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The first thing I notice is the smell; leather, wood, polish with a faint citrus scent It&039;s very pleasant, and the lighting is soft, subtle In fact, I can&039;t see the source, but it&039;s around the cornice in the roo are a deep, dark bur-gundy, giving a womb-like effect to the spacious rooe wooden cross like an X fastened to the wall facing the door It&039;scuffs on each corner Above it is an expansive iron grid suspended fro allshackles By the door, two long, polished, ornately carved poles, like spindles fro like curtain rods across the wall Fro crops, and funny-looking feathery impleany chest of drawers, each drawer slined to contain specimens in a crusty old museum I wonder briefly what the drawers actually do hold Do I want to know In the far corner is an oxblood leather padded bench, and fixed to the wall beside it is a wooden, polished rack that looks like a pool or billiard cue holder, but on closer inspection, it holds canes of varying lengths and widths There&039;s a stout six-foot-long table in the opposite corner - polished ith intricately carved legs - and twostools underneath

But what do-size, an ornately carved rococo four-poster with a flat top It looks late nineteenth century Under the canopy, I can seejust a mattress covered in red leather and red satin cushions piled at one end

At the foot of the bed, set apart a few feet, is a large oxblood chesterfield couch, just stuck in the e the bed, and I smile to myself - I&039;ve picked on the couch as odd, when really it&039;s the lance up and stare at the ceiling There are karabiners all over the ceiling at odd intervals I vaguely wonder what they&039;re for Weirdly, all the wood, dark walls, , and oxblood leather makes the roo but, this is Christian&039;s version of soft and ro me intently as I kneould be, his expression completely unreadable I walk further into the rooued I touch it hesitantly It&039;s suede, like a small cat-of-nine-tails but bushier, and there are very small plastic beads on the end

"It&039;s called a flogger," Christian&039;s voice is quiet and soft

A flogger hrated or been struck dumb or simply keeled over and expired I as about all this, because I&039; out a potential lover is a complete freaky sadist orfeeling I recognize it now But weirdly not of him - I don&039;t think he&039;d hurt me, well, not without my consent So many questions cloud my mind

WhyHowWhenHow oftenWhoI walk toward the bed and run my hands down one of the intricately carved posts The post is very sturdy, the crafts," Christian commands, his voice deceptively soft

"Do you do this to people or do they do it to you?"

His mouth quirks up, either amused or relieved

"People?" He blinks a couple of times as he considers his answer "I do this to women ant me to"

I don&039;t understand

"If you have willing volunteers, why am I here?"

"Because I want to do this with you, very asp Why?

I wander to the far corner of the rooers over the leather He likes to hurt woht depresses me

"You&039;re a sadist?"

"I&039;ray, intense

"What does that ly surrender yourself to s"

I frown at him as I try to assimilate this idea

"Why would I do that?"

"To please me," he whispers as he cocks his head to one side, and I see a ghost of a smile

Please him! He wants me to please him! I think my mouth drops open Please Christian Grey And I realize, in that moment, that yes, that&039;s exactly what I want to do I want hihted with me It&039;s a revelation

"In very simple terms, I want you to want to please me," he says softly His voice is hypnotic

"How do I do that?" My mouth is dry, and I wish I hadbit, but I am puzzled by the soft-boudoir-Elizabethan-torture set up Do I want to know the answer?

"I have rules, and I want you to comply with them They are for your benefit and for my pleasure If you follow these rules to my satisfaction, I shall reward you If you don&039;t, I shall punish you, and you will learn," he whispers I glance at the rack of canes as he says this

"And where does all this fit in?" I wave eneral direction of the rooe Both reward and punish your will overyour trust and your respect, so you&039;ll let reat deal of pleasure, joy, even in your subreater my joy - it&039;s a very siet out of this?"

He shrugs and looks aletic

"Me," he says sih his hair as he gazes ataway, Anastasia," he o back downstairs where I can concentrate better It&039;s very distracting having you in here"

He holds his hand out to me, and now I&039;erous, she was so right How did she know He&039;s dangerous toto say yes And part of me doesn&039;t want to

Part offrom this room and all it represents I a to hurt you, Anastasia" His gray eyes implore, and I know he speaks the truth I take his hand, and he leads me out of the door

"If you do this, let ht out of the playroom, as he calls it, and down a corridor We pass several doors until we reach the one at the end Beyond it is a bedrooe double bed, all in white

everything, furniture, walls, bedding It&039;s sterile and cold but with the lass wall

"This will be your room You can decorate it how you like, have whatever you like in here"

"My roo me to move in?" I can&039;t hide the horror inthrough Sunday We have to talk about all that, negotiate If you want to do this," he adds, his voice quiet and hesitant

"I&039;ll sleep here?"

"Yes"

"Not with you"

"No I told you, I don&039;t sleep with anyone, except you, when you&039;re stupefied with drink" His eyes are repri

My mouth presses in a hard line This is what I cannot reconcile Kind, caring Christian, who rescues ently while I&039; up into the azaleas, and the monster who possesses whips and chains in a special room

"Where do you sleep?"

"My roory"

"Weirdly, I seem to have lost my appetite," I murmur petulantly

"Youmy hand, leadsrooe of a precipice, and I have to decide whether or not to jump

"I&039; you down, Anastasia, which is why I really want you to think about this You must have some questions," he says as he wanders into the kitchen area, releasing my hand

I do But where to start?

"You&039;ve signed your NDA, you can askyou want, and I&039;ll answer"

I stand at the breakfast bar watching hierator and pulls out a plate of different cheeses with two large bunches of green and red grapes He sets the plate down on the worktop and proceeds to cut up a French baguette

"Sit" He points to one of the bar stools at the breakfast bar, and I obey his co to have to get used to it I realize he&039;s been this bossy since I met him

"You mentioned paperwork"

"Yes"

"What paperwork?"

"Well, apart fro ill and won&039;t do I need to know your limits, and you need to know mine This is consensual, Anastasia"

"And if I don&039;t want to do this?"

"That&039;s fine," he says carefully

"But on&039;t have any sort of relationship?" I ask

"No"

"Why?"

"This is the only sort of relationship I&039;s

"It&039;s the way I am"

"How did you become this way?"

"Why is anyone the way they areThat&039;s kind of hard to answer Why do some people like cheese and other people hate itDo you like cheeseMrs Jones - my housekeeper

- has left this for supper" He takes soe, white plates from a cupboard and places one in front ofabout cheese Holy crap

"What are your rules that I have to follow?"

"I have theh them once we&039;ve eaten"

Food How can I eat now?

"I&039;ry," I whisper

"You will eat," he says si Christian, it all becolass of wine?"

"Yes, please"

He pours wine into lass and comes to sit beside me I take a hasty sip

"Help yourself to food, Anastasia"

I take a se He narrows his eyes

"Have you been like this for a while?" I ask

"Yes"

"Is it easy to find women ant to do this?"

He raises an eyebrow at me

"You&039;d be amazed," he says dryly

"Then why meI really don&039;t understand"

"Anastasia, I&039;ve told you There&039;s so about you I can&039;t leave you alone" He smiles ironically "I&039;m like a moth to a flame" His voice darkens "I want you very badly, especially nohen you&039;re biting your lip again" He takes a deep breath and ss

My stomach somersaults - he wants e, kinky man wantsway round" I gru to get burnt I know