A/N:
In this fic, Teddy is Ana's biological child but not Christian's.
Chapter two
After another round of drinks, Ana knew she should go back to her room for the night. But the more she talked to Christian, the more her resolve was dissolving. He was captivating—his gray eyes were gloriously intense, and a smirk had settled slightly on his lips. His deep baritone voice was engaging and disarming making the conversation flow between them on a satisfying plane. And even though their views on politics differed, they were still able to discuss the upcoming presidential elections in a fun relaxed manner.
As the night wore on, the conversation turned more personal.
"So Ana, how's a beautiful woman like you not attached?"
Ana smiled softly at the compliment. Did he really think she was beautiful or was he feeding her a line? She knew she wouldn't get into the nitty gritty of her romantic past. Her ex-husband was a narcissistic, abusive and philandering man, AND a poor role model for their son Teddy. She couldn't bear to see the look of pity that would surely appear on Christian's face; she'd seen it so many times from so many people, and besides, she couldn't allow Derek's' memory to ruin her vacation for her. So she decided instead to give him the edited version of her past.
"I'm divorced," she replied simply, casting her gaze down at her drink. "For almost three years now."
Christian nodded slightly. "Ah, a fellow member of the divorcee club."
Ana looked up from her drink and her expression prompted him to continue.
"My ex-wife left me a couple of years ago. Irreconcilable differences, she claimed. She's re-married now though, married some big shot real estate guy even before the ink on our divorce decree dried." He shook his head in good- natured disbelief, "Get this, they actually invited me to their wedding, and I actually went, can you believe that? Well, at least I had fun, danced with all the maidens and drank all of their champagne!"
Ana let out a chuckle. "That was big of you, y'know. I don't think I'd be attending any future weddings my ex may have. May God have mercy on whomever he dupes into marrying him next."
Christian's smile faded, and Ana realized she may have revealed too much.
"It sound to me like he's a jerk and a fool to boot. He should have been thanking the heavens for his good fortune."
Feeling a warmth rise to her cheeks, her eyes dropped to her drink again. She didn't really want to talk about Derek any more, and she really hoped that Christian wouldn't dig deeper.
"Let's not talk about our exes anymore," Christian replied as though he'd been reading her mind. "Life's too short to live in the past."
Ana smiled at him, relieved."You got it."
Ana didn't know what time it was when Christian offered to walk her back to her room. At first, she declined his offer, but he insisted, saying that he would feel better if he knew she got back to her room safely. He was being genuine about this, she could tell; it wasn't simply an attempt to weasel his way into her panties.
Maybe having an escort back to her room was a good idea. She was by herself after all, in a foreign country, and she was a bit tipsy now.
When they reached her door, Ana had the overwhelming urge to invite him in. But then, she reasoned with herself, it would be foolish to get involved with a man she barely knew.
She pulled her key card from her purse and hesitated, she really didn't want to say goodnight yet.
Christian stood next to her; she really hadn't noticed just how tall he was, but now, with him staring down at her, she felt small.
"I had a really nice time tonight," he told her, his voice warm and inviting, "thank you for allowing me to hang out with you."
"Same here. I'm sure you'll make some new friends tomorrow and you'll forget all about boring me," she said peering into his eyes. She wasn't exactly shy but she wasn't as bold and outgoing as her friend Kate.
He held her gaze, the slow burn of intrigue burning in the air.
"Boring?" He grinned. His smile went sideways as though she'd said something funny. "No, no, don't say that. I find you quite refreshing," he took a step closer, "in fact, I was going to ask if you wanted to hang out again tomorrow."
"I was planning on hanging out by the pool with a book tomorrow," she answered, her heartbeat picking up a notch by his proximity. The subtle scent of his cologne teased her nose and she just barely stopped herself from breathing him in. Deep.
"Turns out I was planning on napping on the beach tomorrow, so maybe we can just do nothing...together." Christian placed a hand on the wall next to Ana's head.
She looked up at him, wondering what he was thinking about right now. Did he want to come in?
"Ana?" he murmured her name, it rolled off his tongue like an inappropriate caress.
She blushed a little. "Yes?" She mumbled as he dipped his head a fraction.
"Would it be okay if I gave you a kiss goodnight?" He asked with a shy smile
Ana swallowed nervously. Holy cow…a kiss? She hadn't been kissed in so long, she felt like a virgin. Christian waited for her answer, a smile playing on his lips as he waited. Finally, she nodded her answer. Then, slowly, Christian stepped closer until her back was pressed up against the door, pinning her with a steady gray gaze.
"I was hoping you'd say that," he teased, placing his hand under her chin and tipping her face to meet his. "I've been thinking about kissing you ever since I laid eyes on you," he said right before his lips lightly grazed hers before they moved over to her mouth to possess it gently. Her lips tingled with pleasure, she could feel her whole body ignite with arousal and she reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck holding him tight. Then she gasped as the warmth of his fingers fell to the small of her back. A satisfied groan escaped his throat, and he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.
All too soon, she broke the kiss before it could turn into something more. Ana, Ana. Even if he wants you, what makes you think he would want your baggage? You haven't even told him about Teddy yet.
He looked at her with a deep wistful expression, as though she'd been his lover in another life and he could' t believe she was finally here with him. So, okay, they weren't rushing into anything and frankly, he found this quite refreshing. Ana was different and so far she seemed perfect. For one, she wasn't throwing herself at him blatantly like most of the women he was used to once they learned of his billionaire status. "Goodnight, Ana." he said softly stepping away from her.
"Goodnight, Christian," she whispered mesmerized by his gaze.
Eventually, she broke his gaze and he started moving away but then turned on his heel as if he thought better of it. "It was a good kiss, better than I had ever imagined," he told her in that baritone tone of his which she felt deep in her groin.
"It was really good," she stammered, feeling carried away imagining how good he must be in bed. C'mon, Ana, just invite him in!
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then."
All she could do was nod. "Goodnight, Christian," she managed at last before he turned and strode away from her.
Ana released the breath she was holding and unlocked the door. Once inside, she undressed and got ready for bed. She couldn't believe what had just happened. She had just kissed a stranger and almost invited him into her bed. What was she thinking? She'd been so careless, yet at the same time, her body felt on cloud nine alive with sensations she didn't know she'd had. As she laid down to sleep, her imagination started running wild imagining all the things Christian could do with that mouth of his.
Day two
The next morning, Ana found herself awake earlier than she thought despite going to bed so late. She gathered her curly hear into a bun with some loose strands and chose to wear her flattering bikini underneath a knitted navy blue tunic which could easily double as a short dress. The bikini was red and with a supportive top that make her boobs look perky and the bottoms were cut in just the right way, accentuating the good parts but still leaving something to the imagination. The tunic was gorgeous and it hugged her figure in all the right places.
She headed down to the breakfast buffet feeling confident about her appearance. If Christian was hanging out with her today, she had wanted to feel good, sexy even. For the most part, her mind was still preoccupied with memories of last night's kiss. The way his mouth moved so expertly and smoothly against hers, the way he tasted faintly of limes. His hands were strong but gentle and she ached to know what they would feel like against her naked skin. God, it had been so long since she had good sex.
Just as Ana was being shown to a table, she spotted Christian. He was seated at another table right across from hers and focused on a newspaper and his breakfast.
Watching him from afar, she ordered an orange juice before heading down for the buffet. She wondered whether he'd given their kiss much thought while helping herself to a plate of Mexican style scrambled eggs. She dared one look in his direction. She blinked, surprised to see him right there on the other side of the buffet line.
"Good morning, Ana," he greeted her, his voice so deep and smooth like honey.
"Good morning, Christian," she smiled at him trying to focus on choosing between sausage and bacon.
"Did you sleep well last night?"
"I slept like a teenager," she replied with a smirk and Christian looked up at her in question.
"Isn't the expression, like a baby?"
"It is, but from what I know babies don't really sleep well, yet teenagers can sleep through anything."
Christian chuckled. "You're absolutely right," he said loading pancakes and fruit on his plate, "Back when I was in high school, you could start a fucking chainsaw in my room and I wouldn't budge."
"So you see, they need to change that expression," she grinned.
"Okay, let's start a petition to have that changed...we just need a couple of thousand signatures," he joked.
"Piece of cake, I already got that many people on Facebook alone," she joked back adding some fruit to her plate and starting to make her way back to the table. Christian accompanied her and they sat down at her table.
"What about your newspaper?"
"Nah, why would I want to read when I have you for company?" He paused, punctuating his words, giving her time to fully feel the weight and significance of his tone, "I'm assuming we're still hanging out by the pool..."
His words penetrated Ana's heart, knocking her barriers down. And she smiled like a dreamy teenager. "So you don't mind doing a lot of nothing?"She looked away after a moment, trying to hide the excitement she felt that he still wanted to hang out with her.
"I don't mind, remember I'm on doctor's orders to do nothing but relax."
"Yes, I remember."
"Okay. Great. I will see you there in half and hour or so?" He said standing, "See you laters, Ana."
Ana nodded. Watching him walk out of the restaurant, she drew a deep breath. This vacation just keeps on getting better and better.
Half an hour later
Anastasia Steele -clad in her red bikini- sauntered across the pool deck and made her way to the nearest vacant umbrella, placing her towel and beach tote on a small side table in the middle of two lounge chairs. Luckily, it was still early enough in the morning and the place wasn't crowded. A sense of peace came over her as she settled into the lounge chair, book in hand. For the first time in years, she had nothing but free time; no hassles or schedules, commutes or deadlines to meet.
She had hardly finished reading the first page of her book when she spotted Christian leaning against a marble pillar, looking like a Greek God wearing nothing but a pair of blue board shorts, aviator shades and a grey canvas bag slung over his shoulder. He smiled in recognition when he saw Ana wave at him. She followed his movements as if in a trance; knew he was in shape, but this? Oh, my…his torso was solid, the body of a runner. Her eyes traveled down his sternum taking her on a journey of perfection and down to the rippling muscles of six- pack abs glistening in the sun.
Next thing she knew, Christian was stretching out on the lounger beside her. After exchanging a word or two, Ana was happy to dive in the safety of her book, reminding herself that reading was part of her plan and that she fully intended on following through. Oddly, he didn't seem to mind because he too pulled out a thick book out of his bag and proceeded to read.
Ana glanced curiously at the cover of his book and was surprised to see that it was a book about true crime titled the Mammoth Book of True crime. It was far quite different from her book which she liked to refer as 'literary smut'.
"True crime, huh? She couldn't help but comment.
Christian peeked at her and smiled. "Yeah, I love reading about the inner workings of the criminal mind and what makes them what they are. How about you? What are you reading there?"
Ana felt her cheeks warm as she shook her head, glad the cover of the book didn't give too much away, hiding the fact that it was full of steamy sex scenes. "Oh, it's just some cheesy romance novel."
After that, they both went back to their respective books, and as Ana got a little further, she came to a sex scene. Her pulse quickened as she read the filthy words on the page, picturing Christian as the leading man on the page. She soon found it hard to stop herself from unconsciously touching herself in response. And then, much to her chagrin, she peeked over at Christian and found him watching her. She quickly looked away, embarrassed that she'd been caught staring.
"Good book?" He smirked.
"It's alright," she breathed.
"I enjoyed watching you get into it," he said in a low sexy voice, sitting up and leaning over so he was closer, "Your breathing picked up a little bit and made me wonder what was going on in that book of yours?"
"You noticed that?" She blurted out before she could sensor her words.
"I can be quite observant at times. It can be an annoying trait sometimes. So tell me, Ana...what was going on in your book that had you so worked up?" He pried, lifting his shades, trying to peek at the pages.
Quickly, Ana set the book down away from Christian.
"Mm-hmm," he chuckled, leaning back in his chair.
Just when she thought Christian had lost interest, she picked the book back up, but before she could dive back in, her book was rudely snatched from her hands.
"Hey!" She protested much to his amusement as he quickly scanned the last few pages she was on. She made a weak attempt to snatch it back, but she knew it was too late; he'd have a pretty good handle on what she was reading just by the page she left off on, it was just getting to the main event.
She bit her lip mortified. This man was so intense…ridiculously hot and in a way sort of intimidating.
"I've gotta say, this is a hell of a lot better than what I was reading!" He chuckled.
"This is embarrassing," she pouted biting her lip furiously.
"Ana," his gaze intensified and all trace of playfulness disappeared. "Stop biting your lip. It's…it's very distracting," he added, his thoughts turning lustful and dark. I want you so badly, Anastasia…your chewing makes me want to fuck you hard and fast.
He handed her the book and shook away his train of thought. He had the distinct impression that Ana, in spite of having been married before, was in essence, very much like a little lamb and he didn't want to scare her away before he even got to first base with her. She was unlike any other woman he'd ever known and wanted to give her time before unleashing the full force of his dark sexual desires. His gaze softened and she responded in kind as if she truly didn't have a clue how she affected him. She seemed to lack the feminine wiles that many women seemed to have in abundance.
"I guess I was just trying to find out what was going on in that head of yours...you intrigue me, Ana," he murmured, giving her a wink so subtle that she almost doubted she had seen it at all. He got to his feet, "I'm going to cool off. Wanna join me?"
She looked up at him. Right then, she had the oddest sensation, as though she was being watched. "Later," she said to Christian, making brief eye contact with a blonde sitting beside a man on loungers at the other side of the pool. The blonde immediately turned to the person beside her in conversation...perhaps to hide the fact that she'd been gawking at Christian? Well, better look elsewhere cause he' s taken, Ana thought to herself with a satisfied smile, thinking that Christian had more than enough sex appeal to draw women like flies after honey.
After swimming a couple of laps, Christian swam to the edge of the pool closest to Ana. He got her attention by calling her name, and she looked up from her book to find him grinning at her, resting his elbows on the pool deck.
" C' mon, Ana...live a little," Christian squinted with boyish charm, "Put down that book and take a dip with me."
A/N:
What's ahead: No BDSM in this fic but there will be a few somewhat risqué scenes once I change the rating to M. Hope you enjoyed :)
