AN: Just wanted to thank everyone for the kind reviews. I'm glad you like the story so far.

I wasn't planning on posting the next chapter until Friday…

but thought I'd give you a special treat. Enjoy!

As always…I do not own these characters. All rights go to E.L. James

"Betting It All On You"

Chapter 2

Ana had fallen in love with Las Vegas the second she'd stepped into the Venetian Hotel this afternoon. The ringing slot machines reminded her of the final bell before summer vacation. Flashing lights and the prospect of a big win around every corner unleashed her long repressed wild child. She'd barely resisted the urge to dash into the casino and plunk down twenty dollars on the first blackjack table she came to. In a heartbeat, ten years of sensible living went out the window.

Christian set his hand on her arm and used his body to block her view of the roulette table. "You don't want to play this. It's one of the worst games for winning. Let's go play blackjack. The odds are better."

His touch awakened a shiver despite the warmth of his skin. He restrained her with gentleness, but Ana knew he could call on steel if he ran out of patience.

Rich. Powerful. Used to getting his way. Intimidating when he didn't. A man in control of every aspect of his life. He never relaxed. Rarely smiled. Demanded excellence from everybody.

If she'd known what she was getting into before she'd accepted the position as his assistant, she probably would have run screaming from his office. Instead, she'd been drawn to the mystique of Christian Grey, the elusive, gorgeous, exasperating millionaire businessman.

She shook off his grip. "I don't care."

"You've gone completely mad. How much do you have there?" He took the bills from her hand and riffled through them. His lips puckered in a silent whistle.

Afraid he might hold on to the money in some misguided attempt to save her from herself, she snatched the cash back. "It's enough to buy the wedding dress of my dreams."

If her use for the money surprised Christian, he didn't show it. "And how much is that?"

"Five thousand dollars."

"That's a lot of money to bring to Las Vegas." Concern deepened his voice.

Ana dodged eye contact, refusing to let his censure keep her form throwing caution to the wind. "It sure is. Took me two years to save it. I ate tuna sandwiches three days a week. I never bought any clothes unless they were on clearance. I limited myself to one movie and one dinner out per pay period."

"Those are significant sacrifices," he said with a straight face, but mockery hovered in the back of his eyes.

Ana tossed her head. What did he know about making sacrifices? He'd paid over a million dollars for a home because he liked the neighborhood, then tore down the house so that he could spend another two million building something to his exact taste. A mansion he barely lived in because he spent so much time at the office.

"They were," she retorted, frustrated with everything in her life at the moment and taking it out on Christian because it was easier to blame him than face where she'd gone wrong. "Aren't you curious why I've decided to blow the money rather than buy the wedding dress of my dreams?"

"I'd love to know." Calm and measured, he sounded like a police officer talking a crazy lady off the ledge. "Let's go somewhere quiet so you can tell me the whole story."

"I don't want to go somewhere quiet. My entire life has been quiet. I'm looking for a little excitement."

A chance to run wild.

Christian's disapproving frown would not steer her off course. She was tired of behaving like a mouse when what she wanted to do was roar like a tiger.

Daughter of a small town pastor, she'd been a free spirited kid, breaking rules and flaunting authority. True to herself but a disappointment to her father and mother, Ana's carefree days had come to an end in high school when her mother suffered a stroke. Bound to a wheelchair, needing help with the simplest of tasks, she'd needed Ana to grow up fast. Ana had shouldered a lot of her mother's daily caretaking until her death after Ana's twentieth birthday.

"Haven't you had enough excitement for one day?" Christian asked. "You had a makeover. You've had too much to drink. Let me take you back to your room. We have a big day tomorrow."

"I haven't even gotten started." She turned to the roulette table and plunked down her wad of cash. "Five thousand in chips, please."

Christian put a hand over the cash before the dealer could move. "Think about what you're doing here. That's a lot of money. Two years of saving and sacrificing."

She tugged at his wrist but might as well have been an ant trying to move a mountain. Her efforts brought her in close to his body. His heat surrounded her, seeped into far corners of her soul where wild impulses waited to be set free. His masculine aftershave invaded her nostrils and sped along her already overstimulated nerve endings. She was teetering on the edge of something reckless.

"I know what I'm doing." That was the furthest thing from the truth. She had no step by step plan. No clue if she was making good decisions. And she didn't care. For the first time in ten years, she was following her instincts wherever they led. Whatever the cost.

And it felt amazing.

"Miss?"

The dealer interrupted their argument and Ana shoved an elbow into Christian's ribs. With an oomph, he released her money.

"Five thousand in chips, please," she repeated, turning her shoulder away from her boss's frustrated frown.

His disapproval made her uncomfortable. As she had done with her father, she'd grown accustomed to doing things the way Christian wanted them done. How many times had she let his opinion dominate hers? Too many to count.

And old habits were hard to break.

The wheel spun before she placed her bet. Annoyed that she'd second guessed herself, Ana drummed her fingers and waited for the ball to drop.

"Don't throw your money away like this," Christian said.

"Why not?" What good was being in Las Vegas if she couldn't do something that she'd regret even a little? "I was supposed to spend it on my wedding dress. That's not going to happen now."

"You'll find someone," Christian argued. "You'll get married."

"I had someone." He knew absolutely nothing about her, did he? "He dumped me." Yesterday. The day before her birthday. One year after she thought she'd be getting married, she was back to square one. No. Worse than that, she was one year older with fewer single men to choose from.

"I'm sorry."

"You should be. It's your fault."

"My fault?" Usually he gazed at her in a neutral way as if he never truly saw her. At the moment he was assessing her with something other than his normal cool. "I don't see how."

What was going on here? Christian regarded her as if she were a luscious chocolate truffle he wanted to devour. Unsettled, she stammered her first word. "H…he broke up with me because I wouldn't quit working for you."

"Why would he care that you worked for me?"

Because he thinks I'm in love with you.

Of course, she wasn't. Well…maybe she had been a little in the beginning. For the first year or so. But after Boyce came along, she'd gotten over her feelings for her boss. Unrequited feelings. Feelings with no hope of ever being reciprocated.

She wasn't in Christian's league. He dated women with money and prestigious social status. She knew the type. For a time in high school, she'd dated a boy from the wealthiest family in town. She'd been as infatuated with his promises to take her out of Burbank, Washington as she'd been with the guy. But in the end, it was the sting of why he'd broken up with her and how he'd handled it that remained branded on her psyche.

"Boyce hated how I went running whenever you called," Ana continued. "Every one of our fights was over you. I should've quit a long time ago."

"Why didn't you?"

In true Christian fashion, he arrowed straight to the heart of her dilemma. Her boss grasped underlying problems faster than anyone she'd ever known, including her father, who had an uncanny ability to read people. People, but not his daughter.

She couldn't answer his question. To do so would force her to admit that leaving his employ would be like chopping off her arm. She needed him in her life. Needed to be around him to feel alive.

How pathetic was that?

"I just did." Only not soon enough because yesterday Boyce had told her he'd met the girl of his dreams, and they were getting married. Her hands shook. "I waited for over a year for him to propose." Her throat tightened, blocking the next few words.

And he decided to marry someone else after only knowing her a month.

Tears dampened her eyes, but Ana blinked rapidly to make them go away. Facing her undesirability hurt too much. If she wasn't good enough for Boyce, an unmotivated pharmaceutical salesman, who was she good enough for?

"Place your bets," the dealer called as people began setting chips all over the table.

Ana pushed ALL her chips onto red. "Five thousand dollars on red."

"Don't do this." Christian spoke softly but it was a command.

"Why not?" She didn't attempt to keep defiance out of her voice. He needed to realize she wasn't his to boss around anymore. "It isn't as if I have anything left to lose. Not really."

"Take the money and spend it on something of value. A new car. A down payment on a house. Something that will last longer than twenty seconds."

Solid advice, but she could never look at the thing she'd bought with the money and not see her wedding dress. The gorgeous flowing gown of satin and lace with the gathered skirt and beaded bodice. She'd cut the picture out of a magazine about a year ago when she and Boyce had their first conversation about the future.

"Tell you what," she began, feeling audacious and desirable beneath Christian's keen appraisal. Mad impulses had been driving her all day. Maybe turning twenty-six wasn't the worst thing that could have happened to her. Start a new year with a new attitude. "I'll make you a bet."

Christian set his hands on his hips and looked resigned "What sort of a bet?"

"Last call," the dealer announced.

Ana heard the wheel begin to spin and the ball start its journey around and around. From reading up on roulette, she knew she had a forty-seven percent chance of winning. Those weren't such bad odds.

"If the ball lands on black and I lose, I'll keep working for you." She gave a rueful smile. "I'll have to, won't I, because I'll be five thousand dollars poorer."

Christian's eyes locked with hers. The winds of change had begun to blow. Storm clouds loomed. Dangerous for the unwary.

"And if the ball lands on red?"

She licked her lips and his attention shifted to her mouth, lingering as if something fascinated him. Fever consumed the last of her hesitation. Every one of her senses came to life and soaked up the sights, smells and sounds of the man towering over her.

Hunger thrummed, longing to be sated. Only one man had the passion, sensuality and persistence to do just that.

She moved her left leg forward, bringing her thigh into contact with his. The effect on him was instantaneous. His nostrils flared. His entire body went perfectly still. His fist clenched where it rested against the table.

Intrigued, she shifted a few inches more. Her skirt rode up her thigh, baring more of her leg. She wore thigh-high stockings, the sort with a backing beneath the lace band at the top that allowed them to stay up on their own. Standing before the mirror in stockings and her brand new black silk underwear earlier tonight, she'd been flushed with confidence in her sex appeal.

How many times had she watched his steely muscles flex beneath his tailored suits and wondered what it would be like to get her hands on all that unadulterated male beauty? To experience the immense power contained in his body.

Suddenly, she knew exactly how she wanted to celebrate her birthday.

His chiseled mouth flattened as she leaned into the space that separated them. Thick lashes hid his gray gaze from her, but a slight hitch in his breath told her he wasn't undisturbed by her nearness.

"I want a night with you." The proposition tasted like warm honey against her lips. She had no idea where she'd found the boldness to voice it, but now that she had, she wouldn't take it back for a million dollars.

"I'm not going to take advantage of you like that."

A chuckle broke from her. Was he kidding? She was the one doing the advantage taking here.

"One night," she coaxed, silencing the sensible voice in her head that howled in protest. One night to rediscover what made her happy. "That's all I want."

"This is ridiculous." Despite his words to the contrary, he didn't pull back.

Did he desire her? Was she brave enough to find out?

"Black, you get me," she said, hearing the ball slow. Only seconds now. Seconds that would change her life forever. "Red, I get you."

She slipped her fingers beneath the lapel of his suit coat and rested on the expensive cotton covering his broad chest. He grabbed her hand with his as her fingers grazed his nipple. His harsh exhalation thrilled her.

If something as mundane as standing close to him and touching his chest made her feel this incredible, what would happen when they were naked together? Her knees wobbled as his hand slipped around her waist.

His eyes burned into her. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's my birthday." Because I've wanted you for three years but never dreamed that you'd want me in return. "Because it's Vegas, baby," she crooned.

"Very well," he growled, arm tightening to draw her body against his. "It's a bet."