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Soft lips brush acrosssweet tender kisses in their wake, and part of me wants to turn and respond, but mostly I want to stay asleep I moan and burrow into my pillow

"Anastasia, wake up" Christian&039;s voice is soft, cajoling

"No," I moan

"We have to leave in half an hour for dinner at my parents" He&039;s amused

I open my eyes reluctantly It&039;s dusk outside Christian is leaning over, gazing at me intently

"Coain

"I&039;ve bought you a drink I&039;ll be downstairs Don&039;t go back to sleep, or you&039;ll be in trouble," he threatens, but his tone issleep from my eyes in the cool, stark room

I&039; his folks! He&039;s just workeda cable tie which I sold hi tothem too - at least she&039;ll be there for support I roll my shoulders They&039;re stiff His demands for a personal trainer don&039;t seem so outlandish now, in fact, they&039;reup with him

I cli outside the wardrobe and my bra is on the chair Where areThen I remember - he squirreled them away in the pocket of his jeans I flush at themyself to think about it, he was so - barbarous I frown Why hasn&039;t he given me back my panties?

I steal into the bathroo myself after my enjoyable but far too brief shower, I realize he&039;s done this on purpose He wants me to be embarrassed and ask for my panties back, and he&039;ll either say yes or no My inner goddess grins atthere and then not to ask hio meet his parents sans culottes Anastasia Steele! My subconscious chideslee because I know this will drive him crazy

Back in the bedroom, I put on my bra, slip into my dress, and climb into my shoes I relance down at the drink he&039;s left

It&039;s pale pink What&039;s thisCranberry and sparkling water Hmm it tastes delicious and quenchesback into the bathroohtly flushed, slightly s look because of my panty plan, and I head downstairs Fifteenby the panorarey flannel pants that I love, the ones that hang in that unbelievably sexy way off his hips, and of course, a white linen shirt Doesn&039;t he have any other colorsFrank Sinatra sings softly over the surround sound speakers

Christian turns and smiles as I enter He looks at me expectantly

"Hi," I say softly, and my sphinx-like s?" His eyes are alight with amusehty fine, Miss Steele"

He is so waiting for ured you for a Sinatra fan"

He raises his eyebrows at me, his look speculative

"Eclectic taste, Miss Steele," he murmurs, and he paces towardin front of aze so intense it takesan old song, one of Ray&039;s favorites &039;Witchcraft&039; Christian leisurely traces his fingertips down my cheek, and I feel it all the way down there

"Dance withthe remote out of his pocket, he turns up the voluaze full of pro, and I&039;rins lazily down ataround my waist, and he starts to sway

I put ht in his infectious, playful mood And he starts to move Boy can he dance We cover the floor, fro and turning in time to the music And he lide around the dining table, over to the piano, and backwards and forwards in front of the glass wall, Seattle twinkling outside, a dark and ical h He grins down atcomes to a close

"There&039;s no nicer witch than you," he ht some color to your cheeks, Miss Steele Thank you for the dance Shall we go and meet my parents?"

"You&039;re welcome, and yes, I can&039;t wait to meet the you need?"

"Oh, yes," I respond sweetly

"Are you sure?"

I nod as nonchalantly as I can e under his intense, arin, and he shakes his head

"Okay If that&039;s the way you want to play it, Miss Steele"

He grabson one of the barstools, and leads h the foyer to the elevator Oh, the many faces of Christian Grey Will I ever be able to understand this mercurial man?

I peek up at hi a private joke, a trace of a s with his beautiful mouth I fear that itto see his parents, and I&039;ives me an unhelpful I told you so expression In the relative safety of his apart idea Now, I&039;m almost outside with No Panties! He peers down atbetween us The amused look disappears from his face and his expression clouds, his eyes dark oh round floor Christian shakes his head slightly as if to clear his thoughts and gestures for entleentlee Audi Christian opens the rear door forrateful that Kate&039;s plus to the top of my knees

We speed up the I-5, both of us quiet, no doubt inhibited by Taylor&039;s steady presence in the front Christian&039;s ible and see slowly as we head north He&039;s brooding, staring out of the , and I can feel hiI can&039;t ask him What can I say in front of Taylor?

"Where did you learn to dance?" I ask tentatively He turns to gaze at ht of the passing street lamps

"Do you really want to know?" he replies softly

My heart sinks, and now I don&039;t because I can guess

"Yes," I murmur, reluctantly

"Mrs Robinson was fond of dancing"

Oh, ht hi I can teach him I have no special skills

"She ood teacher"

"She was," he says softly

My scalp prickles Did she have the best of hi him out of himselfHe has such a fun, playful side I s in his ar room, so unexpected, and he has my panties, somewhere

And then there&039;s the Red Room of Pain I rub my wrists reflexively - thin strips of plastic will do that to a girl She taught hi on one&039;s point of view Or perhaps he would have found his way there anyway in spite of Mrs R

I realize, in that moment, that I hate her I hope that I never meet her because I will not be responsible forthis passionately about anyone, especially so out of the , I nurse er and jealousy

My mind drifts back to the afternoon Given what I understand of his preferences, I think he&039;s been easy on ain I can&039;t even pretend to put up an argu as he didn&039;t hurt me and if it&039;s the only way to be with him

That&039;s the bottohs with relief I reach the conclusion that she rarely uses her brain to think but another vital part of her anatomy, and at the moment, it&039;s a rather exposed part

"Don&039;t," he murmurs

I frown and turn to look at him

"Don&039;t what?" I haven&039;t touched hi out, he grasps ently "I had a wonderful afternoon Thank you"

And he&039;s back with ain I blink up at hi I ask a question that&039;s been bugging rins at me

"It&039;s quick, it&039;s easy, and it&039;s so different for you to feel and experience I know they&039;re quite brutal, and I do like that in a restraining device" He s you in your place"

I flush and glance nervously at Taylor, who remains impassive, eyes on road What as innocently

"All part ofout of theagain

His world indeed, and I want to belong in it, but on his termsI just don&039;t know He hasn&039;tto cheer ed We&039;re crossing one of the bridges, surrounded by inky darkness The so in, suffocating

I glance briefly at Christian, and he&039;s staring at hts?" he asks

I sigh and frown

"That bad, huh?"

"I wish I knehat you were thinking"

He smirks at me

"Ditto, baby," he says softly as Taylor speeds into the night toward Bellevue

It is just before eight when the Audi draws into the driveway of a colonial-style , even down to the roses around the door Picture-book perfect

"Are you ready for this?" Christian asks as Taylor pulls up outside the iivessqueeze

"First for me too," he whispers, then s your underwear right now," he teases

I flush I&039;d forgottenpanties Fortunately, Taylor has cli e I scowl at Christian who grins broadly as I turn and climb out of the car

Dr Grace Trevelyan-Grey is on the doorstep waiting for us She looks elegantly sophisticated in a pale blue silk dress; behind her stands Mr Grey, I presume, tall, blond, and as handsome in his oay as Christian

"Anastasia, you&039;ve met my mother, Grace This is my dad, Carrick"

"Mr Grey, what a pleasure to meet you" I smile and shake his outstretched hand

"The pleasure is all mine, Anastasia"

"Please call entle

"Ana, how lovely to see you again" Grace wraps"Come in, my dear"

"Is she here?" I hear a screech frolance nervously at Christian

"That would be Mia, my little sister," he says almost irritably, but not quite

There&039;s an undercurrent of affection in his words, the way his voice grows softer and his eyes crinkle as he mentions her name Christian obviously adores her It&039;s a revelation

And she co down the hall, raven haired, tall, and curvaceous She&039;s about e

"Anastasia! I&039;ve heard so s me hard

Holy Cow I can&039;t help but smile at her boundless enthusiass e vestibule It&039;s all dark wood floors and antique rugs with a sweeping staircase to the second floor

"He&039;s never brought a girl hoht with excite his eyes, and I raise an eyebrow at him He narrows his eyes at me

"Mia, cal," she says as she kisses Christian on both cheeks He smiles down at her warmly, and then shakes hands with his father

We all turn and head into the living rooo of my hand The room is spacious, tastefully furnished in creams, browns, and pale blue, comfortable, understated, and very stylish Kate and Elliot are cuddled together on a couch, clutching chane flutes Kate bounces up to embrace me, and Mia finally releases my hand

"Hi, Ana!" She beams "Christian" She nods curtly to him

"Kate" He is equally forraspsAna weekThis dazzling display of affection - I&039; his ar his hand on ers and pulls

"Drinks?" Mr Grey seems to recover himself "Prosecco?"

"Please," Christian and I speak in unison

Oh this is beyond weird Mia claps her hands

"You&039;re even saying the saet them" She scoots out of the roo with Elliot, it occurs to me suddenly that the only reason Christian invited me is because Kate is here Elliot probably freely and happily asked Kate tothat I would have found out via Kate I frown at the thought He&039;s been forced into the invitation The realization is bleak and depressing My subconscious nods sagely, a you&039;ve-finally-worked-it-out-stupid look on her face

"Dinner&039;s almost ready," Grace says as she follows Mia out of the rooazes atto the plush couch, and I do as I&039;s He sits down besideabout vacations, Ana," Mr Grey says kindly "Elliot has decided to follow Kate and her falance at Kate, and she grins, her eyes bright and wide She&039;s delighted Katherine Kavanagh, show so a break now you&039;ve finished your degree?" Mr Grey asks

"I&039;ia for a few days," I reply

Christian gapes ata couple of times, his expression unreadable Oh shit

I haven&039;t ia?" he murmurs

"My mother lives there, and I haven&039;t seen her for a while"

"When were you thinking of going?" His voice is low

"To"