The casino floor in the Bellagio is crowded, packed full of drunken men, scantily clad women, and desperate people throwing dice across tables or placing bets on Roulette. I shouldn’t be here. I promised Anastasia I would give her the break to think over her decision without any interference from me, but I can’t take the silence or distance any longer. I miss her. I want to see her. So here I am, waiting in this congested casino for her like some kind of obsessed psychopath.

I stare at a new group of people coming up the wide center aisle, adding to the already too full feeling of the room. The longer we’re down here, the more anxious I get. I’ve never done well in crowds. Too many people pressed together means too many opportunities for me to be touched. As one particularly unsteady girl stumbles past me, I nervously inch closer to the table at Elliot’s side.

“Where are they?” I ask irritably.

“I don’t know, probably getting ready… fuck, fourteen,” Elliot replies looking down at the card he was just dealt. The dealer is showing a ten, so Elliot asks for another card, which ends up being a Queen, and he busts at 24. “Jesus Christ, this is not my night… I guess if I’m going to get lucky it’s going to have to be after Kate gets here.” He shoots me a pointed look and a wide grin spreads across his face.

I roll my eyes. “Kate must consider herself a lucky woman to have found a romantic such as yourself.”

“Yeah… oh shit! I left my condoms in my bag! Christian, go next door and buy me a box. Magnums,” he says with a cocky grin, and then adds in a low voice that I would associate with a television advertisement for a sex hotline, “Ribbed for her pleasure.”  

“Fuck you, Elliot. Buy your own condoms.”

“What about you? Are you finally going to seal the deal with Ana? I mean, that’s why you’re here right? You’re not old enough to do anything cool here so I can’t imagine why else you would have come.”

If I only I could be so lucky.

“I just want to see her,” I tell him, and he rolls his eyes.

“You’re going to be a virgin forever, dude,” he says, and then turns back to the dealer. “Hit me.”

I turn away from him, glancing around the crowded room again, but I don’t see any sign of the girl I haven’t been able to get out of my mind all week… well, all semester really. My fingers twitch as for, the billionth time, I consider calling her, but, before I can either work up the nerve to do it or talk myself out of it, my phone vibrates all on its own in my pocket. I’m not hopeful it’s Ana, she doesn’t have my new number. In fact, the number of people who have my new number is so low now that I don’t even have to look at the name on the screen to know who’s calling me.

“Ros,” I greet her, as I silently get Elliot’s attention and motion to him that I’m going to head over to the elevators, where it’s more quiet, to take the call.

“Alright, now I personally don’t have any contacts at BMO but the daughter of the vice president of my dad’s company is sorority sisters with the niece of BMOs director of finance. That’s the best I can do and I don’t know if it will help at all. We’re going to have to go into Barclays, RBC and Lazard the regular way.”

“Michael Collins is the president of Barclays Capital and he’s a Harvard Alumni. I’ll look and see if I can find out if he still has any close relationships with a professor we could have recommend us and help get us a personal introduction. I met Hal Scott at a young entrepreneurs summit last spring and he’s on the board of Lazard. Hopefully, he was as impressed with my presentation on Diminishing Returns and Behavioral Economics as he said he was and I can use that to get a meeting. We’ll have to look harder for something with RBC. I don’t want to go into this blind with them and be put through the ringer for nothing.”

“Alright, I’ll keep looking,” she says. “And I’ll get in touch with my contact so we can get started on BMO. You’ll take care of Barclays and Lazard?”

“Yeah, I’ll have something drafted and sent over to you before I leave for Aspen on Friday.”

“Great, I’ll talk to you later than.”

“Bye.”  I hang up the phone and look dubiously out towards the casino floor. I really hope the girls have shown up, I’m ready to get out of here.

I weave my way through the crowd, following the path of least resistance and sliding in between people as best I can so that no one touches me. When I get through the majority of people standing and drinking in the ring around the actual gambling area, I scan the room for Elliot and… I see her.

Her hair is teased high above her head and falls around her face in a billowing cloud of rich, chestnut curls. She’s wearing perhaps a little too much make-up and it detracts a little from how naturally beautiful she is, but I’m too distracted by what she’s wearing to really analyze that too closely. Her dress is black and hugs so closely to the delicate curves of her body I have to use very little imagination to picture what’s just underneath the thin fabric. The hem falls just a few inches past her perfect ass and, in conjunction with the sky-high black stilettos she’s wearing, her legs look like they go on forever. Just looking at her gets me hard and in that moment, standing far across the room, I allow myself to hope that I’ll be able to take her back to my hotel room with me tonight.

I walk forward onto the gambling floor and when Elliot sees me, he calls out and waves his arm to get my attention. Ana turns to face me, looking surprised, and I see the sparkle of light reflect off the diamonds dangling in her ears. She’s wearing my gift. That has to be a good sign, right?

“Hello, Anastasia,” I say as I reach out for her,and she hesitates for a moment, but then reaches out and takes my arm so that I can lead her off the casino floor and down the long hallway that goes to the strip. I worry, as we make our way to the line of cabs waiting outside the main doors, that Ana is going to trip over her shoes, but she seems to manage them okay.

Once we’ve secured a cab, we head north up the strip towards the Wynn for dinner and then back to the Bellagio to see Cirque du Soleil, “O”. Both Elliot and I have seen this show several times as it’s my mother’s favorite, but neither Ana or Kate have, so while the actors perform their amazing acrobats, I find myself mostly watching Anastasia. I want to talk to her, to get a feel for where her head’s at, but we haven’t been alone all evening. Looking at her now, as she watches the performers with excitement and awe, I really, really want to lean over and kiss her. I’m entranced by the smoothness of her lips.

When the show is over, and it’s time for us to head over to Chateau, we take the sky bridge over Las Vegas Blvd to The Paris, and as we make our way to the entrance of the resort, I notice Ana staring up at the Eiffel Tower replica with amazement. I wonder if she’s ever been to Paris. I really don’t think so, she hadn’t mentioned any foreign travel over Thanksgiving, even though my Mom was constantly talking about the trip to Greece they had just taken for their anniversary.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I ask her as I grip tightly to her hand and subtly pull her closer to me. “The real one is immeasurably more magnificent.”

“I’d love to see it,” she says, looking up to me, and I smile back at her.     

“Perhaps I’ll take you there,” I say. I would love the opportunity to show Anastasia the world. We could travel Europe, take in the different cultures, dine on world class cuisine, and I could fuck her in all of the world’s most famous cities.

That is, if she says yes.

I think she’s picturing the same things I am because when she looks away, her teeth sink down into her full bottom lip and the visual resonates in my groin. Oh what I wouldn’t give for the chance to bite that lip.

We head through the doors of the Paris and up the stairs to Chateau where Elliot’s old childhood friend Carmichael Bishop is working the door. We’re very briefly held up but Elliot was right, Carmichael or “Big Mike” as he now apparently goes by, lets us through with little hassle. The hostess leads us to a table on the terrace overlooking the strip and brings us a bottle of Grey Goose and a bucket of ice. It’s slightly breezy up this high and I feel Anastasia shiver next to me.

“Are you cold?” I ask.

“She’ll be fine. She just needs some alcohol in her,” Kate interrupts before she can answer. She hands Ana a tumbler filled with vodka and lime juice and Ana rolls her eyes as she takes it and settles into the seat next to me. An hour and three cocktails later, Kate can’t stay still anymore and she pulls Ana out on the dance floor.

I watch her carefully, chuckling slightly as I catch every time she nearly stumbles in her shoes. I’m completely enraptured by the way her hips sway back and forth and the image the movement conjures is… intriguing. The temptation of her short dress is driving me wild, only just concealing from me what I want most. Unfortunately, as I glance around, I see several other men who look as though they’re thinking the same thing. It’s irritating to say the least. I should get up and dance with her myself, stake a claim, but I’d rather have her here next to me so that we can talk. If I can get her answer, if she says yes, then fuck the rest of the night… I’d have her back in my hotel room and wrapped around me as soon as possible.

I scowl slightly at my single minded train of thought. I’m supposed to be here for her answer, but the way she looks has me so… unfocused. Or maybe that’s just the effect she has on me. The Ana Effect.

“Go dance with your girlfriend,” I yell over the music to Elliot as the waitress places another round of drinks on the table.

“Why?” he asks.

“So I can talk to Anastasia,” I tell him. He gives me a strange look but eventually shrugs, drains the glass the waitress has set in front of him, and heads out onto the dance floor. A few seconds later, Ana comes back to the table and I hand her drink to her and move as close to her as I can so that she can hear me over the music.

“Your dress is very short,” I say, reaching out and dragging my finger up her thigh to the hem of her skirt. Only a few precious inches away.

“Kate picked it out,” she replies. Her voice is breathy and I wonder if it’s the dancing or the alcohol, or maybe, just maybe, it’s my touch…

“Your shoes too?” I ask. “I was worried you might fall while you were dancing they’re so high. You would have given everyone here quite the show.”

“Is there anything you like about what I’m wearing?” she asks.

“You’re earrings are lovely.” I reach up and brush my thumb over the diamond dangling from her ear, the diamond I gave to her.

“I was going to give them back…” She says hesitantly. “Kate convinced me to wear them tonight.”

Give them back? No.

“I’m glad she did. Why would you want to give them back? You look beautiful in them.”

“You were over-generous,” she says. “I shouldn’t accept such expensive gifts from you. Not when I have nothing to give you in return.”

I frown. Doesn’t she understand how much she means to me? Haven’t I shown that? I’ve pursued her, taken her home to see my family… Hell, I’ve even begged her to be mine. She has the ability to give me everything with just one word.

“There is something you can give me,” I tell her and she raises an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Your answer.”

Her lip quivers slightly and for the briefest moment, she breaks eye contact. Fear rushes through me. Shit, have I rushed this? Is she about to say… no?

“Why haven’t you answered my calls or the texts I’ve sent you?” she asks, and her question takes me by surprise.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve called you. Several times.”

Fuck, really?

“I’m sorry, Anastasia, I had no idea. I changed my number when I got home for break so I haven’t gotten any of your calls.”

“Why?”

“So certain… people… wouldn’t have my number anymore,” I say diplomatically. It was bad enough having Elena calling me twenty times a day in Cambridge, but that would have been a disaster under my mother’s hawk like focus. Besides, it’s over between us and after the shit she’s trying to pull with my Dad about Ana, I think it’s better that we don’t talk for a while.

“People? Like, Mrs. Robinson?” Ana asks, and my gut clenches. Why does she have to be so perceptive on the Elena issue?

“For instance,” I reply.

“So… why didn’t you give me your new number?”

“You told me you wanted time to think without any interference from me. No contact. I thought I was giving you what you wanted.”

“I was worried you were mad at me.”

“Why would I be mad at you?”

“I don’t know… because I didn’t have an answer for you before you left. Kate said you’ve been moody since you got back.”

Yeah, my business is being taken out from under me and I can’t be in my house for more than a few hours at a time without Elena trying to corner me. Besides, listening to Elliot and Kavanagh fuck through my bedroom wall every other night has made being apart from you even worse than I’d originally imagined, and now that I know I’m in love with you, your hesitance has been driving me fucking insane.

“Yes, well, there have been some problems that I have been unable to resolve over the last few weeks,” I tell her.

“Such as?”

“Do you remember what I told you about Ros and I?”

“That you’re starting a company together?”

“Yes. We got several investment deals back in mid-October that were going to allow us to leave Harvard and start up our company by June. After Thanksgiving, we lost one major contributor and, one by one, the other investors started to pull out. I went home to Seattle early to try and salvage what I could, but in this economic climate, people aren’t willing to take a chance on a couple of college students with big ideas and no experience.”

“So what does that mean?”

“It means, that I’m going to be at Harvard for a while. Both Ros and I have enough in our trust funds to start up, but unfortunately both of our parents are adamant that we will not get access to those funds until we have college degrees.”

“So, what if you don’t graduate?”

“Then my parent’s foundation will become several million dollars richer.”

“That’s harsh.”

“That’s Grace Trevelyan-Grey.”

“But you’d need to stay at Harvard anyway, wouldn’t you? I mean, even if the investment deal had gone through. If you left Harvard, you wouldn’t get your inheritance.”

“What’s a few million dollars compared to a multi-billion dollar empire?”

“You’re that sure of yourself?”

“Unequivocally.”

“So… you’ve been in business meetings all week?”

“Some of the time.”

“What about the other times? Kate said you’ve been out with a friend.”

“Did you think I was out with another girl?”

“Well… Sort of.” And the way she hesitates tells me exactly who she’s thinking of.

“You thought it was Elena?” I clarify, and she nods.

“I’ve told you before, Ana. I’m through with her. Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem to accept that so she’s been sitting at my house waiting to corner me since I’ve come home. I find the easiest way to deal with it is by staying out of the house as much as possible.”

“You won’t be able to avoid her forever, Christian.”

“I know. Eventually, she’ll have a new Sub and we’ll move past this. It shouldn’t take long. Elena isn’t a patient woman.”

“So that’s it then? Nothing’s changed since we last spoke?”

“Nothing’s changed, in regards to the way I feel about you anyway.” I wait for her reaction to that and, as if I’m being given a sign from heaven itself, she nods and takes a deep breath.

This is it.

“Then my answer is… yes.”

It takes me several seconds to absorb what she’s just said and even though the word echos in my head over and over again as if she’s shouted it down a long, empty cavern, I feel as though I still can’t comprehend the words.

“Yes?” I ask, needing her to say it again for me to believe her.

“Yes,” she repeats, and I can’t do anything but stare back at her with disbelief.

Yes, she said yes. She’s actually said yes.

She’s mine.

I reach out and place my hand on the back of her neck and pull her into me, kissing her hard, pouring the jubilation I feel into her. She kisses me back, equally as eager, and it eggs me on. Her passion means this is real. She really is mine, and suddenly the kiss isn’t enough. I need her around me, writhing beneath me. I need to be inside of her. Not because of the dress or even because of the few cocktails I’ve had sitting here watching her dance, but because I need to be close to her. As close as it is humanly possible to be.

“Get a room,” Elliot says as he and Kate sit in the booth across from us. I pull away from Ana to glare at him. We need to get away from the two of them. I need to get Ana alone. I turn back to her, giving her an imploring look.

“Come back to the room with me,” I ask quietly, and she nods. Another yes. I stand from the table and take her hand to help her get to her feet.

“Where are you going?” Elliot asks.

“Back to the room,” I tell him offhandedly as I pull Ana away from the table. Kate yells something about fireworks after us, but I ignore her. I’m single minded in my need to get Ana into my bed. Excitement I don’t know if I’ve ever felt before fills me as it really sinks in that I’m finally going to get to indulge in her for the first time. As we take the stairs down to the first floor of the Paris, I’m already hard, just with the anticipation.

I’m going to make this the best night of her fucking life. I’m going to please her in a way no man ever has been able to before. I’m going to make her come over and over again until her body can’t take it anymore.

When we get back to the Bellagio, we rush forward to get the elevator and once the group of people flood their way through the doors, I usher Anastasia inside. The doors slide closed, leaving us alone, and I take advantage by pinning her against the wall, securing her hands above her head with mine, and then taking her lips again. She tastes like heaven, sweet with a hint of citrus from the lime in her drinks. I push myself into her and when she moans at the feel of my erection against her leg, it takes every ounce of self-control I possess to simply not take her right there, against the wall. I resist though, because I need this to be perfect. Still, I reach down and pull her leg up around my waist so that I can press myself further into her, let her know what’s waiting for her in just a few short minutes.

When the elevator pings, announcing we have arrived at our floor, and the doors slide open, I release her and pull her eagerly out into the hallway. I have to relinquish her hand when we get to the room to pull the key card out of my wallet and just the brief amount of time I’m not touching her leaves me aching. When I get the door open, I turn around and pull her inside with me, staring hungrily at her body and then claim her mouth again as the door closes behind her.

“Do you have any idea how much I want you, Anastasia?” I ask against her lips.

“No,” she breathes, and I smile at the need I can hear in her voice. She wants this just as badly as I do.

“Let me show you.”

I take her by the hand and lead her into the bedroom off the small living room suite. When I let her go so that I can remove my shoes, socks, and shirt, she moves to the window and stares down at the dancing fountains below. The view from this room really is extraordinary, the perfect setting for our first time together.

I come up behind her and wrap my arm around her waist. “Let’s get you out of this dress,” I whisper as I reach up for her zipper and press my lips gently against the perfectly smooth skin of her neck. Fuck, she smells good.

I tug the zipper and it slides down only a fraction of an inch before Ana suddenly worms out of my arms and cries out to stop me.

“Wait!” she says, and she turns around to look at me with something close to panic etched on her face.

Wait? No! What the fuck is this? I thought she…

“What is it?” I ask, the confusion in my voice apparent.

“Well… it’s just that, um…

Oh god, she’s backing out. “You don’t want to fuck?” I ask, and the confusion turns into fear. If she’s saying no, maybe she’s changed her mind all together. Fuck, what did I do?

“No, it’s not that, I just… well. Okay, um, Christian, before we… um, before we make love, I think you need to know something.”

“What?” I ask uneasily.

“Okay, I, uh… I haven’t done this before.”

“Done what?” I ask again, and then I realize that this might actually be moving faster for her than it ever has before. She dated Carter Reed for what… almost two months and she’s already told me they never had sex. “This hardly counts as having sex on the first date, Ana, if that’s what you’re worried about. We’ve known each other for months, and have had several dates if that’s what you wanted to call them.”

“No, I have done any of this before. Sex, I mean,” she clarifies, and for the second time tonight, it takes me a minute to comprehend what she’s saying. She’s never had sex before? Like… at all?

“You’ve never had sex?’

“No,” she says again.

“You’re a virgin?” I ask, my voice made weak by the confusion and utter incredulity that grips me.

She nods and we stare at each other for a minute while I try and wrap my head around this. I just don’t understand…

“How?” I ask.

“What do you mean?’

“How? How have you avoided sex? You’re beautiful! You’re everything. I’ve been dying to have you since I first laid eyes on you that day you asked me about the stupid name tag. How has someone never taken you to bed before?”

“I’ve just never met someone I wanted. Not until you.”

The fantasies that I’ve pictured nearly every day for the last few months suddenly change as I try and work through how I need to approach this. I hadn’t considered this being a possibility and really, I’m not even sure what to do with a virgin. I don’t want to hurt her, but I don’t know how careful to be. Should I wait to do some of the things I’d love to do to her until she gets more accustomed to sex? I don’t even know what’s new to her and what isn’t…

“But, you’ve done other things,” I press her.

“Not really.” She shakes her head.

Nothing? Nothing! What do I…? Fuck! I run my hands through my hair as I try and work through what my next move should be. I still want her, desperately. Maybe I just… start slow. Let her ease into it before I really start to fuck her. Maybe if I make her come before I’m inside of her, it’ll be easier. Yeah, I can test her then. See how responsive she is.

“Christian?” Anastasia asks tentatively, but I can’t stop myself from pacing.

“I don’t…” I begin, and then it hits me. She’s a virgin and that means no one else has had her before. She’s really giving herself to me. She’ll be mine. Really mine. Only mine. I look up at her. “What do you want to do, Anastasia?”

“I, uh…”

“Do you want to do this?” I ask.

“Yes,” she whispers, and although her voice is weak, there is resolution there too. “I just wanted you to know before…”

It’s all the affirmation I need. I close the space between us, wrap her in my arms, and kiss her again. My hands rake over her body, desperate to feel her, all of her, as they move up and yank down the zipper on the back of her dress the rest of the way. My fingertips brush over the skin on her shoulder and gently ease her dress down her body until it falls to the ground. She isn’t wearing a bra, only a pair of delicate, lace panties. She’s already exposed to me, and she’s beautiful.

I reach down and scoop her into my arms, holding her against my chest as I carry her to the bed. I lie her down over the golden bedding, then crawl over the top of her and lower my lips to hers again. I feel her hands at my side, gripping tightly to the comforter, so, without breaking the kiss, I reach down and lift her arms above her head, keeping my hands on her forearms to see if she’ll move them once I let go to explore her body some more. When I’m sure she won’t, I drag my fingers down her arms as I peel my lips away from hers and travel slowly down her chin, and then the delicate curve of her neck. The more my lips continue on, the more she squirms beneath me. She’s already so responsive to my touch and it makes me smile to think of how she’ll be when I reach my destination. Perhaps she doesn’t even know how great it’s really going to be.

“Don’t move, baby.” I tell her as I reach down to hold her slender hips in place. I leave a trail of kisses from her collarbone and down her chest until I reach her impeccable breasts. I would like to sit back and simply marvel at them, really appreciate how beautiful they are, but I’m beginning to ache for her, I need to be inside her, and so I simply run my tongue up the side of her breast before taking her small, pink nipple into my mouth. She takes a short, harsh intake of breath and then cries out as I suck hard, circling my tongue around it, and then gently graze it with my teeth until it stands erect.

She’s moaning and with each carnal sound that escapes her lips, I feel my cock grow harder. I reach down to slide my fingers beneath her panties, feeling my way along her enticingly smooth skin until I find her clitoris. As I begin to tease her, stroke her in time with my tongue on her breast, her hips begin grinding up into me, then squirming away from me as she fights to move away from the pleasure that’s overwhelming her. Is she about to come? I move over to her other nipple, using my teeth on her once more, and she lets out a long, high moan that cuts off with a series of short gasps. She’s coming. I’ve made her fall apart, though I’ve barely touched her, and it makes me feel ten feet tall. Her cries of pleasure belong to me and I want them.

I leave one last kiss on her nipple before moving up to her mouth, kissing her deeply and muffling her screams with my lips. When her hips stop quivering and her breathing slows back down to normal, I pull away and give her an amused smile.

“Already, Miss Steele?” I ask her. “You’re very responsive. I like that. I like that a lot. I can’t wait to show you what I can do to you, Anastasia.”

She looks back at me, still panting and looking utterly lost. She’s completely stunning as she comes down from her orgasm and immediately, I want another one. I want to make her come again and again.

I sit up, reach for her high heels, and begin unbuckling the straps. I’m going to move her to as many places in this room as I can before I lose her to sleep, and I don’t want her tripping over them. It’s a shame though, her legs look really great in these shoes.

“These are unbelievably sexy, Anastasia.” I tell her as I slide her right shoe off and move to the next one. “But as much as I’d like to have them over my shoulder, I think we can do without them. I want to be able to move you and I don’t want you struggling with your shoes while I fuck you.”

She gasps and then quickly reaches up to remove her earrings, an attempt to help me undress her faster, but I don’t want her to take them off. They are the first gift I’ve given her, the first thing she accepted from me. They are a reminder that she belongs to me.

“Don’t,” I tell her. “I want you to keep those on.”

Her hands fall to her sides just as I remove her other shoe and I lock my gaze onto hers as I run my thumb up her instep and then take her toe into my mouth. She moans approvingly as I gently bite down on the pad and then move to her other foot.

“Christian!” she cries, and she tilts her pelvis up towards me, an unconscious motion begging me to take her and give her release. Well I’m not interested in subliminal gestures, if she wants me to fuck her, I want to hear her say the words.

“What do you want, Anastasia?” I ask.

“You. Please. Now,” She replies incoherently, and I smile.

“So greedy.” I lean down to claim her lips again and she kisses me back so fervently that I have to break the kiss before her enthusiasm breaks my patience and I just start fucking her. I’m not done warming her up. The more I do here, the more intense it will be when I finally sink inside of her and I want to feel the intensity of this orgasm I’m bringing her to around my cock.

“Let’s see if you’re ready.” I begin to lower myself down her body again, leaving kisses on her collarbones, each of her breasts, and her hips before I make it to her panties. Getting to reach under the thin lace band,slowly roll them down her legs and over her feet, and then stare down at this new part of her is better than Christmas morning. She’s utter perfection. I bring the lace fabric up to my face, inhaling her intoxicating, carnal scent, and it stirs the animalistic need inside of me.

“So sweet,” I growl as I reach down and tuck her panties in my pocket, and then lower my lips to her inner thigh. She mewls slightly as I leave a trail of kiss up her leg towards my reward. When I get there, I lower my lips onto her and roll my tongue around her clitoris, and she cries out again. I moan against her as I reach up and slowly ease my fingers into her. She’s soaking for me. She’s hot and wet and I can feel how tight she is just around my fingers. Feeling her, knowing what’s waiting for me, I lose all sense of restraint. I have to have her… now.

“Oh, Ana,” I moan, as I move my fingers around inside of her. “You are so ready.”

“Christian,” she pleads, and I groan with approval

“I like hearing you call my name, baby. I like hearing you beg for me.”

“Please,” she whimpers, and I roll off of her to stand next to the bed.

“I take it you’re not on the pill?” I check. If she hasn’t been sexually active, it’s not very likely that she’s on birth control.

“No,” she says quickly, and I see a look of concern cross her face. Apparently, she hadn’t thought about contraception.

“I think Elliot has some condoms in his bag,” I reassure her and then walk back out to the living room and the couch where Elliot left his suitcase. Thankfully, I don’t have to dig for them. I reach into the box and pull out a single blue foil packet. Blue foil? Magnums my ass, Elliot.

I throw the box back into the suitcase and then go to the door to drop the deadbolt to prevent Elliot from being able to get in here. When I get back to the room, to Anastasia still sprawled out, naked and panting with need, it’s as if I can’t get to her fast enough. I throw the condom down on the bed and quickly begin undoing my pants. When I reach over to pick up the condom again, I notice Anastasia staring at me with a look of trepidation, her eyes focused on my cock.

Right, she’s a virgin. I suppose an erect penis can be intimidating this close the first time.

“Don’t worry baby, you can’t take it,” I reassure her as I open the foil packet with my teeth. While I ease the condom onto my cock, she watches me, mesmerized, and her teeth sink into her bottom lip.

Yes, finally.

I lean down and push her back into the pillows, crashing my lips down on hers as I possess her with my tongue, and then I capture her bottom lip between my teeth as I pull away.

“You bite your lip often,” I tell her. “Do you know how erotic it is? What it does to me? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve fantasized about fucking you on the desk in Brit Lit because you were biting down on this delectable lip while you read.”

She reaches forward and pulls my lips down to hers, kissing me passionately until she’s reached her limit.

“Christian, please!” she cries, and it’s exactly what I wanted to hear.

“Do you want me, baby?” I ask as I reach down and position my cock at her entrance.

“Yes!”

“You’re sure you want this? You don’t want me to stop?”

“No, god no! Please, Christian!” she begs, but before I fulfil her request, I glance up at the alarm clock on the bedside table. 11:51. Better make this quick.

“By the end of this night, I will have fucked you on every surface of this hotel room,” I promise her and then I thrust my hips forward and bury myself inside of her.

“Fuck, you’re tight,” I hiss, as I feel myself break her virginity. I’ve never experienced anything so tight around me and I nearly lose it right then and there. She feels like fucking heaven and I want nothing more than to move, to completely lose myself in her, but I can feel how tense she is with me inside her.

“Are you okay? Did that hurt?” I ask.

“I’m fine,” she replies with a tight whisper, but I don’t entirely believe her. I need to take it slow. Let her adjust and stretch around me before I really get to fuck her. I ease back and then push forward again, slower this time, and continue this pace until her face relaxes and she begins grinding against me.

I move faster, thrust harder, and soon she’s whimpering and screaming with pleasure. I wrap my arms around her more tightly as I fuck her, hard, and she gasps and pushes her breasts up into me.

“That’s it, baby. Feel me.” I lean down and kiss her, but once my chest presses against her, she pulls her lips away from mine.

“Take your shirt off,” she begs, and the muscles in my arms tense defensively. What if she reaches up and touches me?

“I won’t touch you. I just want to feel you against me,” she assures me, as if she can read my thoughts, and I thrust again as I try to decide if I trust her to keep her word when she comes. As she cries out again, her head thrown back in ecstasy and her breasts arching up, I realize that I too want to feel her pressed against me, skin against skin, and a low growl escapes my lips as I reach up and yank my t-shirt over my head. She feels incredible, her skin hot against mine as I continue to pound in and out of her.I can feel her start to tighten around me and her body begins to tense. She’s close.

“Christian!” she moans, breathing heavily from exertion now. I feel the quickening inside of her begin and it brings me right up to the edge. I’m just about to come, but I need her to finish first.

“Come for me, Anastasia,” I urge her, and she screams once more as she falls apart beneath me. It’s exquisite. I’ve never seen anything as beautiful as this woman when she’s coming, her insides gripping my cock tightly, over and over again until I explode.

“Fuck!” I yell, thrusting as hard as I can while I pour myself into her. When it’s over and we’ve both come down, I roll over and collapse onto the bed next to her, slipping off the condom and dropping it into the black bin next to the nightstand.

“Jesus Fucking Christ, Ana,” I breathe incredulously. I’m completely drained. I can’t even remember the last time I had an orgasm that satisfying. She doesn’t say anything to me so I turn to look at her. She’s glowing, her dark hair a chaotic riot over her pillow, but her eyes are closed.

“Are you okay?” I ask, worried for a minute that I was too rough at the end and that I’ve hurt her.

“Okay?” she repeats, and she lets out a low breathy laugh. “I’ve never been this good in my life.”

“That was pretty fucking incredible,” I agree. “We’re perfect together, and now, you’re mine. In every way.”

“Yours,” she says, a slow, delighted smile creeping across her lips, and I feel myself light up like the Fourth of July hearing her say it. The Fourth of July? Fuck, what time is it? I look back up at the alarm clock.

11:59.

“Kiss me,” I say after turning back to her, and I lean down to press my lips to hers again. She begins to kiss me back just as the low sound of chanting drifts up into the room from the street and the sky outside is lit up with fireworks.“Happy New Year,” I tell her, staring down into her blue eyes. She looks up at me and I can’t read the emotion in her eyes but for some reason I have the overwhelming urge to tell her that I love her.

Too soon, Grey. Have some dignity for fuck’s sake.

The fireworks stop and the only noise left is the muffled sound of cheering and the low hum of Auld Lang Syne floating through the glass window across the room. I smile down at her and then roll over on top of her again, pressing my lips to hers as I wrap my arms around her and prepare to carry her off to the living room to find the place I’ll make love to her for the first time this year.

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