nod and then exhale with desire as he leans forward and places a single kiss over my clitoris. He looks up at me, smiling, and then opens the box to reveal two silver balls, tied together with a short, black string.

“Open your mouth,” He tells me and I do. He lifts the balls to my mouth and pushes them past my lips and onto my tongue. “Suck,” He commands, his voice only a whisper, and I feel it in my groin. I suck on the metal balls, coating them with my saliva as I anticipate what he plans to do with them. His eyes grow dark and hooded as he watches my mouth move around them.

“Turn around,” He instructs me once he’s removed the silver balls from my mouth, and when I do, he places his hand on my lower back and pushes slightly so that I bend over. “Hold onto your ankles, baby.”

I groan loudly when his lips make precious contact with my now aching center and he begins to swirl his tongue tantalizingly around my clitoris. I succumb to his expert touch, unconsciously pushing back into him as I silently, but greedily, plead for more. His mouth moves against me, sucking and licking me until I’m just on the brink of orgasm, and then he stops and gently eases the silver balls inside of me. I wait for his mouth to continue, but instead, his fingers reach down for my shorts and he pulls them up, covering me once more.

“No…” I whimper in protest, but he clicks his tongue disapprovingly in response.

“Oh no, baby. You’ve got quite aways to go before I let you come. I want to watch you… suffer a little first.”

He slaps me, hard, on the behind and the balls inside of me jolt forward. A strangled cry escapes my lips as I find myself unprepared for the sensation and then I moan again, my need apparent in my complaint, as once again I feel the burning desire and promise for release rising inside of me. He smacks me once more, the balls massaging my insides as he grabs and kneads my ass under my shorts, and I think for a minute, I might be able to come this way. But, then, he stops once more.

“You’re not very nice,” I tell him as he stands next to me and he chuckles slightly.

“Oh, Anastasia. I have been accused of being many things in the past, but nice is rarely one of them. Now, come. There’s something I want to do.”

He holds his hand out for mine and I sigh in defeat as I take it and walk out of the room with him. The balls inside of me shift as I walk, and it’s uncomfortable but in a really good way. It’s enough to keep me on the edge, wanting and needy, but not enough to give me release.

We find Kate and Elliot out on the deck and I’m surprised when we step out into the open air how far out from the coast we are. I didn’t think Christian and I had been in the bedroom for that long, but apparently, both Kate and Elliot disagree.

“I’m sorry,” Christian apologizes, when Elliot makes a comment about keeping guests waiting. “But I have something that might make it up to you.”

He signals for one of the staff members who are hovering silently behind us everywhere we go on the boat to tell the captain to stop the engines and to set anchor. Then he leads us back down to the first level of the yacht and out to the open deck at the back of the boat. Elliot’s eyes widen when he sees what’s waiting for us there.

“Jet skis!” He exclaims and I laugh as I’m immediately harkened back to our time in Bora Bora when that’s all he could think about for an entire week. He hurries forward and pulls up the seat on the one closest to him to yank out the life jackets. He throws one at Kate, who shakes her head at his tenacity, but who is also grinning as she scurries forward to help him pull the ski into the water.

Christian takes a life jacket out of the ski across from it and holds it out for me to slip my arms into. A small, knowing smile creeps across his lips as he tightens the straps around me, and then once he’s in his own life jacket, he pulls the machine forward and eases it into the water next to Kate and Elliot.

“Sit in front of me,” He says, holding his arm open as he scoots back on the ski.

“Are you sure?” I ask, dubiously. “How will you see?”

“I’ll see fine,” He assures me, and so I step off of the boat and onto the jet ski, straddling the seat in front of him. He straps the key to my life vest and then plugs it into the ignition. When he hits the green button next to it, the engine roars to life and he eases onto the throttle so that we pull easily away from the yacht. Elliot is not as cautious as Christian and he slams on the gas, sending him and Kate shooting off through the water ahead of us.

“Ready?” Christian asks, and I nod excitedly. “Hold on tight with your legs, baby. This is going to be intense.”

I grip the side of the machine with my legs and he presses down on the gas and we hurtle forward. I’m confused why he doesn’t keep a wider distance when he comes up behind Elliot, but as he steers the jet ski through Kate and Elliot’s wake… I know why.

We hit the wave and as the jet ski bounces and then slams back down on the water, the balls inside of me jerk, electrifying me once again. I gasp, loudly, and hear him chuckle behind me.

“Hold on tight, baby,” He tells me and then he steers through the wake again. When he’s no longer confined us just to Elliot’s wake, he steers us towards a particularly choppy straight of water and hits the gas. The jet ski bounces as it skims over the water, and so do the balls inside of me. As I bob up and down on the seat, I feel the heat beginning to build inside of me. Holy fuck, is he going to make me come on the jet ski?

“Christian!” I cry out, and the hand he doesn’t have on the throttle snakes around my waist to hold me in place.

“Is it too much?” He asks, his voice low and husky at my ear.

“No…” I whimper as the balls shift tantalizingly inside of me once more. “Fuck. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god…”

“Are you going to come, Anastasia?”

“Yes!” I exclaim, almost at the edge, and then Christian moves his thumb off the gas. The jet ski comes to an easy stop and once the bouncing ceases, so does the promising heat inside of me.

“No!” I complain and he chuckles once more.

“Not yet, baby.”

A pattern ensues, him bringing me almost to the edge and then stopping right before I tip over. I’m panting by the time we head back to the yacht, literally quivering with desire and my need for him, for release, for anything. He helps me off the jet ski, which a few staff members hurry forward to pull back onto the deck and then he takes my hand and leads me back to the main level, asking Kate and Elliot if they’d like to have some cocktails before heading back to shore.

As we sit in the main level sitting room, waiting for the unfamiliar staff to bring the drinks we’ve requested, I find myself too keyed up to pay attention to the conversation between Christian and Elliot. Kate tries to ask me about work and then, covertly, whether or not Luke has found any new information on Elena, but I’m useless for more than one word answers and simple shrugs. I feel flushed, my whole body hot as every movement twists the balls inside of me and drags out the blistering need.

And then… just as I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I feel the balls start to vibrate. Oh… fuck!

“Ana, what’s wrong?” Kate asks, as I physically can’t pull back my reaction to this new sensation. The vibrating stops immediately, and I shake my head at her, giving her some off handed excuse about cramps, and then turn to Christian. He doesn’t look over at me, he doesn’t look as though he’s noticed any change. He’s just sitting there, talking to Elliot. But as I settle back into my chair, wondering if I maybe just imagined the sensation in my sex crazed state of mind, I watch Christian subtly reach into his pocket and then the vibration begins again.

That kinky bastard has a remote!

“Christian!” I squeak, and as he pulls his hand out of his pocket the vibration stops, and he turns to look at me.

“Yes, baby?” He asks, a self satisfied smirk playing across his lips.

“Can I see you in private for a minute?” I ask and he nods and tells Elliot he’ll be right back, before getting out of his seat and following me back into the master bedroom. The minute I have him alone and can close and lock the door behind him, I pounce. My lips come crashing down on his and I practically leap into his arms. He doesn’t push me away or spurn my advances in anyway. He seems just as eager as I am to have me wrapped around his waist as he carries me back to the bed.

“You’re so hot like this, Ana,” He whispers, once he’s deposited me onto the sand colored bedspread. “I like you needy, baby.”

“Just fuck me, Christian,” I groan and he smiles.

“Oh, Ana. With pleasure.”

He makes quick work of the buttons on my shorts and then roughly yanks them off of me, my panties coming with them in one swift movement. His hands immediately find my opening, his fingers reaching inside of me to remove the balls and make room for him, and as he slides his fingers inside of me, his breath hisses between his teeth.

“Fuck, you’re soaking,” He practically growls and I moan and grind against his fingers, desperate for the friction. “Oh no, baby.” He tells me once he’s removed the balls and left me wanting once more. “If you’re going to come, you’re going to do it on my cock.”

I whimper as he reaches down for his fly and releases his erection. He doesn’t hesitate as he leans over the top of me and buries himself inside of me. I scream at the intense wave of pleasure I feel at the sudden fullness and he reaches up and puts his hand over my mouth.

“We’re not alone, Anastasia. You have to be quiet,” He chides me, but as he pulls back and then slams into me again, I cry out once more. “Can you be quiet?” He asks.

I shake my head. “Then you’re going to have to scream into my hand, baby,” He tells me. I groan as he begins to thrust forward, pushing into me deep and hard and driving me to the edge of insanity. It’s almost too much, the sensation of him inside of me coupled with an entire afternoon of need and deprivation, I feel like I’m going to explode when I finally find release.

“Fuck, baby,” Christian hisses, as he slams forward again. “You’re so fucking wet. Mmm, this is going to be quick.”

He gets into his rhythm, moving in and out of me in quick, harsh movements that hit me everywhere I need him to. The heat begins to build, burning out of control like wildfire until eventually I reach the very pinnacle of my pleasure and I detonate around him.

“Jesus, fuck, Ana!” Christian cries as I squeeze around him harder than I ever have before. The pleasure is so intense, I fear for a minute that I might be ripped apart by my orgasm but I’m so blissfully high, I don’t care. There are worse ways to go in this world.

He continues to pound into me, stretching out the pleasure with his relentless ardor until eventually he stills and pours his own release into me.

I’m shaking when I come down, almost unable to breathe through the gasps that escape from deep inside my chest. He continues to hold his hand over my mouth as my breathing really is too loud, but once I’ve got it under control, his hand disappears and is immediately replaced by his lips.

“You’re a fucking goddess,” He says, reverentially. I moan and pull him deeper into the kiss, exploring his perfect, chiseled mouth with my tongue.

When the boat docks, the salesman who met us earlier this afternoon is waiting excitedly at the end of the dock.

“I don’t know,” Elliot says as we make our way down the ramp and onto the pier. “I looked around. There are only four jet skis. He said there is enough room for twelve people on this boat. That means only a third of us could be riding jet skis at any one time. What does he expect us to do, share? Like peasants?”

Christian glowers at him. “We can get more jet skis.”

“You promise?” Elliot asks. “Because I won’t share.”

“Sure,” Christian responds, just as we finally make it to the salesman.

“Well Mr. Grey, what do you think?” He asks.

“He’ll take it!” Elliot says excitedly and Christian glares at him before turning back to the salesman.

“What’s the final asking price?”

“$35,000,000,” The salesman says casually, and I feel my stomach drop. Million? Holy fuck…

“American?” Elliot asks, his tone echoing my own shock and the salesman nods uneasily.

Christian turns around and looks at the yacht again, examining it thoughtfully. His eyes fall on the balcony high above us that I realize must be the balcony to the master suite and a smile tugs at his lips.

“I’ll take it,” He says, turning back to the salesman. “I’ll get you in touch with my accountant, he’ll have the payment transferred to the owner by the end of business next Friday.

“Excellent!” The salesman says giddily, holding his hand out and shaking Christian’s a little too enthusiastically. “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Grey.”

“Oh no,” Christian says, shooting an appreciative look down at me. “The pleasure was all mine.”

Next Chapter

Chapter 25

Image result for candles bubble bath

Christian wasn’t kidding when he said he didn’t want me to leave the next day. I wake up the next morning, and when I head out to the kitchen for a cup of coffee, I find both Prescott and Ryan there waiting for me.

“I’ll be ready to leave in 20 minutes, Prescott,” I say disinterestedly as I take the mug Gail offers me, but she shakes her head.

“I’m sorry, Miss Steele. Mr. Grey has instructed Ryan and I to keep in you in the apartment today.” She says and I gape back at her.

“So what, you’re going to hold me prisoner here?” I ask and Ryan shakes his head, trying to be diplomatic.

“It’s just for today, ma’am. Mr. Grey simply wants to keep you out of the media spotlight until he’s back in Seattle.”

I look back at Gail, expecting to see a look of shock on her face similar to my own, but she simply diverts her eyes and quietly exits the kitchen. I glance between Prescott and Ryan, waiting for one of them to at least acknowledge how ridiculous this is, but they both stare back at me, completely stoic.

“Fine,” I snap, and I pick up a croissant off the counter and march angrily for the stairs to the office Christian had put together for me. The second the door closes behind me I pull out my phone, find Christian’s name in my recent calls and jab my finger against the screen to call him.

“You have reached the voicemail box of”

“Arghhhh!” I cry with frustration. I hang up the phone and collapse into my chair, resting my head in my folded arms and repeating to myself that he’s going to be home tonight and all of this will be solved once we can finally just have a fucking conversation.

It’s difficult to get all of my work done from Escala. I had three meetings today which had to be rescheduled for Friday because we couldn’t get Lifesize to work on my laptop and Barney couldn’t get down here in time to fix what was wrong. I try to make the best of feeling disconnected from the office by taking the time to focus on some new manuscripts, and I get a good amount accomplished until I’m distracted by the ping of my email.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: Delayed

Date: June 9th 2010 03:15 PM

To: Anastasia Steele

Anastasia,

One of my meetings has been rescheduled for Thursday morning. I won’t be home until tomorrow evening.

Christian Grey

CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

What? No! I glance at my phone, itching to call him again, but I’ve had it proved to me over the last twenty four hours that that’s pointless, so I reply to the email instead, knowing that at least he’ll read it.

From: Anastasia Steele

Subject: Christian please…

Date: June 9th 2010 03:18 PM

To: Christian Grey

Please call me. We need to talk, I’m going crazy over here. I’m sorry that I went out with Kate on Monday night and I’m sorry that I even went to that stupid sex shop. I’m not trying to embarrass you, I really thought I was being careful. Please, please call me.

And I miss you. I’m sorry that I’m not going to get to see you tonight.

Anastasia Steele

Implementation Director, Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

I wait, staring impatiently back at my email, but several minutes pass and nothing comes through. I drum my fingers on the keys of my laptop, wondering what to do from here when I remember what Kate suggested yesterday.

Did you call Ros or Taylor?

Ros! I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to think of this. Taylor is a lost cause because he’s not going to do anything Christian doesn’t want him to, but he doesn’t have that kind of influence on Ros. She’ll not only talk to me, but she’d probably give him the phone if I asked her to. He may hang up on me, but it’s better than listening to his voicemail ten times a day.

I quickly dial her number and feel a wave of relief when she picks up on the third ring.

“Hey, Ana. What’s up?”

“Just working… How’s it going over there?”

“Great. Christian has, actually, been on the ball all week. I haven’t seen him focused like this since… probably Harvard. I think we may have sealed three separate deals since we’ve been here.”

“Really?” I ask, surprised.

“Yeah, it’s awesome. How’s SIP?”

“Fine. Did you see the email I sent about the eReader?”

“Yeah, I did. I think that’s a great idea. Christian seemed to be excited about it too. I think he’s really proud of you, Ana. I can tell it makes him really happy to see you doing so well.”

I feel my heart sink. So, he’s been perfectly fine around her all week? Happy even? I don’t even know what to make of that.

“Hey, I’m just about to get on my flight. Can I call you when I get to Seattle tonight? Or maybe we can do lunch tomorrow?”

“Wait… You’re coming home? I thought you had to stay an extra day?”

“No, we’re all set. Christian had something personal to take care of so he’s staying an extra day but we wrapped up with our last client this morning.”

“Oh…” I say, because that’s all I can say. “Then, uh, yeah… Let’s schedule a lunch.”

“Sounds great. See you soon, Ana,” Ros says, and she hangs up the phone. I stare down at it blankly. If their meetings are done, then what got rescheduled? I suspect what the answer to that is and the idea brings tears to my eyes. There is no meeting being rescheduled. He’s just this mad at me. He hasn’t even been able to talk to me on the phone, did I really expect him to just come home and everything would be fine?

No, I didn’t think everything would be fine, but I also didn’t think he’d extend his trip because he wasn’t ready to see me yet.

I spend the entire morning the next day just waiting for an email from Christian telling me that he’s not coming home again, but it doesn’t come. I want to ask him to at least text me and let me know when he’s leaving, but I’ve given up trying to contact him, it hurts too much at this point to have him reject me over and over again. So instead, I try and distract myself once I’m done working by having Kate ask Elliot over to watch a baseball game. He agrees, but once he gets to Escala, no one seems overly interested in the Mariners.

Christian texts Elliot, not me, when he’s finally aboard his flight to leave New York late that afternoon. It’s a five and a half hour direct flight from New York to Seattle and since the game isn’t enough to distract me, I do my best to kill time by tidying the already immaculate apartment and cooking dinner for Kate and Elliot.

They sit on the couch, staring at, but not really watching the game, while I pace nervously back and forth in front of the scenic windows, watching the sun sink lower in the sky. I’m not sure what is going to happen when Christian gets home, but in preparation, I’ve asked Gail to take the night off. Kate and Elliot are going to leave at about 10 since Christian should be walking in somewhere around 10:30, and as I count the minutes slowly ticking away, I grow more and more worried about what’s coming home to me.

I hope we fight. Fighting would be good, at least it would be talking. I’m terrified that he’s going to come home and nothing will change. I can’t handle him shutting me out like this…

I glance over at the TV, hoping the droning sounds of the announcers will do something to catch my attention, even just for a second, but as I watch one of the players for the Texas Rangers catch a fly ball that puts the batter up for the Mariner’s out, my attention is drawn by the ping of the elevator and I feel a sudden rush of adrenaline.

My head whirls around to the foyer, my breath caught in my chest, but just as quickly as my hopes had peaked, they’re deflated again when I see Luke walking towards me.

“Ana,” He says, and my face heats with dread when I hear the uneasy timber of his voice. He looks… nervous.

“What?” I ask, unsure if I really want to know what he has to say, but before he answers, he looks at Kate and Elliot on the couch.

“Can I talk to you in private for a minute?”

“Whatever you have to say to her, you can say in front of me,” Kate says, but he shakes his head.

“Actually… I’d prefer not to tell you what I have to tell you in front of Elliot.” Luke says, and Elliot’s brow furrows.

“Me?” He asks, confused. “What? Is it about Christian?” Luke’s jaw tenses and Elliot gets up off the couch, his body rigid as he glares at Luke.

“What do you have to say?” Elliot asks sharply, but Luke just turns to look at me.

“Please, Ana.?”

I look over at Elliot and his fingers curl together into a fist as he stares angrily at Luke. “Just tell me.” I say quietly.

“Ana…”

“Just tell me,” I say again and he takes a deep breath.

“I was looking into some things. That night at the club, those photos of you and I… I was careful, Ana. I was aware of everything going on around us. There were no paparazzi at the club that night.”

“So someone got a picture of me on their phone. We already knew that, it happened to Kate and I the other day.”

“Exactly, that’s what made me want to look into it. I was worried you had a stalker or, at the very least, maybe an undercover photographer was following you around. I decided to see if I could find someone who had a connection to you, and so I started with the club. I had Welch pull the transaction records from the bar that night and sure enough, one of the names that came up was… Elena Lincoln.”

“Elena?”

“Could you think of someone who would have more reason to leak to the press that you’re cheating on Christian?”

“Oh my god, Ana…” Kate says, her eyes widening. “Elena was there, at that sex shop we went to.”

“Sex shop?” Elliot asks, but Kate shakes her head and brushes him off.

“So, it’s her?” I ask. “She’s been taking pictures of me and sending them into TMZ?”

“That was my thought. So I went onto the GEH server and started going through her emails, looking to see if she’s sent the pictures from her work account…”

“And?” I ask.

“She hadn’t…” He says hesitantly but I know this can’t be it, he wouldn’t come down here to talk to me unless he had some kind of proof.

“So, maybe from a personal email or a fake account?”

“Uh… I don’t know. I haven’t gotten that far yet,” He replies and I feel my face fall with disappointment.

“So what are you doing here?” I ask.

“And what does this have to do with Christian?” Elliot chimes in. Luke looks over to Elliot, swallows and then turns to face me again.

“When I was in Elena’s email account, I found something.”

My body freezes. “What?”

“An itinerary. A flight for Wednesday night that was booked earlier in the afternoon. A flight from Seattle to New York. The name on the credit card confirmation was Christian Grey.”

“What?” I ask, my voice only a breath, and, slowly, Luke reaches into his jacket and pulls out his cell phone. He opens the email app and hands it to me.

From: United Airlines

Subject: eTicket Itinerary and Receipt for Confirmation JV9KM4

Date: June 9th 2010  01:07 PM

To: Elena Lincoln

Issue Date: June 09, 2010

Traveler: eTicket Number: Arrival City and Time:

Elena A. Lincoln       0162458734646        New York, NY (JFK)  11:15 PM EST

FARE INFORMATION Form of Payment

Fare breakdown:         VISA

Airfare:  $715.00 XXXXXXXXXXXX9723

US Transportation Tax:  $35.91 EXP: 02/12     CVV: 089

US Flight Segment Tax: $21.00 Name: Christian T. Grey

September 11th Security Tax: $11.19

U.S. Passenger Facility: $9.00

Per Person Total: $792.10 USD

eTicket Total: $792.10 USD

My hands are shaking as I read the email for the third time. This is from yesterday, her flight was yesterday. He booked this flight before he emailed me to tell me that he was staying behind in New York an extra day. This is why he stayed… the personal thing Ros said he had to take care of while she flew home. Anger begins to surge through the shock and I press my lips tightly together as I click the button to forward the confirmation to my email.

“Ana?” Elliot asks, hesitantly, from across the room and I inhale sharply as I hand Luke back his phone.

“Everyone out,” I say, impressed that I’m able to keep my voice even.

“Ana, there has to be a reason…” Elliot implores me, but I shake my head and turn an angry glare on him.

“You think I care what his reason is?” I hiss through my teeth. Elliot’s mouth opens to respond but no words come out.

“Ana, he’s going to be here in two hours…” Kate says, looking up at the ornate clock hung on the wall across from her. “Why don’t you grab some clothes and you can come and stay with me at my parents tonight? We can figure out what to do about this tomorrow when you’ve had a chance to calm down and think…”

“No, she can’t go,” Elliot argues. “She has to be here. If he’s calling Elena, she, of all people, has to be here. If this is what we think it is, it means he’s slipping again and if she’s gone when he gets home…”

“It’s not always about Christian, Elliot,” Kate snaps. “I’m not going to let him hurt her again. Not like this.”

“Ana knew what we were up against, she knew that this was a possibility when she signed up. She chose to stay, she needs to stay.” Elliot replies, raising his voice now.

“Ana,” Luke says calmly. “What do you want to do?”

I take a deep calming breath. “I want you all to leave.”

They stare at me, frozen in place but each for different reasons. I can almost hear the arguments swirling around in Kate’s head and I can feel the tension radiating off of Elliot, even from all the way across the room. Part of me wonders if he would try and stop me if I wanted to go… but it doesn’t matter. I’m not going to leave. I told Christian I was here to stay and when I said that, I meant it. If I’m going to leave now, I’m not going to sneak out while he’s on a flight back to Seattle. I at least owe him the chance to explain. He hasn’t given me that chance all week, and I know how that feels. He’s wrong about Luke… Maybe, just maybe, there could possibly be an explanation for this email.

But I don’t want any of these three here when Christian gets home. Any worry I had before that he was going to be silent and shut me out is now out the window. There is going to be a fight. A loud fight.

“I’m serious,” I say again, “I want you all gone. Now.”

“You’re not going to leave?” Elliot checks.

“No, Elliot. I’m not leaving. I’m going to talk to him. Now go.”

“Come on, Kate,” He says and he reaches out his hand for her but Kate narrows her eyes at me.

“You’re sure? You don’t have to stay because Elliot wants you to, Ana. You don’t owe Christian anything.”

“Yes I do,” I tell her. “I love him, Kate, and until I hear what happened from him, I owe him the benefit of the doubt. I owe him a little faith that he wouldn’t do something like this to me again.”

“If you need anything,” Luke says urgently. “You call me and I will come and get you immediately.”

“Thanks, Luke,” I tell him. “Now, go.”

He nods and then turns around, Elliot following after him, and then after another long second of hesitation, Kate leaves too. I listen to the elevator doors slide closed behind them and the second I know I’m alone, my stone facade breaks and horrible, retching sobs break through my lips. I hurry back to our bedroom and collapse on the bed as tears roll down my cheeks. My fingers tangle into the sheets that only a few days ago, Christian had made love to me in.

I have to believe that he wouldn’t betray me again. I have to believe that there is some perfectly logical explanation for what happened because, abusive past and traumatic bonding aside, I would not get over this betrayal.

I roll onto my back, trying to regain control of my breathing and as I do, I feel my phone vibrate in my back pocket. I know it’s still too early for Christian to have landed, and so I assume it’s Kate and that she’s changed her mind and is coming back up here to try and take me back to Mercer Island with her. I don’t want her to come back up here and see me like this so I pull my phone out to try and reassure her, but when I look down at the screen, it isn’t Kate calling. It’s an unknown number. An unknown 617 number…

Fuck! Now?

“Hello?” I answer, trying to keep my voice steady and hide my tears.

“Good evening, is this Anastasia Steele?” a male voice responds.

“Yes,” I croak. I clear my throat and then try again. “Yes, this is she.”

“Miss Steele, this is James Harris, the Dean of Students from Harvard University.”

“Hello, Mr. Harris.”

“I’m calling to inform you that the investigation the University was conducting against you in regards to the merit of your internship has been suspended indefinitely.”

I have to take a moment to catch my breath as this unexpected news actually leaves me winded. Suspended indefinitely? What does that mean?

“Wh-what?” I ask, making sure I heard him correctly.

“Mr. Grey had a meeting with the president of the University this afternoon to discuss the details of your internship and the work that you’ve done this summer for Grey Enterprises Holdings. Dr. Giplin-Faust was extremely impressed by the glowing commendation Mr. Grey gave about you, your professionalism, and the things you’ve accomplished thus far over the summer, and as a result, the University has decided to forgo its investigation. You are free to return for the start of term on September 2nd.”

I’m shocked, actually shocked… Christian had a meeting with the president of Harvard University? I’m pretty sure you usually have to be like… a senator, or a supreme court justice, or something equally as important to get that. And as my head begins to spin thinking of what he probably had to do, or more likely spend, to get that meeting, I realize… holy shit, this is the meeting that was rescheduled. This is why he had to stay an extra day. He wasn’t meeting Elena, he was meeting the president of Harvard University. He’s not even in New York, he’s in Cambridge.

“Miss Steele?” Mr. Harris asks after I’ve been silent for an inappropriate amount of time and I shake my head slightly to reorient myself.

“I’m sorry… um, thank you, Mr. Harris. I appreciate you taking the time to call and let me know the outcome of the investigation.”

“It’s my pleasure, Miss Steele. Enjoy the rest of your summer.”

“You as well. Goodbye, Mr. Harris.”

I hang up the phone and stare blankly at the wall in front of me. There are so many emotions weaving their way through me it’s hard to keep track of them all. Relief to know for sure that Christian didn’t spend the afternoon in bed with some brown haired submissive girl, or worse, Elena herself, joy that my fears of losing Harvard are now behind me, and overwhelming satisfaction that I made the right decision tonight. I didn’t run and Christian proved that he deserved my faith in him. I still want know why he sent Elena out to New York, but I know for sure now that it wasn’t to meet him.

I look down at my phone. I still have about an hour before Christian’s flight lands… and I know exactly how I’m going to spend that time…

My phone buzzes a little over an hour later with a text message from Luke telling me that Taylor has gotten ahold of him and he and Christian are both back in Seattle. A smile creeps across my lips as I light the last of the candles I’ve artfully arranged around the bathroom and then pull the robe off my shoulders and step into the, deep, luxurious bubble bath.

I sit there for only a few minutes, the warm water lapping gently against my collar bones every time I move my body, before I hear Christian’s muffled voice ring through the apartment from the foyer.

“Anastasia!” He calls, the concern in his voice overtly apparent even through the bedroom and long hall that lay between us. I can hear the low sounds of him tearing through the apartment looking for me, and the crash of the door when he bursts into the bedroom. “Ana!” He calls again and a few seconds later, the bathroom door swings open. The second he sees me sitting in the tub, an overwhelming look of relief crosses his face, but once it hits him that I haven’t left… he’s immediately guarded again.

“Hi,” I say quietly.

“Hi,” He replies.

“Welcome home.”

He stands there for a moment, looking at me skeptically, like he’s waiting for some kind of catch, but after a long moment moment of silence between us, he reaches up for his tie and begins to tug on the knot. I watch him carefully as he slowly undresses in front of me and then crosses the tile floor to step into the bath with me. Once he’s settled into the tub, he reaches out and to pull me into him, but I lift my foot and press it into his shoulder to keep him at bay.

“Oh no, we’re not there yet,” I say and his face falls. “You ignored my phone calls for two days, Christian. Do you know what it’s been like for me here?”

“Yes,” He says flatly. “I know exactly what it was like. I ignored you for two days, you ignored me for two years.”

I frown. “This is different and you know it. You were shutting me out over a misunderstanding, that I know was cleared up probably minutes after that TMZ article came out. That’s not what happened before so don’t compare the two.”

He sighs and then leans back, picking up one of the champagne glasses resting on the edge of the tub and draining it before he speaks again. “Anastasia, I was mad at you. I was afraid of what I would say to you out of anger. I didn’t want to say something stupid and hurtful to you that I couldn’t take back and then come home to and find out you’d left. So I just… said nothing. Well, I tried.” He looks away from me for a moment, chagrin crossing his face as he sets the champagne flute back on the edge of the tub. “I shouldn’t have said that you embarrassed me. It wasn’t entirely accurate. You hurt me. I was already angry because you hadn’t answered any of my calls or emails and then I found out you were at a club. I know what happens to your libido when you drink and when I saw those pictures of you and Sawyer, when I thought, even for just those few minutes, I thought my worst fears were confirmed. It nearly killed me, Anastasia.”

“Those pictures were nothing, Christian. I was upset, and Luke hugged me. He isn’t kissing me in that picture, he’s leaning into to speak in my ear because the music was loud. It was a stupid photograph taken from a bad angle to make it look like something was happening that wasn’t. I would never do something like that to you, Christian. You’re the only one I want.”

“I’m sorry,” He says. “I won’t doubt you again.”

“You can’t shut me out when you get mad. I know you’re afraid that I’m going to run, but I’ve promised you that I won’t. If I can’t run, then you can’t either. Deal?”

“Deal.”

I look at him very seriously and hold my hand out for him to shake and seal our bargain. He smiles, reaches out for my hand and once his fingers wrap around mine, he yanks on me and pulls me into him, and his lips come crashing down on mine. I wrap myself around him, holding my body tight against his, and feeling a welcome sense of relief and content at finally having him here with me and getting to touch him again. I’ve really missed him.

“Oh, Ana…” He moans against my lips. “You have no idea how scared I was when I talked to Elliot at the airport. I thought I’d come back here and you’d be gone.”

“Christian, I told you…” I whisper back. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“But I… Elliot told me that Sawyer had found an email confirmation for the flight I booked for Elena this week and showed it to you. He said you were upset… Ana, I didn’t see her. I wasn’t flying her out to see me, it was business related, I swear. I wasn’t even in New York when she got there…”

“I know,” I tell him and he raises an eyebrow at me.

“You do?”

“Harvard called me about an hour ago. I know you met with the president of the University to discuss the allegations and the investigation against me. I know you went and fought for me.”

“Oh,” He replies, and I lean back so that I can look him in they eyes properly.

“Why didn’t you tell me that was the meeting that had been rescheduled?”

“Well… usually you get so upset when you think I’m interfering with your education. I’d heard through some sources of mine that the interview we did last week didn’t have the effect on the investigation that we’d hoped and so I went to make a case for you. I didn’t know if that would make you angry so I didn’t tell you about it. I didn’t want to fight with you about it. Not when I knew what I was going to come home to.”

“What do you mean, come home to?”

“Taylor talked to Sawyer, and Sawyer told him that you’d run into Leila. He told me what she said to you…”

“He did?”

“Did you believe her?” Christian asks, and I can hear the hint of anger and hurt behind the tightness in his voice.

“No. I mean… it kind of freaked me out a little but Kate and Luke, they talked me down. Helped me think straight. I was fine until I talked to Elena…”

“You talked to Elena?” He interrupts me.

“Oh, uh… yeah. Kate and I ran into her at that sex shop…”

“Oh, yes.” He says, his voice hardening again. “The sex shop.”

“Christian…” I sigh, exasperatedly, “I’m sorry about that too, okay? I thought we were careful, I’ve been avoiding the paparazzi all week but somehow they still manage to get photos.” I frown as I remember what Luke said to me before he told me about the email he found in Elena’s inbox. Is she really the one who has been leaking photos of me to the press to try and drive a wedge between Christian and I? I hope that’s what Luke is doing right now…

“Why were you even there?” Christian asks, and it takes me a second to backtrack through the conversation and remember what he’s talking about.

“Oh, uh… well, I was kind of thinking that maybe I would, uh, surprise you. I really did enjoy last weekend in Montesano and I thought if we had some um… props…” My cheeks flush as I look up to make eye contact with Christian, and a smile creeps across his lips.

“Props?” He asks, amused, and I nod. “Well, as admirable as the thought behind the gesture was, I’d have preferred it if you had done your shopping online.”

“Yeah, I just… I don’t know, I’m kind of new with all of this stuff. I haven’t seen most of it before. I wanted to actually see it before I bought it.”

“Well then, maybe it’s something we can do together,” He suggests. “I think I might be a better resource for you than Kate given my experience.”

My face falls at his words and I can see the flash of regret in his eyes. “I don’t mean… I just… There hasn’t been anyone else, Anastasia, I swear to you.”

“So Leila is lying then?” I clarify. “And Isaac… Elena wasn’t bringing girls to you in your office at GEH?”

“Well… No,” He says, frowning. “There were girls… but that doesn’t mean that I fucked them, Ana. Elena was trying to help me move on from you, but I didn’t want to. She thought she could introduce me to some submissive that would catch my attention but it didn’t work. I wasn’t interested in even one of the girls she brought in. I’ve told you before, Ana. It’s only you, it’s only ever been you.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper when I pull away. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have let Leila get into my head like that. I shouldn’t let anyone make me doubt you. You deserve my trust, Christian. You have it.”

“I’m sorry too,” He says. “If I hadn’t shut you out while I was away, I could have told you this and… And this week wouldn’t have been so shitty.”

The remainder of his absence brings the one question I’m burning to ask to the forefront of my mind. “Why did you fly Elena out to New York?”

“My manufacturing division needs to expand to meet the demands of Grey Construction and the agriculture department. I’m about to start the process for a new acquisition…”

“Okay, so what does that have to do with Elena?”

“I’m buying Lincoln Timber. After his divorce, Linc had his company re-headquartered in New York. It’s one of the prospects I was looking into this week, and it looks good but I need to move quickly.”

My mouth pops open. “You mean, you’re buying her ex-husband’s company?”

“Yes. They’ve run into some financial difficulty because they lack the internal infrastructure to support the demands of the changing marketplace and they’re ripe for a takeover. Elena still has some contacts on the board of directors at Lincoln Timber and she’s going to help smooth over this transition.”

“I just… why does it have to be his company? There have to be other timber companies you could buy.”

“It’s the best option,” He says with a shrug.

“Did she tell you that?”

“No, Anastasia. I don’t seek out Elena Lincoln for advice. I’m perfectly capable of doing a competitive analysis on my own. Elena is an asset in this instance but she has nothing to do with my decision making. Once the purchase is complete, she’ll go back to the salons, and she won’t have anything to do with Lincoln Timber.”

I frown and he sighs. “It’s just business, Ana. His company is going to fold if I don’t intervene. I’m saving people’s jobs, including the people who work for GEH. Companies have to evolve to survive. This is what I do and sometimes it seems harsh, but it isn’t personal. If he was better at running his company, I wouldn’t be able to take it from him.”

“I guess I don’t know enough about it to argue with you so…” I say, my voice trailing off. His hands reach up and cup my cheeks so that he can turn my head and force me to look at him.

“I know you’re worried that this is her way of attaching herself to me, but it isn’t. It’s a coincidence that her ex husband happens to own the company I’m buying. I promise you, I’m not spending time with her, I’m not running to her. I don’t need her, Ana. I only need you.”

“Okay,” I nod and he leans up to kiss me.

“It’s late. Do you want to go to bed?”

“Yes,” I say quietly, and he shifts me off of him so he can pull the plug on the drain, and then he steps out of the tub and takes two towels out of the cupboard. Once he’s wrapped one securely around his waist, he holds one open for me and I stand so he can envelop me with it. I reach my face up for his once more, finding his lips with mine as he scoops me up into his arms and carries me off for the bed that, after this horrible week, is miraculously still ours.

Next Chapter

Chapter 24

Image result for bdsm shop

I feel a slight pounding in my head as I’m woken up the next morning by my phone vibrating on the bedside table. I want to groan because I’m sure it’s Christian calling to fight with me about last night, but because I know that I probably deserve his anger and because I don’t want to wake Kate sleeping in the bed next to me, I remain silent and roll out of bed, taking my phone with me as I shuffle off to the bathroom. When I look down to answer my phone though, I see that the vibration wasn’t an incoming call, not even a text or an email. It’s a Google Alert.


Google Alert: Christian Grey

TMZ, June 8th 2010: While Grey is Away, Ms. Steele Will Play. Remember last weekend when Seattle business owner and eternal heartthrob, Christian Grey, put the sexual harassment rumors to rest on national TV by proclaiming his love for intern and apparent girlfriend Anastasia Steele? Well, last night, Ms. Steele was spotted cozying up with a guy in a Seattle nightclub who, get this… wasn’t Mr. Grey. Was it all a lie, or does Anastasia Steele have some explaining to do?


I stare down in horror at the brief summary of the article for a minute before clicking on the headline and scanning through the text which claims to have exclusive pictures of me with another guy. Exclusive pictures? How? There weren’t any paparazzi!

I click on the photo album at the bottom of the page and then sort through the dark and somewhat grainy photos that look like they were taken from a cell phone in the club. There are a few of me in the booth with Kate which are innocent enough, but towards the end of the collection are photos of me standing outside the bathroom. In one of them, I’m wrapped in the arms of a guy whose face you can’t see, but who I know is Luke. I swipe to the next photo and feel my breath catch in my throat. I know that at this moment, he was whispering in my ear, reassuring me about Christian and his love for me after what Leila had said to me, but in the dimly lit, poor quality photo, it looks like he’s kissing me.

That’s what Christian is going to think when he sees this, and so without a second thought of recourse, I dial Christian’s number and hold the phone to my ear, feeling my stomach clench with dread at each drawn out ring. The fourth ring comes to an abrupt end and I wait through the half second of silence for his voice, preparing myself for both hurt and anger, but it’s not his voice that answers.

“You have reached the voicemail box…” The chipper robotic voice says into my ear and I pull the phone away and look down at the screen in disbelief. Four rings… definitely not enough to go to voicemail. He ignored my call.

Fuck. That isn’t a good sign.

“Hey…” I say, shakily, once I hear the beep. “It’s me, I uh… call me, okay? I miss you.” I hesitate for a minute, wondering if I should say something about the article in my message, but ultimately decide it isn’t a good idea. It’s 7:30 here, which means that it’s 10:30 in New York. There’s a good chance that I’m just being paranoid and he had to ignore my call because he’s in a meeting. If he hasn’t seen the article, I don’t want to bring it up and risk him not calling me back and giving me the chance to explain, or worse, calling Luke and firing him before he knows what really happened. After a long, awkward pause, I end the call and then glower down at the Google Alert still open on the screen of my phone. After our email exchange last night, this really isn’t how I want to start my morning with Christian.

“What time is it?” Kate moans in the bed behind me as she blindly reaches for her phone, which is charging on Christian’s nightstand.

“7:30,” I tell her. She groans and reaches over for my pillow which she pulls over her face to block out the early morning sunlight so she can go back to sleep. I walk to her side of the bed and pull the pillow away, and after she cringes away from the light, she pouts up at me.

“I need to take a shower and get ready for work,” I tell her. “Will you take my phone and, if Christian calls, tell him I’ll call him right back?”

“Sure,” She yawns, pulling the blanket up over her head. I frown and then turn the volume on the ringer all the way up before slipping the phone onto the nightstand next to her and dashing into the bathroom to take the fastest shower I’ve ever had in my life.

Thankfully, Christian doesn’t call while I’m in the shower because when I return to the bedroom, wrapped in a towel, Kate is once again dead to the world. I pick up my phone and take it back into the bathroom with me, watching it intently as I dry my hair and apply my makeup.

By the time Luke and I step into the elevator to leave for work, Christian still hasn’t called me back. I’m staring at my phone nervously as we make our descent to the parking garage, silently willing it to ring.

“He’s probably in a meeting, right?” I ask Luke as we pass the 14th floor. “I shouldn’t call him again because he’s probably in a meeting and he’s going to call me once he’s out.”

“Sure,” Luke shrugs, but I can tell just from his tone that he’s only placating me. Fuck, Luke probably knows exactly what’s going on because he’s probably talked to Taylor this morning.

“He’s mad at me, isn’t he? He’s ignoring my calls because he’s so pissed he doesn’t even want to talk to me?”

“I don’t know, Ana,” Luke replies and I narrow my eyes at him. He sighs and then looks down at the floor as he continues, “He’s not a patient person, Ana, and he prioritizes you above everything else. If he wanted to talk to you, he would have called you, or at the very least, he would have stepped out of a meeting to answer your call…”

I feel a deep sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. If that’s true, this is more than just anger over a night out drinking with Kate. If Luke is right, he’s seen the article about Luke and I, and he’s jumped to the conclusion I worried he would.

“Luke…” I begin, not really sure how I want to ask this. “Did you see the, uh, article on TMZ this morning with the pictures of us in the club last night?”

“Yeah, I saw it,” He replies shortly, still not looking at me.

“Did Christian see it?”

The doors open, cutting off Luke’s answer, and as we both look up, we see my Lincoln idling a few feet away from the elevator. The driver’s side door opens and Prescott steps out.

“Miss Steele,” She greets me. “I’ll be taking you to work today.”

“Yeah,” Luke says. “I think he’s seen it.”

He reaches out to hold the elevator doors open for me and, as I step onto the pavement of the garage, I watch him reach out for the button to take him upstairs again.

“Wait!” I exclaim, putting my foot out to stop the doors from closing. “This is all just a misunderstanding. As soon as I can speak with Christian, it’ll all be cleared up. You don’t have to go, Luke…”

“Miss Steele,” Prescott interrupts me. “Mr. Grey made it very clear that I was to take you into work today. Alone.”

I frown and turn to Luke, who gives me a tight, closed lip smile. “Go,” He says. “Have a good day. I’ll see you later.”

I step backwards, staring at him blankly as he reaches out for the button again and the doors close. When I turn around, Prescott pulls open the door to the backseat of the Lincoln for me, and I do my best to suppress a groan as I climb inside.

As we sit silently in the usual morning traffic that congests the streets of downtown Seattle, I find myself glancing down at my phone what feels like every five seconds, waiting for it to ring. Eventually, I can’t take it anymore and I dial his number once again. It rings twice.

“You have reached the voicemail box of…”

I hang up without leaving a message this time.

When we finally pull up outside my office, I take a deep, steeling breath, step out of the car and do my best to shield myself from the ever present flashing lights from the photographers who are now actively ruining my life. Prescott isn’t as good at keeping the paparazzi away from me as Luke is, and as they close in around us, it becomes difficult to wade through the crowd to the door.

“Miss Steele!” I hear one of the photographers yell, “Is it true that Mr. Grey has offered you $1 million to help him cover up his sex scandal?”

“Over here, Miss Steele! Is it true that Mr. Grey is demanding a paternity test to determine whether or not your unborn child is his?”

“Are you cheating on Mr. Grey with your bodyguard, Miss Steele?”

I stop just before I reach the door, knowing what I’m about to do is a bad idea, but I can’t stop myself. I turn around to face the photographers, pulling my jacket away from my face and looking purposefully into each of the eyes staring intently back at me.

“No, it’s not true. Christian hasn’t offered me money, I’m not pregnant, and I have not, nor will I ever, cheat on him. I love him. Now, please, leave my office.”

They all look back at me, shocked, for only a split second, and then the flashing lights start again and more questions are thrown at me. Prescott grabs onto my arm and I sigh with exasperation, turn around, and allow her to push me into the building.

The atmosphere is very different inside the building than it is just outside the door. SIP is amping up for a new publication that has everyone involved on the project really excited, and Boyce Fox, SIP’s number one selling author, sent us word yesterday that he’s finished his sophomore novel. With all the great things coming down the pipeline, everyone’s moods seem to be elevated and it shows. People smile at me as I pass, ask me how I’m doing this morning… it’s quite the change from the usual, almost eerie silence that normally grips this office. Unfortunately, today, I would have preferred to be left alone.

Brian greets me as I make my way into my office and I give him a weak smile but ultimately close the door behind me, trying to shut everyone out. I take a seat at my desk and immediately open my email, hoping there will be something there from Christian, but there isn’t. Not that I had been really all that hopeful. This same email address is synced to my iPhone. I have never been more hyper aware of my phone than I am in this minute and I haven’t had any notifications.

Why isn’t he calling me back?

Doing my best to push my concerns about Christian aside, I settle into my desk and pull up my calendar to see what I have scheduled for the day. A groan escapes my lips as I see the meeting with the heads of Christian’s Research and Development department that is scheduled for an hour from now, and that I don’t feel entirely prepared for. Now that we’ve tackled most of the operational issues at SIP, we’re moving into phase two of the implementation process, which is to create a new eBook division. I’d like to know as much as possible about the industry and trends in sales, specifically as they relate to genres, but with my packed meeting schedule over the last week and a half, I haven’t been able to do much research.

I open Google on my browser, resolved that I’m going to at least spend the next hour preparing what I can for this meeting, but as I click through different articles, my mind keeps drifting back to the completely silent phone resting a few inches away from my keyboard.

Ugh, maybe I should just email him.

I minimize the internet window open on my screen and pull up my email, but once I’ve put his address into the TO bar, I find myself staring at the blank screen at a loss for words. I don’t know what to say to him, or how to assuage his concerns because I don’t know what he’s thinking. I could send him a long explanation of what happened last night, of what was really going on in that photograph, but part of me thinks that would be a waste of time. I’m almost positive Luke has already relayed the story to Taylor in more detail that I could probably even remember after all the tequila, so I’m sure Christian knows what happened. The problem lies in whether or not he believes it and it’s hard to convey sincerity over email, especially since I have no idea if that’s even really the problem…

Besides, I want to talk to Christian. I didn’t get the chance to yesterday and he’s now been gone for more than one full day. I miss him… I hate that he’s not talking to me.

Ironic, right Steele?

Closing the pointless email open on my screen, I reach over, pick up my phone, and dial Christian’s number again.

“You have reached the voicemail box of…”

A dry ache begins to creep into my throat as I hear the robotic voice once more and so I hang up the phone and take a deep breath through my nose to compose myself. I don’t want to cry at work.

Twenty minutes later, Brian’s voice comes over the speaker of my desk phone, letting me know that Barney and Welch are here from GEH. I ask him to let them in and a minute later my door opens. They’re both very reserved and succinct, but extremely polite. It reminds me a lot of the way my father acts around people he doesn’t know and that makes me feel a little better as we move past the polite, yet forced chit chat, and onto business.

Thankfully, the lack of my usual over preparation for this meeting is moot because both Barney and Welch have done their own homework. We discuss industry trends and some of the things I’ve read about or talked about with Ros and Christian. They seem confident that we can have the technology needed for the new division programmed and in testing in only a few weeks.

“Well, GEH already has a business relationship with Amazon so I’m confident in our ability to manage and maintain cost effective distribution through Kindle, but what about Nook or iPad? Do you think it would be more beneficial for SIP to attempt to negotiate contracts with the major players in the eReader industry or is it more feasible to create our own app that can be downloaded onto any smartphone or Wi-Fi capable electronic device?” I ask.

“An app would be, I believe, most cost effective and would give us greater control over distribution and product security…” Welch says, and he glances at Barney as if he’s looking for reassurance.

“But..?” I press him.

“But, we had a better idea,” Barney finishes for him. “Currently, GEH’s technology and software development team is building a new tablet device that will be exclusive to GEH. We’re building some amazing, innovative features into the device and we were thinking that adding an eReader would really add value to the product.”

“You want to create our own eReader?” I clarify.

“Not exclusively, I do believe we’ll have to create an app that can be accessible on other devices, but by developing an eReader as a GEH product, you open yourself to the ability to do so much more than just distribution.”

“Such as?”

“Exclusive additional content from the author, perhaps. Sneak previews, early releases… plus, you can control the features. Our software development team is incredible, Miss Steele. Anything you could dream up to add, they could make happen.”

“Notes,” I say and he raises an eyebrow at me. “One of the reasons I hate Kindle is that I like to write notes in my books. I like to highlight or underline passages I think are really good or that I want to read again. You can’t do that on an eReader.”

“We could solve that,” Barney says. “We could even add a specialized stylus that can be housed in the device.”

“What about a feature that could read a book aloud?” I ask. “Is that possible?”

“You mean, having the device read the book aloud for you?”

“Yes.”

Barney looks to Welch who looks as though he’s thinking through all the possibilities in his mind as he decides how to answer. “I think we could do it…” He says. “In fact, we might even be able to do a read along function with audio and visual effects for children’s books. Like a sing along or a karaoke program. The words could be highlighted as the text is read aloud.”

“Like a tool to help kids learn how to read,” I say, smiling at the idea.

We talk for another thirty minutes, coming up with ideas for different features and I scribble each of them down so that I can send a proposal to Ros and Christian this afternoon. I’m not only extremely impressed by what the technology division of Christian’s company seems to be able to do, but also, excited by what we’ve come up with. By the time the meeting is over, I actually can’t wait to get my hands on this new device, and I hate eReaders.

When we’ve finished with the meeting, I thank them both for their time, shake each of their hands and promise to let them know when we have the go ahead. Brian sees them out of the office and once I’m alone again, I pull up my email once more and send the details of what we had discussed in a proposal to both Ros and Christian. I wait impatiently for a response, clicking refresh on my email every ten minutes as I try and tackle the mountain of other work I have for today, but nothing comes through. Hours pass, and still… nothing. I know that they’re both away on business so they’re probably working on other things, but because I also know Christian is also just not talking to me right now, I’m taking the silence very personally.

By five o’clock, I’ve given up hope that he’s going to respond to me, but as I pack up my things to leave for the day, I hear the sweet, overly-welcome ping from my email and a mixture of joy, elation, and relief grips me as I see Christian’s name.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: eReader

Date: June 8th 2010 05:03 PM

To: Anastasia Steele

I approve.

Christian Grey

CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

That’s it? That’s all I get. My hopes are crushed again as I look down at the two words that make up the entirety of his email. The only words I’ve heard from him all day…

This is ridiculous. With new determination, I reach down, pick up my phone and for the fourth time today, dial his number.

“You have reached the voicemail box…”

“Ah!” I yell in frustration as I end the call and stop myself from throwing my iPhone across the room.

When I make it back to Escala, I peek into the security office to see if Luke is there, but he isn’t. I wonder where Christian has sent him… My stomach tightens at the idea that maybe Christian called Luke himself to have him reassigned. I know it wouldn’t be a pleasant conversation, but at least he would get to talk to him. I haven’t even gotten that courtesy.

It’s not a good sign that I’m jealous of people getting yelled at by Christian.

I sigh and make my way into the great room where Kate is lounging on the sofa watching a rerun of Friends and sipping a Diet Coke through a straw.

“Hey,” She greets me, smiling. “You ready to go or do you want to eat dinner first? Elliot’s coming over tonight so I’d prefer it if we went sooner, rather than later.”

“Go?” I ask.

“Yeah… remember? You wanted to go and buy some tools for Christian’s trade.” She laughs but I’m not in the mood to joke about Christian right now. I’m not in the mood to do anything with Christian except figure out what I can do to make him answer my motherfucking phone calls.

“I don’t know, Kate…” I tell her. “I don’t think I’m in the mood to do that tonight.”

“Why?” She asks. “Did something happen at work?”

“No. It’s Christian… he’s not talking to me because of that TMZ article this morning. I think he might actually believe that I cheated on him…”

“But that’s ridiculous. Did you tell him what happened?”

“Oh, you’re right! Why didn’t I think of that?” I say, sarcastically. “He’s not answering my phone calls, Kate.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “Well… did you call Ros or Taylor?”

“Oh… no,” I reply guiltily and she gives me a well-there-you-go kind of look. “I’m sure he knows what happened though. I can almost guarantee Taylor has talked to Luke.”

“Well, maybe he’s embarrassed, then,” Kate suggests.

“Christian? Why would Christian be embarrassed?”

“Because he overreacted. He got pissed off and then found out what happened and now he’s embarrassed about it. Or maybe he’s just pouting. Or maybe he’s just really busy. Whatever it is, he’ll get over it. He’s not going to be mad forever, but he is coming home tomorrow. So, if you want to go shopping without him being around it has to be tonight.”

I frown. Maybe she’s right… I mean, this is all just a huge misunderstanding. I know him and I know that him being so far away while all of this is happening is probably playing a huge role in what’s going on between us right now. It’s probably also doing a number on his control issues and so he’s latching onto everything around him that he can control, including the decision to not answer his phone. He will be home tomorrow, so even if I don’t hear from him for the rest of the night, I’ll get to talk to him about it when he gets back and we’ll move past it, just like we always do. It would really bother me if I missed my opportunity for his birthday surprise because of a stupid fight we were having over nothing…

“Okay,” I tell her. “Let me change and we can go.”

Kate smiles at me and I disappear into the bedroom, trading my black pencil skirt for a pair of jeans, and my button down, silk blouse for a slightly oversized t-shirt. When I’ve laced up my shoes and put my heels back in their place in Christian’s closet, I head back out to the living room and Kate and make our way down to the garage.

I’m very careful once we arrive outside the seedy looking storefront to look for any photographers lingering around, waiting for a shot of me walking into a sex shop. Thankfully though, the parking lot is mostly deserted, except for a few other shoppers who don’t look like they want to be recognized here anymore than I do. I stay close to Kate, holding onto her so I can keep my face down as we walk across the asphalt lot and into store, and once the doors close behind us, I feel a welcome sense of ease. It’s uncomfortable how much my fear of having photographers jumping out and snapping pictures of me to upload all over the internet reminds me of what it felt like when we were dealing with Kate’s stalker back in our freshman year of college…

“Uh… let’s try back here,” Kate says, standing on her tiptoes so she can see over the displays at the front of the store, which are overloaded with pink sashes with the word bachelorette scrawled across them in glitter, and other assorted penis themed memorabilia. I’m actually surprised by how big the store is. I had kind of imagined a dark, dingy room filled with all kinds of weird sex things on display. In reality, it’s set up kind of like a cleaner, better organized thrift store. There is lingerie on display to our right, aisles and aisles of different kinds of sex toys in the center, and against the left wall there are dozens of bulk bins, which are slightly reminiscent of the kind you find in a candy store, filled with different colors and flavors of condoms.

Kate takes my hand and leads me past a room filled with porn DVDs to a section made up of a lot of items I don’t really recognize, and several I’m not sure I want to…

“Okay… What are we looking for?” Kate asks, and I shrug.

“I honestly have no idea,” I reply.

“Well then, let’s just get everything that doesn’t look terrifying,” She says, and I laugh. I’m glad I brought her with me. I would have never had the courage to do this on my own. We start looking through the different items displayed on the shelf, and it isn’t long before we have to pull out our phones to google what some of the instruments are used for. I find myself cringing at a lot of the pictures and videos that come up, but not all of them. There is a small section of floggers hanging from hooks on the wall, and so I pull one down to examine, running my finger through the leather straps and trying to decide how much it would hurt to get hit with something like this.

“What do you think this is?” Kate asks, and I turn to look at the wide metal ring in her hands that has, what looks like, six clothespins hanging from short black strings in a star like pattern in the center.

“I have no idea…” I reply, wrinkling my nose as I try to imagine what you would do with the clothespins. “But it looks gnarly.”

“It’s a vaginal spreader. Quite effective but also, quite painful,” A very unwelcome voice says behind me and when Kate looks over her shoulder and immediately tenses, she confirms my fear as to who it is and I feel my blood run cold. I turn to face her and when I see the young, blonde haired man standing at her side, I feel a wave of nausea.

“What are you doing here?” Kate asks, her voice cold and almost vicious as she glares at Elena.

“Oh, there were just a few things I needed to pick up,” Elena replies with a smile. “I was actually wondering the same about you but… well, I suppose I could probably guess.” She turns to look at me, her eyes almost twinkling with her satisfaction to have caught me here, but I can’t bring myself to respond or to even look back at her. The only thing I can focus on is the young man standing next to her, staring silently down at the ground, the thought that this was once Christian replaying in my mind over and over again.

“I’m sorry, where are my manners?” Elena says when she notices me staring. “Ana, this is Isaac, Isaac, this is Anastasia Steele.”

He doesn’t move and Elena lets out a low approving sound, her smile widening as she continues. “You may speak, Isaac,” She says. His head shoots up immediately and he reaches his hand out for mine.

“Pleased to meet you,” He says politely. I hesitate for a minute, looking down at his outstretched hand, but I can’t bring myself to shake it.

“H-how old are you?” I stutter and he frowns.

“Twenty-one,” He responds, and I know that I should feel at least a small amount of relief that, this one at least, isn’t underage, but I don’t, and the reason I don’t comes unbidden out of my mouth.

“The same age as Christian,” I whisper and he raises an eyebrow at me.

“Mr. Grey?” He asks, “Are you one of his?”

I freeze, and I feel Kate have the same reaction next to me. Suddenly, my concern with his age falls completely out of my mind. “What?” I ask. “What do you mean, one of his?”

“Isaac,” Elena says sharply and his head immediately shoots down towards the ground again. “Anastasia is Mr. Grey’s… girlfriend. ” She says the word with disdain. “But that is none of your business.”

“I’m sorry, Ma’am,” Isaac replies, and I don’t know what is more overpowering for me at the moment… to say something to try and save this boy from whatever punishment or abuse his little slip has earned him, or what his actual slip implies. One of his… One of Christian’s. Does that mean that Leila was telling the truth?

“You need to leave,” Kate spits at Elena, but she just smiles back at her before turning to Isaac.

“Go wait in the car for me,” She instructs him. He turns and immediately begins walking for the front door. Elena turns back to face Kate and I, her eyes skimming the leather flogger I’m still gripping tightly in my hands, and she smirks, reaches for the wall behind me and pulls down a different flogger with wider, thicker straps.

“You should try this one, Anastasia,” She says with a smirk. “It’s Christian’s favorite.”

My whole body gets hot as I feel Kate grip me by the upper arms and push me away from Elena, dragging me to a different part of the store so that we’re no longer in her line of sight.

“Ana, ignore her,” Kate tells me. “She’s just trying to get a rise out of you. Remember, she wants to drive you and Christian apart.”

“You heard what he said…” I say quietly. My mind is flooded with images of Christian standing in a room like the one I remember seeing in the photos that Mr. Lincoln had taken to be used as evidence in the trial, and whipping a girl I picture as looking almost exactly like Leila, with the flogger in my hands. I can see her face twisting with agony as he rains it over her again and again, and as the horrible image morphs, and the girl becomes Christian and it’s Elena holding the whip, the flogger falls out of my hands, onto the floor, and my breath turns to gasps full of fear and pain.

“Come on, let’s get you out of here,” Kate says, not bothering to pick the flogger up off the ground as she steers me through the aisles towards the exit. I try and pull myself together, once again knowing I have to be conscious of my surroundings once we’re outside of the building. Thankfully, it doesn’t look as though any photographers have shown up since we entered the store, so we’re able to make it to the car and back to Escala without incident.

When we step out of the elevator and into the foyer back at the apartment, I tell Kate I’m going to bed, and she doesn’t protest or do anything to stop me. In my room, I draw the curtains on the windows closed to block out the sunlight and then crawl into bed without taking my clothes off. I honestly don’t know what I’m feeling right now. I mean, I can justify Leila lying, that’s not even difficult, but what Isaac said was completely unprovoked. Why would he lie? Because of Elena? But then… does that mean that Elena and Leila are scheming together? That seems like a lot of work for a stupid story that only works if they’re able to get me alone, in public, away from Christian… Although, it has happened… twice. Maybe it’s not a coincidence. Are they following me?

Jesus, I sound like a crazy person. I take a few deep breaths and try to clear my mind. I’m so confused, I can’t even get a gut reaction for what I believe is true anymore… I need to talk to Christian. I feel blindly over the comforter of the bed for the phone I know I left abandoned somewhere here, but before I find it, Kate knocks on the door and then eases it open to let herself in.

“Are you okay?” She asks.

“I don’t know…” I tell her honestly. “I’m so confused, Kate.”

She sits on the bed next to me and takes my hand in hers. “Well, we talked about this last night and you didn’t believe it when it came from Leila. Is it more credible coming from Elena?”

“It didn’t come from Elena,” I say emphatically, but she shakes her head.

“He’s a submissive, Ana. He only does what he’s told. I think that it’s safe to assume that anything that comes out of his mouth, comes from Elena.”

“I don’t know, Kate. After he said it, he looked at her like he made a mistake, I don’t think he was supposed to say that.”

“Okay…” Kate agrees. “Maybe she didn’t tell him to say it. But, I still don’t believe it. I mean, Ana, if he was getting submissives from her, why would she hide that from you? She wants you to leave him and she knows that if you found out, that’s exactly what you would do. I think that if it were true, she’d tell you, flat out. She’d paint it on a billboard outside your window or hire a skywriter. Christian’s not even in town, this would have been the perfect opportunity to expose him and have you slip quietly away without him being able to do anything to stop you.”

I ponder her words for a moment… I mean, she does make a good point. Why would Elena bother covering for him, even if it was only a lie of omission? She doesn’t gain anything from not telling me because the only way she can win is if I leave him. Sure, he might get mad at her if he finds out that I found out from her, but that’s happened before and it didn’t stop her from worming her way back into his life last time. And she knows that something like that would hurt me, and she wants to hurt me. No, I don’t think she would cover something like this up. Not to me.

“But… then why would Isaac say it?” I ask aloud.

“I mean, you were in a BDSM sex shop, holding a flogger… and you did say Christian’s name. He’s a submissive, maybe he just assumed.”

“Maybe,” I say, nodding.

“Are you still worried about this because of what you two did last weekend?” She asks and I shrug.

“Kind of. Look, I enjoyed it, and I’m fine with the fact that I enjoyed it, but I keep thinking about how… good he was at it.”

“And that’s a problem?”

“Practice makes perfect, Kate.”

“That’s ridiculous, Ana. Him being good at having sex with you has nothing to do with anyone else.” Kate says and I look at her skeptically, so she takes a deep breath and continues. “Okay, do you remember Craig?”

“The guy you dated before Elliot?”

“Yeah. Well, there was this thing that he liked to have me to do him while we were having sex, and I mean, he really liked it. It was kind of my go to move for a long time.”

“So?”

“So, then I started dating Elliot and when I tried to do it to him, he hated it. He freaked out and made me swear I would never do it ever again. Just because you do something that works with one person, doesn’t mean it’s going to work for everyone. You have to find out what the partner you’re with likes, what they don’t like… From what you’ve told me, Christian knows what you like and he’s very aware of you when you’re together. Even if he ties you up or whatever, it doesn’t mean that he’s having sex with you the way he had sex with Elena. You’re a different person, with different desires and you do something completely different with him than what he did with Elena, even if parts of it look the same. He’s good at this because he knows you, not because he knows… how to tie knots.”

“How to tie knots?” I repeat with a short laugh.

“I don’t know… all you’ve told me is that he tied you up. There’s not really much to know about that. And quite frankly, I wouldn’t be convinced that all of that knowledge came from Elena. You two were apart for two years. I bet if you got a hold of his browser history, you’d see that he’d done plenty of “research” in that time.” She says, putting air quotes around the word research. “Internet videos can be very educational,” She laughs and I smack her on the arm, but can’t stop myself from laughing too.

Again, I have to admit that she’s right. What Christian and I have has nothing to do with anyone else. I mean, it’s not like I can kiss him well because I used to kiss Carter… We’re good together because we love each other and we care about each other and about pleasing each other. He loves me. I know that he does, so I don’t know why it’s so hard for me to believe him when he tells me there hasn’t been anyone else. He’s the person I should trust, not Leila Williams and certainly not Elena Lincoln.

“Thanks, Kate. You’re a really good friend,” I say gratefully.

“Uh uh…” She says with a broad smile. “The best friend.”

I laugh as her phone buzzes and she reaches down to pick it up. When she looks down at the screen, she frowns. “What, is Elliot not coming over after all?” I ask.

“It’s not Elliot…” She says and immediately, I’m on my guard again.

“What?” I ask, dread coursing through me. She holds out her phone.

Google Alert: Anastasia Steele

TMZ, June 8th 2010: The Wild Side of Anastasia Steele. Check out the exclusive pictures of Christian Grey’s girlfriend leaving a Seattle sex shop this afternoon. The question is, was she purchasing something for her hot, CEO boyfriend, or the new mystery man she was photographed with the other night?

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I groan as I throw the phone back down on the bed. “How did this happen? There weren’t any photographers around. We checked!”

“I don’t know…” Kate replies. “Maybe it wasn’t a photographer. I mean, everyone has camera phones. There weren’t paparazzi at the club the other night either and someone still got a picture of you then.”

“So what, I have to worry about every human being around me selling pictures of me now?” I ask and Kate looks down at her phone again, unwilling to make eye contact with me, probably because there is nothing she can say to make it better.

“How long have you had that Google Alert set?” I ask her. “I didn’t even know I had one.”

“Since your name leaked to the press during the whole Leila thing,” Kate says. “Don’t worry, it’s usually just pictures of you outside your office or in your car. You’re really not that exciting.”

“Except for when you’re around,” I roll my eyes. “Don’t be surprised if Christian doesn’t want me hanging out with you anymore. You’re the one who keeps coming up with all these ideas that get me into trouble.”

“Maybe I’m the one selling the photos,” Kate says, with a joking smile but I glare at her.

“That’s not funny,” I snap, and because now she’s put it out there, I stare at her expectantly, waiting for her to deny it.

“Ana, it’s not me,” She says, exasperatedly. “I’m in half of these photos with you, how could I take them?”

I let out a frustrated sigh and then feel my body tense as I hear my ringtone sound from my phone lost somewhere in the bed. My hands begin to frantically dig through the comforter until they grip onto the hard, cold glass around my iPhone. I look down and see Christian’s name displayed in bold, illuminated typeface across the screen.

Fuck, of course he would call me now…

“Hello?” I answer.

“A sex shop?” He responds, his voice tight with anger as he practically growls at me over the phone.

“It’s not what you think, Christian,” I say defensively.

“You mean you weren’t at a sex shop, because you’ll have to understand why I’d have difficulty believing that, Anastasia.”

“No, I was there but…”

“But nothing, Anastasia,” He interrupts me. “I am on a business trip right now, I am meeting with very important business contacts and potential clients. We are on the tail end of a sex scandal, how do you think it looks having my name all over the internet right now accompanying pictures of the woman we announced on national television as my girlfriend to put allegations of sexual harassment to bed in clubs with other men and leaving sex shops?”

“So what, I’m embarrassing you?” I ask, my own anger flaring now.

“Quite frankly, yes. You are.” His words are hard, and icy, and they hit me like a slap to the face.

“Well, I’m sorry that I can’t be perfect for you, Christian Grey.”

“Oh please, Anastasia. Don’t try to turn this around on me. You’re an adult, I shouldn’t have to be around all the time to babysit you and keep you from making stupid fucking decisions.”

“Stupid?” I repeat.

“Stupid,” He reaffirms. “I will be home tomorrow and until I return, you are not to leave the apartment. You can work from home tomorrow.”

“You can’t ground me, Christian. I’m not a child.”

“Then stop acting like one.”

The phone goes dead and I look down at it incredulously. He hung up on me? Is he serious right now?

“What happened?” Kate asks.

“He…” I stop, not even knowing to articulate what just occurred. I throw the phone down onto the mattress and bury my face in my hands. He’s acting like I’m purposefully being negligent. I was careful, I did everything I knew to do to protect him and myself, but none of it seems to work. The answer can’t be to keep me locked in this apartment… I can’t stay here, hidden away from the world forever.

“Kate! Ana!” I hear Elliot’s voice echo from the living room and Kate looks nervously over her shoulder at the door, and then back at me.

“Go, I’m fine,” I tell her. “I’m probably going to go to bed early tonight. This has all been exhausting.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah.”

She wraps her arms around me in a tight hug and then leans back to look at me, testing me one last time before she gets up and heads out the door. I reach under the blanket and pull my jeans off, throwing them carelessly across the room, and then stare up at the dark ceiling. Christian has never talked to me like that before and I really don’t like it. Maybe I should call him back and see if we can have a rational conversation… one without the yelling and the hurtful words.

I pick up my phone and dial his number, but once again the phone rings twice and I’m greeted with, You have reached the voicemail box of…

I heave a sigh of frustration and throw my phone back onto the bed, almost wishing I could throw it against the wall because I think that watching it shatter on impact would be oddly satisfying right now.

Next Chapter

Chapter 23

Image result for New York

Google Alert: Christian Grey

TMZ, June 7th 2010: Uh oh, Miss Williams! It looks like Seattle’s most famous mistress… isn’t. TMZ has exclusively obtained text messages that show Leila William’s not only admitting to lying about her affair with CEO Christian Grey but actually asking Mr. Grey’s assistant to lie as well!


What the fuck?

I click on the article and, sure enough, the first thing I see is a screenshot of the text conversation I read on Andrea’s phone last night. How did this get to TMZ? Panic overtakes me as all of the concerns that had me tied up in knots last night come crashing back over me. My stomach clenches as I remember reading something about evidence being thrown out in OJ Simpson’s trial because a witness gave testimony to the media… Can that happen if text messages leak online?

I immediately dial Carrick.

“Hello?” He answers.

“Did you see the texts?” I ask him.

“On TMZ?”

“Yes.”

“Of course I did,” He says. “I leaked them.”

“You… what?”

“Well, Kate did… Actually, it was technically Mia. Kate had the idea last night. She had Andrea send her screen shots of the conversation between her and Leila and then Mia posted them on her twitter account.”

“Oh…” I say, feeling slightly taken aback. “I was worried that having the text messages leak might ruin Christian’s case or something.”

“What case? Ana, we’re not going to court, remember? I leaked the text messages so the public would know what was really happening, and so that Miss Williams’ attorney would know what we had against them, and it’s working. Her attorney called me this morning asking if we could reach a settlement. I told her to, essentially, go to hell, and she’s called two other times since then offering different deals that I’ve also rejected. They’re desperate, they know they’ve lost. I give it 48 hours before they drop the charges.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’ve been doing this a long time, Ana. I’m sure.”

I take a deep breath and nod, before realizing that I’m on the phone and Carrick can’t see me agreeing with him. “Okay, good,” I tell him. “Has Christian seen it?”

“I talked to him about a half hour ago.”

I frown. Christian’s flight for New York left at just after 5 AM this morning and he didn’t wake me before he left. There was a note on the bedside table for me, and it was sweet and romantic, but it wasn’t a kiss goodbye. It wasn’t the chance to see him off at the airport, even if I only got to do that from the backseat of the SUV. I’d hoped he would have at least called me once he landed but apparently not. I suppose he is on a business trip though, and since he just got there, he probably doesn’t have a lot of free time to talk. The sexual harassment case is important. Calling me to tell me how much he misses me can probably wait until tonight.

There is a knock at the door, which opens without any invitation from me, and Brian steps into my office.

“Ana, they’re ready for you in conference room number three.”

Shit, is it eleven already?

“Hey, Carrick, I’ve got to go. I’ve got meetings all afternoon,” I say regretfully.

“Okay, Ana. Have a good day at work and promise me that you’re going to take some time to enjoy yourself over the next few days while Christian is away. I know that this has been stressful for you and you’ve been so focused on being there for Christian, I just want to make sure you’re taking care of yourself too. You’re 21 years old, and this is your very last summer vacation. Have some fun, Ana, and if you get into trouble, give me a call.”

I laugh. “I don’t know if I could afford your retainer fee.”

“So you are after my son’s money, then?” He asks, a teasing tone to his voice, and I laugh again.

“Damn it!” I exclaim with false chagrin. “You know, I really thought those two years away would throw you off but you’re just too astute, Mr. Grey.”

“Well, I did go to Harvard,” He brags.

“Ana,” Brian interrupts me again, giving me a what do you think you’re doing look.

“Okay, Carrick. I really have to go. Call me if anything else happens with the case.”

“Will do, Ana,” He says. “Have a good day.”

I thank him and tell him goodbye, and then set my phone on the desk to quickly begin gathering everything I’m going to need for the three back to back meetings I have all afternoon. When I finally get out of my seat and head for the door, Brian rolls his eyes and shuffles after me like a child being drug around shopping with his mother on a Saturday instead of being allowed to play with his friends.

I feel slightly achy as I walk back to my office at the end of the work day. My final meeting with the SIP literary agents, which was focused on redesigning the query process and the way that new authors are brought under the SIP, now GEH, umbrella, went hours longer than I intended it to. I know some of them are comfortable with their positions and the way things run around here and it was clear in the meeting how resistant to change they are. Fortunately, a few of the newer agents can see the same flaws that I do and are on my side. As for the others… well, Christian did tell me it’s impossible not to lose a single employee in an acquisition. My job is to make SIP successful, to make it an asset for Christian, not a liability. I just have to remember that going forward when difficult decisions have to be made.

When I finally get back into my office, I stretch a little to relax some tension in my neck and then reach down to pick up the phone I left on my desk to check the time. Crap, it’s nearly six thirty… and I’ve missed four calls, one text, and one email.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: The absent Anastasia Steele

Date: June 7th 2010 05:18 PM

To: Anastasia Steele

I’ve been gone less than fourteen hours and you’re already ignoring my phone calls? Call me or I’ll be forced to call Sawyer.

Christian Grey

CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

I hit reply.

From: Anastasia Steele

Subject: Sorry!

Date: June 7th 2010 06:23 PM

To: Christian Grey

Hey, sorry… I forgot my phone before I went into my meetings and the last one went long. I’m going to head home now. I miss you.

Xx

Anastasia Steele

Implementation Director, Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

 

From: Christian Grey

Subject: Found

Date: June 7th 2010 06:25 PM

To: Anastasia Steele

I know, I called Sawyer.

I’m heading back to my hotel, call me when you get home.

I miss you too, and I love you.

Christian Grey

CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

There is a knock on my door that interrupts my response to Christian’s email and I look up and see Luke poke his head into my office.

“Hey, are you about ready to go?” He asks.

“Yeah,” I say, gathering some things to work on at home, picking up my bag and smiling at him as I walk for the door. The office is fairly empty, with only of few of the agents who were in the meeting with me staying behind. Luke opens the door for me and we quickly make our way through the flash of lights from the crowd of paparazzi whose interest in me seems to have increased now that I’m not longer just Christian’s alleged office romance, but now, his confirmed girlfriend. They shout questions to me, asking about wedding dates or to confirm pregnancy rumors, but I do my best to ignore them, keeping my face pointed at the ground and shielded by my bag and gripping tightly to the back of Luke’s jacket as he leads me towards the Lincoln.

Kate is already in the apartment when I get to Escala and it seems she’s made herself right at home. Where I’ve always found it kind of weird and uncomfortable that Christian has staff that wait on us all the time, Kate seems to enjoy it. I find her curled up on the couch in front of the TV drinking a cup of tea and eating the roasted chicken and green beans that I know Mrs. Jones had planned to prepare for dinner tonight.

“Hey,” She says, turning to smile at me when she hears me enter the great room behind her. “There’s dinner if you’re hungry. Gail is awesome, this is delicious.”

“Yeah, she’s great,” I say as I walk past her. “I’m just going to change.”

“Okay, but you should know we’re going out tonight!” She calls after me, and I stop just before I make it into the hallway and turn around to look at her.

“What do you mean we’re going out tonight?” I ask her, narrowing my eyes, but she just smiles sweetly back at me.

“I mean that Elliot is having a brother/sister date with Mia tonight so I thought you and I could go down to Foundation to dance a little and have a few drinks.”

“It’s a Monday night, Kate.”

“So?”

“So, I have to work tomorrow. Maybe we can go on Friday. Besides, Christian will be back so it’ll probably be more fun anyway.”

“I doubt it,” She says. I frown at her and she continues. “It’s not that I don’t want to hang out with Christian, it’s just that when you’re with him, you’re… with him. I wanted a night with you, like back in Cambridge. A couple of girls out on the town, telling boys we’re lesbians so they don’t hit on us and then rolling our eyes at them when they start to hit on us harder. If we wait for Christian to get back, he’ll bogart you the whole night and I’ll hardly get to dance with you at all. Besides, if you and Christian showed up to a club together, there would be a swarm of paparazzi we’d have to fight our way through and Christian would probably back out and you’d go with him because he’s been gone all week and you’d want to spend time with him.”

Well, she has a point… “Then we’ll make plans for next weekend.”

“His birthday weekend?”

Shit. “You have to work tomorrow, too,” I argue. “Don’t you want to wait to go drinking until we have a day off to recuperate?”

“No, and me having to work tomorrow should encourage you to go. I’m not saying let’s go get blacked out, Ana. Let’s go dance for a few hours, have a few cocktails and get to bed at a reasonable hour. That’s all I’m asking.”

“I don’t know, Kate…”

“Kate!” Luke yells from behind me and I turn around to watch him storm angrily out of the foyer, glaring at my best friend on the couch. “You called my girlfriend and invited her to go out to a club with you and Ana tonight?”

“Wait, you invited Leah?” I interject and Kate shrugs.

“Well, I knew you wouldn’t be able to go without Luke going too or Christian would have a coronary, but that doesn’t really help the whole girls on the town thing I was going for, so I thought I would invite someone to keep him company.”

“How do you even know her?” I ask.

“I met her last weekend,” Kate says. “While you were slumming it in Montesano with Christian, Luke was at Grace and Carrick’s playing xbox and watching the Mariners with Elliot. Leah was over there with him all day Saturday. She’s nice, I think you’ll like her.”

“She won’t, because she’s not going to get to meet her,” Luke says. “I can’t have my girlfriend around when I’m working, Kate.”

“Sure you can,” I say, excited now for the opportunity Kate has given me, and a little jealous that she got to meet Leah before I did. “She’s coming to hang out with us and you have to be there too. It’s not your fault she’s friends with Kate.”

“I don’t think Mr. Grey will see it that way,” Luke says.

“I don’t think Mr. Grey has to know about it,” Kate laughs.

“I can’t lie to him about taking Ana out, Kate, and I can’t take my girlfriend out when I’m working.”

“Well, we’re going,” I tell Luke. “Kate’s right. I need a night of fun with my best friend and I need my CPO with me. So, get your dancing shoes, Luke. We’re going out.”

“And you should probably like, go pick up your girlfriend and bring her to the club,” Kate suggests. “I don’t think she’d be very happy if made her meet you there but then you showed up with two other girls.”

“I have to stay with, Ana.”

“We’ll be fine,” I say dismissively. “Kate’s right. You and I have enough problems with Christian’s jealousy. I don’t want Leah thinking I’m trying to move in on her boyfriend.”

“Ana…” Luke begins but I stop the argument by turning around and heading back into the bedroom to change. As I make my way down the hallway, I hear Kate whisper, “Best friend.” emphatically to Luke.

“Shut up, Kate,” He replies.

I eat dinner and then let Kate make me up to go out to the club. It takes a little longer than we planned since she’s decided to curl and tease my hair so when Luke leaves, we’re still getting ready.

“You better be there in twenty minutes,” He says, giving each of us disapproving looks as he gets ready to leave to pick up Leah.

“No problem,” Kate promises but when Luke disappears from the bathroom, I narrow my eyes at her in the mirror.

“Twenty minutes?” I ask.

“Or forty. Whatever,” She says, and I roll my eyes as she separates another strand of hair to wrap around the hot iron.

It takes us an hour to leave Escala and Luke is not pleased. When Kate and I finally pull up in a taxi outside of Foundation, we see him and a blonde haired girl I don’t recognize waiting in the line which I feel is too long for a Monday night. Most of the people standing outside look fairly young, definitely college aged, and it is summer vacation. I suppose if you don’t have school or an internship, weeknights don’t mean anything different than weekends.

I step out of the back of the cab, careful to keep my legs together as I’ve become hyper aware of photographers watching my every move over the last week or so. Thankfully, but also to my surprise, there don’t seem to be any paparazzi around. Actually it’s kind of irritating. I can go to a club without worrying about photos being taken of me, but god forbid I go to work…

Kate hooks her arm through mine and pulls me towards the line and I watch Luke pull gently on the arm of the girl next to him and nod in our direction. Her long blonde hair fans out behind her as she turns to look at us and I’m actually kind of taken aback. Her eyes are a deep, cobalt blue, her lips smooth, pale pink and glossy, and her skin is flawless. She’s beautiful.

Way to go, Luke!

“Hey!” I greet them both with a wide smile. “It’s nice to finally meet you, I’m Ana.”

“Hi. Leah,” She says, reaching out to take my hand. She’s smiling at me but there’s something almost calculating about the way she’s looking at me. Like she’s sizing me up or something.

“How long have you guys been standing here?” Kate asks, standing even further onto her tiptoes to peer over the people in front of us and judge the distance to the door.

“About a half hour,” Luke says. “We haven’t moved.”

“Oh, no,” Kate says, shaking her head and then hooking her arm through mine. “We’re not waiting. Follow me.”

“Wait!” Leah says, reaching out to stop her. “I tried the hot girl thing. I even grabbed some girls from the back of the line to come in with me, but they won’t let Luke pass the line. We can go in, but he’d have to wait out here alone.”

“Oh, Leah… we’re not just hot girls. Come with me.”

Kate pulls me forward and marches confidently past the long line of people and the dirty looks they give us as we fight our way towards the doors. When we get to the front of the line, the bouncer doesn’t look up from his clipboard.

“Excuse me,” Kate says sweetly, and he looks up at her. “Hi.”

“Back of the line please,” He says dismissively and Kate smiles.

“Oh, come on.”

“I’m sorry, we’re at capacity. Back of the line please.”

“Are you sure about that?” Kate asks. “Maybe you don’t know who she is…” She pushes me forward and I look back at her like she’s crazy.

“No, I don’t know who she is,” The bouncer says and Kate sighs.

“This is Anastasia Steele. Christian Grey‘s girlfriend. This guy back here is her bodyguard and we’re her entourage. Now you could send us to the back of the line and ultimately be humiliated when Mr. Grey has to hear about how you forced his girlfriend to wait outside, in plain view of the paparazzi when they hear she’s here and inevitably show up, or you could let us in and he could hear about how accommodating you were. Your choice.”

“Uh… I-I’m sorry, Miss Steele,” The bouncer says, quickly unhooking the rope blocking off the door and pulling it back for us, “Please, have a good time.”

“Uh… thanks,” I say, and I’m ushered forward by Kate who triumphantly leads us all inside.

We’re led to a table near the back with low to the ground, black leather couches by a girl with hair colored like an aurora borealis. The hostess offers us a complimentary bottle of Patron which she brings back with four glasses, a bucket of ice, and a large bowl filled with sliced limes.

“Wow,” Leah says, looking down at the drink Kate pours with her with surprise. “This is a $250 bottle of alcohol. They’re just going to give it to you for free because you’re dating a rich guy?”

“Or they’ll probably bill, Christian,” I say rolling my eyes. “Which means I’m going to have to explain to him why I’m out at a club drinking tequila on a Monday night while he’s in New York. So, thanks, Kate.”

“Oh please, back when Christian was fun he went out with us all the time on school nights. We won’t stay too late, and you don’t have to drink too much. You’ll be fine, he’ll be fine, let’s not talk about him for the rest of the night. You’re my date tonight, remember?”

“Still… I should call him.” I say, only just now remember that I haven’t called him since I got back from work. I reach into my bag and pull out my phone, but Kate snatches it away, turns it on silent and sets it on the table face down.

“He’s fine, Ana. He’s working anyway. Come on, let’s go dance.”

“Kate…”

She pours a small amount of tequila into a glass and hands it to me, clearly not interested in arguing with me any further. I glance down at my phone nervously. I know if Christian really needs to get a hold of me, he’ll call Luke, but still, I’ve barely talked to him all day. The music changes as Kate takes the shot in her hand, and the pulsating beat is ultimately what keeps me from picking up the phone. I’m not going to be able to hear Christian if I call him anyway and I did promise Kate a night out where she had my full attention. Sighing with defeat, I lift the glass to my lips and take the shot. Once I’ve chased the burn of the tequila away with a lime, Kate grabs my hand, drags me onto the dance floor and we sway together to the overly remixed techno versions of all the songs that are currently overplayed on the radio.

Luke only steps away from the table when Kate waves him over to bring us more tequila. I catch several glimpses of him canoodling with Leah in the booth, looking at her adoringly and even, every so often, pressing his lips into hers. They’re adorable.

“What?” Kate asks, turning around to see what I’m grinning at. When she looks back at me, she laughs. “Well… sorry, Ana. Looks like he found a new body to guard tonight.”

“Good. I think she’s going to end up hating me. Luke takes his job way too seriously and I think ignores her a lot.”

“So be friends with her so that she can be around and he can be around her,” Kate suggests and I nod as the song changes.

“Oh my god, I love this song!” Kate squeals excitedly as 3 by Britney Spears starts thumping over the speakers. She grabs ahold of me and pulls me into her, dancing against me, until I feel a hand press into my lower back.

“Hey ladies,” A deep voice says behind me and I turn around to a guy dressed in a suit but with no tie grinning at us. “We have a table over here, I’d love to get you a drink.”

“We have our own table,” Kate says dismissively, but he doesn’t walk away.

“Oh, come on. One drink. My friend and I have been watching you two for the last few minutes and we’d like the chance to get to know you a little better.” He turns to look at me, his eyes glancing up and down the too short dress Kate forced me into before we left the house, and his eyes glint with interest.

“No, thanks. We have boyfriends,” I say, clearly.

“But no rings…” He argues, but before I can answer, I’m moved harshly aside into Kate as someone big pushes past me.

“You need to go,” Luke says flatly and the guy raises an eyebrow at him.

“Are you the boyfriend?”

“No, and you should be glad that he isn’t here because if he was, I wouldn’t be telling you to back off, I’d be dragging your ass into the back alley and beating the shit out of you for putting your hands on her. I am her bodyguard though, so what you’re going to do is turn around, go back to your friends, and leave these two girls alone. If I see you near either of them again, I’m going to pretend her boyfriend is here and you and I can take that trip out back. Your choice.”

His jaw tightens but he unconsciously takes two steps backwards. He looks uneasily at both of us, and then turns around and disappears through the crowd without another word.

“Luke!” Kate exclaims, clearly impressed. “You’re a dick.” We both laugh but Luke just scowls.

“Let’s go back to the table.” He says, and Kate frowns.

“But… It’s Britney bitch!”

“She’s playing at the table too, I promise,” Luke tells her. He grabs my hand and begins pulling me back towards the table.

“Come on, Kate,” I say over my shoulder. “I need another drink anyway.”

“Fine!” She snaps, clearly displeased, but she follows after us all the same.

Luke doesn’t let either Kate or I back on the dance floor for the rest of the night and Leah doesn’t seem to be too pleased about it. I try several times to start a conversation with her but she isn’t interested in talking to me. Instead, she keeps shooting me pointed looks, like I’m purposefully intruding on her time with Luke, so I do my best to keep my back turned to both of them as I talk and dance with Kate in the booth.

“I have to pee!” I tell her, as I set my glass back down on the table and begin sucking on one of the lime wedges from the bowl.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Kate asks, wiping the citrus juice from her fingers and bobbing a little to the music.

“No, but pour another round. I’ll be right back.”

She nods and reaches for the bottle of Patron, while I step around Luke, who is either whispering something into Leah’s ear, or maybe kissing her neck. When I move past him though, he rubs his hand over her knee a few times, nods in my direction and then gets up to follow me.

“Where are you going?” I hear Leah yell over the music.

“I’ve got to follow her,” He says, and when I see Leah’s face tighten, I put my hand up to push Luke back a little.

“It’s okay, Luke,” I reassure him. “I’m just going to the bathroom. I’ll be back in five minutes.”

“I don’t think so,” He says.

“I’m fine! Seriously, I want you to hang out with your girlfriend. Watch my drink. Make sure nobody roofies me. Especially that blonde girl I’m with. I think she’s trouble.” He looks at me dubiously, clearly not comfortable with the idea of me walking twenty feet away from the table by myself. I want to roll my eyes at the ridiculousness of that, but refrain. “It’ll be fine, Luke. I promise. If I’m not back in five minutes you can send the National Guard out for me.”

“Hurry,” He says shortly. “If I have to send the National Guard out for you, I don’t even want to know what Mr. Grey will be sending out after me.”

I laugh and then turn around and squeeze my way through the crowd of people towards the bathrooms. It doesn’t surprise me when I find the long line winding it’s way through the door of the ladies restroom and into the hallway, but I’m pretty sure the wait is going to be longer than five minutes so I pull out my phone, snap a picture of the line in front of me, and send it to Luke.

Good News! I made it without being kidnapped. Bad news, I’m going to be here awhile.

It’s only after I send the text that I see the other notifications scattered across the apps of my screen. 7 missed calls, 2 voicemails, three text messages, and one email.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: Where the fuck are you?

Date: June 7th 2010 09:38 PM

To: Anastasia Steele

Anastasia, I have called you, Kate, AND Sawyer and not one of you has answered even one of my phone calls. Gail has informed me that the three of you have gone out, but she can’t tell me where. Call me back, immediately.

Christian Grey

CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

Oh shit. I check the clock on my phone and my stomach churns. He sent this email almost two hours ago… Also, it’s after 11:30 on a Monday night and instead of being in bed, I’m still in a club twenty minutes away from my apartment and my head is swimming with tequila. This is not going to be good for work tomorrow. I should have known having Kate stay with me this week would lead to trouble… maybe I should have asked Elliot.

I frown back down at Christian’s email. It’s 2:30 in the morning in New York right now, which probably means he’s gone to bed, so I decide to respond to his email, rather than calling him back.

From: Anastasia Steele

Subject: I’m so sorry!

Date: June 7th 2010 11:41 PM

To: Christian Grey

I’m so sorry, Christian! I’m downtown getting drinks at Foundation with Kate, Luke, and his girlfriend, Leah, and I didn’t hear my phone. I’m fine. Please don’t be mad.

Anastasia Steele

Implementation Director, Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

Once the email is sent, I take the two steps forward that the line has moved and my phone buzzes silently in my hand.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: RE:

Date: June 7th 2010 11:43 PM

To: Anastasia Steele

Go home, Anastasia. I’ll speak to you in the morning.

Christian Grey

CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

Well, so much for not being mad. It is getting late though… I probably should go home. I decide that once I’ve gone to the bathroom, I’ll grab Kate and we’ll head back to Escala. Luke can stay if Leah isn’t ready to leave. I don’t want to do anything that could risk turning her against me more than she already seems to be.

My phone buzzes once more in my hand, and I worry for a moment that Christian is emailing me again, deciding he’d rather yell now than in the morning, but it’s a text from Luke.

It’s been five minutes…

I text back.

Still waiting in line. Reason number 786,001 girls have it harder than boys.

“Ana…” a familiar voice says and I freeze. I look up from my phone and am floored by who I see staring nervously back at me only a few feet away. Her hair is dark now and some of her features are just slightly skewed by the heavy make up I’ve never seen her wear before, but the warm, bourbon color of her eyes is unmistakable.

“Leila,” I say, shortly, not knowing if the sudden wave of emotion I feel is anger, hurt, fear, or some unequal combination of all three.

“Is he…?”

“No. No, he’s in New York,” I tell her and she nods.

“I’ve thought about this a lot over the past couple days, what it would be like if I saw you again. I didn’t think it would be so soon. I thought I’d have time to know what I was going to say.”

“I don’t really have anything to say to you, Leila,” I say, coldly. “You know I’m under investigation at Harvard. I might be expelled from school because of what you did.”

She lets out a sharp huff as her eyes shoot up towards the sky and she shakes her head. “Oh, poor you. Poor little Anastasia Steele. You might lose your Ivy League education? However will the penthouse apartments, and the new cars, and the private jets, and the millions of dollars, and the love of the most beautiful man most of us will ever lay eyes on fill that Harvard sized void for you? God, you don’t even appreciate what you have. You have everything I have ever dreamed of and it isn’t enough for you,” She pauses and shakes her head again. “You don’t deserve him. I don’t even know what he sees in you.”

“Do you even know anything about him, Leila?” I ask, the anger taking over now. “Beyond the money, and the company, and his face… do you know anything about who his is?”

She stares at me blankly, almost challenging me.

“He’s not from Seattle,” I tell her, the vitriol in my voice ringing clear. “He’s from Detroit. His real mother was neglectful, abusive, and died of an overdose when he was four. Grace was the doctor whole pulled him out of that filthy house and he was so malnourished, they were surprised he was alive. He didn’t speak a word until he was six years old. He still carries that around with him, it affects him everyday. Maybe what he sees in me, is that I don’t care about the money, or the penthouse, or the private jets… I know who he is, and I love him. For the good, the bad, and the really ugly.”

Leila frowns and looks away from me for a minute. I can see in her eyes that she’s fighting with something, but whether it’s mostly hate for me, or for Christian, or both, I can’t decide.

“So… what?” She says. “You expect me to fall back into the crowd and admire this perfect romance you two are selling to the world? You know, I may not have known about his past, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know things about him. You told me you met him in college? Was that before or after Elena Lincoln?”

I stare back at her, shocked, my mouth suddenly dry. How does she know about Elena?

“I-I…”

“Is that how he met you?” She asks, a vindictive ring her her voice now as though she’s caught me in a lie.

“No,” I tell her, a little too sharply. “We met at school. He was my neighbor. Elena Lincoln has nothing to do with us.”

“But you know about her, and what she does for him? That’s why you hate her so much, right? You’re threatened by her. Or maybe that’s why you broke up? Was he cheating on you with them at school or did the brown haired girls come after he started his company?”

Brown haired girls?

“What are you talking about?”

She laughs. “So, you don’t know? Well… you’re in for a rude awakening, Anastasia.”

“Leila, what the fuck are you talking about?”

“Haven’t you noticed that nobody working at GEH has brown hair? I thought I was paranoid at first. I mean, I noticed it at my very first interview, probably because I have brown hair and I stuck out like a sore thumb. I didn’t get hired after that interview but I wanted to work at GEH so I applied for a different job. I didn’t get that either. Then my friend Andrea called me and told me Mr. Grey had fired his receptionist. I was going to get the chance to work in his office. He’s the reason I wanted to work at GEH in the first place, just for the chance to look at him. I didn’t want to take any chances so I dyed my hair blonde, like all the others, before the interview and it worked. I was hired.”

“Obviously, his hiring practices were illegal, but what did I care? I had a job in his office. I saw him every morning and after a few weeks, he even knew my name. Then, one day, he had an appointment with Mrs. Lincoln, which I thought was weird because he normally met her outside of the office, but not that day. She showed up exactly on time, but she wasn’t alone. There was a girl with her, a brown haired girl, she wasn’t included in the meeting and Taylor is very particular about who gets in and out of the executive suite so I had to take her name and issue her a guest pass. The meeting lasted about fifteen minutes, and then they left. I didn’t really think much of it until a few weeks later when Mrs. Lincoln showed up with a different girl. Different, but the same, you know? They were all the same, beautiful, obnoxiously skinny, and all of them with dark, brown hair.”

“I thought you were one of them at first, to be honest with you. Especially when you ran out of there at the end of your first day. You see, I think he thinks he’s clever having them brought to his office. He’s never seen with them in public so there’s no chance a paparazzi could snap a picture of him with one of them. Because he wasn’t public with these girls, their names never got into the paper. But I didn’t need them to. I had them, all of them, on the security sign in list. So I started digging and all it took was a quick google search to find out what was going on. They all have websites, you see.”

“Websites?” I ask, my voice shaking.

“They’re call girls,” She says and then frowns. “Well… kind of. They’re… specialized call girls.”

I can feel the involuntary twitch in my upper lip, and she smiles vindictively at me. “You know exactly what I mean by specialized, don’t you? Maybe that is how he met you. You certainly look the type. If it is, you’re better at hiding it. Nothing came up on you but a couple articles you published in the newspaper at Harvard and a few inactive social media pages. So, if you aren’t one of these girls, maybe I should warn you. He’s into some serious shit, Anastasia. The really hard stuff.”

“I may not know about his past, or his family. I may not know what his favorite color is or where he went to high school. But I know him, Anastasia, and I know that he’s not the man that was in that interview last Friday night. He didn’t forget his name staring into your eyes and he didn’t stay up late at night trying to think up ways to talk to you. He’s dark, Anastasia, and if you can’t see that, you’re an idiot.”

“If you so sure what he is,” I spit at her, “Why isn’t that what you told the world? Why lie about him forcing you to have sex with him when you could have destroyed him with what you apparently think is true?”

“I needed the security list and I couldn’t get it. I thought if I came forward, at least one of those girls that came through his office would too. Apparently, he’s paid them well enough to keep their silence.”

“Or they didn’t because there’s nothing to tell. Because there’s nothing for them to come forward and admit to.”

“Whatever you have to tell yourself, Anastasia,” She shrugs. “But I think we both know the truth.”

“I don’t get it, Leila. If you think you’re right and that’s he’s dark and that this is what he’s into, then why do you want him? Why throw yourself at him if all he wants to do is beat you?”

“I would do that for him,” She replies, and I’m a little off put by the undoubtable sincerity in her voice. “I would be anything, give him anything, whatever he wanted. That’s how much I want him, Ana, and I’m not the only one. If you won’t give him what he wants, there are thousands of girls out there who will.”

“Are we done here?” I ask, and she gives me one last tight smile.

“Unfortunately, yes. Turns out I overestimated Andrea and her friendship. I trusted her and she turned me in to Grey, so my lawyer says there’s really nothing else we can do. I asked for a settlement, but at this point there’s no reason for him to offer me one, so my lawyer is just going to drop the charges in the morning. He wins again, the way he always does. He always gets what he wants, Anastasia. Remember that. If you’re going to stick around, I hope you want the same things he does. Otherwise, if I were you, I would run and never look back.”

She walks forward, bumping into me as she passes and stalks back out towards the over packed dance floor behind me. I turn to watch her go but it isn’t long before I lose her in the crowd of people jumping up and down to the music. I hope neither Kate or Luke see her, especially Kate, because I know she’d cause a scene.

“You’re up,” Some girl says behind me, pushing me a little as the next stall in the bathroom opens and I take one more second to examine the crowd, searching for the tight turquoise dress Leila was wearing, but I don’t see her, so I do my best to push her out of my thoughts and head into the bathroom.

It’s not easy not to think about what she said to me though. Actually… it’s impossible. Christian’s reassurances in Montesano had put me at ease. I could accept that, despite everything wrong with his relationship with Elena, there had to have been enough good (at least sexually) for him to justify the things she was doing to him. That fit into the cycle Flynn was always talking about, always using to reassure me that Christian wasn’t taking too many steps backward every time Elena came up and he started to defend her or got angry with me for calling her a child molester. She used sexual pleasure and gratification to hide what she was really doing to him so that when she hurt him, he could hold onto the good and ignore the bad. It stands to reason then that he had to find enjoyment in the actual sex and that’s where the lingering interest in BDSM comes from.

I could accept that. I had even hoped that exploring this type of sex together in a way that was actually safe and that came from a place of love, would open his eyes to what she’d really done to him.

I hadn’t imagined that he’d already explored this type of sex with someone else, someone who wasn’t Elena Lincoln, because he’d told me he hadn’t. As I stare at the words written in different colors of sharpie on the inside of the stall all around me, I think back to what he said to me that first morning after we’d got back together.

Ana, it’s only you. It’s only ever going to be you. You’re the love of my life, how could I ever want anyone else?”

I believed that. I mean, the man called me everyday for two years knowing I wasn’t going to answer the phone. He paid for my school and paid for a personal security officer to keep me safe when he couldn’t… That doesn’t sound like a man who is trying to move on.

He loves me, I know that he loves me.

But even knowing that as absolutely as I do, I can’t deny that I’ve actually heard Elena trying to set him up. The morning of the operations meeting, I heard her in his office.

I met a girl that I think you’d really like. She younger than you are, nineteen, but she’s in the lifestyle and she’s experienced.

He said he wasn’t interested but now I have to wonder if that’s because he was telling me the truth before and he really hadn’t wanted to sleep with anyone else, or if it was because we were back together and he was getting sex from me so he didn’t need these other girls anymore. I want to believe it’s the former, but that would be a lot easier to convince myself was true if what he did with me the other night hadn’t happened…

I’m uncomfortable with the amount of doubt I feel as I step away from the sink and make my way out of the bathroom. It’s palpable enough that I think I might feel the slight sting of tears behind my eyes, which I unconsciously try and wipe away.

“Ana?” Luke asks as I step out of the bathroom, and I look up to see him standing a few feet away from the door, looking at me with concern. “What’s wrong?”

“I ran into Leila…” I tell him and his expression immediately hardens.

“Where is she?” He asks.

I shake my head. “I don’t know. Can we go home?”

“Yeah, actually that’s why I came to find you. I just got off the phone with Mr. Grey and I am supposed to take you back to the apartment.”

“He called you?”

“Yeah…” he hesitates. “He’s not very happy that we’re out and he wants you home immediately. I think I’m fired when he gets back, but you know, what else is new?”

“I’ll talk to him,” I promise, and he frowns, probably because I didn’t laugh at his joke.

“What did she say to you?” He asks.

“You work security, right?” I begin, “You haven’t seen any, uh… girls going in and out of Christian’s office have you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I- you know what, nevermind.”

“Do you think he’s cheating on you?”

“No,” I shake my head quickly and he sighs.

“Come here.”

I step forward and he hugs me close to him, turning to speak directly into my ear so that I can hear him over the music.

“He loves you, Anastasia. Trust me. You didn’t give the guy any hope for almost two years and he still didn’t let go. He’s got you back and believe me, he’s not going to throw that away for anyone or anything. He’s not cheating on you, I promise.”

I nod and he pulls away, wrapping his hand around my arm and pulling me, protectively, through the crowd towards the table where Kate and Leah are waiting.

“We’ve got to go,” He calls to Kate and she nods as she hands me another shot and a lime. I look at it dubiously for a second but eventually think, fuck it, and reach out and slam it back. Luke shakes his head disapprovingly, and then turns to kiss Leah goodbye.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” He tells her and her mouth falls open with resentful shock.

“What do you mean, where are you going?”

“I have to get the girls back.”

“Uh… they’re adults. I think they can call a cab. Stay with me longer,” She pouts at him, but Luke shakes his head.

“I can’t, I’m working.”

“You’re always working,” She says, her voice hard now as she shoots a quick, angry look towards me.

“You’re right, Leah. I am. This is my job and if you can’t handle it, you need to know it’s not going to change.”

Her mouth tightens into a thin line as he reaches out to help Kate out of the booth. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” He tells her again and then he gently pushes against my lower back so that I walk forward for the door.

There is already a line of taxis waiting outside the club, so Luke grabs the one closest to the door and ushers us into the back seat. Once he gives the driver the address for Escala and we pull onto the street, I turn to him, feeling slightly guilty for his little squabble with Leah.

“She’s right you know… Kate and I could have gotten home on our own. You don’t have to fight with your girlfriend over me, Luke.”

“Stop it, Ana.”

“No, I’m serious…”

“So am I. Look, I’m not just your friend, I’m your bodyguard. That means I have to be around your body to guard it. I knew what this job was and what it meant when I accepted it. I lived in Cambridge for two years, for christ sake. I like my job, Ana. I promise. You don’t have to worry about my personal life.”

“Okay,” I acquiesce as I settle back into the seat.

“So, what did she say to you?” He asks and I look at him confused.

“Leah?”

“No, Leila.”

“Leila?” Kate asks, leaning over to look at me. “You saw Leila?”

“Yeah, she was coming out of the bathroom as I was going in…” I tell her.

“Well, what happened?”

I take a deep breath and recount everything Leila said to me, which takes not only the entire rest of the cab ride home, but also the elevator ride up to the apartment. When we step out in the foyer Luke is shaking his head with disbelief.

“Honestly… I mean, that girl’s got some nerve. She’s about to lose and she’s still talking shit? What the fuck?”

“She’s just trying to hurt you, Ana,” Kate adds. “I mean, think about the source this information is coming from. It’s not like we don’t know that she’s willing to lie.”

“Also, she’s a bitch,” Luke says. “Seriously, fuck her.”

“That’s not helping, Luke,” Kate admonishes him as I collapse onto the couch. She sits next to me, pulling me onto her so that my head is resting on her chest and her arm is wrapped around me, and Luke glares at her.

“No, what’s not helping is letting her feel any kind of hurt or doubt because of something Leila Williams said.”

“It’s not that easy. Look, she and Christian have been through some hard stuff and this kind of thing is little personal. It’s okay for her to be upset.”

“I know what they’ve been through, Kate. I get it.”

“No you don’t. You weren’t there.”

“So, what? That means I couldn’t possibly understand what she went through? You don’t think I feel for her on a very real level for the crap she’s had to endure over the past couple years? You know, Kate, you’re not going to win the best friend argument just because you’ve been around longer.”

“No, I’m going to win the best friend argument because I’m her best friend,” Kate says.

“Okay, guys. Stop,” I tell them firmly, but the silence that falls between them only lasts a few seconds before Luke starts again.

“You know, it’s not like you didn’t move away when you were a kid. You two had spent most of your lives apart before you went to Harvard. You basically have one year on me.”

“I have way more than one year on you,” Kate says, rolling her eyes. “We grew up together and when I did move, I only moved two hours away. We still spent every school vacation together. Not mention all our free time talking on the phone. You’re not going to win.”

“Alright, Ana. Settle it once and for all and just tell Kate that I’m your best friend,” Luke says.

“Why do you want her to lie to you, Luke?” Kate asks. “Look, you may get to hang out with her more that I do, but I’ve been with this girl since birth. I have bracelet from kindergarten that says BFF. Best. Friend. Forever. It’s still forever.”

“So? Ana probably had a different favorite drink before she met tequila. Doesn’t change the fact that tequila is now her favorite.”

“Ana, will you please set him straight?” Kate asks, turning to me.

“Why is this a competition with you?” I ask, looking at them both sternly. “You two are both my best friend.”

“No,” Kate argues. “You can’t have two best friends, that’s not how language works, Miss English Major. Best is a superlative adjective, meaning greater than all the others. There can be only one. Like Highlander.”

“Fine, then… Kate, you’re my best girl friend, and Luke, you’re my best guy friend.”

“Fine,” Luke agrees.

“But who’s your best friend?” Kate asks, pushing me. “Overall.”

I glare at her. “Christian,” I say firmly. “Christian is my best friend.”

Kate’s mouth tightens into a firm line as she glances over at Luke and then back at me. “Damn him and his penis. Sex is such an unfair advantage.”

“Alright,” Luke says, rolling his eyes. “You girls have a good night. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“You know that means Christian is actually her best guy friend too!” Kate calls after him and he holds up his middle finger at her over his shoulder as he continues into the foyer and disappears from view. She looks after him with a smug, self-satisfied smirk and then turns back to me.

“Really though, are you okay?” She asks.

“Yeah, but…” I stop, not sure if I want to tell her why what Leila said to me is affecting me so much.

“But what?”

I glance at her uncertainly, trying to decide if I think she can be trusted with what I want to tell her, or if Christian is going to get a call from Elliot about it later.

“Okay. I want to tell you something. But I’m telling you as my best friend, not as someone looking for a story and not as Elliot’s girlfriend. You can’t say anything to anyone, and I mean anyone.” I tell her seriously.

“You mean, you need to tell me something in confidence because I’m your best friend and try as he may Luke Sawyer could never take that place?”

I roll my eyes.

“Yes, Kate,” I say flatly and she lights up.

“Great, what can I do for you?”

“I’m a little freaked out by what Leila said,” I admit, and she gives me a sympathetic smile.

“I thought you said Christian told you that he hadn’t slept anyone while you were broken up?”

“He said that…” I reply hesitantly.

“But you don’t believe him?”

I take a deep breath and look Kate in the eye as I continue. “I just… I know he’s still into it.”

“Into what?”

“The uh… kinky things that he was into before we started dating.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “You mean like… the things he did with Elena?”

“Yeah,” I reply, breaking eye contact with her as that is the one part of this I don’t like to focus on. Thinking about him with Elena, especially doing some of the the things to me that he may have done to her, or worse that she did to him, makes me extremely uncomfortable.

“Okay… ” She says hesitantly, encouraging me to continue.

“So, the other night when we were in Montesano, Christian and I had a few drinks and then we had sex. I didn’t really think much about it as it was happening because Christian isn’t usually what I would describe as gentle when we have sex. I mean, don’t get me wrong. He’s made love to me and it’s sweet, and caring, and amazing, but he usually, you know, if we’re just having sex, he’s… rough.”

“Oh my god,” Kate says, holding up her hands to stop me. “Do I need to be prepared for some serious shit? Because, I swear to god, Ana, if he hurt, you…”

“No, he didn’t hurt me, Kate,” I say to assuage her and she relaxes and then takes a deep, calming breath before nodding for me to continue.

“Well, the other night. He, uh, pushed me a little farther than he has before…” I say awkwardly, almost wondering now if it was a mistake to bring this up.

“What do you mean, he pushed you?” She asks.

“He tied me up,” I say, feeling my cheeks pink. “He, uh… he restrained me and he blindfolded me, and he um… he spanked me.”

“So, are you worried that because he did those things to you he’s done them to someone else?”

“I just worry that what happened between us last weekend kind of confirms her story a little…”

She stares at me for a minute and I sit back and wait for her to speak, wait for some kind of reassurance that I’m being crazy and that just because he’s expressed an interest in BDSM sex again doesn’t mean that he’s been secretly fucking a slew of submissives personally picked for him by Elena Bitch Troll Lincoln.

“I don’t know what to say, Ana,” Kate says eventually. “Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. Personally, knowing how he feels about you and after seeing what he was like when you two weren’t together, I don’t believe it. But it doesn’t matter what I believe, it matters what you believe and what you can live with. I think Luke is right and you should really consider the source of this information. Leila is trying to hurt you. She didn’t get her way with the allegations she made against Christian and so she’s lashing out at you.”

“Really?”

“Really. Ana, he loves you, and I mean, he really, really loves you. I think when you were gone his sole focus was GEH and not a bunch of random hook-ups. You couldn’t sleep with anyone else, I don’t think he could either.”

I smile gratefully at her. “You’re sure not just saying this because Christian said that he wants to marry me and you have hope again that we’ll be sisters one day?”

“Partially,” She says with a laugh. “And partially because I want to move past the sad part so you can tell me about the drunk, kinky sex you had.” She lifts her hands in a gesture for me to continue and I laugh and shake my head at her.

“Oh come on, Ana! You can’t drop we had BDSM sex on me and then stop. Give me the deets!”

“What do you want me to give you a blow by blow?” I ask and she shakes her head.

“No, you can spare me the gory details…” She says, “I just want to know, I mean, was it good?”

I bite down on my lip, feeling my cheeks heat with my blush, and nod. “It was… incredible.”

“Incredible?”

“I came three times.”

“What! Jesus Christ, Ana, what are you worried about?” She laughs and I feel a welcome wave of relief cross over me. As I think back over that night and how amazing it really was, I don’t know why I’m so ready to turn it into something bad. Christian and I talked about it, and he was open and honest with me about what he wanted and what he liked. This is a huge step for us and I’m taking this moment of his vulnerability with me and trying to turn it into something negative. Because of what? Something Leila said? She’s proved to me that she’s a liar, that she’s trying to hurt me. Why would I believe her over Christian?

Apparently, even though I’ve accepted his apology for what happened before and I’ve forgiven him, I’m still struggling with some trust issues. That needs to be addressed. I resolve then that I’m going to make an appointment with Flynn in the morning to talk more about this, and in the meantime, I think I’m going to double down on what I said to Christian last weekend. I want him to know that can open up to me. That Elena isn’t the only one who can accept him for who he is and what he wants.

“Kate…” I begin hesitantly and she looks up from her phone at me with interest. “You know how next week is Christian’s birthday?”

“Yeah.”

“I think I know what I want to get for him but I don’t really know where to start. If this is crossing the line of best friend duties, you can say no… but since Christian is going to be gone for the next few days, I think it might be a good opportunity to pick up some things…”

“Like what?” She asks and I give her a you-know-what look. “Oh…” She says, as she realizes what I’m asking. “You want me to go with you to help you pick out sex toys?”

“If you’re comfortable with that… I really don’t know what I’m doing and I would feel better not going by myself.”

“Awh, Ana,” Kate says sentimentally. “I’m honored and as your best friend, I accept. I’d be delighted to help you pick out your very first pair of handcuffs.”

“Thanks, Kate,” I say with a small laugh and then I get up off the couch. “Now, I’m going to bed before I can humiliate myself any further.”

“Alright,” Kate agrees, and she too gets up but she looks dubiously over at the stairs. “The guest rooms are all upstairs, right?”

“Yes.”

“There isn’t one down here, closer to you?”

I give her a pointed look. “Kate, do you want to sleep with me tonight?” I ask.

“Yes,” She says, relieved, and I roll my eyes as I grasp her hand and drag her back towards mine and Christian’s bedroom with me.

Next Chapter

Chapter 22

Image result for lakeside bbq

When I wake up Sunday morning, the first thing I’m aware of is the soreness between my legs. I haven’t even moved and I can already feel the dull ache, but there’s a deep rooted sense of satisfaction in it. It immediately brings back memories from the night before. He was different last night. I’m used to rough sex with Christian but last night was more than that, and as I replay everything he did to me, I actually find myself having to evaluate my feelings on what happened.

He tied me up. That wasn’t so bad… Actually, I think it was kind of… hot. He didn’t use the fact that I couldn’t move to force me to do something I didn’t like or hurt me. He checked on me and made sure I was okay with what he was doing to me and then he got me off. Multiple times.

Tying me up was good.

He spanked me. More than that, he punished me. He was trying to control my body and when I didn’t do what he asked… he spanked me.

That I’m not sure about.

Okay, he didn’t hurt me. I think he could have. Actually, I think that’s normally the point, but he didn’t. In fact, I kind of liked it. Especially when he hit me… there. I’m not sure I like the punishment aspect of what he did, but… actually, I’m not sure about that either. It’s kinky and dirty and part of me liked him taking control of me. I didn’t really expect that…

Holy shit, am I into this?

I bite down on my lip nervously as I think about my third, mind-blowing, orgasm and what he said to me right before I fell off the edge.

I want you to call me Master.

Okay, maybe this I have an issue with. Tying me up, great. Spanking me, fine. But the Master thing isn’t just kinky sex… that’s crossing the line into BDSM.

I think.

Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t know anything about BDSM, well except for what he’s told me about his past with Elena, and that I don’t want.

I know that he’s told me that part of him has always wanted to be a dominant, but I’ve told him before, I don’t want to be his submissive. I like him taking control in bed, but that’s where it ends. The BDSM stuff, that goes outside of the bedroom. Doesn’t it? I mean, with Elena, Christian had rules about who he could talk to, how many rings he had to answer the phone, what he could do with his free time… I don’t want that. I need to know if that’s what Master meant to him, because if it did…

No.

No I don’t believe that’s what it meant. Christian loves me. What Elena did to him, what they had together, wasn’t love. Honestly, I don’t even know enough about it to know if it was truly BDSM or just more of her abuse, and frankly, based on past experience, I think I should err on the side of abuse…

I need to talk to him. We need to talk about what happened.

I open my eyes and roll over, thinking I can ease into this conversation by waking him with a kiss. When I look at the warm thing cuddled up next to me though, I see that it’s not Christian, it’s just a pillow. He’s not here.

Pulling the covers back, I quickly hop out of bed, picking up his t-shirt to throw on before I remember that’s what he used to wipe me down after he uh… marked me last night, and as I think about that, I have to admit that, that was kinda hot too…

Ugh… what’s the matter with me?

I pull a different, clean t-shirt out of his suitcase and then walk down the hallway in search of Christian. I find him pacing in the kitchen, talking on his phone.

“What do we need to do to get it done on time?” He asks whoever it is that he’s talking to. He sounds irritated. “Do it then. I don’t care what it costs, just get it done.”

He turns around and sees me standing in the doorway and his expression shifts.

“I need to call you back,” He says, and then he pulls the phone away from his ear and hangs up.

“How long have you been awake?” I ask.

“Just an hour or so… Something came up with the state deal, I had to take care of it,” He explains. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore,” I say, “But in the good kind of way.”

“Are you… Okay?” He asks, hesitantly.

“Yeah. I think so, but I have some questions,” I tell him. He nods, takes me by the hand, and leads me to the couch in the living room. When we sit down, I can tell by the way he stares at me that he’s nervous, but that I have his full attention.

“So… where did that come from?” I ask.

“I don’t know…” He says. “I mean, I’ve wanted to do some of those things to you for awhile, but I don’t know why I chose last night to do them. It just kind of escalated. I was just going to tie you up. I wanted to see you like that, know what you looked like when you came and couldn’t move. I liked it. I liked going down on you, pushing you past your orgasm and knowing you couldn’t push me away. It was hot. So I took it a step further. I blindfolded you because I wanted you to feel everything I was doing to you. When you take one sense away, the others become sharper. I wanted you to really feel me fucking you.”

“Then why didn’t you want me to come?” I ask.

“Because if you can control it, hold it off, it’s so much more intense. I was watching you while you came in my mouth. You were magnificent. So… uninhibited. Liberated. I love seeing you like that, Anastasia. You’re never more beautiful. I’m greedy, and even as I watched you coming down, I knew that I wanted more. I wanted to push you farther, I wanted to make you come harder than I ever had before. I wanted to know, to see, to feel what that was like. So I wanted to bring you to the edge and hold you there for as long as possible, keep you building, until I finally let you go. I wanted to control that.”

“So, why did you let me come then? You said yourself you could have stopped me. Did you want to punish me for not doing what you told me to?”

“I’m not immune to you, Anastasia. I don’t have perfect control. I felt it when you started getting close and I knew you weren’t going to be able to stop it, but in that moment… You were hot, and wet, and tight around me. I couldn’t have stopped for anything in the world.”

“But you punished me…”

“Yes,” He says, guilty now. “I wanted to spank you. I wasn’t trying to hurt you, I didn’t want to hurt you. I’ve tried it with you before and you liked it. I also like it. I enjoy rough sex, Anastasia. I like being rough with you. I like pulling your hair and digging my fingers into you while I fuck you as hard as I can… and I like spanking you. It turns me on to watch your skin pink beneath my hands. It turns me on to see my handprint on your ass. I wanted to spank you, and so I did. If you didn’t like it, then I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”

I know most of this. I’m okay with rough sex. I’m okay with hair pulling. I’m okay with spanking. I take a deep breath and ask the question that will tell me if I’m okay with exactly how far he took that rough sex last night.

“Why did you tell me to call you Master?” I ask. He looks away from me, staring down at my fingers fiddling anxiously with the hem of his t-shirt while he finds the words to answer.

“I like dominating you, Anastasia,” He says. “Having you like that, feeling you succumb to me and whatever I want to do to you, knowing that I have control over your pleasure, knowing that everything you feel is planned. and deliberate, and all mine… I’ve fantasized about that for years. But it’s just a fantasy, a role play. I wanted to dominate you in bed, to know what it felt like to have you at my mercy. I liked it. I liked it a lot. Master is a mindset, an acknowledgement from you that I owned your body in that moment. I was about to come, it just came out, and when you said it… I liked it, Anastasia. If that’s too much for you, then… I’m sorry. I should have, I don’t know, warned you, talked to you about it… but this is me. This is what I’m into and if you’re not then, you’re not. I can accept that. Last night doesn’t have to happen again.”

“Okay, but how far does that fantasy go?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you want me to be your submissive?”

He pauses again, carefully considering his words before he speaks. “Sometimes,” He admits. “I love you, Anastasia, and I love making love with you. I don’t want to give that up. But, sometimes… yes. Sometimes I would like you to be submissive to me when we have sex.”

“Just when we have sex?” I ask and his brow furrows for a moment until his eyes widen with sudden understanding.

“Ana, I don’t want you to be MY submissive,” He says. “You’re my girlfriend, you’re the love of my life. That kind of relationship is… It’s just… I don’t want that for you.”

“For me?”

With you,” He corrects himself. “I don’t want that kind of relationship with you.”

“Why?” I ask him and he gives me a confused look in response.

“Because you’re more than that to me. You’re my everything, Anastasia. I don’t want to change what we have together, I wouldn’t give that up for the world.”

“So, just when we have sex?” I clarify once more and he nods.

“Sometimes,” He adds. “And only if you want to.”

“Okay,” I acquiesce, and he looks shocked.

“Okay?”

“Yes, okay,” I repeat. “I enjoyed last night, Christian. In fact, I really enjoyed last night. So, if that’s your fantasy, then I’m willing to do that with you. But I want you to do one thing for me.”

“What?”

“The next time you go and see Flynn, I want you to talk to him about why you don’t want the life of a submissive for me.”

“Why?”

I shake my head. “I just want you to talk to Flynn about it. Promise me.”

“Okay…” He says, still looking confused, and I nod and get up off the couch.

“Well, then let’s get packing. I have a lot of reading to catch up on and this place doesn’t seem to be conducive to that.”

It doesn’t take us long to have everything packed and the house locked down again. I double check that I’ve turned off the gas and the water as Christian carries our bags out to the car, then deadbolt the back door and follow out after him. A sad kind of nostalgia crosses over me when Christian turns back onto the Olympic highway towards Seattle that is very similar to what I felt when Ray and I left home three years ago. I turn to watch my too-small-for-big-dreams hometown shrink in the distance through the back window of the Lincoln until I can’t see it anymore. When I eventually sigh and turn around again, my phone buzzes in my pocket.


Google Alert: Christian Grey

The Seattle Weekly, June 6th 2010: A Portrait of Christian Grey. There has been a lot that has been said about Christian Grey. The success of his business, his philanthropic endeavors, his age, even his face have been tabloid fodder since the doors of GEH were opened in 2008. But that’s not the Christian Grey I know…


“Kate’s article came out early,” I gasp once I click on the Google Alert and see her name and picture at the top of the page. “She’s in the Sunday issue.”

“What?” Christian asks, and I scroll to the beginning of the article and begin to read aloud.

A Portrait of Christian Grey

There has been a lot that has been said about Christian Grey. The success of his business, his philanthropic endeavors, his age, even his face have all been tabloid fodder since the doors of GEH opened in 2008. But that’s not the Christian Grey I know.

I met Christian Grey my first week as a freshman at Harvard University. He lived just across the hall from my dormitory and on the day I moved in, I watched him coming back from rowing practice, look over at me watching him from my room, and then close the door in my face. My first impression of Christian was that he was arrogant and kind of douche bag. But I didn’t know him. Back then there weren’t paparazzi that followed him everywhere he went, no one cared to know who made his custom designed three piece suits or what car he was driving. Back then he was just the guy on the third floor who was lucky enough to have a room all to himself, who was weirdly private, but who all the girls agreed was ridiculously hot.

And then he fell in love with my best friend and roommate, Anastasia Steele.

Watching the two of them together was like watching two people discover their true selves. Christian looked at Ana (and still does) with such devotion and captivation that one would assume he’d never seen a woman before. They did everything together, went everywhere together, he even brought her home to spend holidays and vacations with his family because her Dad is a soldier and currently serving in Iraq. No one could doubt the depth of their feelings for one another, and as I saw who he was with Anastasia, I got to know the real Christian Grey.

He’s absurdly caring, generous, only funny when he doesn’t mean to be, obnoxiously good at everything he does, smart, ambitious, stubborn, and above all else, extremely protective. In January 2008, Anastasia was attacked in our dorm room by a man named Dylan Abernathy. He had been following me around campus for months, stealing personal items of mine, even keeping a log of my schedule and the things that I was wearing every day. He had broken into our dorm that morning to take more things from me and Anastasia was unlucky enough to come home alone while he was there. Mr. Abernathy got away that day, but Christian no longer felt comfortable having his girlfriend in that room while my stalker was still at large. So he moved both me and Anastasia into his room with him. He allowed me, the girl who had caused plenty of problems for him with his girlfriend and who often hadn’t been on his side, to live with him for three weeks. He walked me to every one of my classes, he was with me every morning in the gym, he even escorted me down to the drugstore to buy tampons and stood in the hot, stuffy laundry room with me while I washed my clothes.

On Valentine’s Day that year, Mr. Abernathy once again entered our dormitory building, but on that occasion, he brought a gun with him. That night he murdered six people in an attempt to end my life, and when he got into my room, Christian risked his own life to stop him. That is the single most terrifying moment of my life and I made it through because of Christian Grey.

That’s how I know that he never pressed himself upon Leila Williams. Christian Grey is not a man who tolerates violence against women. He is not a man who would ever consider using his position of authority to take advantage of a young woman, sexually or otherwise. He’s in love with a girl who he met three years ago and from years of friendship, I know that that has never changed. Anyone who really knows him will tell you that there is only one woman for Christian Grey, and she’s a Harvard student, who has an affinity for black and white movies and Twining’s English Breakfast Tea. I know Christian Grey never had any kind of sexual relationship with any of these women, because he is in love with Anastasia Steele, and I know what that means to him.

Katherine Kavanagh

Investigative Journalist, Kavanagh Media.

 

“Awh, Kate,” I say, glancing over the article once more.

“Tampons,” Christian scoffs. “She had to throw that one in there. One trip to the drug store and I’m never going to live it down.”

“It shows how much you cared,” I reply. “She’s trying to paint a picture, Christian.”

“Well… I can’t hire her too,” He says, joking now. “After both you and Elliot, I think I’ve filled my nepotism quota.”

I laugh. “I don’t think she’s looking for a job. Although, with all the trouble you seem to get into in the press, it might not be bad idea for you to acquire your own media subsidiary.”

“Why do you think I bought a publishing company?” He asks with an amused smile. “You have a printing press, right? Get to work, Steele. We’re in the middle of a PR crisis.”

I laugh and slip my phone back into my pocket as Christian reaches over for the radio, forcing me to listen Iron and Wine and AWOLNATION before we finally compromise on Coldplay.

Once we’re back in Seattle, Christian and I spend the afternoon locked away in our respective home offices. I’m pleased that I’m actually able to get through the first few chapters of each of the manuscripts I’ve brought home with me and I place them back in their folders along with the diligent notes I’ve kept. I’m starting to notice a pattern in the success each novel seems to be having, and I think it has a lot to do with the person representing each book. Not that any one of them isn’t capable of doing well. In fact, each of the agents currently employed under SIP has had at least one marginally successful author. I think the problem lies in who is tackling which project, there seems to be a correlation of interest in the genre and the success of the book. I think if I limit the agents to working within the genres that interest them rather than continue this weird rotating cycle they have going on, we’ll see better results across the board.

I’m just finishing up the list of actionable items I’ve written down to take with me into the office tomorrow when Christian sticks his head through the door.

“Are you at a stopping point?” He asks.

“Sure, why?”

“I was thinking we could go over to my parents for dinner. My mom texted me yesterday and asked if we would join them. It’s just about dinner time.”

“Yeah, let’s go.” I close the book in front of me and power down my laptop before walking around my desk and taking his hand.

Kate’s car is already in the driveway when we get to the Greys’ house, but other than that there isn’t any sign that anyone is home. We knock on the door and wait for several minutes but no one ever comes to answer. Christian peaks through the windows next to the door, looking for any sign of movement inside, before eventually reaching down for the door handle and just letting himself inside.

When we walk through the entrance hall and into the living room, we find the house completely empty.

“Where is everyone?” Christian wonders, staring at the empty room with confusion. “My mom invited us over…”

“Maybe we should have called first?” I suggest. Christian turns to walk towards the kitchen but before his hand even falls out of mine, we hear a scream float through the glass in the back door. Christian looks anxiously at me and we both run for the backyard. When we make it to the patio, we find Elliot, Kate, Mia, and Grace snapping beans on the back patio table and Carrick standing over a smoking bbq grill.

“Elliot!” Kate says, brushing water that looks as though it spilled out of the cup tipped over on the table off of her legs. “It’s so cold, you’re such a jerk.”

“It was an accident!” He says defensively, but he’s laughing so hard he seems to be having difficulty getting out the words.

“Keep laughing, and I’ll accidentally drown you in the pool,” Kate says, throwing a green bean at him.

“Don’t waste the food,” Mia says indignantly, looking at Kate, and she shrugs as she takes her seat again. Christian grabs my hand and leads me to the table.

“Hey,” He says and everyone looks in our direction.

“Christian!” Grace says, with delighted surprise. “Ana! What are you doing here?”

“We thought we’d join you for dinner,” He says, “If you’ll have us.”

“Of course!” Grace replies. “Have a seat, grab some beans.”

Christian pulls a chair out for me and then takes the seat in between Mia and I. We both reach into the oversized mixing bowl full of green beans and as we carefully snap off the ends, Christian looks over at his little sister, who seems to be purposefully avoiding eye contact with him.

“How’s it going, kid?” He asks, nudging her slightly with his elbow. She takes a deep breath and then gives Christian a tight lipped smile.

“Peachy,” She says shortly and then turns back to her work. I watch Christian glance uneasily at his mother but after she gives him a reassuring nod, he tries again.

“I’m going to New York tomorrow,” He tells her.

“Is that so?” She replies, uninterested.

“Yeah, and I was thinking that if you’re not doing anything for the next couple days, maybe you could come with me. I have a private jet reserved and I could get tickets to the ballet or maybe a Broadway show. You could bring a friend if you wanted to.”

Mia’s hands freeze, and then she drops her handful of beans and turns her cold glare on Christian. “That sounds great, Christian. Except that I can’t go to New York with you, I have a job now. Which you should know all about.”

“Mia…” Christian begins diplomatically, but she cuts him off by standing abruptly from the table.

“Have fun in New York, Christian,” She says and then she disappears into the house. Kate, Elliot, and I each stare silently down at the beans we’re trying to keep occupied with while Christian gapes after his sister, looking lost, and Grace lets out a long, drawn out sigh.

“I can’t wait until I no longer have any teenagers,” She says, picking up some beans for herself.

“Should I go talk to her?” Christian asks, but Grace shakes her head.

“Don’t give her the attention. She’ll come around.”

“You shouldn’t let her get away with that,” Carrick says, coming up behind Grace, taking a bean out of the bowl and biting the end off of it. “She shouldn’t be allowed to talk to people that way.”

“It’s a phase. Both Christian and Elliot went through it too,” Grace says. “I’ll talk to her once I’m finished here.”

“Well, I’m finished,” Elliot says, tossing the last bean from his small pile into the bowl and then getting out of his chair. “This is woman’s work anyway. Come on, Christian, there’s cold beer in the fridge and a Mariners game about to come on TV.”

“Woman’s work?” Kate asks, clearly taking offense to his choice of words, but Elliot just gives her an innocent smile.

“I just mean that you’re so much more detail oriented and capable,” He says and Kate rolls her eyes.

“Get out of here before I snap you,” She says and Elliot laughs and kisses her on the forehead.

“I love you, baby,” He says and he picks up the beer sitting in front of him and walks for the backdoor, stopping before he steps inside to wait for Christian.

“You okay here?” Christian asks, and when I nod, he gets up and follows Elliot into the house.

Once we’re done with the beans, Grace, Kate, and I head for the kitchen to start putting together some side dishes. Kate asks about my weekend, which I recount with only the most basic details, though I do give her a covert look to let her know there is something we need to talk about later.

“Oh, and would you mind staying at the apartment with me this week?” I ask as Carrick comes into the kitchen with a dish full of meat from the grill in his hands. “Christian is going to be out of town and I don’t think he’s comfortable with me being there alone with Luke.”

“Sure,” Kate agrees. “It’ll cut probably 45 minutes out of my commute not having to fight traffic to get into Seattle in the morning.”

As she pulls plates down from the cabinet, I walk into the living room to let Christian and Elliot know that dinner is ready. They’re both so engrossed in the game the neither of them pays any attention to me and just as I reach town to twist my fingers into Christian’s hair to get his attention, the doorbell rings.

“Elliot get the door,” Grace calls from the kitchen, but Elliot doesn’t take his eyes off the TV.

“Can’t do it,” He yells back. “Bases loaded. Griffey just stepped up to the plate.”

“Elliot Grey!” Grace says disappointedly. I playfully slap Elliot across the back of the head and then turn towards the entrance hall.

“I’ll get it, Grace,” I call towards the kitchen, smiling to myself when I hear Christian’s and Elliot’s synchronized intake of breath and then groan of disappointment at whatever has happened in the game on the TV behind me. When I pull back the heavy front door, part of me expects to find someone selling something door to door or maybe a FedEx delivery, but to my surprise, it’s Andrea. We look at each other blankly for a minute and I can tell by her reaction that she’s just as shocked to see me here as I am to see her.

“Ana…” She says. “I-I thought you and Mr. Grey went out of town this weekend?”

“We did, we just got back this morning. We’re having a family dinner. What are you doing here?”

“I, uh… I came to see Mr. Grey.”

My brow crinkles with confusion as she just said she thought we were out of town, but I nod and turn to call back into the house.

“Christian!”

“No…” Andrea says, holding her hands out to stop me. “I meant the other, Mr. Grey.”

“Carrick?” I ask.

“Yeah, baby?” Christian asks as he appears in the entrance hall behind me, but his look of mild curiosity intensifies when he sees his assistant standing on his parents’ doorstep.

“Andrea? What are you doing here?” He asks.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your dinner, Mr. Grey. I can come back if you-“

“What is it, Andrea?” He asks.

“I-um… I wanted to talk to your dad. I can prove that Leila is lying,” She says and the confusion on Christian’s face disappears as his expression goes blank.

“Come in,” He says flatly and Andrea gives us both a small smile and a nod as she steps through the entryway. We lead her back into the kitchen where Grace is tossing a salad and Carrick is taking his grilled kabobs out of the rubber container he used to bring them into the house and placing them artfully on a serving plate.

“Hey, you kids hungry?” Carrick says happily. “This is some of my finest work, if I do say so myself.”

“Dad,” Christian says, and the lack of good natured inflection in his tone catches Carrick’s attention. He turns around to look wearily at his son.

“What?”

“This is my assistant, Andrea Parker. She says she can prove Leila is lying about the sexual harassment.”

“Come with me,” Carrick says, quickly taking off his I Turn Grills On apron and leading us all back to his office. He closes the door behind him and asks Andrea to take a seat. I hover by the door as Carrick takes the chair next to her and Christian leans against his father’s desk.

“Tell me what happened,” Carrick says, picking up a notepad and staring purposefully at her.

“She texted me this afternoon,” Andrea says, and Carrick’s eyes widen.

“Show me,” He says.

Andrea reaches into her purse and pulls out her phone. I find myself moving across the room with interest and stand behind Carrick so that once she pulls open her text messages and hands the phone to him, I can read the conversation over his shoulder.

   text1 

tet4

text2

text5

text3

“Is this a company phone?” Carrick asks, when he’s finished reading the text conversation.

“No, this is my personal cell phone,” Andrea says.

“Then I’m going to need you to sign a waiver,” Carrick says. He gets up and goes to his filing cabinet, thumbing through a long line of files until he finds the document he needs and then he hands it to Andrea. “I’m going to need copies of your text messages and your phone records. You’ll need to sign this release form to give your consent for these text messages to be used as evidence.”

“Am I going to have to testify?” Andrea asks, nervously.

“No, we’re not actually going to court. We have her admitting she lied in writing, we just need to prove without a doubt that she sent these messages and once her lawyer knows what we have, she’ll drop the charges. This is everything we needed, Andrea. Thank-you.”

“What do you mean, we’re not going to court?” Christian interjects.

“Trust me, son. Having the charges dropped is better than dragging this scandal out and dealing with the court system. The longer your company name is associated with this suit, the more damage it has the potential to do.”

“No,” Christian says, shaking his head. “No, I want damages. I want punitive damages. I want her to be an example to anyone who thinks they can fuck with me or my company. I want you to put her through the ringer, Dad.”

“Christian…” Carrick says hesitantly. “She’s a twenty three year old girl with no money and no job. You’re not going to get anything out of her and dragging her through the court system is just going to keep your name in the papers and in the news. It’s a lose-lose.”

He grimaces, clearly not pleased by the answer, but after a few moments pause he nods. “How long until this is taken care of, then?”

“That depends on Andrea,” Carrick says.

“Me?” Andrea asks, looking between Carrick and Christian with confusion.

“We have to prove that she sent the texts. That no one stole her phone or is communicating on her behalf.”

“So what do you need me to do?” Andrea asks.

“Text her back,” Carrick tells her. “Ask her to meet you somewhere to talk, somewhere public with security cameras. When she shows up, we’ll be able to prove she’s getting the texts.”

Andrea nods and immediately begins typing on her phone. We stare at her nervously until her phone buzzes with a response.

“She’s on her way,” Andrea says, picking up her purse. “What do I tell her?”

“Nothing. Just listen to her, don’t promise her anything, don’t mention anything about coming here or talking to either myself or Christian. Let her talk and when she’s finished, tell her you’re not interested and then leave.”

“Okay,” Andrea nods and then turns to Christian. “Dr. Gilpin-Faust has confirmed the meeting you requested for Wednesday morning, Mr. Grey. I’ve requested to have your flight redirected and will forward the new itinerary to you and Miss Bailey as soon as I have confirmation.”

“Thank-you, Andrea,” Christian says. “And… thank you for coming over here tonight.”

“Of course, sir. Have a safe trip. I’ll see you on Thursday.”

Christian nods and she hurries out of the room. I decide to leave Carrick and Christian to handle whatever they have to do with this new development in the case, partly because I know Grace, Kate, and Elliot are in the living room dying to know what’s going on, but also as a polite way to decline Carrick’s offer for a glass of the vintage 1955 scotch he keeps in a decanter on his desk. When I get back out into the living room, Grace and Kate are sitting anxiously on the edge of the sofa waiting, but Elliot is too engrossed in the baseball game to seem like he cares much.

“What happened?” Kate asks, the second I come around the corner and into view.

“They have text messages from Leila proving that she’s lying,” I tell them. “Carrick thinks he can get the charges being brought against Christian dropped.”

“Oh thank god,” Grace says. “This whole thing has made me so sick with worry.”

“But if the charges are just dropped, how does this get resolved in the media?” Kate asks. “Isn’t the whole point of this to clear his name, to clear your name?”

“I-I..” I stutter. I hadn’t thought of this. I guess I just assumed when the charges got dropped, there wouldn’t be anything else to report on and it would all go away. I hadn’t thought about the fact that without a public trial and a definitive verdict of not-guilty, the rumors about Christian will never be put to rest.

Kate gets up off the couch and begins walking hurriedly for Carrick’s office but as I turn to watch her leave, Grace holds her hands out for mine and then pulls me into a tight hug.

“I don’t want you to worry about this, Anastasia,” She says. “Carrick knows what he’s doing. He’ll protect his son, I know he will.”

I nod and then allow her to lead me back to the couch where I sit next to Elliot. Grace brings plates of food to Christian and Carrick, and then Elliot and I, and I spend the rest of the night occupying my mind by attempting to ruin the game for Elliot by asking too many questions. By the time Christian’s ready to go home, it’s the bottom of the ninth inning and Elliot’s about ready to strangle me as I continually pull his attention away from the screen.

When we get back to Escala, I’m ready for bed. I know I should feel relieved, happy even that it seems like this Leila thing is going to be taken care of, wrapped up with a nice little bow of irrefutable evidence… But there was another time I thought we had a court case in the bag. I allowed myself to feel safe last time and that didn’t work out great for me. So, now my mind is racing through every possibility, both realistic and wildly impossible, of everything that could go wrong. It’s exhausting and I hope this isn’t what Carrick is going through, or what he went through last time. I feel like I’m going to go crazy.

“Are you tired?” Christian asks.

“A little,” I say flatly, and he gives me the kind of amused smile a parent gives a child when they’re clearly fighting sleep but insist they don’t want to go to bed.

“I just need to go confirm my itinerary for tomorrow,” Christian says gently as we walk into the living room. “Go get in bed, I’ll be there in a minute.”

He leans over to kiss my hair and then disappears down the hallway towards his office. I take a deep breath to try and relax and push away some of the stress and overpowering worry, and then shuffle off for our bedroom. There is a small suitcase waiting next to the door along with three suit bags laid over the back of chair next to it, and I purse my lips together as they remind me of Christian’s impending departure. At least Kate agreed to come and stay with me… Christian is right, this apartment is so big and separated from everything that being alone here for three days would be extremely lonely.

I don’t have the energy to change into pajamas so I simply strip out of my clothes and my bra and climb into bed. I lie there with my eyes closed, trying to shut my brain down and find some sleep, but it’s no use. The imagined scenarios of Leila somehow besting Carrick refuse to be quiet and as the image of her sitting on a witness stand crosses my mind, it morphs into memories of the trial. The emotionless look on Christian’s face as he answered the prosecutor’s questions with lies and Elena’s smug expression, smirking at me from across the room. Her perfect plan falling into place, her perfect submissive doing exactly as she asked.

I feel Christian climb into bed next to me and he lets out a low, approving moan as his arms wrap around me and he realizes I’m naked. He pushes himself flush against me and then reaches over to turn my face around so that he can kiss me. I don’t pull away, but I don’t push the kiss any further than he does. When his hand moves away from my face though and slides its way down to my breast, I break the kiss and look up at him uneasily.

“I’m tired…” I tell him. “I don’t know if I’m up for any kinky fuckery right now.”

He frowns. “Me either. I’m leaving in the morning and I won’t see you for a few days. I don’t want to fuck you right now, Ana. I want to make love to you.”

My expression softens and he leans down to kiss me again. His hand moves down, past my breast and over my stomach, until his fingers slip beneath the band of my panties and make contact with my clitoris. He teases me, softly, trying to heighten my arousal so that I’m prepared for him and I try and focus on what he’s doing, but I’m still too distracted by everything that happened at the Greys’ tonight. He isn’t deterred, though, by the lack of success his fingers seem to be having getting me wet.

He shifts me slightly and I lift my behind off the bed so that he can pull my panties off of me. He tosses them off the bed and then kisses me once more before he disappears under the covers. I breathe in sharply when I feel his tongue make contact and then move over my center until his lips encircle my clitoris and he sucks gently. His mouth moves slowly, carefully. There is a tenderness in the way his tongue caresses me. He’s making love to me with his mouth and for a brief moment, I can lose myself in it. I reach down to run my fingers through his hair, pulling the blanket down around his head so I can watch what he’s doing to me.

“There you go, baby,” He says softly when, finally, I’m wet for him. He pulls his mouth away, and stares down at me, gently touching me and stroking my lips with his fingers, but as I fall back into my pillow and can no longer watch him, my mind is commandeered by my previous concerns. I take a deep breath and do everything I can to block out everything but Christian.

Focus, Ana.

“Do you want me to make you come like this first?” He asks as he lowers his mouth onto me again.

“No,” I whisper. “I’m ready.”

He nuzzles me once more and then moves back up to take my lips with his. I hold his face, concentrating very hard on his lips against mine as he reaches down to position himself at my entrance. He pauses for just a moment, pulls his lips away from mine and looks down at me with a look so full of devotion and wonder, I find myself taken slightly aback.

“I love you, Anastasia Steele,” He says, and then he kisses me again and thrusts inside of me. I gasp, welcoming the fullness, and then wrap my body around his, holding myself tightly against him as I feel him pull away and then inch his way forward again.

He stares into my eyes as he moves in and out of me. Slow. Sensual. Controlled. He moans and then lowers his lips to mine, his tongue invading my mouth and claiming me. I push myself into the kiss, try to focus on his movements, in and out, in and out, but I’m all over the place. One moment I’m lost in him and this physical expression of our love, and the next I’m distracted by the sudden need to pull out my phone or laptop and google past court cases where text messages had been used as evidence. I mean… how solid could a text be? There’s no voice or picture or even handwriting associated with it. Will security footage that won’t match a time displayed on the message do anything? Maybe I should also look up court cases where emails have been used as evidence before…

Fuck, stop it, Ana. This isn’t the time.

But it doesn’t stop. I can’t stop thinking about it. The constant worry is taking me out of it and I think Christian is starting to notice. He looks at me for a moment, a puzzled expression on his face and then he leans down to suck softly on the lobe of my ear. The tingling pleasure is a welcome diversion and I realize that I just need to allow myself to be consumed by him right now. I need to let my body take over, but I don’t know if I can do that with him trying to be so gentle with me. Maybe I do need kinky fuckery…

“Faster, Christian,” I urge him.

“No, Ana,” He says. “I want you slow. Just feel me, baby.”

I let out a huff of frustration that I try to cover with a gasp as he pushes deeper inside of me and then tilt my head to take his lips with mine. I reach up into his hair, moaning into his mouth, and try to encourage him with my hips to take me harder. He doesn’t though. His hands gently caress my neck as he continues to move slowly and deliberately, and as I’m finally able to wrap myself up in him, I begin feel the welcome heat building inside of me.

I relax back into the bed and try to let the heat have me. I don’t know why I’m worried so much anyway. It’s going to be okay, no matter what. Carrick says this thing isn’t even going to go to trial, that once they know what evidence we have against Leila, they’ll ask for a plea bargain but we’ll refuse and after a little pressure, they’ll drop the charges. We’re not even going to have to face court again. But… what if that doesn’t happen? Surely Carrick isn’t depending solely on that. He’s got to be ready for the possibility of court. Of course he is, he’s good at what he does. That’s the difference this time. Carrick is in charge, not a background player. He’s the one fighting…  

“I’m almost there, baby,” I hear Christian whisper. “Are you close?”

There is a heightened sense of urgency in his tone which drags me back into the present and I realize I’ve fallen out of it again. Fuck. I’m not close. Not even in the neighborhood of close. I’ve lost it again and at this point I think I just need to accept that it’s not going to happen for me tonight…

But this doesn’t mean it can’t happen for him. He’s close. I can see him through to the end.

“Fuck,” He hisses as I feel the pressure he exudes into me increase. “Come on, Ana. Give it up for me.”

I let out a long, drawn out moan and then grind against him. The muscles in his face tighten as he tries to hold back until he gets me to the point of release, but I know he’s just about to lose control.

“Oh, Christian,” I moan, as I clench the muscles deep inside of me to tighten my walls around him, encouraging him to let go. I push back up into him, trying to meet him thrust for thrust as best I can with him on top of me, and with my hips moving in time with his, and the use of my kegel muscles, he can’t hold off any longer.

“Ana!” He cries as he tips over the edge and erupts inside of me. I continue to move, riding it out with him until he comes down and then rolls over onto the bed next to me, pulling me into his arms as he tries to catch his breath. I snuggle into him, my back pressed into his chest and the tips of my fingers gently grazing his arm.

I feel him shift next to me as he props himself up onto his arm and kisses my shoulder. “Is something wrong, baby?” He asks.

“What do you mean?”

“You didn’t come…”

“Oh… no, I’m fine. I’m just… tired,” I tell him and then roll over so that I’m facing him, looking into his concerned eyes. “I don’t really want you to leave tomorrow,” I tell him and he frowns.

“I don’t either. I’ll miss you in bed next to me. I’m not looking forward to sleeping alone again.”

“You’ll call me, right?” I ask.

“Every night,” He promises me. “And every morning.”

“And you’ll email me during the day?”

“Until you get so sick of me, you’ll have to turn off your email notifications.”

“Okay,” I sigh, though the disappointment I feel at his impending departure still rings in my voice.

“Go to sleep, baby,” Christian says. He kisses me gently once more and then I roll over and cuddle into him. We lie there together in silence for a while, my mind still racing with worry, unable to shut down and find rest. Eventually though, the exhaustion over powers my racing thoughts, and my heavy eyelids droop, and I’m carried off into an uneasy sleep to the sound of Christian’s gentle, rhythmic breathing.

Next Chapter

Chapter 21

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It’s weird waking up the next morning and seeing the things of my old room surrounding me. It’s been so long since I’ve been home that everything that was once familiar to me now feels like like a collection of ancient relics from a past life. A simple life, unconvoluted by mind fuck games, media attention, pending university investigations, or the beautiful man that is currently wrapped around me, lost in sleep.

I worm my way out of his grip, careful not to wake him, as I slip out of bed and make my way to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee and try and figure out what to do for breakfast. As I make my way down the hallway, I check my phone which has blown up over night.

From Kate:

Expert Journalist Opinion: That interview went FANTASTIC! You looked beautiful, Christian looked alright, lol. Are you in Boston? 😉

From Carter:

Anastasia Steele, you shady lady! Fuck that secretary girl or whatever she is.

From Elliot:

I think the interview went great, although I’m surprised they managed to get Christian’s big head in the frame. Haha, JK. Hope you’re both having a great weekend, we need to hang out soon. LY

From Christian:

You’re asleep next to me, but I thought you should see this very interesting article I have been reading tonight: http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/mind-body/sex/health-benefits-of-sex

From Luke:

You need to text me and tell me where you’re at. What were you thinking going out of town without security, Ana? I watched the interview. You two are so perfect, it’s nauseating. Haha. Seriously though, text me.

 

From Bob:

Good job, kiddo. Your mom will call you later, but I just want you to know that I’m glad you’re happy.

From Grace:

So happy to see you two so in love again! I knew you’d find a way back to one another! My house for Sunday dinner?

From Mia:

I had to work through the interview but I heard it went great. I’m still mad at Christian but I’m glad you two are back together. Can we have lunch or something soon? Just you and me?

From Ethan:

Nationally televised interview? Banana is going places in the world. I didn’t know you and Grey were back together… When did that happen? Kate never tells me anything.

I shake my head and start my long list of responses, but just as I’m typing out a text to Luke about how he should be worrying about Leah this weekend, not me, my phone rings.

“Hi, Mom,” I answer.

“Well, that interview was a little… surprising,” She says, and I take a deep breath as I prepare myself for the lecture I know is coming.

“Surprising?” I ask.

“When you said this was all lies, I thought you meant you weren’t involved with him at all… When I turned on this interview, I wasn’t expecting to watch him basically propose to you on national TV.”

“He didn’t propose, Mom. He was just… making a statement about a future we are both hoping for.”

“So, you two are just back together? Just like that?” She asks and I can hear the disapproval in her voice.

“No, not just like that. We’ve worked at this, Mom, both of us.”

“You’ve been there for two weeks, Anastasia.”

“But we’ve been working towards this moment for two years. He hasn’t tricked me into being in a relationship with him, Mom. I’m here because this is where I want to be. I love him, and he loves me, and there’s no reason we shouldn’t be together.”

“Oh, I can think of a few reasons!” She says and I let out an irritated huff.

“Mom…”

“So after everything he put you through, you’re just going to take him back? You don’t care that he lied, or that he hurt you and everyone around him, or that he doesn’t even seem to care?”

“Stop it, Mom. He does care, and he apologized to me and to his family. There are other things going on here, bigger things than just one day in history. He made a mistake, he owns that, but he can’t rewrite the past. He apologized for what happened that day, and for all the hurt that it caused. I forgave him. We’re moving on, you need to, too.”

“It’s going to take a lot more than an apology for me to forgive him for what he did to you, for what I had to watch my daughter go through because of him. He’s dangerous for you, Anastasia, and I don’t approve of your relationship with him.”

“Well, that’s just too bad then. You’ll have to forgive me for not wanting to take relationship advice from someone who’s been married four times.”

“Anastasia Rose-“

I hang up the phone. I’m not going to fight with my mom. This is not about her and I’m not going to let her turn my happiness into a personal attack on her. This is another reason I miss Ray. I know that he would just want me to be happy, and as long as that was true, he’d be supportive.

I decide the best bet for breakfast is to probably go out since going to the grocery store to find something to make just isn’t worth the effort, but as I make my way back to my bedroom to wake Christian, I find myself pausing at the closed door to my father’s bedroom.

Pushing aside the childhood guilt that screams, “off limits!”, I slowly turn the knob, push open the door, and let myself inside. The room is tidy, but that isn’t odd. A lifetime of military service has made my father an extremely clean and well organized man. There isn’t, however, a tattered, second hand book resting on his nightstand or the picture of him with my mom and I on the first day of the State Fair in Puyallup from when I was seven on the dresser, and their absence is a blatant reminder that Ray is gone.

I give the room a long examining look, thinking I might take something to keep with me for his last year away. I walk into the small, walk-in closet to my right, and when I open the door to see the line of neatly hung shirts hanging in the dark, I feel a wave of warmth wash over me.

I can smell him.

I reach out and grab onto the sleeve of one of his jackets and pull it to my face, inhaling the faint but comforting scent of linen, mowed grass, and sawdust that is wholly and entirely my dad. I pull the jacket off the hanger and wrap it around me, feeling the scent envelop me like a warm hug, and then look carefully through his sweatshirts for anything else I can take with me.

“What are you doing?” I hear Christian say from the entrance of the closet, and the surprise of hearing his voice makes me jump.

“Christian,” I gasp, feeling my heart pound in my chest. He smirks at me before reaching up and pulling the cord on the light hanging from the ceiling.

“Why are you in a dark closet, Ana?” He asks.

“I… I just… I was thinking about maybe taking a few of my dad’s things with me to have after we leave.”

“Do you have a problem wearing your own clothes?” He asks, amused as he nods to his Harvard t-shirt peeking out underneath my dad’s jacket.

“I don’t even want to hear from you, panty thief,” I say dismissively. I reach up and pull a tattered black sweatshirt from my dad’s company off the hanger and then follow Christian out of the closet and back into my bedroom. Once we’re dressed, I take him to a restaurant in town called The Beehive for breakfast.

When we walk through the door, I look around and realize that I recognize everyone seated in the restaurant, and when we’re shown a table, each different group comes over to say hi and ask about Ray and how I’m doing at Harvard. Only a few people seem to know who Christian is, and even that only seems to be because they watched the interview on TV last night. They gush about how handsome he is, and tell him what a wonderful girl I am, and while my cheeks burn bright red with embarrassment, Christian is gracious and assures them he’s well aware how lucky he is to have me as his girlfriend.

“You’re quite the local hero,” Christian says, smiling at me as the last of the restaurant patrons to come over to say hi heads back to their table.

I roll my eyes. “It’s a small town. Everyone knows everyone and everyone’s business,” I tell him. “I’ve just been gone for a while and they probably need some new gossip, which I’m sure we provided in droves thanks to that interview last night.”

The breakfast selection is not impressive. I order my dad’s favorite, biscuits and gravy, and to my surprise, rather than try to invent some kind of high protien, low fat menu substitute, Christian orders blueberry pancakes and bacon. I spend the morning giggling over my breakfast, while Christian glances from table to table, making up the dramatic life stories of each person in the restaurant. He’s on his sixth different affair when he’s interrupted by his phone ringing.

“Hold on, it’s Ros,” He says. He slips some cash into the black book on the table and then gets up to answer the phone. I wait for the waitress to pick it up, politely decline her offer for change, and then follow after Christian, who I find pacing in the parking lot.

“No, of course not. I’ll speak with Andrea and have anything that can’t be postponed rescheduled to do over WebEx. Get a private plane and charge it to my expense account. Good, I’ll see you Monday.”

“What was that about?” I ask as he hangs up the phone and we climb into the Lincoln.

“Ros and I have to go to New York on Monday. I’ll be gone for three days,” He says.

“Oh,” I say, slightly disappointed.

“You should come with me.”

“I can’t go with you, I have an actual job now, and I’m very busy,” I tell him and he frowns.

“Three days is a long time though… especially if we’re not having sex this weekend,” He says.

“We’ll survive,” I reply, but I have to admit that six days without him feels like a lot now. Especially since we haven’t been apart for more than a few hours since we’ve been back together. I like it that way.

“You’ll be okay alone in the apartment?” He asks. “It’s kind of lonely by yourself.”

“Yeah,” I shrug. “Luke will be there.”

“And Mrs. Jones,” He adds as though he would prefer that was the company I focused on. Hmm… maybe a few days alone in his apartment with Luke isn’t the best way to ease his concerns about our friendship…

“Would you care if I asked Kate to come and stay with me?” I ask and he looks relieved.

“No. I’d feel better knowing you weren’t alone,” He says and I nod.

“I will then.”

When we get back to the house, Christian spends the entire morning on the phone with Andrea, Ros and Taylor, changing his schedule around and then filling the empty spaces with meetings with some new prospective client in New York. It’s a beautiful summer morning, so while he’s dealing with work things, I decide to take some of the manuscripts I’ve brought with me out back to read in the hammock Ray has strung between the two oak trees in the back yard, but when I get there, I find it laying on the ground hidden in the sea of unruly, too long grass.

I bite down on my lip as I look around at the dishevelled state of the yard. Even though I’m here, and I have all of my Dad’s things around me, this just illustrates that he’s not here. Just like me, this place seems to be falling apart without him. I have a brief vision of him coming home and seeing everything looking like this and then having to put everything back together on his own. In that moment, I realize that, for as much as I want this to be home, I don’t live here anymore. If Ray gets home in time to see me graduate, I’ll still be living in Cambridge and when I come back, I’ll most likely be moving to Seattle, back into Escala to really start my life with Christian.

When Ray comes home, it’s going to be to an empty house and that thought is like a knife twisting in my stomach. I don’t wanting him coming home and feeling abandoned, his broken down home reflecting feelings of being forgotten. Left behind.

I’m not going to let that happen.

I walk purposefully over to the vegetable garden my father always slaved over every summer and begin yanking up the weeds that have taken over. There are so many to pull that thirty minutes later, I have a heaping pile next to me but am only just starting to see the soil below. My hands feel raw from repeatedly yanking on the difficult, sharp stems of the noxious plants. I know I should have gotten gloves out of the garage before doing this, but I don’t want to stop now. I’ve resolved that today, I’m going to turn this place around and right now, I’m on a roll.

I hear the screen door from the garage groan and then slam closed with a high pitched rattle as Christian’s footsteps make their way to me across the backyard.

“Here you are,” He says, when his shadow falls over me. “What are you doing?”

“Pulling weeds,” I say, finally stopping to turn and look up at him.

“I see that,” He says, staring down at the pile next to me. “Why are you pulling weeds?”

“So my dad doesn’t think I abandoned him,” I say, and I don’t even need to see his reaction to realize how stupid that sounds. “Look, we don’t have much… but all of this means a lot to him. I just don’t want him to come home and see the yard like this.”

“He’s not coming back for over a year, Ana…” Christian says. “Properties have to be maintained. Pulling weeds now isn’t going to matter a year from now.”

“Then I’ll come back. Every weekend if I have to,” I argue.

“I think that’s a little unrealistic, don’t you think?” He asks.

“Nope.”

“Ana, I can hire someone take care of this. You really don’t have to sit out here and ruin your hands…”

“I’m fine,” I tell him. I turn back to the garden, hearing his low, frustrated sigh, and then feel the sun on my back once again as I listen to him walk away. He doesn’t understand and that’s fine. He grew up differently than I did. He’s never had to be responsible for these kinds of things. He’s always had gardeners, landscapers, housekeepers… Maybe he doesn’t understand the sense of pride that goes into it.

I’m just getting back into my groove when once again I hear the screen door to the garage and when I turn around again, a smile creeps across my face. Christian is walking back out into the yard, dragging my dad’s lawn mower behind him. He doesn’t even look over at me as he reaches down and pulls on the cord that brings the motor to life.

I finish the garden before Christian finishes with the yard, so I take the garden sheers out of the garage and begin trimming the bushes. When Christian leaves for the local hardware store to buy some things to fix my dad’s fence, I pull the dock for my iPod out of my room so we have music to listen to while we work. Like Luke, Christian has a myriad of complaints about my taste in music but as we team up to wash down all the outdoor windows together, I hear him absentmindedly singing the Snoop Dogg part of California Gurls under his breath.

All that ass, hangin’ out, I sing loudly at him, and he turns to glare at me.

“This song is terrible,” He says quickly and I roll my eyes.

“Is that why you know every word?” I ask.

“I do live in the world, Anastasia. It’s not my fault that this song has played literally everywhere I’ve gone for the last year.”

“Oh, no I get it babe… You just accidentally learned all the words to a Katy Perry song. It’s fine,” I laugh.

His eyes narrow again and he picks up the hose in his hand and sprays the window I’m scrubbing with the sponge so that the water sprays all over me.

“Ah!” I scream as I scurry away from the splash zone, and then try and pull my now soaking wet t-shirt away from my skin.

“Oops,” Christian says with a mischievous smile. “Sorry.”

“Oh, you’re going to be…” I say with a laugh, and I run over to the bucket filled with soapy water and pick it up.

“Don’t do it, Anastasia!” He warns, backing away quickly, but I jerk the bucket towards him, drenching him with freezing cold, soapy water.

He gasps as the water soaks through his clothes, and then looks at me incredulously. I stand there, staring nervously at him until the look of shock on his face morphs into a wide, good natured smile.

“You’re so fucking dead,” He says. I scream as he picks up the hose and sprays me right in the chest. Laughter bubbles out of me as I try to run away from him, but he’s faster than me, and when he catches me, he brings me down to the ground, continuing to spray me until I’m soaked from head to toe. The second the water stops, Christian’s lips come down on my mind and, though his face is cold, I kiss him back eagerly. I roll over so that I’m on top of him and run my fingers through his wet hair as I continue to kiss him. When I pull away, he looks up at me with an emotion I can’t read gleaming behind his eyes.

“What?” I ask, smiling down at him so broadly my cheeks hurt.

“I just forgot what this feels like,” He says, and I raise an eyebrow at him.

“Being wet?” I ask with laugh, but he shakes his head.

“No,” He says. “Being happy.”

My smile falters at his disarming confession, but before I can say anything in return, he reaches up and pulls my lips back down to his.

Once we’ve finished with the yard, we each take a shower and then get ready for a night on the town. There is a bar downtown that my dad used to go to with his buddies, and although I’ve never been inside before, I know they have a pool table and liquor, so I figure it can’t be a bad time.

Charlie’s Tavern is small, smoky, and a little run down. Our shoes stick to the floor as we make our way through the surprisingly crowded space towards the bar, but before I make it there, a pair of hands wraps around my arm and I’m pulled into a surprise hug.

“Anastasia Steele!” A girl squeals happily, and as I pull away, I find myself staring at Marissa Freeman, the girl who had everything in high school. Head cheerleader, President of Student Council, head of the Yearbook Committee, Prom Queen, and the girlfriend of the hottest guy at Montesano High School. She’s what I imagine Kate would have been had her parents not moved to Mercer Island before our Freshman year. The key difference between Kate and Marissa though, Kate is my best friend and Marissa Freeman hates my guts.

“Hey…” I say, shocked by her overly friendly attitude.

“What are you doing here? I thought you were in Seattle. I saw you on TV last night with…” Her voice trails off as she looks over my shoulder and sees Christian standing behind me. “Christian Grey,” She whispers, nearly awe struck.

“Do you want a drink, baby?” He asks, and I turn back to him and nod.

“Yeah, but I’ll come with you,” I reply, because despite Marissa’s apparent 180 on her attitude-about-Ana, I’m not super excited to hang out with her for the whole night. I smile at her in a way that I hope comes across as nice but that isn’t inviting for her to join us, but apparently it’s not good enough because she reaches out her hand for Christian.

“Christian, I’m Marissa. I was really good friends with Anastasia in High School,” She says, smiling sweetly at him.

“Oh,” Christian says, surprised. “Pleased to meet you.”

“We should get a table together, we can catch up, Ana,” She says, and feel my fake smile waver a little.

“Actually… I think we’re just going to wander around for awhile,” I tell her. “But we’ll see you around.”

“You should give me your number!” She says excitedly. “We could have lunch sometime!”

“Uh… Sorry. I don’t have a pen. I’ll Facebook you.”

“Great!” She says, “I’ll hold you too it!”

“Okay!” I reply with the same forced enthusiasm she uses, and then I covertly push against Christian so that we can flee.

“You don’t use Facebook,” He says accusatorily as we head for the bar.

“Yeah, I know. That girl hated me in high school. One guess as to why her attitude has suddenly changed.”

“The interview?”

“Christian Grey,” I say in the same dreamy whisper she used when she spotted him behind me, and he rolls his eyes. When we finally make it to the bar, I try to flag down the bartender, who I’m surprised to see is my dad’s friend, Bill.

“Hey, what’s that girl doing in here?” He yells as a broad smile crosses his face. “You’re not old enough to be in a bar!”

“Yes I am!” I say with a laugh. “I have an ID to prove it and everything!”

“I won’t believe it,” He says. “The Anastasia Steele I know is still eighteen years old and excited to leave for her first year at Harvard.”

“Well now she’s 21 and excited about graduation,” I tell him, and he smiles and reaches over the bar to hug me.

“Sharon said you were on the TV last night with some millionaire guy…” He says.

“A hot, millionaire guy,” I reply, gesturing over my shoulder to Christian, and Bill’s eyes widen with shock.

“Oh, hey there,” He says.

“Bill, this is my boyfriend, Christian Grey. Christian, this is Bill Morgan. He’s friends with my dad.”

“How are you, sir?” Christian asks, shaking his hand and Bill looks at him suspiciously.

“I’m well,” He replies and then turns to me. “Ray know about this boyfriend of yours, Ana?” He asks.

“Uh… not yet. It’s kind of new. Sort of…” I tell him, guiltily. “But I’m going to talk to him on Father’s Day, so I’ll tell him then.”

“I see…” He says, “Well, what can I get you to drink?”

“A round of tequila shots and a couple of beers,” I say. Christian pulls out his credit card and hands it to Bill.

“I’ll just buy out the bar for the rest of the night, put everyone’s drinks on this,” He says and Bill’s eyes widen with shock.

“You’re sure?” He asks.

“Of course I am. Please,” Christian says, holding his card out further for Bill to take.

“Well, that’s mighty generous of you, uh… Mr. Grey,” He says, and Christian gives him a knowing smile.

“It’s my pleasure,” He replies. “And, maybe you could put in a good word about me to Ray.”

Bill laughs. “Oh I don’t know how much that’s going to help, son. Ray Steele has always been very overprotective of his daughter. She’s all he’s got in the world. That man would kill for her, and you’d do well to remember that.”

“Alright, alright!” I say, shaking my head at Bill. “Don’t go scaring him off now.” Christian squeezes my hand, as if to reassure me he isn’t going anywhere, while Bill finally gets around to pouring our drinks. Christian and I both slam down a shot, and I have to hold back a laugh as I watch him grimace.

“Ugh, tequila, huh?” He asks as he takes a drink of beer to wash it down.

“Lightweight,” I tease him. I grab ahold of my beer as we turn and make our way back into the crowd.

With free alcohol for the remainder of the night, everyone around us is having a great time. We make our way around the bar, and I introduce Christian to the people I grew up hanging out with. I do notice that the more times I introduce him as my boyfriend, the more confident he seems to grow… especially with his hands. A couple of guys I only kind of remember from high school ask us if we want to play them in a round of pool and as I agree, I feel Christian’s hand grip tightly to my ass.

“Watch it, now,” I warn him, and he laughs.

“It slipped,” He replies innocently.

We order our fourth round of tequila and a couple more beers each as we head for the pool table. Tom and David are great pool players, Christian and I, not so much. I try to tell myself it’s the alcohol, but really, I think I just suck. I can’t tell if Christian is also terrible, or if he’s just too distracted watching me lean over the table over and over again to care about the outcome of the game.

“We need to be better at this,” I tell him as I watch David sink another ball in the pocket. “Kate and Elliot love to go out and play pool, and we can’t do that with them unless we know we can beat them. I can’t lose to Elliot at anything, I won’t survive.”

“Well, I just put that new pool table in the game room. We can practice on it. I love watching you stretch out over the table baby… and I’d love it even more if you were naked… and wet.”

He leans down and grabs my ass again as he kisses me. I moan as he slips his tongue in my mouth, and even though I take just a second to enjoy it, I pull away and give him a reproachful glance.

“I think you’re drunk, Mr. Grey!” I say.

“A little bit,” He agrees with a slight smile, and he leans down to kiss me again.

“Alright, quit sucking face, Grey,” Tom yells at him. “It’s your shot.”

By the time Christian calls the cab to take us home that night, we’re both a little more than buzzed. He at least can walk out of the bar without stumbling, but the moment we’re in the back seat of the taxi, he pulls me into him and his lips come crashing down on mine. I feel his hand slide down my thigh as he tugs gently to bring my leg up and hook it over his knee. His fingers leave a trail of goosebumps as he lightly runs them up and down my bare arms. I kiss him back ardently, feeling desire begin to bloom inside of me. I want him, and I can practically taste his need for me in his kiss.

Thankfully, it takes us less than three minutes to get back to my house, and Christian hands the driver a $20 bill for our $4.20 fare, not bothering with change as we both hurry out of the cab. Once we’re out in the cool, night air, he wraps me in his arms and kisses me again as he guides me backwards through the darkness towards the house. It’s a surprise when he pushes me against the door, and the way his hands begin to grope my body, I worry that he plans to take me right here, on the front step.

I reach down blindly for the doorknob as I feel his lips and tongue ravishing me, and when I finally find it and push open the door, we’re so lost in one another that we nearly fall to the floor.

“I want you, Anastasia,” Christian whispers against my now slightly swollen lips, and I moan. Whatever reservations I had before are hard to justify or even rationalize in my slightly intoxicated, entirely enamored state of mind.

“I want you too, Christian,” I tell him as I begin pulling off my jacket.

“You’re sure?” He asks, “What about the chair and the Christmas presents?”

“Fuck the chair,” I tell him. “Take me to bed.”

He moans, grabs me by the hips, and lifts me into the air. I wrap my legs around his waist, my arms secured tightly around his neck, and I kiss him again, relishing in his taste and in his fervor. He makes it down the hall in record time, only breaking our kiss to throw me down on the bed and climb over the top of me like a hungry predator. His teeth sink into my bottom lip as his hands find the collar of my button down shirt, and he yanks it open, sending buttons scattering across the floor as he reaches greedily for my breasts. I worry he’s going to try and tear my bra away too, but instead, he pulls me up so that I’m sitting, and hastily peels my open shirt off of me before turning his attention to the hooks on the back of my bra.

Once I’m divested of my shirt and my breasts are free, he lets out a deep, guttural sound that is almost feral as he takes my breast with his mouth. I whimper slightly when his teeth graze my nipple a little too hard, but he releases it immediately and sooths the throb away with his tongue. As he leans over me, I can feel his erection pressing into my leg and I feel heat begin to blossom deep inside of me as I anticipate what is to come.

“Ana,” Christian says in a low, husky voice as he runs his tongue up my cleavage and along the curve of my breast. “I want to try something.”

“What?” I breathe, my voice so full of my need for him that I sound desperate.

“Do you trust me?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean what I say, Anastasia. Do you trust me?”

“Of course I trust you,” I tell him although the intensity behind his gaze leaves me slightly wary of his intentions.

“I want to tie you up.”

He stares at me, his hands and mouth still for the first time since we left the bar while he waits for my answer. I’m panting as I consider his request. I wouldn’t be able to move, and that thought is slightly intimidating… but he’s restrained me before, with his hands and with his body. It’s always more intense when he holds me still and forces me to absorb the pleasure rather than allow me to fight against it. And, with his hands free, he could do so much more, push me so much further. He hasn’t hurt me before, so I’m not worried about that, and some of the rougher things he’s done have actually been good… really good.

“Okay,” I agree but he doesn’t move away or shift his gaze from mine.

“You’re sure?” He asks.

“Yes, tie me up, Christian.”

He gets off the bed and looks around the room. The patterned, dark gray tie he wore in the interview yesterday is hanging over the back of the chair and he grabs it and turns back to me.

“Put your hands and your wrists together,” He tells me, and I hold my arms out for him. He positions my hands so that my palms are touching and then he begins to wrap the silky tie around my wrists.

“Lie back,” He says, and I move backwards on the bed, something that is made a little difficult by my inability to use my hands, and I lie down so that my head rests on my pillow. “Lift your arms.” He says, and I do, watching with interest as he ties the other end of the necktie in a quick, efficient knot around one of the iron bars in my headboard.

Once my hands are secure, Christian inhales sharply through his teeth and then drags his hands down my arms to my breasts which he kneads firmly, capturing my nipples through his index and middle finger and pulling slightly. He climbs onto the bed and replaces his fingers with his mouth as he begins work on the buttons of my jeans. I groan with protest when his tongue leaves my breast and he moves to the end of the bed to remove my shoes and socks before pulling on my jeans and inching them down my legs. I note that he’s careful to remove my pants and my panties separately, and once he pulls my underwear over my naked feet, I know why. I give him a knowing look as he very deliberately tucks the panties into the pocket of his jeans and the, I don’t give a fuck, smile he gives me in return is a silent challenge.

“Open your legs for me, Anastasia,” He commands, and when I do he grabs both of my legs around my shins and lifts them so I bend my knees, but my feet remain flat on the sheet beneath me. His hands comb over my thighs, pushing my legs as far open as they can go without falling flat to the bed again.

Very slowly he leans down, gripping each of my feet and massaging the arch with his thumbs while his lips move to my right ankle. I moan as I feel his tongue swirl around it once before moving up and leaving a trail of kisses up my calf. He pauses every now and then, at my knee and mid-thigh, to leave a longer, softer kiss before nipping gently at my skin and then brushing over the shadow of indentations left by his teeth with his tongue.

I’m squirming by the time he makes it to the end of my legs, watching with fascination as he drags his tongue up the joint between my thighs and my lower lips. His breath is hot and wet as it washes over me and I can feel my muscles clench with anticipation of what I know is coming.

“You’re so beautiful, Anastasia,” He whispers reverentially as he stares down at my glistening center and gently traces his fingers over my lips, sending tingling shivers down my legs. “And you smell intoxicating.”

He leans forward and presses his face into me, pushing against me until he can’t progress any further, and I feel his mouth begin to move. A long, throaty moan escapes my lips as I pull harshly against my restraints but am unable to move my arms. I want to twist my fingers into his hair, hold him to me, but he doesn’t need my encouragement. He devours me like a starving man, releasing a deep, guttural groan into me as his tongue and lips work their magic. My back arches high off the bed, but his hands hold my hips down to keep me in place. I feel the molten heat begin to spread through my body, flowing down my legs and up through my torso, spreading through my arms, my neck and finally escaping my lips in loud, harsh gasp.

I’m grinding against him, greedily taking everything he gives to me and waiting for more. The heat begins to burn hotter, twisting my body tighter and tighter until finally the dam breaks and I come in his mouth. He moans as he feels me convulsing against his tongue, but he doesn’t stop. He pulls me closer into him, the tenacity in which his mouth moves against me only increased as wave after wave of pleasure crashes over me. It feels as though it never ends. It simply goes on and on until I’ve been completely wrung out. Still, when the quivering stops and my body relaxes from the near seizure of erotic euphoria that grips me, he doesn’t stop. His mouth is as insistent as ever, and it’s overpowering me.

“Christian,” I whimper, squirming away from him, and while his hands clamp down over my hips to hold me in place, his mouth does move away from me, leaving kisses over my clitoris and pubic bone before he looks up at me.

“You’re mine tonight, Anastasia,” He says in a gravelly voice. “I will do to you as I please and until I have had my fill. I will not stop until I do.”

I bite my lip at the promising implication of his threat and his eyes darken. His fingers brush over me again, dipping inside of me and then swirling around my clitoris as he moves up and lowers his lips to mine. I can taste my arousal in his mouth as he entangles his tongue with mine and between the sensuality of the kiss and his fingers enticing me below, I feel the promising echo of an orgasm begin to rise again.

“Christian, I want you,” I beg him.

“Not yet, baby. There’s so much more I want to do to you,” He says. His teeth sink briefly into my bottom lip, tugging gently on it as he pulls away. He grips onto me and rolls me over onto my stomach, moving me carefully since my arms are tied above my head.

“Get on your knees,” He orders. “Bring that glorious ass into the air.”

I do as he says, and then turn to look at him as he reaches down and opens the drawer in my bedside table. He shifts around the few notebooks, pens, and the pair of glasses I used to wear in middle school before I got contact lenses, but nothing he finds seems to interest him. On the contrary, he frowns.

“Where is it, Anastasia?” He asks and I look at him, confused.

“Where’s what?” I ask.

“Your vibrator. I want to use it on you. Is it under the mattress?”

“No, I haven’t been in this room since I was in High School, Christian. There isn’t a vibrator in here.”

“Come on, Ana,” He says, skeptically.

“Sorry, Grey. I’m clean,” I tell him, and then narrow my eyes. “Stay out of my drawers in Cambridge, though.”

He smiles wickedly at me, the salacious fire still burning brightly behind his eyes. “No toys…” He says. “We’re going to have to improvise then.”

He reaches over, opens my closet door, and begins examining what he finds inside. I stare at him wearily, but in the end all he pulls out is one of the brightly colored, sheer scarves that were big when I was in Middle School. My suspicion returns though, when he stalks back towards me, pulling the scarf taught in his hands.

“I’m going to blindfold you, Anastasia. Everything will feel more intense if you can’t see what I’m doing.” He says. He holds my gaze, waiting for my consent. I nod and he moves to the side of the bed, carefully wrapping the scarf around my eyes until everything is black. I feel a nervous tension as I listen to him move around the room, trying to guess what each sound he makes is. I can distinguish the sound of his jeans hitting the floor, but that’s it. The bed moves as he climbs onto it behind me and I jump when his hands wrap around my hips.

“Relax, Ana,” He says, soothingly. I feel his fingers, no, the tip of his erection brush against me, slowly moving up and down until he’s lubricated by my arousal. “I’m going to fuck you this way, and I’m going to fuck you hard. You’re not going to come. Do you understand me?”

No. No, I do not understand him. I can’t come? What’s the point in that? I don’t even know how to stop it…

“Answer me.”

“No,” I tell him.

“Your pleasure belongs to me, Anastasia. You will come only when and if I allow you to. You will wait until you have my permission, understood?”

“But…”

I feel the sharp sting of his hand coming down hard on my behind and my words cut off. “If you don’t think you can control yourself, I can stop you from getting off myself. Is that what you want, Anastasia?”

“No,” I whine. He’s still brushing himself over me, teasing me, and I’m aching to push back on him.

“Then you’ll wait until I give you my permission to come?” He asks. The very tip of his erection pushes inside of me and I let out a shaky, needy, gasp of desire. “Promise me, Anastasia.”

“Okay,” I acquiesce. “I won’t come until you tell me.”

“Good girl,” He says. “And I will hold you to that promise. If you do, there will be consequences, Anastasia.”

“Wha-” I begin, but my words are cut off by a loud, unexpected cry when he thrusts forward and buries himself inside of me. His fingers dig into my hips as he pulls me back onto him, doubling the ferocity of the pace he sets as he slams into me again, and again. My hands grip tightly to his tie, stretched tight and straining against the knots securing it to the headboard as I’m pulled back towards Christian on the bed. I can see nothing, but it only amplifies the other sensations. I’m hyper aware of his hands on me, each minute increase in pressure, each shift in his grip, and of course each exquisite movement of him inside of me. He was right, it is more intense this way, and as I moan and pant through the pleasure, I feel the forbidden heat begin to rise within me once again.

Fuck.

I try everything I can think of to stay my orgasm, not thinking about it (or trying to at least), over thinking about it, picturing unsexy things, reciting poetry in my head… but I can’t concentrate on anything besides the feel of him and the increasingly urgent promise of release.

“Don’t do it, Anastasia,” Christian warns me as he feels me begin to tighten around him.

“I can’t…” I protest, partially wishing he would stop and give me a minute to compose myself, but mostly desperately needing him to continue.

“Control it, Anastasia,” He commands, but it’s too far out of reach to me to pull back now. He thrusts into me again, and I detonate. I scream out his name as I fall under the weight of the overwhelming pleasure radiating through my body and to my surprise, Christian doesn’t stop what he’s doing. In fact, he reaches around and begins to massage my clitoris as I clench, helplessly, around him, and the sensation intensifies my orgasm. I’m breathless when I come down, clinging tightly to the restraints around my hands as I struggle to hold myself up. I’m intoxicated, my head spinning and not just from the alcohol. From somewhere far off and distant in the blackness that still covers my eyes, I hear Christian click his tongue disapprovingly.

“Oh, Ana… You came.”

“I’m sorry,” I tell him, still trying to regain my bearings. “I couldn’t stop it.”

“You knew the rules,” He says, “And I told you what I would do if you came without permission.” I wince slightly as he pulls out of me and then feel a wave of trepidation as I feel, rather than see, him climb off the bed. His fingers tilt my chin so that I’m facing him (I think) and then his lips are on mine. I kiss him eagerly, wondering how the sensual way his tongue moves with mine counts as a consequence until I feel his hand run down my back from my shoulder to my behind…

“I’m going to spank you, Anastasia,” He whispers. “I’m going to hit you eight times, and then I’m going to fuck you again. If you don’t like it, you can tell me to stop, okay?”

Spanking. I’ve done that before, and it’s not all that bad… I can do spanking.

“Okay,” I whisper, and he kisses me again just before I feel his hand leave my behind.

I hiss sharply as his hand comes down, hard. He pauses for a second, gaging my reaction, and then he raises his hand and hits me again. It’s not the same as the other times he’s spanked me in the past. Each swat leaves a biting sting in my rear end that lingers for a moment and just as it begins to dissipate, he hits me again. I’m jolted forward by the sixth swat and now that I’m becoming accustomed to it, it hurts a little less and I find myself starting to enjoy it. The slight pain from each blow resonates in my groin and I revel in it. When he hits me for the seventh time, his aim is a little lower and I feel his hand slap against the lips of my vagina, and the harsh gasps that escape with each blow morph into a high, keening moan.

“You like that?” Christian asks, his tone dark and sultry.

“Yes,” I whisper and he lets out a low, sexy, satisfied sound in response. Once more he raises his hand in the air, and hits me again, and, once again, his fingers slap against my labia. He doesn’t pull his hand away this time, though. Instead, two of his fingers sink into me.

“Oh!” I moan as he slides them in and out of me.

“That’s it, baby. Jesus, you’re so fucking wet,” He whispers as he leans down to kiss me once more. “You really do look so beautiful like this, tied up and at my mercy.” His hands brush over my body again and I imagine him standing back to admire me, which is embarrassing as I can still feel the sting in my behind from my spanking and I assume it has left angry, red marks all over my derriere.

“On your stomach, Ana,” He instructs me, and I do as he asks, flattening myself out as best I can with my hands still tethered. He grabs a hold of me and helps me roll over so that I’m on my back again and then he crawls over the top of me. His lips press gently into my skin randomly as he positions himself at my center and then enters me again. I’m starting to get sore, so I wince slightly as he pushes forward, and he freezes. But the last thing I want is for him to stop. I’ve come undone twice now because of his sexpertice. Now, I want him to fall apart because of me.

“Don’t stop, Christian,” I moan.

“You sure? Do you think you have one more in you?” He asks, as he begins to move again.

“Only one way to find out,” I tell him, and he lets out a low mischievous laugh.

“Let’s see, shall we?”

He lifts my leg over his shoulder so that he can push deeper inside of me. I brace myself, clinging tightly to him with my legs to steady myself as he lifts my behind off the bed to take me from a better angle.

“Ah!” I cry out as he hits the place inside of me that is the epicenter of all of my pleasure receptors. I lose myself in the sound of his moans, finding my own delectation in his ecstasy. His thrusts grow more purposeful while at the same time becoming wilder, and it tells me he’s getting closer to release. He lowers me down on the bed and lies over the top of me so that my breasts press into his chest and as his thrusts become more powerful, I feel myself beginning to build.

“Are you going to come, Ana?” He asks.

“Yes.”

“Ask me.”

“What?”

“Ask me if you can come,” He demands. I’m mewling, hardly able to control the small, lust filled cries that escape my lips, but he is in control of me right now and I know that if I don’t comply, he’ll stop and I’ll be left wanting.

“Please,” I beg. “Please, let me come.”

“Oh, baby,” He groans. His fingers travel down and begin rubbing against my clitoris and I know that I won’t last much longer. “Give it to me, Anastasia. Come for me. Show me how much you love this.”

“Fuck, Christian!” I scream and he growls deep in his throat.

“Master,” He corrects me. “I want you to call me Master.” I cry out again as I’m just about to tip off the edge and his fingers pinch tightly around my clitoris, eliciting a scream from me.

“Say it, Anastasia!” He commands me.

“Master!”

His fingers release my clitoris and I’m ripped apart by my orgasm. The roiling, shaking pleasure is too much for me to simply absorb this time and I begin thrashing beneath him. He’s hands are firm against me, determined to hold me in place and while I lose myself in the dark, masochistic hedonism of him taking control and possession of my body, I feel him find release inside of me.

“Fuck!” He hisses and, to my surprise, rather than pushing deeper inside of me as he usually does, he pulls away and I feel his come fall hot and wet onto my stomach and my breasts. He finishes by rubbing the head of his erection over my still trembling clitoris, coating me in his semen.

“Mine,” He whispers, gruffly, and just as I start to come down, he briefly pushes back inside of me.

Next Chapter

Chapter 20

Image result for monopoly

Google Alert: Christian Grey

ABC News, June 4th 2010: Christian Grey, Setting the Record Straight. He’s been called a philandering predator and she’s facing allegations of accepting lavish gifts and professional favors in return for engaging in a forbidden office affair. Tune in tonight as Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele fight back against the accusations of Leila Williams in ABC’s continued coverage of the Grey Enterprises Holdings Sex Scandal. 10 PM EST/7 PM PST.


I have to leave work early on Friday afternoon for mine and Christian’s national interview with Elizabeth Vargas. This interview has been the source of a great ball of anxiety that’s had my stomach tied up in knots since Christian told me about it Wednesday evening. Not because I’m about to go and detail my sexual relationship with Christian on national TV, but because I’m not sure what kind of access my dad has to the media in Iraq. While I sit in the backseat of the Lincoln as Luke drives through the streets of downtown Seattle to the KOMO 4 News station, I stare down at the paper in my lap. On it are several attempts of a letter I’m trying to write for my father, but everything I’ve written so far, has been crossed out.

Hey Dad, remember how I told you I haven’t been seeing anyone? Well, that wasn’t exactly true…

Hi Daddy, I hope everything is going well for you. Things could be better here… I’m caught up in a sex scandal with my internship but if you hear anything about it, I don’t want you to worry. Christian isn’t sexually harassing me, we’re in love.

Dad, I miss you. I wish you were here because I wish I could introduce you to my boyfriend Christian Grey. I don’t know if you’ve heard of him… he used to be a student at Harvard with me but now he owns a huge company in Seattle. It’s really impressive and he’s really smart and driven. There are a lot of things being said about the two of us in the media right now and if you hear any of it, I don’t want you to worry. It isn’t true. He’s the kindest, most generous, caring man in the entire world and he loves me. I love him. I don’t know why I haven’t told you about him until now…

I frown down at my latest attempt at the letter and cross the words out with frustration. There’s just no way to get around sounding like I’m trying to cover up a sex scandal. That’s my fault. I waited until there was a sex scandal to tell my father about the first man I’ve ever loved, and now it’s going to come off like I’m hiding something or lying to him. It’s hard to convince your father, who is almost 7000 miles away, that you’re deeply and truly in love with someone for the first time when you have to preface that with ‘Despite what you may have read, I’m not having sex with him for an internship’.

I throw my letter down on the seat next to me and look down at the pile of manuscripts I’ve brought from the office. At least Christian and I are getting away together this weekend. After this interview, we’re going straight back to Escala to pack and then it’s off to the airport for two days of peace from the paparazzi and from the lawyers constantly coming in and out of our apartment. I rest my head against the back of my seat, close my eyes, and try to push away the stress from this last week as I imagine Christian and I in some strange city where I’ve never been.

Only a few more hours.

“Do you want me to put on some music, Ana?” I hear Luke ask from the driver’s seat. I open my eyes, look up at him, and see his gaze fixed on me in the rear view mirror.

“No, I like the quiet,” I tell him.

“You’re going to be okay,” He assures me. “You have nothing to hide. This interview is your chance to show that to the world and to change the narrative about you and Mr. Grey. Kate’s article is coming out Monday… this is all going to be a distant memory in a couple weeks.”

“I hope so, Luke,” I reply, and he gives me a reassuring smile as he turns into the studio, behind locked gates that will finally keep the paparazzi away from the car so that I can get into a building without being mobbed for the first time since this story broke on Monday.

When the car comes to a stop at the back entrance of the studio, there is a woman in a sharp black suit and two men who look like security guards there waiting for me. I climb out of the back of the SUV and the woman walks quickly towards me, holding out her hand.

“Miss Steele? My name is Bridget Kaiser and I’m the station manager here at KOMO news. We’ve got a dressing room set up for you to wait in until the interview begins, if you’ll follow me.” She turns around and begins walking purposefully into the building and I give Luke an uneasy glance before I follow after her. Miss Kaiser is sharp, precise, and talks very quickly. Not exactly the kind of person to put your nerves at ease…

She leads me into a small, well lit dressing room with a large, cushy sofa, two smaller, stiffer looking chairs, and a small coffee table with a basket of fruit and several bottles of chilled water resting on top. Against the far wall, there is a long counter covered in cosmetics and different hair styling tools and products. Standing in front of it are two severe looking people dressed entirely in black, each giving me an examining stare.

“Please have a seat, Miss Steele,” Miss Kaiser says, gesturing to the director style chair in front of the makeup counter. “This is Alex and Lana, they’ll be getting you ready for the cameras.”

“Where’s Christian?” I ask.

“I’m sorry, Miss Steele. Mr. Grey hasn’t arrived yet.”

“But I’m late…”

“I’m sure he’ll be here momentarily,” She says. She gives me a pacifying smile but when I don’t drop my gaze she turns to her assistant. “Will you get me an update on Grey’s arrival?” She asks. Her assistant nods and leaves the room and she turns back to me, a well practiced look of gleeful hospitality plastered across her face. “If you need anything else Miss Steele, please let us know.”

I nod as she turns around to leave the room but as Alex and Lana both make their preparations to start doing my hair and makeup, I turn to Luke, who has settled down on the couch and is going through the fruit on the coffee table.

“Will you find out where Christian is?” I ask him nervously. He looks up at me, concern etched on his face once again when he sees the expression I give him, and he stands immediately.

“Of course I will,” He says, and as he takes out his phone and turns to leave the room, I make my way to sit in the chair in front of the mirror.

“Well, Miss Steele,” Lana says in a thick Russian accent as she stares at me in the reflection of the mirror. “What shall we do with you today?”

“I don’t care,” I reply quietly. “Just… keep it natural.” She nods and picks up some kind of cream to put on my face. Alex begins running a brush through my hair, a wide barrel curling iron heating up on the counter, and while they both poke and prod their way around me, I stare vacantly into my reflection in the overlit mirror. I look pale, ghostly even, and I know it’s because of the nerves. Even sitting here, I can’t stop picturing my dad watching this news report, completely blindsided on some remote base in front of all of his friends. I know what that feels like, and the guilt that grips me because of it, is overpowering.

I have to get a grip on myself though… I don’t want Christian to see me like this. It isn’t his fault I never told my dad anything and if he sees me looking like this, I know he’ll get the wrong idea as to why.

I take a deep, steadying breath and as I slowly release it and suck in my cheeks so that Lana can apply some foundation to my skin, I see Luke come in the door behind me.

“Well?” I ask.

“He’s stuck in a meeting,” Luke says. “Taylor says it’s already gone an hour over schedule and it doesn’t look like it will wrap up for at least another thirty minutes. He said he hopes they’ll be here within the hour.”

“An hour?” I repeat. “But, the interview starts in twenty five minutes.”

“I know… He’s going to get here as soon as he can. Andrea’s on the phone with the studio working it out as we speak.”

I turn back to the mirror, trying to stay still and stop the nervous fiddling so that Alex and Lana can continue their work, but it’s difficult with this new added stress. Luke comes up next to me and rests his hand on my arm.

“I’ll be right back, okay?”

“Okay,” I say, with a slight nod, and when he turns to leave, I’m alone again.

Twenty minutes later, my makeup is finished and Alex finally lets me get up so that he can coat my hair with entirely too much hairspray to keep it from “falling flat under the hot lights”. I take a seat on the sofa, reaching for the remote to turn on the TV, which hangs from the ceiling like the kind you see in hospital rooms, but before I find something that I find even remotely interesting, the door opens and Luke re-enters the room, to my surprise, with Kate and Elliot in tow.

“Kate!” I say, feeling a small wash of relief. “What are you doing here?”

“Luke called us,” She explains. “He said he didn’t think you were doing very well and thought you could use some more people around you. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I say dismissively, but that’s never worked on Kate. “Well… I am about to go on national TV to try and convince the entire world I’m not a slut.”

“Stop it, Ana. Don’t think about it like that. You’re a girl who fell in love with a hot, sexy boy who became a hot, sexy, CEO. This isn’t the horrible thing everyone wants to make it out to be, this is a fairytale. Every girl’s dream. Don’t let anyone take that away from you.”

I pause and stare back at her gratefully. No matter what, Kate has my back, and she always knows what to say to pick me up when I’m down.

“I’ve missed you,” I say, resting my head on her shoulder and she wraps her arms around me.

“Well that is the one downside of all of this,” She says. “You’re too busy having sex with the hot, sexy CEO to hang out with your best friend.”

“Oh, she hangs out with her best friend,” Luke taunts her and Kate turns to glare at him.

“You watch your mouth, Luke Sawyer. I am not intimidated by you or your muscles and I will murder you if you think you’re going to take my place.” She says harshly and both Luke and I laugh.

“There, that’s better,” Kate says, smiling at me as I pull away.

“I’m sorry you had to come all the way down here,” I tell her. “It’s the middle of the work day, I’m going to get you fired.”

“Nah, that’s the beauty of it all. My boss is my dad. If he tried to fire me, I’d just tell my mom on him.” Kate says with a joking smile.

“And it’s hard to be fired when you own the company,” Elliot says, flopping down on the couch next to me and yanking the remote out of my hand. “They’d have to take my name off all of the letterheads, and really, it’s just not worth it.”

“Don’t you think that joke is getting a little old?” I ask him but he shakes his head.

“Not when Christian is around. Where is he anyway?”

“In a meeting apparently. According to Taylor, he’s going to be an hour late.”

“He would keep Elizabeth Vargas waiting,” Elliot says, seemingly appalled. “Punk.”

I laugh again and then turn to Kate, asking her to catch me up on her life, and as she launches into all of the menial drama she’s dealing with at work, I’m finally able to relax, glad to focus on someone else’s problems for a change.

A little while later, there is a knock on the door again and another woman in a pristine white pencil skirt and matching blazer comes into the room.

“Anastasia,” She greets me with a wide, pearly white smile. “My name is Jacqueline Knight, I’m Mr. Grey’s publicist, I was hoping I could go over a few talking points with you before your interview.”

“Sure,” I say and Kate squeezes my hand and gets off the couch to stand by Luke so that Jacqueline can sit next to me.

“Ideally, we’d like to keep GEH out of the conversation about you and Mr. Grey as much as possible. We want to create a disconnect between your relationship and the Grey brand. If you must discuss GEH, try and use words like, work or company rather than specifically using the GEH name.”

“Okay,” I agree.

“Also, this interview is about your relationship, and you’re going to have to sell that. You should be affectionate towards one another, intimate, but also reserved. You could hold his hand or touch his arm. If you’re going to cross your legs, cross them towards him, not away. And never, and I mean never, cross your arms. When he speaks, look at him, not at Ms. Vargas, and try to really express your affection with your eyes. If he tells a joke, laugh. Smile when Ms. Vargas, asks you questions about him…”

“I don’t need to pretend I’m in love with him,” I tell her. “That part I can handle.”

“Good,” She says, and as she moves to the next subject, the door to the dressing room opens and, finally, Christian walks in with Taylor and Carrick behind him.

“Now remember, son. This is the court of public opinion,” Carrick says. “If the interviewer brings anything up about the lawsuit or Leila Williams, you have to remain polite and succinct. Do not use disparaging language against her or try to infer her intentions in anyway, it will make you look defensive which is a small leap to guilty. Be respectful and stick to the facts.”

“I know, Dad,” Christian says. His eyes search the room until he sees me on the couch and when our eyes lock, the tension in his face immediately softens.

“Mr. Grey,” Jacqueline says as she stands from the couch. “I’m glad you’re here. I was just telling Anastasia…”

“Everyone out,” He interrupts her and Jacqueline falls quiet as everyone in the room turns to look at him with confusion. His eyes break away from mine as he looks around at the people staring at him. “Now,” He adds, like he doesn’t know what everyone is waiting for.

There is a great deal of movement around me as everyone scrambles from their places in an attempt to hurry out of the room. Christian closes the door behind them and then comes to sit next to me.

“What’s wrong?” He asks.

“What do you mean?”

“You look… pale,” He says and I frown. So much for makeup.

“I’m fine. I’m just… a little nervous, I think.”

“Don’t be,” He tells me. “There’s nothing to be nervous about. I get to tell the world that I love you today.”

I bite down on my bottom lip as I try and contain the smile his words coax out of me, and when I look down at my fingers in my lap, he reaches over to tilt up my chin and kiss me. The feel of his lips against mine has me more at ease that I’ve been all day, and I can feel heat rush to my cheeks as I feel him pour the unfathomably unconditional love that he holds for me into this precious point of contact.

When he pulls away from the kiss, he cups my face in his hand and I feel his thumb brush over the blush still burning in the skin of my cheeks.

“There she is,” He says and the small, charming smile that I love crosses his lips.

“I’ve missed you today, Christian.”

“Me too, baby.”

“What kept you?”

“Elena’s audit was this morning. Ros was so determined to find something that she conducted the most thorough audit I’ve ever been a part of, and then had the results reviewed twice. We went over the scheduled time by two hours.”

“Oh… what did she find?” I ask, the interview falling completely out of my mind with this news.

“Nothing,” He says as if this should have been the expected answer. “Transactions check out, inventory is perfect, books are flawless. Not a dollar out of place.”

“Nothing? Really? How is that possible?”

Christian narrows his eyes at me. “Elena is good at what she does, Anastasia. For whatever other valid things you may have to say about her, she runs those salons very well. I’m a businessman and I told you that our relationship was only business. Do you really think that I would keep her in charge of a division of my company if she wasn’t doing an absolutely outstanding job?”

His defense of her leaves a disgusting taste in my mouth. “No, but I do think that she’d lie to you…” I say and he opens his mouth to answer but there is a knock on the door and Ms. Kaiser sticks her head into the room.

“Mr. Grey, Miss Steele, they’re ready for you,” She says.

Christian nods and then turns back to me, staring at me with a myriad of emotions blazing in his steel gray eyes, before reachout out for my hand. As he helps me up off the couch, he entwines his fingers with mine and we walk out of the dressing room and down the long hallway to the set where our interview is going to take place, hand in hand.

It’s a little surreal to step onto the raised platform set. It’s supposed to look like a cozy living room. There’s a fake fireplace in the back that is pumping too much heat into the room, and a few bookshelves piled with more knick knacks than books in the back. Christian and I are directed to sit on a silky looking, cream colored loveseat (which immediately has me wondering if Jacquline had added to be symbolic), and across from it, sitting in an emerald green chair, is Elizabeth Vargas.

“Mr. Grey,” She says, her voice slightly cold as we approach, which I think might be because she’s been kept waiting. Christian reaches out to shake her hand, apologizing for his late arrival before introducing her to me. She tells us to take a seat, and when we lower ourselves onto the sofa, Christian pulls me in close to him, putting one arm behind my back and placing his hand on my hip, while his other hand wraps around mine and rests in my lap. A makeup artist rushes on stage to touch up Ms. Vargas’s makeup and as a few producers approach to give her some direction, Christian turns to me.

“Do you need anything before we start?” He asks.

“No,” I reply, shaking my head and he catches my eyes, gives me a small, reassuring smile and then leans in to place a gentle kiss on my cheek.

“You look beautiful, Anastasia,” He whispers in my ear and as a tingling shiver runs up my spine, I take a breath and turn to face Elizabeth Vargas.

The interview starts with a long monologue from Ms. Vargas talking about Christian’s rise to the top of the business world and then the controversy and the allegations that have, ‘tarnished his otherwise spotless reputation‘ over the past week. When she finally turns to us to ask the first question, Christian squeezes my hand and I stop fidgeting and trying to sit up straight as I become very aware of the camera pointed directly at me.

“When did you meet Anastasia, Mr. Grey?” Ms. Vargas asks and when he answers, Christian turns to look at me.

“It was Labor Day, 2007. The day before my first day of classes at Harvard University. Anastasia lived across the hall from me and she was coming back to her dorm just as I was leaving to meet Ros for our first real meeting for what would become GEH. The moment I saw her, I was enraptured.”

“How about you, Anastasia?” Ms. Vargas asks. “We’re you enraptured as well?”

“Of course,” I answer. “He was the handsome, elusive, mysterious guy who lived across the hall and he had me captivated.”

“Mysterious?” Ms. Vargas asks.

“Oh, well he was a little rude in the beginning…” I say in a light, slightly teasing tone. “You see, our Resident Advisor that year had put nametags on our doors to welcome us to school on the first day but Christian didn’t have one, and when we first met, he didn’t introduce himself. It took me a couple days to even find out what his name was.”

I smile at him, genuine adoration coloring my expression as I recall the early days of our relationship and when he smirks down at me, I can see Jacqueline practically bouncing up and down with joy just off set.

“Is that true, Mr. Grey?” Ms. Vargas asks, and even she can’t hold back her smile.

“Partially,” He responds. “But I wasn’t being rude. The truth is I was so struck by how beautiful she was, I couldn’t remember my own name.”

My smile is ridiculous as I stare back at him, his sweet words floating in the air between us and he leans down to kiss me, but I reach up to stop him.

“Christian, we’re on TV!” I exclaim with a laugh and as he sighs and turns back to the interviewer, Jacqueline actually claps her hands together one time in celebration of this perfect TV moment.

Most of the interview is easy, and honestly, fun. We each tell our favorite stories about our time at Harvard and all of the little moments that made our relationship special. Eventually though, we run out of happy stories. She talks briefly about Leila and the sexual harassment allegations which Christian answers with calm, easy confidence. That confidence dwindles however, when she asks about the lack of my presence around him up to this point in his career.

“It’s been widely reported again and again over the last few years that you’ve been single Mr. Grey. Was the reason you chose to keep your relationship hidden so you would be able to hire Miss Steele to work at GEH with no repercussion?”

I watch his adam’s apple jump as he swallows and looks down at his hand in mine, and I squeeze it in a comforting gesture, take a deep breath, and look Ms. Vargas straight in the eyes.

“It was difficult to be in a relationship once he left Harvard to start his company,” I tell her. “He was in Seattle, I was in Cambridge, and 3000 miles is a lot of distance. I had three years of school left and it just wasn’t working. So, we broke up. He threw himself into work, I focused on my studies. But even when we weren’t together, he called me everyday.”

Christian exhales and looks up at Ms. Vargas. “A few months ago, I decided I wanted GEH to break into the publishing industry. Seattle Independent Publishing was ripe for a takeover and I moved on it. We began the acquisition process and I needed a director. Someone smart, capable, driven, and with a background and love for literature. I knew only person who fit everything that I wanted for this project, so I offered Anastasia an internship to bring SIP under the GEH umbrella over the course of this summer.”

“So there wasn’t a promotion then?” Ms. Vargas clarifies.

“No,” Christian says. “This project was always intended for Anastasia. We had some contract delays that left her floating for a couple weeks, but she was hired to be the SIP Implementation Director from the beginning. There was no romantic relationship between Anastasia and myself with the offer was made, nor did she make me any promises.”

“Then, when did your relationship begin again?”

“Not long after I came to Seattle,” I answer. “It wasn’t planned. We tried to keep our relationship strictly business related and when that didn’t work we tried to be friends. In the end we couldn’t fight it. It just feels… meant to be. I’ve never felt about anyone the way I feel about Christian Grey and that has nothing to do with this internship, or with GEH.”

“She’s the love of my life,” Christian says. “There is no doubt in my mind that right now I am sitting next to the future Mrs. Grey.”

“Would you agree with that statement?” Ms. Vargas asks me.

“I hope so,” I nod. “Someday.”

On that note, the interview ends. Ms. Vargas gives one last monologue to give context to the interview, spinning the story now as an almost Romeo and Juliet style romance and part of me wonders if GEH has paid for that little plug. Someone yells cut and there is a sudden upheaval of movement all around us. Ms. Vargas shakes both mine and Christian’s hands once more and then we’re whisked back into our dressing room, followed by Jacqueline who is so happy, she’s practically singing.

“Alright, thank you, Jacqueline,” Christian says irritably. “You can go now.”

“Oh… uh… yes sir, Mr. Grey.” She turns around and walks out of the room, leaving us alone with Kate, Elliot, Luke, and Carrick.

“Well, should we celebrate by going out to dinner?” Elliot asks.

“The interview hasn’t aired yet,” Carrick says. “The paparazzi will be out of control if these two go out in public together right now. Why don’t we all just go back to the house? Mia will be home late, but it’s a Friday night. You’re all welcome to stay at the house and we could plan something for us to do as a family all day tomorrow.”

“Where’s Mia?” I ask.

“Off hating Christian’s guts,” Elliot says, clearly annoyed, and I give him an inquisitive look, but Carrick is the one who answers my question.

“Grace thought it would be best if Mia got a job to take up some of her time this summer,” He explains. “And for some reason she blames Christian for that. But she doesn’t listen to me anymore so…”

“Quite frankly, I think this just all works out great for me,” Elliot says, and when we all give him a confused look he adds, “Well, Christian was the troublemaker, Mia’s a brat… I’d say I win the who was the best kid contest. Hands down.”

“There’s no contest,” Carrick says firmly but Elliot shakes his head.

“I don’t know… we’ll just see what happens when the will is read.”

“Sorry, Elliot. Whatever you’ll inherit will have to be controlled by a conservator,” Christian says. “They don’t let the mentally unstable control large amounts of assets. Don’t worry though, I wouldn’t let anyone else but myself take up that roll for you. I wouldn’t want you to be taken advantage of…”

“I don’t know what you two are fighting for, Grace and I are going to divide everything equally between Anastasia and Kate, so you’re not getting anything,” Carrick adds dryly.

“Fine by me!” Elliot laughs triumphantly. “Sucks to be you, Mia.”

“Sucks to be you,” Kate says pointedly. “Once we get our inheritance, Ana and I will drop you losers and marry each other. Our one true love. Right, Ana?”

“I mean, we’ll have that beautiful house in Bellevue… seems like it would be a waste not to,” I reply with a laugh. I hear Christian’s irritated huff next to me but Elliot looks between Kate and I for a minute and then smirks.

“I’d pay to see that.”

“How?” Kate laughs. “You’ll be broke!”

“Alright, Alright,” Carrick says, stopping the conversation before it goes any further. “You kids head back to the house, I’ll let Grace know we’re on the way so she can order some dinner.”

“That sounds great, Dad, but Ana and I are actually going out of town this weekend. We have to get to the airport,” Christian says regretfully.

“Oh, where are you going?” Carrick asks.

“I’m not sure,” Christian says. “We’re just going to see what’s leaving when we get there.”

“Awh,” Kate says before covering her mouth and staring at us like we’re holding a litter of newborn kittens or something. Elliot on the other hand laughs.

“That’s a terrible way to plan a vacation. I hope you end up in Boston.”

“Well, I have a house there,” Christian shrugs and I roll my eyes.

“Oh!” Kate exclaims suddenly, reaching down and picking up a pad of paper and pen off the table. “If you do go to Boston, I’m going to need you to grab a few things that I forgot.”

“We’re not going to Boston!” I exclaim but Kate tears the paper off the pad and hands it to me anyway.

“Just in case.”

When we’re back at Escala, Christian tells me that he needs ten minutes to take care of some emails he put off for the interview, so while he heads into his office, I make my way to the bedroom to do the packing I never got around to. When I get there though, I see my purple carry on suitcase already sitting on the bed next to Christian’s. Mrs. Jones must have packed for both of us this afternoon.

I sigh and fall back on the bed, closing my eyes and focusing on taking deep breaths in and out. I’m waiting for the anxiety I’ve felt over this interview to go away, but I’m still as tense now as I was this morning. Maybe it’s not the interview… maybe I’m just overwhelmed. I mean, between this job, dealing with Elena, the lawsuit, potentially losing Harvard and worrying about my Dad…

The muscles in my stomach clench as I think about Ray and immediately I know that’s what’s wrong with me. It’s not just about the letter that I couldn’t write to him earlier, not just about the possibility of him finding out about my relationship with Christian over TV or a news article rather than from me… It’s really just me, going through a hard time and missing my dad.

Talking to Luke, talking to Kate, even talking to Christian about everything that has been going on has helped me deal with it, but right now, what I want more than anything is for my dad to make me a cup of tea and then wrap me up in hug and tell me that it’s going to be okay. I’ve sent him four letters since I’ve been in Seattle and I haven’t gotten one in return. I have no idea where he is, or if he’s safe… What I wouldn’t give for just a few minutes to talk to him.

I reach down and take my phone out of my bag and pull open the calendar app. I get one phone call on Father’s Day and I count sixteen days between now and then. More than two weeks, and that thought feels like it’s going to kill me.

“You ready, baby?” Christian asks as he steps into the room and as I put my phone down and sit up to look up at him, a tear rolls down my cheek.

“Hey…” He says softly as he comes to sit next to me on the bed and wraps me in his arms. “What’s the matter?”

“I miss my dad,” I tell him. “This all so hard and I feel like if I could just talk to my dad for a second, he could help me get back to being centered, you know? He’s been gone a long time and I just… I wish he was here.”

“I know,” He says, rubbing his hand gently over my back as I cry into his suit jacket. “I’m sorry, Ana. But he’s got less than a year left, right?”

“I think… He’s supposed to be back sometime next summer.”

“Well, we can make it through a year. All of this bullshit isn’t going to last forever, I promise you. It’s going to be over soon. This is just the hard part.”

“I know,” I nod. “I’m sorry, I think I’m just a little over stressed right now. I think I might actually need this weekend for my sanity.” I tell him.

“Then let’s go,” He says and I take a deep, calming breath before taking his hand and getting off the bed. He takes both of our suitcases and I lead the way through the living room toward the elevator.

When we get to the garage, Taylor is waiting in Christian’s SUV just a few steps away from the elevator, but as Luke climbs out of the front seat to take our bags, I get an idea, and I reach out to stop him.

“I don’t want to go to the airport,” I tell Christian and he raises an eyebrow at me.

“What do you mean? I thought you just said that you needed to get away for your sanity.”

“I do. I’m not saying that I don’t want to go anywhere, I’m just saying that I don’t want to go to the airport. I know where I want to go, and we don’t need a plane to get there.”

“Okay…” He says hesitantly, “Where do you want to go?”

I smile at him, but instead of answering, I turn to Luke. “You and Taylor can take the weekend off. We’re not going to need security where we’re going.”

“Ana…” Christian says but I turn imploring eyes on him.

“Trust me, Christian,” I beg him and he takes a second to decide but eventually he lets out a long breath and then nods to Luke.

“We’ll see you Sunday night, Sawyer.”

“Mr. Grey…” Luke argues but Christian cuts him off.

“Enjoy your weekend,” He says flatly and Sawyer stares blankly between the two of us, but eventually he gives Christian a stiff nod and we turn to walk towards my Lincoln. I climb into the driver’s seat while Christian places our luggage in the trunk, and once he’s in the passenger’s seat, I pull out, past Luke and Taylor, who are staring anxiously at us, and out of the garage.

“So, not Bellevue?” Christian asks as I pass the turnoff for the I-90 East.

“No, not Bellevue,” I say, and he lets out sharp huff. I don’t think he likes not knowing where we’re going but he’s done this to me before. Vermont was a good surprise, and I hope this will be too.

Just over two hours later, I begin to see the first familiar buildings begin to pop up alongside the highway and when Christian sees the population sign on the side of the road, his eyes widen with realization.

“Montesano,” He infers and I nod. He looks out at the approaching downtown area as I pull off the exit from the Olympic Highway onto Main Street. “You want to go home.”

“Is that okay?” I ask.

“Of course it’s okay, Ana. I want you to be happy and if this is where you want to be then I’m just… I’m just happy to be here with you.”

I smile at him as I weave through the familiar streets of downtown until the buildings give way to houses and I turn onto my dad’s street. The memory of going to Christian’s parents’ house for the very first time creeps unbidden into my mind as we past the modest houses that line Park Ave. Everything about the Grey’s property is beautiful, from the classic architecture of the mansion to the sweeping, well manicured lawns, even the stunning, lakefront views. I was almost in shock when I saw the grandeur of the home where Christian had grown up, and as I pull into the gravel driveway of the small, ranch-style house I’ve known almost my whole life, I’m almost floored to see Christian having nearly the same reaction.

Ray’s house is modest in every sense, but he takes great pride in caring for it. It’s almost a little shocking to see it now. The ivy that my mom had grown to creep up the side of the house and frame the entryway is in desperate need of trimming and my dad’s normally perfect yard needs to be mowed. One of the planks in the low fence that my dad built at the edge of the front yard a few summers before I left for college has come loose and the bushes I played under with the neighborhood kids on the far side of the lawn are in serious need of some garden shears. I try and ignore all of this though as I turn and look at Christian who is appraising the house with… what? Trepidation?

“Come on,” I say as I climb out of the car. Christian follows me up the slightly cracked, concrete walkway to the front door, where I pull the spare key out from under the ceramic frog I named Mickey when I was six. I hold open the door for him and he steps carefully into the house.

It’s surprisingly cold inside, completely dark, and uncomfortably quiet. Like we’ve just walked into a haunted house in a scary movie or something.

“Wait here,” I tell Christian, “I’ll find the breaker.”

He nods and I leave him and make my way through the dining room and kitchen to the laundry room at the back of the house next to the door for the garage. After I’ve flipped the switches to turn on the power, I reach down behind the washing machine to twist the knob that will turn the water on. When I make my way back into the living room, I find Christian standing in front of the fireplaces looking at the long line of photographs that show the steady progression of my life from diapers to my high school graduation.

“What is this?” He asks, holding up a picture of me in an embarrassingly frilly, pink dress, clinging awkwardly to a tall, skinny, young man with a jet black hair and long limbs that he hadn’t fully grown into yet.

“Homecoming, sophomore year,” I tell him.

“And the boy?”

“Kameron McFadden,” I answer. “He was my lab partner in Chemistry. And before you say anything, that is the only chemistry we had together.”

“I see,” He says as he sets the picture back down and moves the next. I quickly run over and pull him away from the mantle.

“I think that’s enough with the pictures,” I say disapprovingly. “Afterall, I never stalked your parents collection of embarrassing high school photos.”

“That’s because there aren’t any. I spent my homecoming with Ele-… I mean, I uh, I didn’t go to homecoming.”

“Right,” I say frowning and he furrows his brow.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up…”

“No, it’s fine,” I say, cutting him off. “You didn’t go to homecoming. That just sucks for whatever lucky girl you could have taken with you.”

He rolls his eyes and I grab his hand to give him a tour of the house but before we even make it to the hallway, someone knocks on the front door.

“Crap, hold on,” I tell him as I move to answer it. It’s Mr. Anderson, my next door neighbor, and when I open the door, he looks shocked to see me.

“Hi, Mr. Anderson,” I greet him with a smile.

“Anastasia, what are you doing here? I saw the car and I… Hey kiddo!” He says, a small laugh escaping as he leans down and wraps me in a tight hug.

“I just wanted to come home for the weekend,” I tell him. “How are you?”

“I’m doing great!” He says, “Everything is just the same here, except we all miss Ray on poker night. Have you heard from him, how’s he doing?”

“Good, I think. It’s been awhile since he’s written to me but he gets busy, you know?”

“Actually, I’ve been picking up your mail and I think there were some letters addressed to you that were returned. I put them on your table.”

“Oh!” I exclaim, suddenly dying to find said letters, but not wanting be rude and look like I’m trying to get rid of him. “Great, thanks.”

“How’s Harvard? You know, we still can’t believe that you made it so far, Ana. It makes all of us real proud to know we might have had even just a little influence to help you turn out to be such a great kid.”

“Thanks, Mr. Anderson,” I say blushing. He hugs me again and I feel him look up.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you had company,” He says, as he notices Christian standing in the living room behind me.

“Oh, yeah. Mr. Anderson, this is my boyfriend, Christian Grey.”

“Pleased to meet you, sir,” Christian says cordially, stepping forward with his hand outreached for my neighbor.

“And you, son. That’s a mighty fancy suit you got there, you a student at Harvard too?”

“A former student,” Christian says. “I work in Seattle now.”

“Oh, well, good for you. I’m glad to hear Ana’s being taken care of while her dad’s away. You know Ray was always very protective of his daughter. Not a lot of boys dared to come around here.”

“Well, sir, I promise, I only have the best intentions with Anastasia.”

“That’s good to hear,” Mr. Anderson says. “Well, I’ll let you kids get back to it then. If you need anything, Ana, Jennifer and I are right next door.”

“Thank-you, Mr. Anderson,” I say, waving at him as he turns around to leave and then closing the door.

It doesn’t take me long to show Christian the entire house. He laughs at me when I tell him I can’t show him my dad’s room because I’m not allowed in there, and then spends an exorbitant amount of time going through my childhood bedroom. I worry that he’s going to spend the entire weekend in here, looking through my old yearbooks and combing through the books and CDs on my bookcase, but eventually, he tells me he needs to check in on work, so we both grab the things we’ve brought from the office and head back out to the living room.

Apparently there is a problem with something, because Christian has to make a few phone calls, and while he paces in the kitchen, casually nibbling on the pizza I was forced to order due to lack of food in the house, I read through the letters that my Dad had sent to 301 40th ST rather than 301 4th ST in Seattle, and finally, I feel the tension I’ve been riddled with the entire week begin to relax. This is exactly what I needed, a weekend away from the city to just feel normal for a minute. No penthouse, no paparazzi, no staff or security… Just me, Christian, and greasy pizza.

We both decide not to watch the interview when it airs that night, but the downside of coming home to small town Montesano over some lavish vacation destination, is that there isn’t much to do in terms of night life.

“We could… go down by the river. I used to go down there with my friends and drink beer when I was in high school. It was kind of fun.”

“Yeah, because you were underage,” Christian says. “We can drink beer here now.”

“Well then we could, uh…”

“You don’t have to entertain me, Anastasia. Everything I need is right here,” He leans over and kisses me and after a few moments, the tenderness of his kiss melts into something more enticing. I moan slightly as I feel him nibble on my bottom lip. When he reaches out and cups my breast though, I lean back and give him a chastising look.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I ask.

“I think I’m trying to make love to my girlfriend,” He says, but I shake my head.

“Oh, no. We can’t have sex here.”

“What do you mean, we can’t have sex here?” He asks, his tone suddenly very serious as he leans back and looks at me like I’ve just told him the moon landing was faked.

“Do you see that spot on the floor right there? That’s where I used to open my Christmas presents. I can’t have sex two feet away from where I once got really excited unwrapping a My Size Barbie.

“Why not?” he asks. “Christmas presents are a happy memory. We can make more happy memories right here on the couch.”

“Hold on, Grey!” I say, leaning further away as he turns to kiss me again. “That chair right there? That’s my dad’s chair and everyday I’ve been in this house, he’s been in that chair. Having sex on this couch would be like having sex in front of my dad.”

“I’m starting to see why you were a virgin when you went to college,” He says dryly. I slap him playfully on the arm, but he ignores my resentful protest. “You’re not being serious right? I mean, you don’t really intend to not have sex as long as we’re here.”

“Yes,” I tell him. “No sex.”

“Then pack your bags,” He says, standing up from the couch so quickly he nearly dumps me on the floor. “We’re going back to Seattle.”

“Christian…”

“I could get us a hotel room.”

“Does it really sound so bad to spend a weekend hanging out and talking and just having good, wholesome fun?”

“I would describe being inside of you as good wholesome fun,” He says and I roll my eyes.

“I don’t want to leave, and I don’t want you to leave. I just want to hang out, and spend real time with you, and try to get to know you again, like I used to. And I want to do it with my clothes on.”

He stares at me for a long moment before drawing in a long, exaggerated breath and exhaling sharply. “Fine. What do you want to do then, Anastasia?”

“We could play a board game,” I suggest.

“A board game?”

“I have all the classics,” I tell him proudly and thankfully, he actually laughs.

“Well then, a board game it is. Bring it on, Miss Steele.”

I smile as I get up off the couch and make my way to the game closet where I sort through the brightly colored cardboard boxes until I find the Monopoly game.

“You ready to cry, Grey?” I ask as I hold up the game for him and he smirks at me.

“Monopoly? Come on, Ana… You know who you’re playing against right?”

“The future loser of Monopoly?” I taunt him and he shakes his head and lets out a small, evil sounding chuckle.

“Fine, let’s play,” He says. “But don’t think I’m going to go easy on you just because I love you. I’m going to take you to the cleaners, Anastasia.”

“I don’t want you to go easy on me, Christian. That way, when I beat you, I’ll know it’s legit.”

I lay out the board and money out on the living room floor and set everything up for us to begin. To my disappointment, Christian wasn’t wrong about it being a mistake playing him. I’ve never seen someone play Monopoly so aggressively or have such an intense strategy of what to buy, when to buy it, even what order to mortgage off his properties. Although this game normally takes hours to play, thirty minutes in, I’m desperately clinging to the few properties I’ve just barely been able to hold onto while he’s building housing developments all over the board.

“Have mercy on me,” I beg as I land on the condominium complex he’s built on Marvin Gardens which will completely clean me out. He laughs and shakes his head.

“I didn’t become successful in business going easy on people, cough it up,” He says, gesturing for me to not only hand him the last of my cash, but also the few properties I have in my possession. I’m bankrupt, and he rubs it in my face by clicking his tongue as he looks over his newly acquired assets.

“You really need to diversity your portfolio, Miss Steele,” He lectures me. “I’m not even sure I want this… do you know how much money it would take to make these properties profitable?”

“You could give them back,” I suggest.

“Oh, Ana! If you want them back, of course I’ll give them to you,” He says.

“Then yes, I would like them back,” I tell him, holding my hands out for the cards but he smirks.

“Oh, you’ll have to buy them from me,” He chuckles. “For a three percent increase on the appraised property value.”

“I don’t have any money!” I tell him and he smiles.

“Now, let’s see… what could you give me that would make me willing to give you your properties back. There has to be something… What. Could. It. Be?”

I glare at him. “You want me to whore myself out for a couple of lousy properties that aren’t worth anything?”

“Oh, baby. You’re not a whore,” He says. “But… if you want, we could spend the night pretending like you are.”

I give him an indignant look as I reach down for one of the little green houses and hurl it at his face and he laughs as he swats it away. He looks at me, arrogantly, and it’s difficult to keep up my reproachful glare as I fight not to smile.

“You know, I used to call this game the friendship ender because Kate and Ethan were so competitive that every time we played, we’d end up in a big fight… Now I think it might just be the relationship ender.”

He laughs again. “You knew who you were up against when you picked this game.” He argues. “My first hostile takeover involved prying one of these property cards out of Elliot’s hands.”

“Well then let’s play something different, something I’m good at,” I pout and he gives me his lascivious grin again.

“Now… What. Are. You. Good. At?” He says with the same wondering tone he used when he was trying to get me to agree to terms to take my properties back. I briefly think about throwing another house at him, but I have a better idea.

“Oh… I know what I’m good at,” I tell him, seductively.

He raises an eyebrow at me. “You do?” He asks, his voice dark and heady as if he’s contemplating whether or not he’s finally won me over.

“Oh yes…” I purr, moving onto my hands and knees and crawling slowly over the Monopoly board towards him, holding his gaze as I purposefully move my behind back and forth. I stop when I’m only inches away from his lips.

“Do you want to play, Mr. Grey?” I ask.

“Yes,” He whispers.

“Right here?”

“Right now,” He replies, his voice deeper now as he’s slowly overwhelmed by his need, and just as he leans forward to take my lips with his, I pull away.

“Good!” I exclaim brightly. “I’ll go get the Scattergories game.”

“Ana!” He groans, throwing his head back with frustration, and I smirk at him as I turn around and head back down the hallway to the game closet.

Next Chapter

Chapter 19

Image result for paparazzi car

Google Alert: Christian Grey

The Seattle Times, June 1st 2010: The [Business] Empire Strikes Back. Christian Grey has finally responded to the charges of sexual harassment brought against him Monday morning by ex-employee Leila Williams in a statement released by GEH Publicist Jacqueline Knight, “Mr. Grey is both shocked and disheartened by Miss Williams’s false accusations as neither Mr. Grey nor GEH tolerate any kind of behavior which is degrading or threatening to any employee.”


“No, Mom…” I groan into the phone, rolling my eyes as I watch the buildings pass through the backseat window of the Lincoln on the way to my first day at SIP.

“It just didn’t make sense to me, Anastasia,” My mom argues. “I thought you hated him! You wouldn’t talk to him, you wouldn’t talk about him… Now all of a sudden you’re in Seattle, living in his building, working in his office… and then these reports come out and you’re name is all over the news…”

“Great, Mom. I’m really glad to know that you think so highly of me that you would believe that I would have sex with him just for an internship.”

“Ana, I know how hard it’s been for you. I’m not saying that you would do something like this, I’m saying that I know you’ve missed him and that he has a lot of power now, and he’s very charismatic and persuasive…”

“Mom!” I snap.

“Just tell me that he isn’t taking advantage of you.”

“He isn’t taking advantage of me. Look, I can’t talk about this right now. We’re pulling up to my building and there are paparazzi outside. I’ll call you later.”

“Okay, let me know what you hear from Harvard. I love you.”

“Bye, Mom,” I say irritably, and as Ryan comes to a stop in front of the curb at SIP, Luke jumps out of the passenger’s seat and walks around to open the back door closest to the entrance. The second the door is open, I see dozens of flashing lights behind Luke’s silhouette and though he reaches into the car for my hand to pull me out into the crowd, I maneuver around him and step out of the car on my own. I still haven’t forgiven him for stopping me from going after Elena yesterday and we haven’t spoken a word to each other since.

Holding up my purse and jacket to shield as much of my face as possible, I walk forward until I’m through the front doors and in a small, very commercial looking reception area. While I try to ignore the lights still flashing at me through the glass door, I look at to the two women standing behind the front desk, both looking at me with an air of uncertainty.

“Hello,” I greet them. “My name is Anastasia Steele, I’m the Implementation Director from Grey Enterprises Holdings.”

“Miss Steele, yes of course,” The woman seated at the computer says. “My name is Claire and I’m the receptionist here and this is Natalie, Mr. Hyde’s assistant.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Miss Steele,” Natalie says, holding her hand out to me. She smiles as I shake her hand and then reaches down to dial an extension on the phone.

“Jack, Miss Steele has arrived,” She says and as she hangs up the phone, I feel a warm breeze behind me and turn to see Brian Clark, Ros’s intern, who I thought had come across as sexist in orientation on our first day at GEH. He flashes a badge at Luke, who reluctantly lets him pass.

“What are you doing here?” I ask him and he raises an eyebrow at me.

“Mr. Grey reclaimed the project Miss Bailey had me assigned to. I’ve been reassigned to SIP,” He says.

“Oh, I thought I was on this project alone…”

“I’m sorry, Anastasia, right?” He asks, not waiting for me to confirm before he continues. “Look, I know you have uh… been promised things by Mr. Grey in return for certain, shall we say… favors that you’ve provided for him, but this is real business now. You study English, and I’m sure that’s fulfilling to you, but Grey Enterprises Holdings needs a certain level of expertise on this project. That’s why I’m here. I know business and Miss Bailey and Mr. Grey know that I can make this place a success. Don’t worry, you’ll be included in the whole process. It should be a great learning experience for you.”

I raise an incredulous eyebrow at him but don’t get the chance to respond because someone behind me calls my name.

“Ah, Miss Steele!” A man says, smiling broadly as he holds his hand out for mine. “My name is Jack Hyde. I’m the Commissioning Editor of SIP.”

“Mr. Hyde,” Brian says, stepping in front of me and taking Jack’s hand instead. “Brian Clark, I’ll be heading this implementation from the GEH side. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Hyde gives him a confused look. “I’m sorry, who are you?” He asks. “I was under the impression that Miss Steele was to be the director on this project.”

“Miss Steele will be working in conjunction with myself throughout the duration of this implementation,” Brian says, “However, Miss Bailey has asked me personally to oversee the project.”

“Miss Bailey?” Jack says, his eyes shifting slightly as he tries to sort through his confusion and, when his face lights up with sudden recognition, I feel a wave of dread…

“That’s right, I apologize, I remember Miss Bailey’s email now. You’ll have to excuse me, it’s been a hectic morning.” He turns and waves his assistant over. “Natalie, this is the intern Miss Bailey has assigned to be Miss Steele’s assistant over the course of the summer, will you please show him to his desk?”

“Assistant?” Brian says, the horror apparent in his tone, but Natalie ignores his shock.

“I’d love to, Jack,” She says, turning her smile on Brian. “If you’ll follow me, I’ve cleaned out a work space for you near Miss Steele’s office.”

Brian is dumbfounded while he’s lead away by Natalie and as he looks back at me, clearly expecting me to say something, I smirk at him and turn to face Jack Hyde.

“Mr. Hyde,” I greet him, finally having the opportunity to shake his hand.

“Please, Jack,” He replies lightheartedly. “And, can I call you Anastasia?”

“Ana,” I correct him and he smiles in return.

“Well, Ana, if you’ll follow me, I will show you to your new office,” He turns and leads me through the small, slightly outdated building overfilled with filing cabinets, bookcases and a random assortment of desks all overflowing with papers, files, and what look like thick, unbound manuscripts. As he leads me to the door a few feet away from the desk Natalie is showing Brian around, I think to myself that one of the first changes that needs to be made here is the filing and organization system. This place is a mess…

“Here you are, Ana,” Jack says as he opens the door to my office for me, and I step inside and look around appreciatively. It’s not very big, in fact you could probably fit ten of my offices inside of Christian’s, but the desk looks nice, and the chair behind it looks comfortable. There is even an unruly looking ficus in the corner that adds a touch of life to the place.

“This is perfect,” I say gratefully as I turn back around to face him.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Jack replies. “If you’d like, you can take a few minutes to get settled in. We have a meeting with the department heads at 9:30 to go over your plan for our integration into GEH. It should take most of the day, and there are a lot of big personalities to take on here, so I’ll give you a few minutes to prepare.”

“Thanks, Jack,” I say and he winks at me before turning to leave the office, but before he disappears through the door, he stops and turns back to face me.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” He says. “Welcome to SIP, Miss Steele.”

I smile at him as he leaves the room and closes the door behind him. I glance around the office, mentally noting the things that I want to bring into make it feel a little more cozy, but before I pull out everything I’ve spent the last week preparing for this meeting, I hear my phone vibrate on the desk.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: Per your request…

Date: June 1st 2010 08:57 AM

To: Anastasia Steele

The elevator code to OUR apartment has been changed. Its is now 121907.

I know there are photographers outside of your building. I’m sorry. Please, try to stay at SIP as much as possible. You can send Sawyer out if you need anything.

I miss you already.

Christian Grey

CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings, INC

 

From: Anastasia Steele

Subject: POW

Date: June 1st 2010 08:58 AM

To: Christian Grey

Thank-you for changing the code, although I will say that part of me is a little sad it isn’t my birthday anymore. It was sweet, and I liked that it had significance to you rather than something random.

You don’t have to worry about me leaving. I don’t want to face the photographers anymore than you do. It’s weird having people screaming at you as you walk into a building. Besides I’ll be in meetings most of the day anyway.

I’ll see you tonight back at OUR apartment later tonight. Have a good day at work.

Xxx

Your Ana

Anastasia Steele

Implementation Director, Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

I set my phone down and begin organizing the files and information I’ve compiled for the meeting, highlighting key points I want to focus on and questions I have about the way the organization is currently running, but a few minutes later I’m interrupted by an incoming email once again.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: Significance

Date: June 1st 2010 09:04 AM

To: Anastasia Steele

The new code is not random at all. On the contrary, it may be one of the most significant numbers of my life.

I love you, baby.

Christian Grey

CEO Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

I smile down at the email, my teeth sinking into my bottom lip as I read the three words that make the paparazzi, the disparaging headlines plastered across newspapers and gossip sites, and facing an investigation at Harvard all worth it. We’re in love and nothing that is being said about us can change that. That’s what is getting me through this, knowing that no matter what happens, in the end, we’ll still have each other.

I hit reply on the email, but before I can begin typing I’m interrupted by the phone ringing on my desk. Part of me wonders if someone is calling me by mistake. I mean, I’ve only been in this office for a few minutes and I don’t know the number so I haven’t given it to anyone… but then I realize it might be Christian so I hurry to answer it.

“Anastasia Steele.”

“Hey, Ana, it’s Ros. Sorry, I should have warned you about Brian, but I’ve only just gotten a chance to call you now. We’re still dealing with all this fallout from this lawsuit and it doesn’t help that we have a new receptionist fielding calls…”

“It’s okay,” I assure her. “He did come in here thinking he was heading this implementation so it was a little bit of a shock for him when he was told he’d be my assistant.”

“Is it vindictive of me to be happy about that?” She asks with a laugh. “I’ve never seen someone backhandedly belittle women the way that man does. His mother must not have loved him enough.”

I laugh as she continues.

“Anyway, just give me a call if you have any questions or need my help with anything. I’ve been fairly busy fending off Elena Lincoln this morning, but I’ll make sure Andrea and Olivia know to get you through to me, even if it’s interrupting something.”

“What’s going on with Elena Lincoln?” I ask and she sighs.

“She’s not happy with the audit that I’ve scheduled with her and she’s been trying to get out of it since yesterday morning. She’s already called for Christian three different times this morning and tried to schedule a meeting with him, like she thinks he’ll go over my head and stop me from doing due diligence on my projects.”

“Is Christian meeting with her?” I ask, alarmed.

“No, he’s overstretched as it is dealing with his lawyers, and the state project, and well… everything else. Every time she calls he has Olivia direct the call to me and that seems to be aggravating her even more. I expect she’ll show up here sometime this afternoon, but that’s fine… I’ll just have Taylor revoke her security permissions. If she wants to be in the Executive Office, she can get a guest badge, and if she wants a guest badge, she can make an appointment. Of course, she already has an appointment, and it’s for her audit,” Ros adds and there is a hint of spitefulness in her tone that gives me great joy.

Ros doesn’t like her either and the fact that Elena is fighting this hard against the audit means that she’s hiding something. Once Ros finds out what that is, Christian will finally be able to see what she really is.

There is a knock on the door and I look up to see Brian begrudgingly stick his head into my office.

“They’re gathering in the conference room,” He says bitterly and I nod.

“Ros, I have to go,” I tell her. “I should be able to complete everything in the implementation guide after this meeting and once it’s finished, I’ll send it over to you.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, Ana.”

I hang up the phone and hurry to gather the files in front of me before making my way to the conference room for my first meeting as the interim director of SIP.

Hyde wasn’t kidding when he said the meeting would take most of the day. We spend hours and hours going through the responsibilities and day to day of each sector of SIP: agents, editors, sales, marketing, art and design… Some of the department heads seem to be accepting of the need for change while others are more resistant. I spend probably close to an hour arguing with the agents about changing and standardizing the query process and by the end, each one of them is looking at me as though they think I’m an idiot. But Jack is on my side, and both Ros and Christian have approved this plan, so I stand firm and move on.

When the meeting finally comes to an end late in the afternoon, I return to my new office to update and complete the implementation guide to send back to Ros and begin reading through the works of our current authors. When I walk through the door though, I’m immediately surrounded by the sweet fragrance drifting from the full bouquet of over-sized sunflowers, bright pink tulips, and round green chrysanthemums, that is sitting on my desk. It’s a little… bright for Christian but maybe that’s what he was going for. He knows exactly how stressful these meetings can be. Perhaps he’s being purposefully symbolic. I lean down and smell one of the tulips, and then smile as I reach for the card.

Congratulations on your first day at SIP, I hope these flowers will brighten up your office.

-Elena Lincoln

I gape down at the card and then turn and glare at the bouquet on my desk. What the fuck is she doing? Is this supposed to be some kind of peace offering to stop me from fighting against her? Maybe she thinks that if she sucks up to me, I’ll talk to Ros about the audit… But that seems unlikely. Elena knows I hate her. She knows that I’d never do anything to help her, no matter what it was for. This a game, and I’m not sure what it’s for, but I’m not going to play with her right now.

I grab a hold of the vase and carry it with me as I storm angrily to the security office GEH has added and find Luke staring out the window at the few photographers lingering on the sidewalk out front.

“Get rid of these,” I say, thrusting the vase into his hands, and since I take him by surprise, he fumbles briefly with the vase as he tries not to let it fall to the ground.

“Miss Steele?” He asks.

“Get rid of them! Keep this shit in my office, Luke,” I repeat and I turn around and storm angrily back to my office. It takes a great deal of effort to settle down and get back to work, though not as much effort as it takes to try and ignore the still lingering scent of the flowers that permeates the air of my office like a toxic gas. Between the paparazzi, my mother, that long and frustrating meeting, and the very unwelcome reminder of the bitch troll in the middle of my day… I’m feeling fried. All I want is to go home and relax, have a quiet dinner with Christian and maybe watch a movie or read a book. Unfortunately, I’m in charge here now, so the work, already piled up on my desk, can’t wait.

Once I’ve updated the implementation guide and sent it back to Ros, I begin skimming through the published works that are currently bringing in the most revenue for SIP, taking notes on who worked on each project as I go. I’m pleased to discover that most of the material is actually really good. So good in fact, that I end up wasting more time than I mean to by getting sucked into a novel by Boyce Fox, who it seems is currently carrying most of this company on just this one book. I’m several chapters into the story when finally, I’m drawn back into the real world by the ping of my email.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: Flower Delivery

Date: June 1st 2010 03:57 PM

To: Anastasia Steele

I heard that Elena had flowers delivered to you today and I’m sorry. I’ve just gotten off the phone with her and she will not be contacting you or sending you anything again.

Christian Grey

CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

I stare at the email dumbfounded…

He called her? But I thought… I mean, the point of him shifting Elena to Ros was so that he wouldn’t be in contact with her at all anymore! And then it hits me… that’s why she sent flowers to me. She’s not trying to suck up or win me over, she’s trying to get ahold of Christian and she knew that the easiest way to do that was through me. Fuck, I hate how well she knows him… How am I supposed to keep him away from her, when she knows exactly what to do to get him to seek her out? How did he even know about the flowers anyway?

But I know the answer to that too…

I clench my teeth together as I reach down and press the zero on my phone.

“Front desk,” Claire says brightly.

“Claire, this is Ana. Will you please send Luke back here for a moment?”

“Right away, ma’am,” She replies, and only a few seconds after I hang up the phone, I hear three gentle knocks on the door.

“Come in, Luke,” I say sharply and the door eases open with a creak.

“Miss Steele?” He says in the same low, even tone he uses when he addresses Christian. I wait for him to close the door behind him and then glare at him.

“You told Christian that Elena had flowers sent to me?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Don’t you see that that is exactly what she wanted to happen? She’s been trying to talk to him all morning and because of you, she not only got ahold of him, but she got him to call her.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Steele, I have instructions to inform Mr. Grey of any interactions between you and Mrs. Lincoln or any attempts she makes to contact you.”

“I don’t care what your instructions are, his family and I are trying to build a wall between her and Christian and by preventing me from finding out the truth about her involvement in this lawsuit and giving him reason to contact her privately, you’re undoing everything we’re trying to build.”

“I apologize, Miss Steele, but my job is not to keep Mr. Grey away from Mrs. Lincoln. My job is to protect you and to follow Mr. Grey’s orders, and his orders were for me to inform him if Mrs. Lincoln attempted to contact you in anyway.”

“Well you’re my CPO and I’m telling you that the subject of Mrs. Lincoln is off limits when it comes to Christian.”

“I’m sorry, that’s not how it works… “

“Come on, Luke,” I say, my voice sounding a little desperate as I realize arguing with him when he’s like this is like yelling at a wall. “Can’t you just drop the whole security detail thing for one second and understand that I need you to do this as my friend? She’s a manipulative, abusive, horrible person and it’s really important that she not be in contact with Christian. Please…”

He takes in a long drawn out breath and then stares at me with a defeated look in his eye. “Ana, this is why I didn’t fight to be your CPO when Mr. Grey assigned you Prescott again last week. Part of my job is to keep you from doing things that you want to do but that you’re not supposed to. I can’t be your friend over being your CPO… I did that when I was in Cambridge when I took you up that mountain and I got fired for it. When we’re out in public, I have to be your CPO before anything else, and right now that means that I have to keep you away from Elena Lincoln and let Mr. Grey know if she’s attempting to reach out to you.”

“Some things are more important than your job, Luke. I thought that you would think that I was one of them.”

“You are, Ana. My job is to keep you safe, I take that very seriously.”

“Luke, this isn’t about my safety. She can’t do anything to me worse than what she’s already done. This is about Christian and what that woman does to him. I need you to do this, as my friend, not my CPO.”

“I can’t. I have my orders, Ana,” He says, quietly, breaking eye contact with me, and I feel a surge of anger. It’s like he’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. My best friend Luke, who I know would move heaven and earth for me if I needed him to, and this horrible security robot Luke, who is so black and white about his job to protect me, that he’s going to be the reason I get hurt.

“Get out of my office,” I say bitterly as I turn angrily back towards my computer screen.

“Ana…”

“I said get out!”

He nods and then steps silently into the hallway, and once the door is closed behind him, I bring my email back up and quickly type out a response to Christian.

From: Anastasia Steele

Subject: Unneeded Phone Calls

Date: June 1st 2010 04:11 PM

To: Christian Grey

Why did you call her? Don’t you see that you’ve just played right into her hand? She sent me those flowers to get you to contact her because you kicked her out of your apartment and have been ignoring her phone calls all day. I don’t want you talking to her, period. I did the appropriate thing and had them immediately thrown out. I ignored her, as you SHOULD have.

Anastasia Steele

Implementation Director, Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

I hit send and then try and return to my work, but it only takes another minute or so for Christian’s response to come in.

From: Christian Grey

Subject: Careful

Date: June 1st 2010 04:13 PM

To: Anastasia Steele

Anastasia, I do not need you telling me what is and is not the necessary course of action when dealing with my employees. There was a problem, it’s handled. I was simply informing you of the outcome as a courtesy.

Christian Grey

CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings INC

His response is irritating, a reiteration of every reason I don’t want him talking to her in the first place. He thinks he’s in control, but he’s not. That illusion is just another one of Elena’s games.

There’s still a ton of work to get through by the time five o’clock rolls around, so I gather the few manuscripts I wanted to get through today and take them with me. Once I’ve powered everything down, I gather my things and make my way out to reception where Luke is waiting for me, ready to go. He holds up his jacket in front of me as we walk out of the building and into the blinding flashes from the photographers screaming questions at me. As I make my way to the SUV idling on the curb, I type out a quick text to Christian letting him know I’m on the way home.

Luke is quiet when we get into the car, and it stays that way as Ryan pulls out onto the street towards Escala. I’m in the back, so, unfortunately, I can’t turn off Luke’s shit music as we sit in the evening traffic that is going to make me late getting home. Christian still hasn’t responded to my text and it’s been twenty minutes, so I assume that means he’s busy dealing with work or maybe something with the lawsuit, and that leaves me with a sinking feeling deep inside my stomach.

He’s been so stressed out the past few days and me fighting with him isn’t helping that. I don’t know how to balance this… being his emotional support while also not accepting him talking to her, especially in private. I don’t know… Maybe he needs to see Flynn. It’s like he’s on a sinking boat, bailing water, but everytime he gets ahead, the boat springs another leak. Why can’t we just have one boring week? Maybe I need to see Flynn…

I can feel Luke looking at me in the mirror on the visor of the front passenger’s seat and when I glance up, I see that he looks worried, although he looks away the second I catch him staring at me. He focuses his attention on the line of cars creeping forward ahead of the SUV and when we come to another dead stop, he sighs and reaches down to change the radio station. Despite my best efforts, a smile creeps across my face as the soft music of Train fills the car.

When we get back to Escala, I put the new code into the elevator and that gives me a sense of peace as we make our way up to the penthouse. At least Elena can’t get in here… that’s one less way she has access to him. The doors to the elevator open and I immediately make my way to Christian’s office, but he isn’t there. I lean around the corner to see if maybe he’s in the library across the hall, but he isn’t. I decide to check our bedroom but once I’m out in the great room, I hear the low thumping sound of music drifting down the stairs.

I head upstairs to check it out and find Christian in the new gym we put together over the weekend. He has Eminem blasting over the stereo while he uses an extremely heavy looking set of weights to do bench presses with Taylor standing behind his head as a spotter. I watch him for a minute, impressed by his strength as he lifts the bar again and again. Neither of them notice me hovering in the entryway, so I turn around and head back downstairs to get a glass of wine and change out of my work clothes.

Because I’m feeling so mentally fatigued from the long day, I decide to crawl into bed and read the manuscripts, rather than work out of my office upstairs. I don’t get very far though as only twenty minutes later, Christian comes into our bedroom, relief washing across his face when he sees me sitting on the bed.

“There you are. I didn’t know you’d gotten home yet,” He says. “How was your first day?”

“Fine,” I tell him. “How about you?”

“Stressful. I need to be focusing all of my energy into this fiber optics project. It’s the biggest contract GEH has ever gotten and it requires a great deal of time and careful planning, but with this lawsuit taking up so much of my day…”

“It’ll be over soon,” I assure him and he lets out a long, drawn out breath before kneeling on the bed and kissing me.

“I’m not sure I like not having you in my office anymore,” He whispers against my lips.

“I know,” I reply, “But I live here now, so I’ll be here every night and every morning when you wake up.”

He moans at the thought and pushes me back into the pillows, his lips becoming more insistent upon mine until his tongue invades my mouth. I gasp, breaking away from the kiss, and his lips move down to the line of my jaw as his fingers begin creeping over my stomach towards the band of my leggings.

“Christian, you’re all sweaty!” I giggle because the light touch of his hands on my sides tickles. I try to push him away, but he doesn’t budge.

“Good,” He replies. “Let’s get you that way too.” He slides his hand under my panties and automatically the muscles south of my navel clench as his fingers find my clitoris. My mouth drops open as I enjoy the sensation of his fingers rubbing slow circles around me until my desire is heightened enough that his fingers become slick with my arousal.

“Oh, baby,” He groans, “I love feeling how wet you get for me.” He thrusts a finger inside of me and I gasp again, clawing at his t-shirt still damp with sweat. I want to feel him against me.

“Take your clothes off,” I tell him and gives me a wicked smile.

“But I thought you had objections, Miss Steele. Perhaps I should take a shower instead…” He eases another finger inside of me, slowly pumping them in and out as he curls them around in a come hither motion against the front wall of my vagina.

“No!” I cry out, losing myself in the heat that slowly begins to consume me. “I don’t have objections. I want you, Christian.”

“Are you sure?” He asks, pressing his thumb against my clitoris and working it back in forth in tandem with his fingers moving in and out of me. It sends a jolt of pleasure through me so intense I involuntarily squirm away from him but he lowers himself down on top of me to keep me in place.

“Oh no, baby. You need to be still…” He tells me, and as I lie there, trying not to move as he slides his fingers in and out, I begin to build, higher and higher, until I’m tight around him.

“That’s right, Ana. Should I make you come this way?”

“No,” I whimper.

“You’re sure?”

“No, I mean, yes, I’m sure. Christian… Ah!” I gasp, the heat now swirling around me, transforming into the overwhelming sense of pleasure that tells me how close I’m getting.

“What do you want me to do, Anastasia?” He asks. He forces his fingers deeper inside of me, holding them there, pushing hard against me and then swirling them around. I tilt my pelvis upwards, trying to put off my orgasm but I know it’s no use. I’m almost there, just at the brink…

“Fuck me, Christian,” I tell him. “I don’t want you to make me come with your hand, I want you to make me come with your cock.”

“Oh, Ana,” He says, a hint of disapproval hidden beneath the carnal need in his tone. “Such a dirty mouth. Maybe I should fuck that instead.”

“Christian, please!” I cry out. He moves his fingers back, keeping me just on the edge of release but not pushing me far enough to find it. I watch hungrily as he sits up, releases his erection, and then settles down between my legs. His fingers disappear and then are replaced as he thrusts deep inside of me and I immediately tip over the edge and begin to come, exquisitely, all around him. He pounds into me with savage force while I ride the wave of my orgasm, intensifying the pleasure, prolonging the ecstasy, whispering the words in my ear that keep the lust ignited inside of me.

“You’re so beautiful when you come, Anastasia,” He says when I’ve come back down to earth. “I want to see it again.”

So quickly, I hardly have time to react, he pulls out of me and then grips my hips and one of my legs to flip me over onto my stomach. Once I’m face down in the pillow, he grabs onto my leggings and roughly yanks them the rest of the way off of me. I squeal as his hand comes down, hard, on my behind and then in one swift movement, he’s inside of me again. I push back into him as he leans down and wraps my hair around his hand, pulling slightly while he thrusts in and out of me and to my surprise, the slight amount of pain from him pulling at my hair seems to increase the pleasure everywhere else.

I scream into the pillow as I’m overcome by raw, animalistic desire. It’s almost as if I’ve lost my mind and I don’t know if it’s the pheromones radiating off of him after his workout or just the need to release the stress from the day. The only thing I can think of is getting more, doing more… I want him to do things to me he’s never done before, to push me farther than he ever has before…

“Oh, Ana,” He growls as the hand not tangled in my hair, digs into my hip. “You’re ass is so fucking sexy. I love the way you look like this. I can’t wait to claim your ass baby.”

I bite down on my lip and in a moment of sex dazed braveness, I whisper, “Do it.”

“What?” He asks as if he didn’t hear me correctly.

“Do it, Christian. You want to claim my ass? Do it.”

He groans and then leans over me, pushing deep inside me again and eliciting a quick, high shriek as he yanks back on my hair and I feel him hit against my cervix.

“It doesn’t work like that, Anastasia,” He says in a low, deep voice that is thick with carnal promise. “If you want me to fuck your ass, then your ass is going to require extensive preparation.”

He punctuates every few words with a sharp thrust and by the time he’s finished speaking, my entire body is trembling, my breath coming in short, shallow pants.

“Okay,” I reply and I feel his teeth sink into my earlobe.

“What am I doing to you?” He asks. “You’re turning into quite the wanton little creature.”

“Yes,” I reply, unable to get out more than one syllable as his movements inside of me have reawakened the pulsing heat inside of me that tells me my orgasm is fast approaching. His hand moves away from my hips and he brings it down hard on my ass again. I clench around him as the sting rocks through me and hear him exhale sharply. He does it again, and again and by the third slap, I explode around him in a mind boggling orgasm that rockets through my entire body and wipes away all sense of thought and coherence.

I’m lost, completely overcome by the ecstasy and when I hear him yell my name from somewhere far off in the distance and feel him erupt inside of me, the pleasure peaks again until I can no longer hold myself up and I collapse onto the bed.

I’m shaking when he lies down next to me and pulls me into him, kissing my hair as he wraps me in his arms. We lie there for what feels like forever, and yet when he eventually does roll out of bed, it feels like not enough time at all.

“Where are you going?” I pout as I watch him pick up his phone and frown down at whatever he reads.

“I’m going to take a shower,” He says distractedly while he begins typing on the screen of his iPhone. When he looks back at me, I can see the tension in his face again.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“Nothing, just… It’s just my lawyers,” He says. “Do you want to take a shower with me?”

“No, I want to lay in bed with you,” I tell him and the small, crooked smile he gives me isn’t enough to erase the strain in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, baby. There are a few things I’ve got to take care of. You stay here and relax. It’ll make me feel better knowing you’re in my bed.”

I give him a sad kind of smile as he turns and disappears into the bathroom, but as I lie back into the pillows and listen to the water of the shower turn on, my phone vibrates on the bedside table and I turn to look at it.


Google Alert: Christian Grey

TMZ, June 1st 2010: Grey’s Mistress Revealed. Check out the exclusive pictures of Christian Grey‘s hot intern, Anastasia Steele, arriving at Seattle Independent Press (a new acquisition of GEH) this morning. According to whistleblower Leila Williams, Miss Steele’s appointment at SIP is one of the many perks she has received for providing excellent and very personal “service” to the CEO.


I click on the article and scroll through the dozen or so pictures of me getting out of the car this morning and making my way into SIP. You can’t make out my face clearly in any of them thanks to my jacket and purse and, in a few rare cases, Luke, but that doesn’t make me feel any better. In fact, I know it will probably just make them more aggressive in trying to get the first real photo.

I let out a defeated sigh as I climb out of bed, pull my leggings back on and head into the bathroom. Christian is already in the shower and he doesn’t notice me through the cloud of steam that fills the room, so I slide open the door a little to see him better.

“What’s wrong?” He asks when he sees me watching him.

“Just… there are pictures of me online. I just got the Google Alert…”

“I’m sorry, Anastasia,” He says, truly regretful and I give him a weak, I-know-it’s-not-your-fault smile.

“Maybe we should get away this weekend,” I tell him. “I mean, we’ve been cooped up in the apartment and we can’t go anywhere in the city. What if we went out of town for a few days, just the two of us?”

“Where do you want to go?” He asks.

“I don’t know.”

“We could fly down to Cabo, or Puerto Vallarta,” He suggests.

“I think leaving the country is a little extravagant for a weekend…”

“New York?”

“No!” I say, a little too harshly and he blanches. “I mean, we’ve already been to New York together,” I add, trying to cover my idiotic reaction. “I want to go somewhere I’ve never been with you.” Or at least somewhere without bad memories.

“So Bora Bora is out?”

I roll my eyes. “Yes.”

“Well then, how about Friday after work, we go to the airport and we buy tickets for whatever flight is leaving next? We’ll leave it up to chance. Like airline roulette.”

“That sounds kind of romantic,” I reply with a smile.

“Shocking, right?” He asks

“Not at all,” I tell him.

He reaches over to turn off the water and as he steps out of the shower, I lean up onto my tiptoes and lightly press my lips into his. He brushes my hair away from my face and stares back at me with look so full of love and awe that I feel as though it could make my heart stop. He kisses me once more, his lips are gentle against mine and lingering there just long enough to elicit a shiver that runs through my body and reinvigorates the desire within me that should be sated.

“What do you want to do now?” I whisper against his lips and I feel, rather than see him smile.

“Oh, Ana, I think you know what I’d like to do. Unfortunately, what I have to do, is meet my father for dinner. We’re going over some of the things he’s gotten through with the lawsuit today. I have some decisions to make. Do you want to go with me?”

“Do you want me to?” I ask.

“Not if you don’t want to.”

“Well… I mean, it’s not that I don’t want to, it’s the photographers… Can your dad come here?”

“He’s already made reservations,” He tells me. “Don’t worry about it, Anastasia. Stay in tonight and relax. I’ll draw you a bath and then have Mrs. Jones make you something for dinner. I’ll only be a couple of hours and then we can do some of the things I would, in fact, like to do.”

“It’s a date,” I say, and he smiles at me before I turn around and head out of the bathroom.

An hour later, Christian has left and I’m swaddled in a plush bathrobe, my hair wound tightly in a soft fluffy bath towel, and I’m finishing the delicious mushroom bisque Mrs. Jones has prepared. When my soup is gone, I get up to put the dishes away but Mrs. Jones insists that she’ll take care of everything for me, so instead I head back to my bathroom to blow dry my hair and get dressed. Even though Mrs. Jones had my clothes brought up and put away in the closet with Christian’s while I was at work this afternoon, I still pull my favorite pair of his sweats and the Harvard t-shirt out of his drawers.

I take the book I was reading earlier off the bedside table and head back out to the living room, to read and cuddle up with a blanket on the couch. Halfway through the chapter though, I find that I’m having difficulty concentrating on the text. Mrs. Jones has disappeared, where to, I’m not sure, and the apartment is dead silent. I think the google alert is getting to me more than I thought and as a result I’m realizing that I’m not really comfortable alone right now. It gives me too much time to think and to worry about the lawsuit and Christian and Harvard… I try to distract myself by turning on the TV but it doesn’t help. I need company.

My first thought is to call Kate and ask her to come over, but she’s in Mercer Island, or maybe even Bellevue, right now and by the time she leaves and fights through the traffic to get here, we would probably only have forty minutes or so before Christian came home. It doesn’t seem fair to make her drive all the way over here and then ask her to leave.

I let out a long sigh and then turn around to face the foyer, my lips pushed together in an irresolute pout as I try and decide how much holding onto this grudge and feeling like I’m right is worth spending the next couple hours alone. With a defeated sigh, I get up and make my way towards the foyer and around the corner to Taylor’s office.

Luke is sitting at the desk typing on a computer and looking a little bit bored, which I suppose is a problem for a guy whose job it is to look after a person who has spent the entire night doing absolutely nothing. I lean against the door frame and stare at him until he finally looks up, jumping slightly when he sees me standing there.

“Jesus, Ana,” He says irritably, and I let out a breathy laugh.

“Scared you,” I taunt him and he shakes his head before turning a more serious look on me.

“What can I do for you, Miss Steele?”

“Well, you could stop calling me Miss Steele.

“Ana…”

“Luke, I get it, okay? I’m sorry. You’re right, I asked for you to be my CPO and I should have known that sometimes that was going to mean that your job had to come before our friendship. I’m sorry I’ve been so rude to you today. I know that I keep putting you in awkward positions with Christian, and I don’t mean to. I’m not going to ask you to do things anymore that can get you in trouble and I won’t hold it against you if you piss me off because you have to do your job.”

“Well… thank you,” Luke says. “And I’ll try and find a better balance between being professional and being your best friend.”

“It’s kind of lonely out here…” I tell him. “Do you want to watch a movie with me?”

“Sure,” He says, a smile creeping across his face which I return as I watch him close down his system and then walk around the desk to join me.

“So what’s it going to be, Steele?” He asks as he plops down on the couch. “It’s a Wonderful Life? Some Like it Hot? Wait… let me guess, It Happened One Night?”

I laugh. “Well, as much as I know that you love that movie, what if we watched something from this century?”

“I’d die of shock,” He says dryly, making me laugh again.

“You’re not being fair. You always say I force you to watch what I want to watch but how many Tarantino movies have I sat through for you?”

“Not nearly enough,” He replies with a sly smile and I shake my head.

“Well, Elliot is always telling me how much he loved Avatar and I saw it on On-Demand earlier, why don’t we watch that?”

Avatar it is,” Luke says, and I pick up the remote to order the movie and then curl up on the couch next to him. The movie is okay. Mostly I want to laugh because Luke says I don’t watch movies if they have too much color in them, and that definitely isn’t the case with this movie. I am a little peeved though as I’ve given up a golden opportunity to force him to sit through It Happened One Night again, but he’s more interested in his phone than what’s on the screen.

“Are you even watching this?” I ask. “Because if you’re not, I’ll put on a Shirley Temple movie. Don’t think that I won’t. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is literally in the DVD player right now.”

“Sorry… it’s Leah,” He says, as his phone vibrates with another text.

“Oh,” I say, surprised. “Your girlfriend, right?”

“Well, I think it’s a little soon to be calling her my girlfriend. Oh wait, sorry… I forgot who I was talking to.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I ask indignantly.

“Nothing. Just that you moved to Seattle sixteen days ago and now you’re not only dating Grey, but you’ve moved into his apartment… Soon doesn’t seem to be a problem with you.”

“Yeah, but… I mean, we dated before and we were going to move in with each other right before we broke up and, and… and we’re not talking about me, right now, we’re talking about you. Why don’t you want to call her your girlfriend? I thought you liked her?”

“I do, but my job is really time consuming. It’s kind of a 24/7 thing and it makes it difficult to have a relationship, you know?” His phone vibrates again and he frowns as he reads the text. “See what I mean? She’s not very happy that I have to work tonight and she’s being a little passive aggressive about it.”

He hands me his phone and I look down at the text.

Okay, but say you WERE here. What would you want to do?

My brow furrows as I scroll through the last few messages and then a broad smile crosses my face as I realize what’s actually going on.

“She’s not being passive aggressive, Luke. She’s trying to get you to talk dirty to her.”

“What?” Luke asks, surprised and I shake my head.

“Here…” I tell him, and I begin typing out a quick, sexy message in reply. He looks over at what I’m writing and then immediately reaches out for his phone, which I’m just barely able to keep out of his reach.

“Ana, what are you doing? I would never write that!”

“I know, that’s why you need my help,” I reply with a giggle.

“God damn it, Ana, give me the phone.”

“Never!” I cry and then try to get off the couch and run, but he hooks his arm around my waist and pulls me back onto the couch, kneeling over me to hold me down as he pries his phone out of my hand. But I’m not going to give in that easily. The moment I’m free, I dive at him, laying on top of him to keep his left arm down as I try and reach for the phone he’s holding in his right.

“Stop it, Ana. You’re not sexting my girlfriend.”

“So she is your girlfriend!” I say, looking down at him with a satisfied smirk and he narrows his eyes at me.

“No, she’s my… I don’t know.”

“Give me the phone, Luke.”

“No!” He says defiantly and I reach further forward, my fingers inching up his arm towards the phone while I do my best to keep his other hand pinned to the couch. It’s hard though, because he’s stronger than I am, and after only a few seconds, with my fingers just about to the phone in his outstretched hand, he breaks my hold on his arm and reaches up and begins tickling my sides. I involuntarily flinch and then squirm away from him.

“Stop it, Luke!” I laugh/scream at him. “I don’t know why you’re fighting me. I’m just trying to get you laid!”

“What the fuck?” A cold voice says from behind the couch and both Luke and I freeze. I look over the back of the couch and see Christian standing in the entryway of the living room, staring at us so intently that it feels as though his gaze could burn right through us.

“What the fuck is going on in here?” He asks icily and immediately, Luke rolls me off of him and scrambles to his feet.

“My Grey, I…”

“You think you can come into my house and put your hands on my girlfriend?” Christian asks as he begins stalking towards Luke.

“No, sir,” Luke replies, backing away from him. “I would never…”

“You would never what? Don’t act like I didn’t just fucking walk in on you feeling her up on my couch!”

“Christian!” I shout, standing up and instinctively placing myself between him and Luke. “It’s not what you think, he wasn’t doing anything wrong. I was just trying to get his phone.”

“Get out of the way, Anastasia.”

“No!” I exclaim, but Luke tugs slightly on my arm to pull me out of the way and Christian stalks forward again until he’s only inches away from Luke’s face.

“Pack your things and get the fuck out of my house,” He snarls. “You’re fired.”

“Yes, sir,” Luke says, and he quickly turns and walks hurriedly through the great room towards Taylor’s office, Christian’s angry gaze following him the entire way.

“What the hell is the matter with you?” I ask as I start after Luke, but Christian grabs onto me, holding me in place and he stares furiously down at me.

I’m just trying to get you laid?” He quotes me in a tight voice.

“Yes, with his girlfriend,” I reply defensively. “He was texting her and I was joking around with him for being bad at sexting.”

“You were on top of him and he had his hands all over you, Anastasia.”

“I was trying to get his phone back and he was trying to get me away from him. His hands weren’t all over me, he was just trying to move me.”

“I don’t want him touching you. I don’t want anyone touching you.”

“Christian… Luke is not a threat to you, or to us, you have to stop treating him like he is! Nothing happened, nothing ever will happen. Not with him, not with anyone else. I would never do something like that to you.”

I stare back into his eyes, imploring him to see reason and watch as he takes a deep calming breath and some of the anger behind his eyes begins to recede. He looks down at the floor, almost guiltily for a moment and then back at me, clearly struggling to find the right words for what he wants to say.

“Everything is a threat to me,” He says quietly. “Sawyer, work, this lawsuit… Anything that has the potential to make you leave is a threat to me. I can’t lose you again, Anastasia.”

“You’re not going to, Christian, but you can’t try and hang onto me by pushing everyone else out of my life. Luke and I are friends, that’s all, but we are friends. You have to accept that and stop being threatened by him. I’ve told you a hundred times, I’m not going anywhere, not for Luke, not for anyone else in the world.”

He stares back at me for a second, his eyes searching mine, and then he shakes his head slightly as he speaks. “I’m sorry. You’re right, if I want you to trust me then I need to trust you. It’s my fault he’s in your life anyway, I suppose I’m just going to have to find a way to accept that. You could make it easier by not climbing on top of him though…”

“I can’t make any promises. Sometimes, Luke is a butthead and he needs to be put back in his place by being physically brought down to the ground. He’s a big guy, it takes my whole body.”

Christian rolls his eyes, but he’s trying to cover a small chuckle with an exasperated sigh. He leans down to kiss me, but I stop him by putting my hand up in front of my face and the second his lips touch my fingers, he opens his eyes and then frowns.

“Oh no, Mr. Grey. There will be none of that until you march back into Taylor’s office and make this right with Luke.”

“But…” He begins, but under my stern gaze his jaw clenches and he turns around and heads back into the foyer. I make my way back into the bedroom to start getting ready to go to sleep and am just crawling into the bed when Christian appears, looking agitated.

“Well?” I ask him, keeping my tone as pleasant as possible.

“He’ll pick you up first thing tomorrow morning to take you to work,” He replies, and I smile at him.

“Thank you,” I say, and he sighs and begins to undress for bed. “How was dinner with your dad?” I ask.

“Fine,” He says. “He’s been combing through all the interviews Leila has given, looking for inconsistencies in her story, but she hasn’t varied once from her original statement, like she’s reading from a script or something. Unfortunately it’s very difficult to prove that sexual abuse didn’t occur, especially since she’s not giving any specific dates or events that I could provide an alibi for.”

“What about the cameras in your office? She threatened me when she left, she said that she would ruin you. Can’t that be used for something?”

“It could… if the security footage had an audio feed. Taylor told me a year ago that the system needed an upgrade but I pushed it off for the new building. Stupid mistake… and I will not make it again.”

He climbs into the bed next to me and holds his arms open for me to cuddle into his side and as I lie down over his chest, he continues.

“Speaking of security footage… What were you and Elena talking about outside the office last week?”

“How much I hate her,” I reply and he lets out a quick, breathy laugh.

“Well, it looks like you’re not the only one. I swear this audit that Ros is doing on Esclava is going to start a war between her and Elena. They’ve both been hell to deal with all day.”

“I thought you weren’t dealing with her at all. Wasn’t that the point of handing Esclava off to Ros?”

“It was. She was calling me all morning and I ignored her until Sawyer told me about the flowers she sent to you. I called her to tell her to leave you the fuck alone and she apologized and asked me why she was being audited and I told her to take it up with Ros.”

“You shouldn’t have called her, Christian. She sent those flowers to get you to reach out to her and you played right into her hand.”

“I didn’t call her for an afternoon chat, Anastasia. If that’s what she was really doing, it didnt’ work. I didn’t talk to her about the audit. I called her to tell her that you were off limits and she was not to reach out to you in any way and that’s all I said. I don’t want her contacting you, and I put a stop to it, that’s all it was.”

“I don’t want her talking to you either, Christian. I don’t care what it’s about.”

“We run a business together, Anastasia. What you want is impossible.”

“Then, I hope Ros finds out she’s doing something shady at Esclava so that you’ll get rid of the salons and then you won’t have any reason to contact her.”

“I hope that doesn’t happen,” He says calmly. “Esclava is a very profitable division of GEH and right now I’d prefer it if there weren’t any other breaking news scandals associated with my company.”

I grind my teeth together and take a deep breath because I don’t want to get into another fight with him right now, not with everything else he already has on his plate. Perhaps once Carrick gets this lawsuit sorted out, I can schedule an appointment with Flynn and maybe the rest of his family so we can have a real discussion about Elena and why he needs to several all ties with her, including business ties. Like an intervention.

“There is one more thing Dad and I talked about…” He says hesitantly and I turn so that I can look up at him. “To keep you from being expelled, he thinks it’s best we come out to the public that we’re dating, not just fucking. We need to tell people that this isn’t some tawdry affair, this is a real relationship that has nothing to do with work.”

“Yeah, I figured we’d have to eventually…”

“And, since the relationship disclosure paperwork wasn’t filed before the lawsuit, he thinks it’s best we come out in a very public way, so that we can control the message…”

“Like a public appearance?”

“Not exactly. Something more detailed… Jacqueline is scheduling an interview with Elizabeth Vargas for later in the week.”

“What? That public? That’s not just Seattle News that’s… ABC.”

“I know, but this has turned into a national story, Ana… The New York Times ran article about it, it’s being talked about on all of the late night talk shows. People have been waiting for me to fall from grace for two years. There are a lot of people out there who want to see me fail.”

I take a deep breath and exhale sharply. “So… we don’t give them the satisfaction. And, if this is what it’s going to take to keep me from being expelled, then I guess there isn’t a choice. When is the interview?”

“Jacqueline is scheduling it first thing tomorrow morning. It should be sometime this week.”

“Okay, just let me know…” I tell him. “My mom is going to want to set her DVR.”

He laughs, and I can hear his relief. “I know this isn’t how you wanted to world to find out, but it really is going to be for the best, I promise you. I know my Dad and what he’s capable of and I trust his judgement.”

“I know, me too,” I tell him.

I turn to look at him again, this time pushing myself up so that I can kiss him, and when my lips touch his, his hands move into my hair. As I try and deepen the kiss rather than pull away, he moans and moves me off of his chest and onto the mattress before rolling over on top of me. His tongue explores my mouth eagerly, and as I wrap my arms around him to pull him into me, his hands move under my t-shirt and pull against my panties.

Next Chapter

 

Chapter 18

breaking-news

Despite the drama from Leila’s not so quiet exit from GEH, Christian and I are able to have a fairly normal weekend. It turns out that in addition to taking the state project from Ros (which I later found out was the multi-billion dollar fiber optics deal that he had told his dad about over brunch) and continuing to run his ever expanding empire, Christian has been online shopping.

We come home Friday night to several deliveries of things for the apartment and receive even more throughout the day on Saturday. So, we spend the weekend arranging furniture, rolling rugs out over the stone floors, and hanging expensive works of art. It’s a lot of work for one weekend and it’s a little tiring, but I’m glad Christian is doing it with me, rather than hiring an interior decorator to put it together for him. I like the feeling of building a home together with him.

The other good thing about helping put the apartment together is that I finally get to see all of Christian’s penthouse, and it’s gigantic. The library across from his office now actually contains books and the small room next to it is a complete with several black, leather recliners, a fully stocked bar, a pool table, a home theater sized flat screen TV, and four different gaming systems, which Christian assures me are for Elliot. There are four bedrooms upstairs, two of which are now guest rooms while one of the others has been turned into a home gym and the last one an office for me to work out of on the nights I am slammed with SIP business. He’s made it very clear over the weekend that, regardless of how much work I have to do, once I’m not longer working in the GEH building, I’m to be home by no later than 5:30.

He doesn’t work all weekend. There are no conference calls, no emails, no contracts, no reports for him to analyze. It’s the just the two of us, alone and together, and overall, it’s the best weekend I’ve spent with him since the time he took me to Vermont. Even he enjoys the separation from work and so we decide Sunday night that we’re going to extend the weekend by one more day and work from home for my last day at GEH before I have to move to SIP on Tuesday.

Because we were up late together Sunday night, Christian promised me we could have a late start Monday, but that dream is shattered by his phone ringing on the nightstand first thing in the morning, waking us both before we’re ready to start the day.

“No,” I groan when his arms move from their place around me and he rolls over to retrieve his phone. “You promised me, not until nine.”

“It’s 9:30, baby,” He says, with an amused air to his voice.

“Fine. Then no work until we’ve gotten eight hours of sleep.”

“I made love to you until 3:30 in the morning, Anastasia. If you want eight hours of sleep, you’re going to need to take the day off.”

“Don’t tempt me,” I groan. I open my eyes just as he looks down at the screen of his phone and he when he reads the name on the caller ID, he looks confused.

“Who is it?” I ask.

“My lawyer,” He says, pulling back the covers and climbing out of bed before he answers the call. I watch him leave the room, wondering if it’s a bad thing that his lawyer would be calling him first thing Monday morning or if that just goes with the territory of owning a huge company.

I’m secretly hoping that if I don’t get out of bed right away, once Christian finishes his phone call he’ll come back and maybe we can start the morning off in a much more satisfying way, but after thirty minutes of no return, I begin to lose hope of that possibility.

Finally conceding that the weekend is over and that I have to accept my grown up responsibilities and do some work, I roll out of bed and pick up my phone. There’s a text I missed from Kate last night but I’m more interested in the google alert notification at the top of the screen.


Google Alert: Christian Grey

The New York Times, May 31st 2010: Sexual Harassment Charges Brought Against Christian Grey. Several employees of Seattle based Grey Enterprises Holdings have come out this morning with claims that CEO Christian Grey, has violated the […]


Google Alert: Christian Grey

TMZ, May 31st 2010: No work, All Play for Sex Crazed Grey. Looks like Christian Grey isn’t the boss of your dreams after all. This morning, several female staffers of the huge conglomerate company filed civil litigation against Mr. Grey claiming that he pressured them to perform sexual acts in exchange for […]


Google Alert: Christian Grey

The Seattle Times, May 31st 2010: Female Employees File Suit Against Grey Enterprises Holdings CEO. A group of three, as of yet, unnamed female employees have filed suit this morning against GEH CEO Christian Grey claiming he sexually […]


What?

I look around the room, stunned for a minute by what I’ve just read and then break into a sprint towards Christian’s office. I don’t make it there though as I find Christian standing in the living room, phone still to his ear, as he stands in front of the TV with the remote his hand.

“What’s going on?” I ask, but he has to respond to whoever he’s talking to on the phone, so he gestures to the TV with the remote. I turn my attention to the news and my mouth drops open as I read the headlines flashing across the screen.

Female Employees Charge Christian Grey with Sexual Harassment

There is a woman I don’t know standing in front of a building I recognize as the King County Courthouse talking to reporters, and behind her I see three young women: Leila, Suzannah, and another I’m not familiar with. They all look pale, shaken, and visibly upset. I stare into Leila’s face on the screen, focusing on her bottom lip which is quivering ever so slightly, and I feel a wave of nausea.

“Leila is suing you for sexual harassment?” I ask Christian in a trembling voice.

“Apparently,” He replies. “But, Ana, I never touched her.”

“No, I know that,” I reassure him. “But… I don’t understand. What is she… How is she… I mean, why is she doing this?”

“I fired her,” Christian says bitterly. “I’m a public figure, an easy target, and I’m well on my way to being a billionaire.”

“So, she wants money?”

He doesn’t answer. Instead he uses the remote to turn up the volume and I turn back to the TV as Leila steps forward to stand next to her lawyer, a large tear running silently down her face.

“This was a difficult decision to come to,” She says shakily. “And I want to apologize to GEH’s COO Miss Ros Bailey, who is one of the most kind-hearted, ambitious, and inspirational women, and who I know will be affected by what Mr. Grey has done, just as the rest of us were. We simply could not sit back any longer and watch another girl fall victim to Mr. Grey’s predatory advances. No more young women should have to go through what we’ve all gone through.”

Her face crinkles as she breaks out into tears and her lawyer wraps her arms around Leila, holding her close to her and rubbing her hand over her arm gently. The press conference ends and as the news goes back to the reporter commenting on Leila’s bravery, I turn to face Christian and see him pulsing with anger.

Thirty minutes later, the apartment is crowded with lawyers. Andrea called me shortly after the press conference ended and begged me to come in and help her and since I’m more in the way here than anything, I take Luke and make my way into the office. Apparently, GEH is in chaos, fielding calls from reporters, angry women calling to express their outrage, and worse… Christian’s clients, who have seen the news reports and are less than pleased to be associated with GEH as a result. Though Christian is going out of his mind being stuck in the apartment and not at work handling his business and putting out fires, there are too many reporters outside the building and too much he needs to oversee with his legal team to leave Escala. He’s trusting Ros to deal with the client calls, or says he is, but then he calls her every fifteen minutes for updates.

When Luke and I arrive at GEH, struggling to make it into the parking garage through the line of protesters marching up and down the sidewalk, I immediately have to jump into action. They’ve opened extra phone lines to accommodate the increased call volume so no clients are left waiting on the phone, and Andrea and I spend a hectic morning telling media outlets that Christian has no comment at this time, assuring outraged members of the public that Christian is the paragon of business morality and strives for nothing but equality and respect for all women in the workplace, and accommodating clients in anyway we can before directing them to an overly stressed Ros.

Thankfully, the pandemonium dies down a little around noon and we have a second to catch our breath. Andrea runs down to the deli across the street to grab lunch for us, while I deal with the few miscellaneous phone calls that continue to slowly trickle in. When I hang up with what is probably the fortieth person today to call and scream at me about what a pervert Christian is, I rest my head on the desk and fantasize about being lost on an island with him somewhere without any connection to the outside world.

“How are you holding up?” A voice asks, surprising me, and I look up to see Ros leaning on the counter looking at me with concern.

“It’s not my favorite day,” I tell her. “But I’ll be okay. How are you handling everything?”

“Haven’t lost a client yet, thankfully.”

“Have you heard from, Christian? How’s he doing?”

“He’s pissed. He wants to be here and be the one to be talking to our clients, but he’s being held captive in his apartment,” She says and I frown, thinking briefly about calling to check on him but not knowing if he’s too busy for that right now.

“Where’s Andrea?” Ros asks.

“She went to get us lunch. Oh crap, I’m sorry… did you want something?”

“I’m okay, Ana,” She says. “Would you do something for me since she’s not here?”

“Sure.”

“I need you to schedule a meeting between me, Elena Lincoln, the head of accounting, head of finance and HR.”

“Any specific time or date?”

“As soon as possible.”

“Okay. What should I tell them it’s for?”

“I’m going to do an audit on Esclava. I don’t know, something just seems weird about the numbers. I just want to check it out.”

“Okay, sure,” I say, smiling down at my keyboard as I pull up the calendars for all the people requested to be in the meeting. It gives me a sick kind of pleasure knowing that Ros is suspicious of Elena and that she’s not going to just bend over and give her whatever she wants. If Christian isn’t ready to cut all ties with Elena yet, maybe handing her over to Ros is the next best thing.

Once the meeting is scheduled and I’ve sent out the calendar invite, the phone rings again and I groan and brace myself for another onslaught of rage before reaching out to answer it.

“Christian Grey’s office, Anastasia Steele speaking. How may I help you?” I say as sweetly as possible, but I’m surprised by who responds.

“Ana, I need you to come home.” It’s Christian and he sounds worse than he did this morning.

“I can’t…” I tell him. “It’s been crazy here all morning. Andrea doesn’t have any help.”

“I’ll have Ros find someone to help Andrea. You need to come home,” He says and in that moment I see a solemn looking Luke come around the corner.

“I’m going to take you back to Escala, Miss Steele,” Luke says, his tone mirroring Christian’s, and I give him a confused look.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“Just come home, baby,” Christian says. The phone clicks and I hear the long drawn out sound of the dial tone.

“H-hold on,” I say blankly as Andrea comes through the glass doors with take out bags from the deli in hand, and I reach down into the drawer to grab my things.

“Andrea, I have to go,” I tell her and she turns panicked eyes on me.

“What? Go? You can’t go…”

“I’m sorry, Miss Parker. Mr. Grey’s orders,” Luke tells her.

“He said Ros is going to find someone to help you. I’m sorry, Andrea,” I say, and because she can’t argue, she just nods and takes her seat next to me, picking up the phone as it rings once more. I give her an apologetic look as I get out of my seat and follow Luke into the elevator.

“What’s going on?” I ask, “You’re kind of scaring me.”

“I’m not really supposed to talk to you about it, Miss Steele,” He says.

“Miss Steele? Luke…”

“No. Stop,” He says firmly. “Look, I know we’re friends, but there are times when I have to be your CPO, Ana, and this is one of those time. My instructions are to get you back to Escala as discreetly as possible. You’ll know once we get home.”

I frown at his reticent attitude but don’t push him any further. He takes me down to the parking garage and quickly directs me to the Lincoln. I move to open the front passenger door, but he stops me and instead holds open the door for the backseat. I raise an eyebrow at him as I climb in and my confusion is heightened as he reaches behind the back seat and pulls out a small, fleece blanket.

“When we get to Escala, I’m going to need you to lie down and put this over you. There are photographers outside the building and Mr. Grey doesn’t want anyone getting a picture of you.”

“What’s going on, Luke?” I ask again, but he just closes the door and makes his way to the driver’s seat.

Escala is a mad house. I only get a brief glimpse of the news trucks and hoard of reporters and paparazzi flooding the sidewalk in front of the building before Luke instructs me to get out of sight, and the next thing I know, we’re stopped in the parking garage. My door opens and I see both Taylor and Ryan, and the latter is holding another, longer blanket. He lifts it up to shield me from the view of the entrance to the garage as I get out of the car and then holds it next to me until I’m in the elevator.

Christian’s apartment is still full and buzzing with activity. I look suspiciously at two people in the foyer yelling at someone over their phones as Taylor leads me into the living room where I find even more people typing furiously on laptops or flipping through papers in thick bound files, and Christian in heated discussion with someone I don’t know.

“Christian?” I ask hesitantly, “What’s going on?”

He looks up at me and I feel a deep sense of dread as I watch his expression morph from anger to something in between regret and pain.

“What?” I repeat nervously, and he reaches out for me and leads me over to the television, where I see Leila sitting across a news desk from a reporter. The headline across the bottom of the screen reads:

Grey Scandal Breaking News

New Victim Identified: Grey’s personal intern Anastasia Steele

Christian picks up the remote and turns the volume on.

“So you’re saying she’s not a victim?” The reporter asks, and Leila shakes her head.

“We’re all victims. What he’s doing is abhorrent, even if some of the women involved don’t have the moral fiber to see that,” Leila replies.

“You said Grey has shown preference to Miss Steele, in what ways did that become apparent?”

“Well, when she first came to GEH, we found out that Mr. Grey wasn’t only paying for her living expenses and her apartment, but that her apartment was in his building, an expensive building downtown. None of the other interns were offered any benefits like that. She got a company car and less than two weeks after she started, she was promoted into a very coveted implementation position for one of GEH’s new acquisitions. She’s a student, she doesn’t have any experience and she was still learning the basics about the company… there’s no way she was qualified for that job.”

Christian reaches up and mutes the TV again and I feel tears begin to well in my eyes as I stare at my name printed in bold font on the bottom of the screen.

“I’m going to make this go away, Anastasia,” He says, as he wraps his arms around me. “I promise you. I’m so sorry, baby.”

Time becomes a very weird concept as I sit on the couch trying to process what’s happening. I’m not sure if it’s minutes or hours that I’m left here feeling like I’m drowning in the ocean of emotions that are too overwhelming for me to identify individually. I’m only half aware of the people milling about the room around me, of the heated arguments that break out over communication failures and preparations for bank transfers. I don’t feel hungry, I don’t feel tired, I don’t feel cold or hot. I feel nothing. Like I’m somehow disconnected from all of my senses and left adrift.

“No!” I hear someone yell from foyer, “I don’t care if he’s not taking visitors. I’m here to see, Ana.” I lean around the corner and watch as Kate, looking worried and dressed like she’s come here straight from work, comes around the corner.

“Ana,” She says when she sees me sitting on the couch, and she rushes to my side and wraps me in her arms. “I just heard a couple hours ago, I got here as soon as I could. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I lie.

“I went to your apartment first, why are you up here?”

“The lawyers are up here,” I tell her and then, because it’s difficult to talk with the noise of twelve or so strangers mulling around the living room, I take Kate by the hand and lead her up the stairs to one of the guest rooms Christian and I put together over the weekend.

“Impressive,” Kate says as she looks around the room. “He’s put this together really quickly.”

“Yeah,” I reply sullenly and she pulls me down onto the bed and grips my hand.

“So what’s the plan? How are we fighting this? I mean, it’s lies… those girls are lying.”

“They’re trying to get a hold of Leila’s lawyer. I think Christian is going to try and offer them a payout to make this all go away as quickly as possible.”

“But that makes it sound like he’s guilty… he’s not guilty, and those things they’re saying about you on the news aren’t true. You got this internship because you deserve it, you’re who he wanted because he knew you’d be great at it. You haven’t slept with him in two years, I can testify to that if I need too…”

“No you can’t,” I tell her.

“Sure I can. Look, I know that’s embarrassing for you and for Christian, but Ana, you have stand up for yourself. You have to fight this. This could ruin both of your careers.”

“I’m not worried about being embarrassed.”

“Then what is it?”

“I’m sleeping with him, Kate,” I admit, looking down at the comforter. “I have been for a little over a week.”

“What?” She gasps. “But I thought…”

“I lied,” I tell her, but before I can elaborate any further, my phone buzzes on the comforter and I look down and see Carrick’s name flash across the screen.

“Hi, Carrick,” I answer.

“Ana, are you with Christian?” He asks.

“Yes, I mean… no. I’m at his apartment, but he’s downstairs with his lawyers.”

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t know, to be honest. I’m a little shaken up. I’m scared, Carrick. I don’t know what’s going to happen and I don’t know what to do.”

“It’s going to be okay,” He says comfortingly and once again, I feel a tear roll down my face.

“He didn’t touch any of those girls, Carrick. It’s all lies.”

“I know.”

“You do?”

“Of course I do. I know my son, Anastasia. He’s a victim of sexual abuse. I know what that’s done to him even if he won’t admit it. There’s no way he would inflict that on another person.” He says and my only response is a series of muffled gasps and sobs.

“What about you?'” Carrick asks.

“Me?”

“Are you two sleeping together?”

I hesitate for a second and take a deep breath. “Yes,” I admit. “But it’s consensual and it has nothing to do with GEH. He hasn’t offered me anything in return for sexual favors.”

“And this Leila Williams, she knows about you two?”

“Yes. She’s, I don’t know… in love with him, and she found out I was sleeping with him so she called me a whore and Christian fired her. She told me before she left that she would ruin him and I would regret ever coming to GEH.”

“Who does he have representing him?”

“Uh… his corporate council? I think it’s Kramer and… uh…”

“Feinstein,” Carrick finishes for me. “Idiots. It’ll be okay, Anastasia. I don’t want you to worry, okay?”

“Okay…” I reply, though the uncertainty is still apparent in my voice. He doesn’t comment on it though. Instead he hangs up and I pull the phone away from my ear, throwing it back down on the bed and turning guilty eyes on Kate.

“Why didn’t you tell me…?” She asks, slightly hurt and I take a deep breath and wipe a tear away before I answer.

“Because of this,” I say quietly. “I was afraid that something like this would happen. You’re with Elliot, Elliot is GEH. I know he means well all the time and I know he wouldn’t ever purposefully tell anyone, but he’s careless sometimes. He likes to tell jokes and I was afraid he’d make some comment, just trying to be funny, and someone would overhear him. I just didn’t want people to think Christian hired me so he could fuck me and I didn’t want people to think I was using him.”

“You’re doing more than just sleeping with him,” Kate infers and I nod. “What happened? When did everything change?”

I recount nearly everything that has brought Christian and I to this point over the last couple weeks and am surprised at how understanding she is, rather than being angry that I hid our relationship from her. And, to be honest, her accepting attitude makes me feel even more guilty.

“So that’s why he apologized to Elliot,” She says, as I finish with Christian’s pain filled confession in my living room after reading my book last Tuesday morning. “And you think he means it. He’s really turning around?”

“Yeah. But, if I’m being honest… I don’t know what all of this is going to do to him. He wants to believe that he’s in control of his relationship with Elena, but he relies on her when he feels lost or threatened… This is exactly the kind of thing that would drive him back to her and I don’t know if he’s in the place yet where he knows that he’ll be able to handle this without her.”

“Do you think she has anything to do with it?’ Kate asks.

“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t put it past her,” I reply darkly.

“Either way… whether it’s Elena or it’s just this Leila girl, this is such a deplorable thing for her to do. I mean, beyond what it could do to you, to Christian, to GEH… this will have consequences for women everywhere, for actual victims of sexual crimes. The last thing that we need is another reason for people to believe that women lie about things like sexual harassment and rape.”

“I don’t think Leila’s thinking about things like that right now.” I say quietly and Kate lets out a harsh breath of exasperation.

“I don’t give a fuck what she’s thinking about, her intentions don’t change anything. I really hope Christian drags her over the coals. In fact…” She says, her eyes brightening with sudden realization. “Maybe it would help his case and help mitigate some of the woman bashing fallout if a female reporter with access to mass media distribution were to write a piece showing support for Christian and calling out the atrocity of her lies.”

“I’m sure Christian would appreciate your support, Kate,” I tell her, giving her a weak smile. She squeezes my hand once more and as I take a few deep calming breaths to regain some sense of composure, my phone rings again.

“Carrick?” Kate asks but I shake my head, an overwhelming sense of dread crossing over me as I look down at the unknown number.

“Kate… it’s a 617 number,” I tell her and her eyes widen, reflecting the same fear that I feel in the pit of my stomach.

“Harvard,” She whispers.

I take another deep breath, answer the call and then slowly bring the phone up to my ear. “H-hello?”

“Good evening. I’m trying to reach Miss Anastasia Steele.”

“This is she.”

“Ah, Miss Steele. This is James Harris, I’m the Dean of Students at Harvard University. I have some questions about your internship with Grey Enterprises Holdings.”

“Okay.”

“Miss Steele, it surely hasn’t escaped your attention that you’ve been implicated in charges currently being brought against Mr. Christian Grey for offering professional advantages in exchange for sexual favors?”

“It’s not true,” I tell him. “My relationship with Mr. Grey in regards to GEH has been entirely professional. I knew him when he was a student at Harvard himself. He’s familiar with my work ethic and my skill set. I was selected for this internship based entirely on merit, I assure you.”

“And how do you respond to the reports that you have received additional privileges or perks that other interns at GEH didn’t. Claims have been made that while the standard internship at GEH pays merely minimum wage and congruent credit through the intern’s academic institution, you’ve received a luxury apartment, a new car, and a living stipend?”

“I, uh…” I stutter and Kate waves her hand to get my attention.

“You need a lawyer,” She mouths, shaking her head as a sign for me not to answer. I swallow and continue.

“Mr. Harris, I can’t speak to what the other interns have been offered in exchange for their tenure at GEH and due to the sensitivity of this subject, I’d be more comfortable answering your questions after consulting a lawyer.”

“Very well, Miss Steele. I need to inform you then that Harvard University will be launching an investigation into your internship as you have been granted congruent credit through the university and we have reason to believe you’ve violated Harvard’s code of conduct and ethics in regards to academic integrity.”

“Mr. Harris, I would never do anything to violate the university’s code of conduct. I assure you, my internship with GEH is entirely legitimate.”

“I hope so, Miss Steele, because if our investigation proves otherwise, you should be aware that the consequence will be expulsion from Harvard University.”

A wave of cold fear courses over me as the weight of his words hit me and I realize that now everything I’ve worked so hard for over the last three years is at risk. I can’t lose Harvard, it’s everything to me. Shit, what would my dad say?

“Have a good evening, Miss Steele,” Mr. Harris says, and he hangs up, leaving me feeling like I’m drowning again.

“H-he said expulsion, Kate,” I say, and she gapes at me.

“We’ll fight this then. Fuck a settlement,” She says. “We’ll get you a lawyer and we’ll fight this. Ana, you’re innocent. You have nothing to be afraid of.”

I’m shaking, the phone still in my hand as I try and process what’s happening. Kate reaches out to hug me again but I can’t handle that right now. I can’t sit here anymore, I need to be doing something. I need to know that something is being done to save my academic future.

“Christian!” I yell, suddenly jumping out of the bed and racing for the stairs. “Christian!”

I find him in the living room, going over something with one of the lawyers, but when he sees me flying down the stairs towards him and hears the tremble in my voice, he turns away and rushes over towards me.

“Ana, what’s wrong?” He asks, his eyes searching mine.

“I just got a call from Harvard,” I tell him, on the edge of tears once again. “They said that I’ve violated the code of ethics. They’re going to do an investigation and I could be expelled. I can’t lose Harvard, Christian. I can’t. Please, please don’t let me lose Harvard.” I beg and I break down, weeping into his shirt.

“Oh, Ana,” He says, his arms wrapping comfortingly around me. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll make it okay, I’ll find a way.”

“How?”

I feel him move as he turns to his lawyer. “Fix this,” He hisses, and the room is alive with noise once again as the lawyers return to their work.

I pull away from him and feel his thumb brush away the moisture on my cheek and just as he leans down to kiss me, we both hear the ping of the elevator and turn towards the sound to see Carrick step into the foyer. Christian stiffens immediately as his father’s eyes fall on him and he moves into the living room.

“What are you doing here?” Christian asks.

“I came to help,” Carrick replies. “Where are we at?”

We’re fine,” Christian says, emphasizing the word to illustrate that Carrick is not included in the ‘we’.

“Christian…” I say, looking up at him with imploring eyes and I see his jaw tense as he stares back at me. “Please. Let him help.”

There is an overwhelming aura of tension billowing around me as I watch Christian mull the decision over in his mind. He glances at his father, standing only a few feet away, then back at me before letting out a long, low breath.

“We’re trying to reach Miss Williams’ lawyers,” Christian says eventually, in a heavy voice. “My counsel is of the opinion that the fastest way to make this all go away is to offer a settlement.”

“Do you think this is about money?” Carrick asks.

“Sure,” Christian shrugs. “She’s just lost her job, she knows I have the means to pay to keep her quiet.”

“Ana?” Carrick asks. I shake my head.

“It’s about revenge,” I tell him. “She wants you, Christian. She thought she was getting close and then we crushed her. You humiliated her in front Andrea and Luke and… me, the person she feels she lost everything to. Before she left she told me she would ruin you, that I had no idea what she was capable of. This is about revenge, Christian. She wants to hurt you.”

“So what do we do?” Christian asks, turning back to his father and Carrick turns to address the room as a whole.

“Someone needs to get down to the courthouse, now. We’re going to file an injunction to keep her from talking to the media and get her off the TV. Next we’ll file countersuit for defamation of character and industrial sabotage. I need case files and court decisions on breaches of both tort and contractual fiduciary responsibility between an ex-employee and former employer. I’m going to need the GEH personnel files for each one of these girls. I want to know everything about them, their hire date, previous employment, performance reviews, everything.”

As Carrick issues his marching orders, I find myself impressed at the confidence he exudes, especially considering the men who immediately launch into action to carry out his commands are dressed in Armani suits and he’s standing before them in a pair of jeans and a Seahawks sweatshirt.

“I presume you two have something in writing to disclose your relationship to HR?” Carrick asks both Christian and I.

“Yes,” Christian says. “We drew up paperwork and Ana gave it to HR last week.” He turns to look at me and I feel the blood drain out of my face. “You did give it to HR last week, didn’t you?”

“I forgot…” I say and Christian’s face hardens immediately.

“You forgot?” He snaps.

“I-it’s on my desk at work… with everything that happened with Leila on Friday, I forgot all about it.”

“Jesus, Ana,” Christian says, running his hands through his hair with frustration and Carrick places a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

“We’ll figure out the paperwork. Leila is the young woman accusing you of harassment, right? What happened on Friday?”

I watch as Carrick takes a seat on Christian’s couch and pulls out a notepad and a pen while Christian explains why and how Leila was fired. To both mine and Christian’s dismay, Carrick informs us that exposing her to our sexual liaison over the phone on Friday, whether by accident or not, gives her a valid claim for sexual harassment.

“Thankfully though, she’s not claiming that the harassment in question occurred because of your uh… because of the event that occurred last Friday, she’s accusing you of attempting to force her into having sexual relations with you,” He says. “In this case, her lies are going to protect you from a very legitimate claim that she could have used against you. In order to avoid lawsuits such as these in the future, I would suggest you both keep your private matters confined to your private residence.”

Christian and I glance guiltily at one another before turning to Carrick, and with a sheepish look, Christian asks him to continue. Carrick asks Christian a long list of questions about Leila and her time in his office and about the other victims who Christian doesn’t even know. I try and pay attention but I find myself distracted by the news ticker running across the bottom of the screen, still displaying my name. This whole situation feels surreal, like I’m caught in a nightmare that I can’t get out of.

Kate is helping Mrs. Jones in the kitchen, cooking dinner for the dozens of people who it seems will be working here late into the night. I feel like I should probably offer my help but I’m a little dazed. This whole Harvard thing has me really thrown off. I’m supposed to start at SIP tomorrow, but now… I’m just sitting here wondering if I should quit. Experience isn’t worth anything if I don’t have a degree.

As I sit on the back of the couch, staring into space and trying to decide what I should do, I see Taylor come out of his office and walk purposefully towards us.

“Mr. Grey,” He says and Christian looks up at him but immediately brushes him off.

“Not now, Taylor,” He says.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Grey, but Mrs. Lincoln is on her way up.”

“What?” Christian exclaims and my head snaps up in the direction of the elevator as we hear the loud ping that announces her arrival. Christian gets off the couch and storms angrily towards the foyer and after a brief look between myself and Carrick, we both get up and chase after him.

I come around the corner just in time to see her step out of the elevator and hold out her arms to wrap Christian in a hug.

“What are you doing here, Elena?” he asks, pushing her away, and she looks up at him with concern.

“What do you mean, Christian? I heard what that horrible little tramp receptionist of yours was saying about you to the media, I had to come check on you. What can I do to help?”

“You can leave,” He says and she gives him a pained kind of smile.

“I know this difficult but-” She begins and then her eyes fall on Carrick and I hovering in the entrance of the foyer and her eyes go cold.

“Oh, I see…” She says. “You have company.”

“I do,” He replies curtly, “So if you could just…”

“Hello, Carrick.” Elena says, cutting Christian off. “It’s good to see you again. You know I was just thinking about you and Grace the other day. I meant to call her and see if she wanted to have lunch. I get to see Elliot and Christian quite often but I’ve missed little Mia terribly. How is she?”

I’m able to reach out in time to stop Carrick from physically launching himself across the room at her and when I look back, Christian is gripping her by the upper arms and pushing her back into the elevator.

“That’s enough,” He snarls at her, “You need to leave. Now. And do not come back here.”

“Christian, I know you’re upset,” Elena says. “I just want to help you. Call me later, we can talk.” She kisses her fingertips and reaches out to lightly touch the side of Christian’s face but he shrugs her off and turns back around to face his father. As the elevator doors close, Carrick stares at Christian, fire blazing behind his eyes and I worry for a second that he’s going to leave. That’s what happened last time he saw Elena and Christian together at that restaurant. He blew up at Christian and he left. I think Christian is worried too because he stares back into his father’s eyes with nervous uncertainty as we wait for him to say something.

“We have work to do,” Carrick says eventually, and although his voice is strained by the hint of anger beneath his tone, relief washes over me. He’s going to stay and help Christian. He’s coming around.

Once they’re back on the couch and Carrick continues his line of questioning, I begin to walk back into the living room to join them, but now my mind is fixated on Elena and the ease at which she seems to be able to gain access to Christian. She has the permissions to get into his office, she has his phone number, she has the code to the elevator to get into his house…

She has something to do with this. I know that this is because of Leila and that she’s more than capable of coming up with this horrible revenge scheme on her own, but my gut tells me that Elena is involved… and I’m going to find out how.

I turn around to follow her down into the garage but just as I reach out for the elevator button, a hand clasps around my wrist.

“Let it go, Ana,” Luke says, looking at me seriously.

“She has something to do with this, Luke,” I argue but he shakes his head.

“Then we’ll deal with it. That’s our job, and that’s the job of the lawyers in the other room. You shouldn’t be around her. Mr. Grey doesn’t want that, and neither do I.”

“Luke…”

“No, Anastasia. I’m not letting you go down there,” He says, and as if to make his point, he tightens his grip around my wrist.

I glare at him, feeling, for the first time, real anger with him. He’s really going to stop me. “You know, I don’t know if I like CPO Luke,” I tell him and he narrows his eyes.

“Then you shouldn’t have asked for him.”

I press my lips together in a tight line and yank my arm out of his grip. He responds by stepping between me and the elevator and so with an exaggerated huff, I turn around and march angrily back into the living room.

By the time I’m ready for bed that night, most of the lawyers have left, but not all of them. Carrick and Christian are deep in conversation and between that and the few people left hovering around printers spewing out court dockets from cases involving sexual harassment or slander, I wonder if Christian’s planning on going to bed anytime soon.

“Hey,” I say to Christian, giving Carrick an apologetic look for interrupting his conversation. “I’m tired.”

“Okay,” he replies. “Go to bed, baby. I’ll be in soon.”

“Okay,” I nod and lean in to give him a gentle, chaste kiss and then hug Carrick before making my way back to the bedroom.

Despite how tired I am, I’m not able to fall asleep. My brain is too crowded, thinking of everything I stand to lose with this Harvard investigation and what my dad would say if he knew the position I’d gotten myself into. I don’t know what kind of internet access he has or if he’s even interested in paying attention to that kind of stuff over there, but part of me is terrified some article about me having sex with my boss in exchange for professional favors is going to get to him. I couldn’t face the look of utter shame and disappointment I know I’d see in his eyes if he read something like that about me. The very thought makes me want to be sick and now, with the secret out, there’s nothing I can do to stop it. He’s gone to war to give me every opportunity in this world, everything I’d ever dreamed of. He sacrificed years of his life for me to go to Harvard and I might have just thrown it all away for a few minutes of hot sex.

I’m not sure how long I lie there wallowing in self-pity, but I’m sure it’s hours. Christian never comes and gets in bed with me and when I eventually roll over to look at my phone and see that it’s nearly two o’clock in the morning, I decide to find out what’s keeping him.

The apartment is dark as I attempt to navigate my way back out to the living room. Everyone has gone home so I know Christian isn’t just up working late, but I can’t find him. He’s not in his office, not in any of the rooms upstairs, not in the kitchen or the living room. The house is black and empty.

He’s not in control. He’s mad and scared and there’s one person who he always relies on when he needs someone to calm him down…

My breath catches in my throat as the fear that he’s gone to see Elena creeps into my mind, but just as I’m about to race back to the bedroom for my phone, a small movement from the balcony catches my eye.

He’s standing there, in the dark, leaning on the steel railing and staring out over the twinkling city lights and the inky black water behind them. I frown and then make my way out to join him. He doesn’t look back at me when I step through the door and into the night air that feels overly chilly as I’m dressed only in Christian’s t-shirt, and as I walk forward to join him, I notice a half empty tumbler of amber liquid resting on the table next to a lounge chair.

“Hey,” I say, “What are you doing out here?”

“Why are you awake, Anastasia?” He asks, still not turning to look at me.

“I couldn’t sleep,” I tell him. “I didn’t know where you were.”

He doesn’t answer that, I simply hear him let out a long low sigh and then watch him stand a little straighter against the railing.

“Are you okay, Christian?” I ask.

“I’m twenty one years old, Anastasia,” He replies so quietly that I have to strain to hear him. “I started my company when I was nineteen. Do you have any idea how difficult it was, how hard I’ve had to work to get people to take me seriously? I am Executive of the Year. They’ve called me a ruthless titan of the business world, a prodigy… and now all anyone will see me as is a kid who can’t control his fucking dick and who harasses young women who work for him. One lie, and I’m a joke.”

“No, Christian, you’re not a joke. This is why your dad wants to fight this, why it’s better that you don’t settle. You’re going to beat her, and you’re going to prove to everyone that you are not somebody who can be threatened or pushed around. You are a titan. You are a prodigy. When this is over, everyone will know that nobody fucks with Christian Grey.”

“I’m sorry that I got you wrapped into this, Ana. This isn’t fair to you and I swear to you that I will clear this up. I will not let her ruin anything for you. I only want to give you things, Anastasia. I never want to take anything away from you.”

“You don’t,” I tell him. “This isn’t your fault, Christian. She’s… crazy. That’s it and we’re going to get through this together. You’re not taking anything away from me. You give me everything. Just the way you hold me, you kiss me, you look at me, you give me everything.”

Finally he releases the steel railing and turns to me, reaching out and pulling me into him. His arms are tight around me, keeping me firmly in place against him, and for several minutes, we don’t move. We just stand there holding each other while we listen to the faint sounds of the city below. I move my head and gently place a kiss against the part of his shirt covering his chest and when I look up at him, he leans down and kisses me. His lips are cold when he presses them into mine, but the tender way he reaches up and caresses the back of my neck as he keeps me tight against him makes it difficult for me to care. I moan my approval as he slips his tongue into my mouth and when he moves his hand to reach up under my t-shirt and gently brushes his fingertips over my sides and cups my breast, this sweet moment between us suddenly morphs into something… hotter.

A deep carnal shiver rocks through me when his fingers clamp down over my hardening nipple and I reach down and grip onto him, feeling his firm erection through his suit pants.

“Oh, Ana,” He whispers. “I want to fuck you. Out here.”

I whimper in response which he must take as an affirmation because he moves me backwards until I’m pressed into the window behind me and though I feel the chill of the glass through my thin t-shirt, the burn that his passion leaves in my skin is hot enough that I hardly notice. I reach up and wrap my arms around his neck as he reaches down to lift me so that I can wrap my legs around him. I hold onto him as tightly as possible, kissing him, while he reaches down to undo his fly and release his erection. His fingers grip tightly to the thin band of my panties and with a harsh tug, he tears them down the middle, exposing me to him.

I gasp as he reaches down and swiftly buries himself inside of me. This is so quick! A hungry groan escapes his lips as he thrusts forward, pushing into me so hard that the glass wall begins to shudder slightly. I want to push back against him, but he holds me firm and steady, diving into me again and again, and I’m unable to do anything but cling onto him and revel in the pleasure. He grips my chin, holding my face in place as he kisses me, roughly. He moans and as I feel his fingers press tightly into the side of my face, I realize that this is more than just burning, passionate lust. This is a release of the stress and the fear and the doubt that he’s been overcome with over the long hours of this interminable day. This is real need, and knowing that I can give him an escape, a means for release, by doing this, pushes me into that dark, carnal place where I begin to build and build and… ah!

“Oh god, Ana,” He gasps, his labored breathing hot and harsh next to my ear. “I’ve needed this so much.”

“Yes, Christian!” I moan, my body alive with sensation and deep, primal need for this beautiful, perfect man.

“That’s it, baby,” He encourages me. My body trembles in his arms, and as I begin to clench around him, my impending orgasm just moments away, he realizes how close I am and he forces himself into me with a needy desperation that is a confusing cocktail of worry and eroticism.

“Come with me, Ana,” He says, the order tipping me over the edge and I explode around him, throwing my head back as I scream his name to the still lively city below us.

“Look at me,” He commands. I force myself to turn and look into his burning gray eyes, my mouth agape as the uncontrollable cries of pleasure tumble from my lips while my orgasm continues to wash over me, as he stares back at me intently, I feel his body shudder and he finds his release inside of me.

I’m weak when he eases me back onto the cold terrace, the exhaustion from the late hour and the long day mixing with the sex haze that still has a hold of me. Christian zips up and then scoops me back into his arms and carries me to his bed. Once he’s undressed and under the covers with me, I roll over onto him, my head on his chest, and he wraps his arms around me once more.

“This is going to work itself out, Christian,” I assure him. “You’ll see. This isn’t going to beat you. The truth is what matters, and you have the truth on your side. No matter what happens, no matter what they say about you or print about you, nothing can change that. You’re Christian Grey. You’re the smartest, strongest, most capable person I know. I believe in you. No matter what.”

He doesn’t say anything in reply, but he does tilt his head down to kiss my hair and his hand gently caresses my arm as we lie there together in the darkness and the silence.

“Move in with me,” He whispers, and I look up at him with a furrowed brow. “I don’t want you to have your things in the other apartment, I want them here, with mine. I don’t want your bed and my bed, I want our bed. Our room. Our home. Move in with me, Anastasia.”

I take a deep breath and look into his imploring eyes as I contemplate his request. We’ve only been back together for just over a week, and even though he’s come so far in such a short amount of time, part of me thinks this is too fast. I mean, couples without problems like traumatic bonding with child molesters don’t move in with each other for months, years even… But, then again, I don’t know that other couples love each other in the same absolute and all consuming way that Christian and I do.

“Okay,” I tell him and as the uncertainty in his expression fades away and he leans down to kiss me, I’m able to take one second to forget everything and just enjoy the feel of his lips on mine.

Next Chapter

Chapter 17

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Google Alert: Christian Grey

Seattle Weekly, May 28th 2010: Grey’s New Love Identified. The Mariners 5-4 win over the Detroit Tigers wasn’t the only source of excitement at SafeCo field this last Wednesday. Christian Grey chose the game to debut his new girlfriend to the world who Seattle Weekly can confirm is Katherine Kavanagh, the daughter of Seattle media mogul Alec Kavanagh. Pictured below: Grey and Kavanagh walking []


“You’re dating Kate,” I say, looking up from my phone and across the dining room table at Christian, who is reading the business section of The New York Times over an egg white omelette.

“What?” Christian replies, raising an eyebrow at me.

I click on the article and slide my phone across the polished wood surface of the table. “Someone saw you with her at the Mariners game on Wednesday. It looks like they got a picture of you two getting out of your car.”

He exhales, clearly annoyed, and shakes his head.

“You see what I get for letting Elliot take you in the Bugatti?” He asks.

“A new girlfriend?” I smile, teasingly and he glares at me before sliding my phone back across the table and picking up his own. I flip through the article again, wondering if I should send it to Kate because I know she’s going to think it’s hilarious, but my attention is caught by Christian’s phone call.

“Jacqueline, there’s an article in Seattle Weekly about me dating Katherine Kavanagh. Miss Kavanagh is dating my brother, Elliot. Take care of it,” He says shortly and then hangs up the phone and returns his attention to his paper.

“Who’s Jacqueline?” I ask.

“My publicist. She deals with all the press for GEH, she’ll have them issue a retraction.”

“Why would you want a retraction?” I ask.

“Why would I want the entire city of Seattle to think I’m dating Kate?”

“Well, A- because she’s not me, and B- she’s from a good family, she’s intelligent, she’s beautiful…”

“Beautiful?” He says, his face crinkling with distaste. “I think she’s pretty generic.”

I roll my eyes but before he can argue any further we hear the ping of the elevator arriving and when I peer around the corner, I see Luke walk out of the foyer.

“Hey!” I greet him and he smiles at me.

“Ready for work?”

“Does it look like she’s ready?” Christian asks, clearly irritated as he looks up from his paper.

“No, sir,” Luke replies. “I’ll wait for you in Taylor’s office, Miss Steele.”

He turns around and disappears back into the foyer and once he’s gone I frown at Christian. “Can’t you just be a little bit nice to him?” I ask, disapprovingly.

“He’s staff,” Christian dismisses me.

“He’s your girlfriend’s best friend.”

“I’m not nice to Kate either.”

“Yes you are,” I say and then hold his gaze with a pointed look.

“Fine,” He reluctantly agrees. I smile, get out of my seat, and walk around the table to kiss him. When my lips touch his, I can feel the annoyance he carries in his muscles relax and as I pull away, he gives me a small, sweet smile.

“I love hearing you call yourself my girlfriend,” He tells me, “I’ve really missed that.”

“I love saying it,” I tell him. “But I’m also your intern, Mr. Grey, and I need to get to work. I’ve been told that if you don’t arrive before the CEO, you’re late.”

“Well I suggest you hurry then,” He says teasingly. “I have it on good authority that he’s about ready to leave.”

“Right away, sir,” I tell him, and as I turn away from the table to go grab Luke, Christian reaches out and swats my behind, making me yelp.

I collect my purse from the couch in the living room and then wait for Luke to finish an apparently secret security conversation he’s having with Taylor. Once we’re in the car and on the way to GEH, I realize how much better I feel driving with him than I did with Prescott earlier in the week. In fact, everything is better than it was earlier this week. I’m a little surprised at how quickly I’ve reached this place of blissful happiness. Just three weeks ago I was in my room in Cambridge studying for finals and trying to prepare myself for everything that I was afraid of facing in Seattle. Now I’m here, and after only a little more than a week, I’m preparing for a real, important internship that won’t just look good on a resume but will give me invaluable real life experience for what I want to do.

Most importantly, I have Christian back. We’re happy together, in love all over again. Looking back, I can’t believe I wasted two years keeping myself away from him. Maybe that’s why it was so hard for me after we broke up. It wasn’t just the hurt, not just the betrayal… I’m meant to be with Christian and I’m not whole when I’m away from him.

“How can you listen to this crap?” Luke asks, interrupting my thoughts as we idle in the typical morning traffic. I glare at him and reach over and slap his hand away from my radio.

“Oh, I don’t think so, keep your hands off,” I tell him. “Consider this payback.”

“Payback for what?”

My car, my stereo,” I quote him and he frowns.

“Yeah, but I can say that,” He says. “There’s a difference here, Ana. My taste in music is awesome. Your taste in music is what’s wrong with America.”

I laugh and turn the radio up so that Ke$ha drowns out his complaints and then watch him shake his head and stare dejectedly out the window.

“What are you doing tonight?” He asks when the song is over. “There’s a cool band playing down at The Crocodile.”

“Sorry… Christian and I have, uh… plans,” I say, feeling my cheeks pink.

“Jesus, again?” He exclaims with disbelief.

“Hey, we went two years without having sex,” I argue, trying to sound incensed but failing because I can’t keep the ridiculous grin off my face. “There’s a lot make up for.”

“His dick isn’t going anywhere, Ana, you don’t have to get it all right now. Seriously, aren’t you concerned about chaffing?”

“Not with proper lubrication.”

“Oh, does Costco sell Astroglide in bulk?”

“I wouldn’t know. Christian is more of a… natural lubricant kind of guy.”

“Aaaaaaand that’s the end of this conversation,” Luke says, actually voluntarily turning the radio back up and I laugh.

Besides Ros, Luke and I are the first to arrive at GEH. So, while he heads back to the security office, I make my way around the office to turn on all the lights and then return to the front desk to take the phone off automatic voicemail. When Andrea arrives with Leila twenty minutes later, I’m reading through the material I have to go over with Ros this afternoon about SIP.

“Good morning, ladies,” I greet them and Leila looks at me seriously.

“You said you’re friends with Katherine Kavanagh, right?” She asks and I roll my eyes.

“Don’t worry, it’s not true. She’s dating Elliot Grey, not Christian Grey. Apparently they went to a Mariner’s game with Mr. Grey on Wednesday because they wanted to use his box seats.” I tell her, omitting the fact that I was also at that game…

“Oh, good,” She says, relieved, and as she settles down into her chair and I turn back to my work, I hear the doors to the office open again.

“Good morning, Mr. Grey,” Leila says brightly. Taylor holds open the door, while Christian enters carrying a vase overflowing with soft pink peonies, and I try to hide my smile.

Flowers, Christian? Really?

“Good morning, Leila,” Christian replies as he sets the flowers on the counter. “I thought these would look nice for when clients come through here.”

“They’re beautiful, Mr. Grey,” Leila says, “And they smell wonderful. Peonies are some of my favorite flowers.”

“Then I chose well,” He says, subtly turning to glance and me and I distract myself by looking back down at my computer screen.

“Can I get you some coffee, Mr. Grey?” Leila asks.

“Please,” He replies and then he turns and disappears down the hallway to his office. Leila turns back to Andrea, the look in her eyes a silent plea for her to cover the desk so she can get Christian’s coffee for him.

“Go,” Andrea says, rolling her eyes, and Leila smiles broadly before hurrying off for the breakroom.

“It’s strange,” Andrea says, once Leila is out of earshot. She sounds as if she’s simply musing aloud, but she turns to look at me. “He’s never personally bought flowers. I buy them for his mother and his sister and his grandmother… he’s never even so much as signed a card.”

“Well, it’s for the office,” I shrug. “You know how he likes to be in control of things here.”

“Or maybe they’re for his secret girlfriend,” She says implicitly and I raise an eyebrow at her.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s you, right? The girl that they keep talking about in the papers. I know it isn’t Katherine Kavanagh.”

“What?” I say, realizing too late that my reaction is a little too defensive. “I-I..”

“You have personal security, an apartment in his building, you know everybody, his brother treats you like family, every time you two look at one another it’s like you’re undressing each other with your eyes… and there’s a picture of the two of you together on his desk. It looks like it’s a couple years old but it doesn’t look like a picture of two people who are just friends. You said he had a girlfriend in college, it was you, wasn’t it?”

I stare back at her, dumbstruck. My head is screaming at me to deny it, to lie through my teeth, but I can tell by the look in her eyes, that it would be pointless. She knows.

“Yes,” I admit quietly, “But Andrea, please…”

“I’m not going to tell anyone,” She assures me. “He’s my boss and it’s none of my business. I get why you would want to keep it a secret, and you should. There are sharks here, Ana, and they’ll come to devour you if they think they can. It doesn’t look great, you know, with you being his intern…”

“I’m not using him,” I say defensively and she nods.

“I believe you, but that will be hard to prove. Especially with the announcement about SIP.”

“Tell me about it,” I say ruefully.

“Well hopefully with you being moved to the…” She begins, but stops when her attention is caught by a commotion on the other side of the room.

“Where is he?” Ros says angrily as she storms angrily out of her office. “Christian, is he here yet?” she demands.

“Uh, yeah, he’s in his office,” Andrea replies, slightly taken aback by the hostility in her voice. Even I’m surprised. In all the time I’ve known Ros, I’ve never seen her angry before.

“Good. Ana, can I see you in Christian’s office for a minute?”

Oh shit. Did something happen with SIP?

“Sure, Miss Bailey,” I reply, and I get up and follow her down the hallway towards Christian’s office. We pass Leila in the hallway, who is practically beaming with happiness as she slowly saunters back towards reception, but that changes when she sees Ros and I. She gives me a concerned, questioning glance but all I can do is shrug back at her as I’m pushed through the double wooden doors.

“What the fuck is this?” Ros asks Christian angrily, holding up a manilla folder as she stalks towards his desk.

“Yes, please, come in, Ros,” Christian says irritably.

“What is this, Christian?” She asks again and she throws the file onto his desk. He sighs, reaches out and begins to flip through it.

“This is the GEH non-fraternization policy,” He says and she glares at him.

“This is not the document that was drawn up by our lawyers,” She says. “HR just sent it back to me to let me know that you’ve made changes. I particularly like the part about how this policy applies only to employees having relations with their direct superiors. Is that why you gave me SIP, because you didn’t want Anastasia to be underneath you anymore?”

“That was a poor choice of words,” Christian says, as an involuntary smile crosses his lips but Ros isn’t deterred.

“I’m being serious, Christian. What the fuck are you thinking?”

I feel myself cringe at the way she throws her words at Christian like daggers. She’s really, really mad about this and I don’t really fully understand why… This really feels like more than just her concern for the company, and as I think about what she told me last Saturday night in the sushi bar, I think I realize what the problem is.

He’s one of her best friends, they’ve shared everything with each other for years, they took this gigantic leap into the business world together, alone… She cares about him as more than just a business partner. I don’t think this is the non-fraternization policy, I think this is us hiding our relationship from her, when she knows that we’ve been lying.

“Frankly, I don’t see what the problem is,” Christian says, his own voice terse now. “I think these changes adequately mitigate any concern you had about a relationship between Ana and myself.”

“She’s your intern, Christian,” Ros argues.

“No, she’s your intern,” Christian replies. “You’re taking charge of SIP.”

“Have you disclosed your relationship to HR?” She snaps and Christian’s face lights up with sudden recollection.

“No, but that reminds me,” He says, reaching into his desk drawer and pulling out a large envelope which he hands to me. “This is a relationship disclosure form, I’ve already signed it. Read over it, sign it and give it to HR as soon as you can.”

“You’re going to disclose…?” I begin hesitantly, but he interrupts me.

“It’s confidential,” He assures me and then he turns to Ros. “And will protect GEH in the event something should leak to the press.”

“You told me that nothing was going on between the two of you,” Ros says, turning to me and I blanch under her reproachful stare.

“When I said that, there wasn’t,” I tell her honestly. “I would have told you when that changed but… you freaked me out with this whole fraternization thing. You said I could be fired, and I didn’t want to put you in that position.”

She exhales sharply, but I think I can see the anger behind her eyes beginning to diminish. It looks as though Christian’s assurances are enough to assuage her doubt about our relationship’s effect on GEH because she eventually sighs and nods with conceit. She looks back and forth between the two of us for a moment and then, slowly, a nostalgic kind of smile crosses her lips.

“So, you two are really back together. Like for real?” She asks, and I nod. “When did it happen? How did it happen? No… wait, I don’t want to know that, but, GEH aside… I’m really happy for you guys. I can’t tell you how much he’s missed you, Ana. He hasn’t been the same without you.’

“Thanks, Ros,” Christian says, sharply. “Now, get out.”

“Fine,” She says. “I have a few pressing things to finish up this morning but we can meet in thirty minutes, Ana?”

“Sure,” I agree and just as we turn to leave, there is a long, flat tone that comes out of the phone on Christian’s desk and then we hear Andrea’s voice.

“Mr. Grey, Mr. Grey…er, your brother, just called. He said he needs a meeting with you. He’s on his way over from the construction site.”

“Let me know when he gets here, Andrea,” Christian says, as he turns back to the work in front of him. “Clear my schedule if there are any conflicts.”

“Yes, sir,” She says, and there’s a small clicking noise of her hanging up the receiver on her end and the phone goes quiet.

While I spend the next thirty minutes going over the business proposal I’m supposed to present on SIP for Christian this afternoon, Elliot arrives, looking flustered and holding onto a long cylinder as he strides his way back towards Christian’s office. Although he nods at me as he passes my desk, I know there’s something wrong. Something with the building maybe? I follow him around the corner with my eyes, wondering what could have happy-go-lucky Elliot so upset…

“Ana?” Ros asks, poking her head through her office door. “Ready?”

“Yes,” I say, pushing my concern for Elliot aside and trying to be confident as I pick up my freshly printed business proposal and walk towards her.

Throughout the week, Ros and I spent a great deal of time going over SIP and I made sure that I did not waste the time I had with her. She explained to me that GEH’s success lies in the simplicity of its business model. Christian invests in people, not in companies. What separates GEH from other conglomerate organizations is that Christian isn’t interested in size or a simple bottom line. He’s interested in innovation and the key to GEH’s success is finding the people with the will and the talent to create change and push forward. The subsidiaries of GEH aren’t simply the best in the market, they transform the market, and with that transformation comes profit and growth.

His agriculture division is revolutionizing the farming industry by creating technology that gives higher food yields while using less land, water and fuel. The focus of Grey Construction is to utilize only renewable and energy efficient materials to build homes and buildings so that eventually these structures could become entirely self-sustainable. His first project with the amalgamation of his fiber optics division with telecommunication security and software development has transformed the communication industry by increasing the speed and reliability of electronic transmissions and creating airtight security for encrypted information.

I have been tasked with finding a way to make SIP push the boundaries of the publishing industry, which has been difficult since what I’ve learned over the past few days of research is that the publishing industry is dying.

“Author focused publishing?” Ros asks once she finishes reading through my proposal.

“I know it sounds overly simple…” I say but she shakes her head.

“Simplicity is good. Tell me why author focused publishing will revolutionize the industry.”

“Well, traditional publishing isn’t sustainable. Self Publishing is on the rise. Any person with a laptop and an internet connection can upload their works online and sell it for a fraction of a cost while taking in all of the profit. Kindle’s are found everywhere, Apple just released iPad last month and there are hundreds of reading apps you can download right onto your smartphone… It makes self publishing not only viable but maybe even preferable. Especially with how difficult it is to break into the publishing industry in the first place. SIP has lost three major authors in the last year. I think if we invest in our authors instead of just speculating and chasing whatever the next big thing is going to be, we attract really talented writers, and keep the authors we have publishing through SIP. Then we invest more in ebook technology over traditional printing, and I think SIP makes it.”

“Well your organizational structure looks good, your financial analysis is promising. Overall, I’d say…”

“What the fuck are you doing here?” We hear a loud voice roar from the other side of Ros’s door. She looks curiously in the direction of the noise and we both get out of our seats to find out what the commotion is.

“Get off me, Christian!” Elliot shouts, and Ros and I both stare as Christian physically pushes an irate looking Elliot away from Elena Lincoln, who is sitting in the waiting area next to the reception desk. “She shouldn’t be here!”

“Elliot, calm down!” Christian says firmly, but the way Elliot fights against Christian’s hold on him, it’s almost as if he doesn’t hear him.

“I’m not here to see Christian, Elliot,” Elena says defensively. “I have an appointment with Ros about the new location.”

“Yeah, about that. You can take these plans and shove them up your ass. If you think I’m going to lift a finger to help you move into a location three minutes away from where my mother lives, you’re out of your goddamn mind. You can go to hell you over-botoxed bitch!”

Leila and Andrea both raise their hands to their mouth, shocked at Elliot’s diatribe, and while Elena looks over at them, a mixture of indignance and embarrassment coloring her face, Christian looks furious.

“Elliot!” He yells, gripping tightly to his brother’s suit jacket as he looks like he’s about to lunge at Elena. “Maybe you should take a walk.”

Elliot stares back at him shaking, but Christian holds his gaze, staring him down in a show of authority, and Elliot calms down enough to realize how inappropriate he’s being in the middle of Christian’s office.

“Fine,” he says darkly, and he shrugs Christian off. I watch nervously as Elliot stalks towards Elena, squaring up in front of her with a threatening look in his eyes, before turning and walking through the double doors.

“I’ll be right back,” I whisper nervously to Ros and then I turn and hurry quickly through the reception area, past a still angry looking Christian and a humiliated looking Elena.

“Elliot,” I say gently as the elevator doors open and he begins to step inside. He looks back at me and then takes a deep, shaky breath before reaching out to hold the elevator door open for me. Once I’m inside, he lets the doors slide closed and pushes the button for the garage.

“I can’t believe the audacity of that woman,” He says darkly. “She flaunting this business connection she has with Christian in all of our faces. You think it’s a coincidence that she chose a shopping center I could walk to from my parents’ house as her third location? She sent me plans, Ana. Me, not Grey Construction. Look, attention: Elliot Grey. I swear to god, I want to kill her, Ana. I want to strangle her to death with my bare fucking hands.”

“I know,” I say calmly. “So do I, but I think these plans are a sign that we’re doing something right. I think she’s nervous, Elliot. She’s trying to create chaos or force Christian into a reaction to scare us off because she knows that he’s pulling away from her. We just have to make he doesn’t play right into her hand. She’s already losing, Elliot. Christian hasn’t had the breakthrough he needs to in order to cut her completely out of his life yet, but he’s getting close. I can feel it.”

“I hope so, Ana,” Elliot says. I wrap my arms around him and he squeezes me, rubbing his hand over my back as the elevator doors open.

“Let’s hang out this weekend,” He says as he steps into the parking garage. “Maybe we can talk Christian into some family time.”

“Sure,” I promise and then wave as he turns and walks to his car.

When I get back upstairs, Ros has brought Elena into her office so I grind my teeth together and sit back at my desk to wait until my meeting with Christian, ignoring Leila and Andrea gossiping about the things Elliot said to Elena.

As I look through all the notes I took during my meeting with Ros and double check to make sure I have everything I need, there is a low buzzing sound and I look up to see a delivery man waiting on the other side of the door. Andrea gets up, takes the bags from him and hands them to me.

“This is for your meeting with Mr. Grey. He told me to send you back there once the food got here.”

“Really?”

“Mhm,” She mumbles, dismissing me, and so I take the bags and my files and walk down the back hallway.

“You ordered lunch?” I ask, once I walk into Christian office. He looks up, gets out of his chair and begins walking towards me.

“I’m in meetings all afternoon. I’m not going to have time to take lunch,” He says, and once he reaches me, he places his hand gently on the back of my neck and kisses me deeply, surprising me.

“Christian!” I exclaim as I pull away from him, “We’re at work remember?”

“It’s been a shitty day, Ana,” He says, and he leans down to kiss me again but I stop him.

“Well, we can work out all of that stress at home, tonight, but not here,” I tell him and he huffs with frustration and turns back to his desk.

“Then let’s get to work,” He says. “Please, have a seat, Miss Steele.”

I walk to the desk, taking out the containers of food for him to eat while I prepare. When I begin, he listens attentively, eating his salad and watching me carefully as I lay out my business proposal for him.

His feedback is very similar to Ros’s and that feels very encouraging to me, like I’m on the right track. We discuss financials and the different steps I need to take and how timing is important to each phase of this implementation. He signs off on everything I propose, adding a few of his own notes. He hands me some internal communication he’s had with the current directors of SIP and as I read over them, I have to ignore his overly attentive stare.

“What?” I ask, when I look up from the paper in my hands and see him staring at me. He smiles and then gets out of his seat, walks around his desk and stops in front of me, leaning over and placing both hands on either side of the armrests of my chair.

“You’ve got a little bit of salad dressing on your lip,” He says, and, despite myself, I’m suddenly enraptured by the sudden sexy timber in his voice. Keep it together, Steele.

He reaches out and brushes his thumb over the corner of my mouth, and I stare longingly at him as he sucks the small bead of moisture off his thumb. I inhale sharply at the erotic visual and then he leans down and presses his lips into mine. Slowly, his hand begins to inch up my thigh and under my skirt and when his fingers reach the tops of my stockings, he groans and tugs gently on the nylon.

“Christian,” I say, trying to sound disapproving as I pull away from the kiss, but my voice is so full of desire that I sound more needy than anything else.

“Go lock the door,” He tells me, and I stare back into his piercing gray eyes with hesitation. “Do it,” He commands me again and as reason gives way to yearning, I rise from my seat and hurry across his office to do as he asks. When I turn back around to face him, he’s pacing back around his desk, to his place of power.

“Come here,” He tells me and again, I obey his command. When I’m standing in front of him, he looks over my body once and then slowly reaches up and begins to unbutton my blouse.

“That’s better,” He says once he’s pulled the silky fabric off of me and I’m left standing before him in nothing but my skirt and bra. He sits down in his chair, leans forward and kisses my stomach.

“Get on your knees,” He tells me.

Reaching down to grip the desk so that I don’t fall in my high heels, I carefully lower myself onto the ground in front of him while he unbuckles his belt and then slowly undoes his fly. I breathe in deeply as he reaches into his pants and pulls out his erection and then smile when his hand twists into my hair and he gently pulls my mouth down onto him. As I run my tongue over the tip of his erection, I glance up at him, keeping my eyes on him as I envelop him in my mouth and I feel a rush of satisfaction watching him shudder with pleasure.

His fingers grip my hair tightly as I pull him deeper into my mouth, taking as much of him as I can manage until he’s in the back of my throat. He moans and gasps as I move my head up and down over him, alternating between licking and sucking until I bring him right to the brink…

“Stand up,” He tells me, pulling away from me just before he erupts in my mouth. I lick my top lip as I do what he asks and once I’m standing before him again, he reaches out and pulls my skirt up to my waste. All the muscles south of my navel clench as he leans over and runs his nose up the seam of my stockings on my inner thigh until he reaches the lace top, which he captures in his teeth and tugs on gently before releasing it and running his tongue over the line between the lace and my exposed skin.

“These are so sexy, Anastasia,” He whispers. “When we get home tonight, I want to watch you walk around my apartment in nothing but these and a pair of high heels. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” I breath and he pulls away from me.

“Turn around and face the desk,” He commands and once I’m facing away from him, He pushes gently on my upper back to bend me over his desk, and then reaches under my skirt and slowly peels my panties down my legs. I step out of them and he tosses them aside. I feel one of his long fingers slide into me and I moan as he starts to move it in and out, adding a second, then a third, all while stimulating my clitoris with his thumb.

“You have such a magnificent ass, Anastasia,” He whispers reverentially. “I love looking at you, bent over and on display for me.”

“Oh…” I moan. “And I love feeling your fingers inside of me.”

He lets out a low breathy laugh. “Oh baby, that’s not all you’re going to feel inside of you. Spread your legs. I’m going to fuck you over my desk.”

I widen my stance, and as he stands behind me, he pushes me down completely flat onto the desk so that my breasts press onto the cool wood surface and my ass is in the air. He runs a hand up my back and grabs a fist full of my hair as he drives into me, pushing as far into me as he can before pulling out and slamming forward again. I gasp and my hands fly out over the desk, knocking a pencil cup noisily to the floor.

“Quiet, baby,” He warns me. “You’ve got to be real quiet.”

“Oh, Christian…” I whisper, and with the sound of his name on my lips, he releases my hair and moves both hands to my hips, gripping tightly as he increases the fervor of his rhythm. I lose myself in the sensation of him filling me, so much so that I’m completely oblivious to the destruction I’m causing by pushing files and loose papers off the desk and onto the floor, but Christian doesn’t seem to care. I feel his hand grip tightly to my behind, his thumb sliding around his erection moving in and out of me and collecting my slick arousal before dragging it up my behind and then rubbing slow circles around the entrance of my ass. I moan as, surprisingly, it feels… good. Really good.

“Do you like that, Anastasia?” He asks huskily.

“Yes,” I whisper and he moans his approval.

“How about this?” He asks again and his thumb pushes slowly inside of me… there. I cry out, trying to be quiet but it’s difficult now as this new sensation has ignited the flame that signals my orgasm is fast approaching.

“Answer me, Anastasia,” He says.

“Yes,” I tell him. “Yes.”

“Mmm baby, I really want to fuck your ass,” He tells me, and as his thumb begins to move in and out of me in synchronization with his thrusts, I feel my insides begin to quicken. “That turns you on, doesn’t it, Anastasia? Thinking about me, here…”

“Yes,” I breath and, when his other hand moves from my hip and smacks me, hard, on the behind, I detonate. Once again my hands fly freely over the desk knocking into his phone, sending papers flying…

“Oh, Christian! Harder, harder, harder…!”

“Oh, baby, yes… Fuck, I’m coming! Oh god, Anastasia!”

“Um… Mr. Grey?” Andrea’s nervous voice comes through the intercom on Christian’s phone and he stills immediately.

“Oh my god!” I say, looking over at the phone in horror and Christian curses under his breath as he reaches over to disconnect the call. I scramble off the desk, pulling my blouse back over me and begin searching frantically for my panties as I feel a wave of dread and humiliation coarse over me at the thought of me screaming out my orgasm being broadcast over speaker phone in reception.

“What do we do?” I asked panicked and he reaches down under his desk, picks my panties up off the floor and hands them to me.

“Calm down, Ana, we’re not committing a crime here. It’s going to be okay.”

“I’m not worried about being arrested, Christian. I have to go back out there. I have to sit next to Andrea for the rest of the day knowing that she knows that we were just… oh god, this is so humiliating.”

“You’re embarrassed?” He ask, a note of hurt behind his voice.

“No! I mean, yes… but not because of you, of course not because of you. Christian, we’re at work. You’re the boss… Think of how uncomfortable this is for Andrea and… oh my god, Leila. She’s going to freak out… Not to mention I now look like the girl who can’t make it through one meeting without getting naked for the CEO. Oh my god…”

“Who cares what they think?” Christian says. “Anastasia, I love you. I’m so fucking tired of this whole secret keeping bullshit. I want the world to know that you’re mine. You’re not some slutty intern fucking her boss to get ahead, you’re my girlfriend. Everyone else is just going to have to deal with that. I’m not ashamed that I can’t keep my hands off of you, you’re beautiful and sexy and being in this building doesn’t change how much I want you.”

“I know, Christian, and I want you too. All the time. Even here. I’m not trying to say that I don’t. I don’t mean that I regret… I mean, I just…”

“Do you want me to go out there?” He asks. “I’ll talk to them, I’ll put an end to anything being said before it can start.”

“No, I don’t think that will make it better,” I take a deep breath. “It’s okay. I’m sorry I freaked out… I’ll be fine. You’re right, you’re my boyfriend, this isn’t some sleazy affair. We had sex, people in relationships have sex. I can handle this, it’s fine.”

“You’re sure?” He asks and I nod and then lean over and kiss him softly on the lips.

“Thanks for the desk action, Mr. Grey. Per usual, it was fan-fucking-tastic.”

“Anytime, Miss Steele,” He replies, and he kisses me once more before I turn, gather my things and then walk with what I hope is confident conviction out of the office.

Once the door is closed behind me, I hear voices drifting up the hallway but they’re cut off by what sounds like, Luke.

“Okay everybody just needs to relax,” He says. “He’s your boss. He pays you to do a job, not to sit around and gossip with each other. Get it together and get back to work.”

Everybody? Fuck, who’s out there?

I take a deep breath and come around the corner, and to my horror, I find not only Andrea and Leila in reception, but also Leila’s friend Suzannah, Luke, Taylor, Ros and… fuck.

“Well, I better be going,” Elena says sharply, her eyes flashing malevolently when she sees me. “Esclava doesn’t run itself. Thank you for the meeting, Ros. I’ll be in touch.”

“Good-bye, Mrs. Lincoln,” Ros says with a tight smile and then she gives me an irritated look before turning around for her office.

I glare back at Elena as she leaves through the glass doors towards the elevator and then make my way back to my seat behind the front desk, trying to maintain a sense of composure as I settle down into my seat.

“You okay, Ana?” Luke asks, concerned, and I nod.

“I’m fine, Luke,” I reply, smiling up at him as I open the lid to my macbook.

“Fine,” Leila scoffs. “Of course she’s fine. She has a great new job, a company car…”

“Leila,” Andrea says, her voice a warning and I take a deep breath and turn to face her.

“Is there something you need to say to me, Leila?” I ask and her nostrils flare.

“Oh there’s a lot that I need to say to you,” She replies angrily. “Tell me, Anastasia, did you fuck him to get the whole internship or just the SIP deal?”

“Leila!” Andrea exclaims.

“I think you need some time to collect yourself, Miss Williams,” Luke says harshly. “Why don’t you go to lunch?”

“Shut up, Sawyer. I think I’d like an answer to the question,” Leila says, not looking away from me. “Seriously, Anastasia. What did he promise you to make you whore yourself out to him?”

“Excuse me?” a voice says darkly from behind us and Leila whips around to see Christian standing at the end of the hallway glaring furiously at her.

“Mr. Grey!” Leila exclaims.

“What did you just say?” Christian asks, stalking threateningly towards the desk. “Did I just hear you call Miss Steele a whore?”

“I-I…”

“Pack your things,” Christian growls. “You’re done here.”

“Mr. Grey, I-,” Leila stutters but Christian ignores her pleas and instead turns to look at Suzannah who is watching the scene in front of her with eyes as wide as dinner plates.

“Who the fuck are you?” Christian asks.

“I’m- uh, I’m Suzannah Evans, sir. I’m a marketing intern.”

“Why are you here?” Christian barks at her. “There is a reason those doors have security permissions on them. My office is not a place for you to be loitering, Miss Evans.”

“I’m sorry, sir,” She says and she turns around and practically throws open the glass door in her attempt to get away as quickly as possible.

“Does anyone else have a problem they want to discuss?” Christian asks, looking around the room but under his irate gaze, no one so much as breathes let alone speaks up. “Good.” He snaps. “Now get back to work. Andrea, you can post the position for a new receptionist.”

“Mr. Grey!” Leila says, sounding as though she’s on the edge of tears.

“I said you’re fired, Miss Williams. Pack your things and get the fuck out of my office.” He turns and storms back up the hallway.

We hear his office door slam closed and then Leila, after standing and gaping at the hallway in silent shock for several seconds, devolves into tears, her breath coming in harsh, gasps as she falls back into her chair. I turn away from her, knowing I’m not a person who can comfort her right now. She just lost her job and I’m partially to blame… so I say nothing. I log into my laptop and quietly begin incorporating the notes Christian gave me into my business proposal.

It’s incredibly awkward when Andrea retrieves a brown, cardboard box from the copy room and begins to help Leila gather her things. I try to focus solely on the screen of my laptop, to not even look in her direction, but once she’s packed up and ready to be escorted out of the building by Ryan, she stops and turns to face me one last time.

“This isn’t going to turn out well for you, Anastasia,” She says menacingly. “You have no idea what I’m capable of. I’ll ruin him. I’ll ruin you. You’re going to regret ever coming here.”

“That’s enough,” Ryan says. “Let’s go, Miss Williams.”

She gives me one last examining look and turns toward the door and as I watch her step into the elevator and disappear from sight, I feel a cold shiver of trepidation wash over me.

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