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He pulls out of me suddenly I wince He sits up on the bed and throws the used condoet dressed - that&039;s if you want to rins, leaps up off the bed, and pulls on his jeans, no underwear! I struggle to sit up as I&039;m still tethered
"Christian - I can&039;tdown, he undoes the tie The woven pattern has made an indented pattern around azes atwith mirth He kisses my forehead quickly and beaes, but I have no idea what he&039;s talking about
"I have no clean clothes in here" I a what I&039;ve just experienced, I&039; His mother! Holy crap I have no clean clothes, and she&039;s practically walked in on us in flagrante delicto "Perhaps I should stay here"
"Oh, no, you don&039;t," Christian threatens "You can wear so of mine" He&039;s slipped on a white t-shirt and runs his hand through his just-fucked hair In spite of et used to looking at this beautiful
"Anastasia, you could be wearing a sack and you&039;d look lovely Please don&039;t worry
I&039;d like you to o and calm her down" His mouth presses into a hard line "I will expect you in that roo you out of hereMy t-shirts are in this drawer
My shirts are in the closet Help yourself" He eyes me speculatively for a moment, then leaves the room
Holy shit Christian&039;s ained for Perhaps saw in place Might help me understand why Christian is the way he is Suddenly, I want to meet her I pull my shirt off the floor, and I&039;ht ith hardly any creases I find my blue bra under the bed and dress quickly But if there&039;s one thing I hate, it&039;s not wearing clean panties I rifle through Christian&039;s chest of drawers and co on a pair of tight gray Calvin Kleins, I tug onht eyes, tails do not suit me either I hunt in the vanity unit for a brush and find a comb It will have to do A ponytail is the only answer I despair at my clothes Maybe I should take Christian up on his offer of clothes
My subconscious purses her lips andinto my jacket, pleased that the cuffs cover the tell-tale patterns frolance at myself in the mirror This will have to do Iroom
"Here she is" Christian stands fro on the couch
His expression is warm and appreciative The sandy-haired woawatt smile She stands too She&039;s impeccably attired in a ca shoes She looks groo I look such a mess
"Mother, this is Anastasia Steele Anastasia, this is Grace Trevelyan-Grey"
Dr Trevelyan-Grey holds her hand out to me T for Trevelyan?
"What a pleasure to meet you," she murmurs If I&039;m not mistaken, there is wonder and low in her hazel eyes I grasp her hand, and I can&039;t help but s her warmth
"Dr Trevelyan-Grey," I rins, and Christian frowns "I am usually Dr Trevelyan, and Mrs Grey is my mother-in-law" She winks "So how did you two ly at Christian, unable to hide her curiosity
"Anastasia interviewedthe degrees there this week"
Double crap I&039;d forgotten that
"So you are graduating this week?" Grace asks
"Yes"
My cell phone starts ringing Kate, I bet
"Excuse me" It&039;s in the kitchen I wander over and lean across the breakfast bar, not checking the number
"Kate"
"Dios mio! Ana!" Holy crap, it&039;s Jose He sounds desperate "Where are youI&039;ve been trying to contact you I need to see you, to apologize for my behavior on Friday Why haven&039;t you returned ood tito his mom I turnso evasive," he whines
"I&039; in SeattleAre you with him?"
"Jose, I&039;ll call you later I can&039;t talk to you now" I hang up
I walk as nonchalantly back to Christian and his mother Grace is in full flow
" And Elliot called to say you were around - I haven&039;t seen you for teeks, darling"
"Did he now?" Christianat ht have lunch together, but I can see you have other plans, and I don&039;t want to interrupt your day" She gathers up her long crea him her cheek He kisses her briefly, sweetly She doesn&039;t touch him
"I have to drive Anastasia back to Portland"
"Of course, darling Anastasia, it&039;s been such a pleasure I do hope we ain"
She holds her hand out to , and we shake
Taylor appears from where?
"Mrs Grey?" he asks
"Thank you, Taylor" He escorts her froh the double doors to the foyer Taylor was here the whole ti has he been hereWhere has he been?
Christian glares at rapher called?"
Crap
"Yes"
"What did he want?"
"Just to apologize, you know - for Friday"
Christian narrows his eyes
"I see," he says simply
Taylor reappears
"Mr Grey, there&039;s an issue with the Darfur shipment"
Christian nods curtly at hi Field?"
"Yes sir"
Taylor nods at me
"Miss Steele"
I smile tentatively back at him, and he turns and leaves
"Does he live hereTaylor?"
"Yes" His tone is clipped What is his problem?
Christian heads over to the kitchen and picks up his BlackBerry, scrolling through some emails, I assume His mouth presses in a hard line, and he makes a call
"Ros, what&039;s the issue?" he snaps He listens, watching e roo extraordinarily self-conscious and out of place
"I&039; either crew put at risk No, cancel We&039;ll air drop instead Good"
He hangs up The war, and with one quick glance at me, he heads into his study and returns a moment later
"This is the contract Read it, and we&039;ll discuss it next weekend May I suggest you do some research, so you knohat&039;s involved" He pauses "That&039;s if you agree, and I really hope you do" He adds, his tone softer, anxious
"Research?"
"You&039;ll be amazed what you can find on the Internet," he murmurs
Internet! I don&039;t have access to a computer, only Kate&039;s laptop, and I couldn&039;t use Clayton&039;s, not for this sort of &039;research&039; surely?
"What is it?" he asks, cocking his head to one side
"I don&039;t have a computer I&039;ll see if I can use Kate&039;s laptop"
He hands me a manila envelope
"I&039;s, we&039;ll drive back to Portland and grab some lunch on the way I need to dress"
"I&039;ll just make a call," I murmur I just want to hear Kate&039;s voice He frowns
"The photographer?" His jaw clenches, and his eyes burn I blink at him "I don&039;t like to share, Miss Steele Re, and with one long, cold look at me, he heads back to the bedroom
Holy crap I just wanted to call Kate, I want to call after him, but his sudden aloofness has lefto?
"Ready?" Christian asks as we stand by the double doors to the foyer
I nod uncertainly He&039;s resuht persona, his er bag Why does he need thatPerhaps he&039;s staying in Portland, and then I reraduation Oh yes he&039;ll be there on Thursday
He&039;s wearing a black leather jacket He certainly doesn&039;t look like the multi-multi million-aire, billionaire, what-ever-aire, in these clothes He looks like a boy fro side of the tracks, h inwardly, wishing I had a tenth of his poise He&039;s so cal his outburst about Jose Well, he seeround
"Tomorrow then," he says to Taylor who nods
"Yes sir Which car are you taking, sir?"
He looks down at me briefly
"The R8"
"Safe trip, Mr Grey Miss Steele" Taylor looks kindly at h perhaps there&039;s a hint of pity hidden in the depths of his eyes
No doubt he thinks I&039;ve succumbed to Mr Grey&039;s dubious sexual habits Not yet, just his exceptional sexual habits, or perhaps sex is like that for everyone I frown at the thought I have no co I a to have to address with Christian It&039;s perfectly natural that I should talk to someone - and I can&039;t talk to him if he is so open one minute and so standoffish the next
Taylor holds the door open for us and ushers us through Christian summons the elevator "What is it, Anastasia?" he asks How does he know I&039; over in myyour lip, or I will fuck you in the elevator, and I don&039;t care who gets in with us"
I blush, but there&039;s a hint of a s"Christian, I have a problem"
"Oh?" I have his full attention
The elevator arrives We walk in, and Christian presses the button marked G
"Well," I flush How to say this"I need to talk to Kate I&039;ve so many questions about sex, and you&039;re too involved If you want ling to find the right words "I just don&039;t have any terms of reference"
He rolls his eyes at me
"Talk to her if you must" He sounds exasperated "Make sure she doesn&039;tto Elliot"
I bristle at his insinuation Kate isn&039;t like that
"She wouldn&039;t do that, and I wouldn&039;t tell you anything she tells ," I add quickly
"Well, the difference is that I don&039;t want to know about his sex life," Christian murmurs dryly "Elliot&039;s a nosy bastard But only about e&039;ve done so far," he warns
"She&039;d probably have my balls if she knehat I wanted to do to you," he adds so softly I&039;m not sure I&039;ree readily, sht of Kate with Christian&039;s balls is not so I want to dwell on
His lip quirks up at me, and he shakes his head
"The sooner I have your submission the better, and we can stop all this," heme" He reaches down and cups my chin and plants a swift, sweet kiss on rabs e
Me, defying him how?
Beside the elevator, I can see the black 4x4 Audi, but it&039;s the sleek, black sporty nuhts up when he points the key fob at it It&039;s one of those cars that should have a very leggy blonde, wearing nothing but a sash, sprawled across the hood
"Nice car," I rins
"I know," he says, and for a split second, sweet, young, carefree Christian is back It warms my heart He&039;s so excited Boys and their toys I roll my eyes at him but can&039;t stifle my smile He opens the door for me and I climb in Whoa it&039;s low Hefraantly in beside meHow does he do that?
"So what sort of car is this?"
"It&039;s an Audi R8 Spyder It&039;s a lovely day, we can take the top down There&039;s a baseball cap in there In fact there should be two" He points to the glove box "And sunglasses if you want theine roars behind us He places his bag in the space behind our seats, presses a button, and the roof slowly reclines With the flick of a switch, Bruce Springsteen surrounds us
"Gotta love Bruce," he grins atspace, and up the steep ramp where we pause for the barrier
Then we&039;re out into the bright Seattle May love box and retrieve the baseball caps The Mariners He likes baseballI pass hih the back of mine and pull the peak do
People stare at us as we drive through the streets For a moment, I think it&039;s at him
and then a very paranoid part thinks everyone is looking atthe last twelve hours, but finally, I realize it&039;s the car Christian seeht and we&039;re soon on the I-5 heading south, the wind sweeping over our heads Bruce is singing about being on fire and his desire How apt I flush as I listen to the words Christian glances at ot his Ray-Bans on so I can&039;t see what he&039;s thinking His htly, and he reaches across and places his hand on ry?" he asks
Not for food
"Not particularly"
His htens into that hard line
"You reat place near Olyain, and then returns his hand to the steering wheel as he puts his foot down on the gas I&039;m pressed into the back of my seat Boy this car can move
The restaurant is small and intimate, a wooden chalet in the middle of a forest The decor is rustic: randohae, it boasts above the door
"I&039;ve not been here for a while We don&039;t get a choice - they cook whatever they&039;ve caught or gathered" He raises his eyebrows in h The waitress takes our drinks order She flushes when she sees Christian, avoiding eye contact with his She likes hilasses of the Pinot Grigio," Christian says with a voice of authority I purse my lips, exasperated
"What?" he snaps
"I wanted a Diet Coke," I whisper
His gray eyes narrow, and he shakes his head
"The Pinot Grigio here&039;s a decent wine, it will go ith the et"
He says patiently
"Whatever we get?"
"Yes" He s, head cocked to one side smile, and my stomach pole vaults over lorious smile back at him
"My mother liked you," he says dryly
"Really?" His words make me flush with pleasure
"Oh yes She&039;s always thought I was gay"
My mouth drops open, and I remember that question from the interview Oh no
"Why did she think you were gay?" I whisper
"Because she&039;s never seen irl"
"Oh not even one of the fifteen?"
He smiles
"You remembered No, none of the fifteen"
"Oh"
"You know, Anastasia, it&039;s been a weekend of firsts for me, too," he says quietly
"It has?"
"I&039;ve never slept with anyone, never had sex in o, never introduced a wo to me?" His eyes burn, their intensity takes lasses of wine, and I i a casual observation?
"I&039;ve really enjoyed this weekend," I ain
"Stop biting that lip," he growls "Me too," he adds
"What&039;s vanilla sex?" I ask, if anything to distracthtforward sex, Anastasia No toys, no added extras" He shrugs "You knoell actually you don&039;t, but that&039;s what it e brownie sex that we had, with a cherry on the top But hey, what do I know?
The waitress brings us soup We both stare at it rather dubiously
"Nettle soup," the waitress infor back into the kitchen I don&039;t think she likes to be ignored by Christian I take a tentative taste It&039;s delicious
Christian and I look up at each other at the sale, and he cocks his head to one side
"That&039;s a lovely sound," he murmurs
"Why have you never had vanilla sex beforeHave you always done err, what you&039;ve done?" I ask, intrigued
He nods slowly
"Sort of" His voice is wary He frowns for a le Then he glances up, a decision made "One of my mother&039;s friends seduced me when I was fifteen"
"Oh" Holy shit that&039;s young!
"She had very particular tastes I was her subs
"Oh" My brain has frozen, stunned into inactivity by this admission
"So I do knohat it involves, Anastasia" His eyes gloith insight
I stare at hi - even my subconscious is silent
"I didn&039;t really have a run-of-the- tie?"
"No" He shakes his head to emphasize the point
The waitress takes our plates, interrupting us for a one
He smiles sardonically
"Do you really want to know?"