"Not bad, Pendragon, not bad at all," Christian compliments him Thursday morning after their first sparring session, supervised by Claude.
"Knocked you on your arse twice," Arthur says, shoving Christian lightly on the shoulder as they walk to the locker room.
"Yes, but I got you three times," Christian grins.
"You're taller," Arthur shoots back.
"Like an inch. Nice try."
They shower, and Christian very surreptitiously checks Arthur out. If he's not up to scratch, I'm not going to bother. Don't want to play baseball with someone who doesn't have their own bat.
"This is a nice club," Arthur comments, turning the water off and reaching for a towel. "The towels are soft. Mark of quality, that."
Christian chuckles. "You honestly think I would settle for anything less?" Play ball, he decides, reaching for his own towel. I don't know why I was concerned. Gwen seems very satisfied.
"Of course not, how foolish of me," Arthur says. "Hey, Guinevere's session was right after ours. Maybe we could sneak a peek."
"Capoeira or yoga?"
"Capoeira," Arthur grins.
"She won't mind?"
"No. She likes it when I watch, actually."
"And me?"
Arthur pauses a second, then shrugs. "I don't think she'd mind."
They finish dressing and head back out, in search of Guinevere. Christian knows his way around well, and they find her quickly, slipping silently into the private gym.
Gwen is wearing a black tank top and loose white linen pants, and when they first see her, she is standing on her head.
Wow, Christian mouths the word to Arthur, who merely nods and smirks proudly. They watch as she lowers her feet then sweeps gracefully, spinning and turning, kicking high and low. She flips. She spins. She kicks across with one foot, gets tangled up, and falls, landing on her butt.
To Christian's surprise, Gwen laughs. Loudly.
"Have to try that again," she says to Claude as he gives her a hand up. She sees Arthur and Christian then, and winks at Arthur.
"Very good, Mrs. Pendragon, you just need to lift a little higher here," he demonstrates, "and you should not trip on yourself then."
"Let me see again," she says. Claude demonstrates and then she tries it, slowly, then repeats it faster.
Arthur starts to leave, but Christian puts his hand on his elbow. "Wait, I want to see her do it."
Arthur chuckles and waits, and the two of them watch as Gwen picks up a few moves before the one she missed. This time she nails it.
They leave, and Christian looks at Arthur. "Don't take this the wrong way or anything, but that was really hot."
"I know. I like watching her. And how could I take that the wrong way?"
"I just didn't want you to think I was checking out your wife again," Christian says.
"Everyone checks out my wife, mate. I know she's mine. That's never a question. I also know you appreciate beauty. No way I could take that the wrong way."
Christian and Arthur set up their next sparring session, and in the car on the way to his office, Christian sends Ana a text.
Just saw Mrs. P doing Capoeira.
A moment later, he gets a text back from her.
Hot?
He smirks. Incredibly. You need to start taking lessons.
I'd fall on my ass and you know it. But I'll think about it.
xXx
An hour later, there is a soft knock at the door of Christian's office.
What the hell? Andrea didn't say there was anyone here. He looks up. "Come in?"
The door opens and Ana slips quietly inside, closing the door behind her. And locking it.
"Mrs. Grey," he says, eyebrows rising. "This is a pleasant surprise. Or is it a pleasurable surprise, I wonder?"
"Well," she says, stalking over to him, "I got to thinking that you might be in a bit of a… state… after watching Gwen wave her cute backside around in the gym…" She plants herself in his lap, winding her fingers around his neck.
"I wish you could have seen it, Ana. Jesus, it was hot," he says, leaning in to kiss her, her proximity like a drug. She runs her fingers up into his hair and holds him tightly as he deepens the kiss, his tongue caressing hers as his hand works its way up her thigh, shoving her short skirt up as he does so.
"One second," Christian says, tearing his lips away. He picks up his phone and says, "Andrea, reschedule my 10:00." Then he hangs up and gazes at Ana with dark gray eyes. "Where were we?" he smirks.
"Right about…" Ana slides down his lap, kneeling on the floor between his knees. She reaches up and unfastens his pants, withdrawing his already-hard cock. "…here," she finishes, then slides her lips over his length.
"Oh…" he grunts, his body jerking slightly as she sucks hard, massaging his shaft with her tongue. She lifts up on her knees and reaches inside his pants, stroking the softness of his balls as she takes him all in and then slides slowly back, torturously slow until she releases him with a pop.
"Ana…" he gasps, his breathing heavy. She's not done with him yet. Ana twirls her tongue around the tip a few times before biting lightly once. Then she plunges him back into her warm, wet mouth again.
"Fuck…" he curses. "Ana… please… I don't want…"
Mercifully, she releases him, smiling up at him, all doe-eyed innocence. Then she bites her lip.
Christian pounces then, dropping out of his chair, absently shoving it back so that it rolls away. Ana hears it hit the wall with a soft thud as her husband prowls over her, easing her down on the floor.
"You are too good at that, Ana," he purrs, reaching down and nabbing that delicious bottom lip and tugging it gently with his own teeth.
Ana grabs his tie (that tie again), holding him close while he kisses her, his hand pushing at her skirt again, shoving it up.
"Mrs. Grey, no panties," he says, surprised. "Don't tell me you were at work commando-style…" his words trail off as he strokes her sex with his thumb.
"They're in my purse. I took them off in the car," she grins. He presses his thumb, sliding it against her wetness and she whimpers, arching beneath him.
"So wet for me," he murmurs, slipping two fingers inside now as her hips rise to meet his hand, encouraging him.
"Always, just for you," she whispers.
"Unbutton your shirt," Christian commands. "I'm busy." He illustrates his point by flicking his thumb aggressively against her clit.
Ana cries out, but her fingers are opening the buttons of her blouse. Once open, she pushes her own bra cups down, exposing her breasts to him.
"Good girl," he rumbles, immediately pulling a stiff nipple into his mouth, sucking hard, tugging it until she is whimpering again.
"Christian…"
"What do you want, Anastasia?"
"You. I need you. Now," she begs, wrapping her legs around his waist already.
He chuckles against her breasts but fills her, swift and hard. "Oh yeah," he grunts softly, pulling back and thrusting forward again.
Ana feels the building, the heady sensation of love and lust mingling as he drives into her, here on the floor, where they are all hands and lips and tongues and sensitive nerve endings.
"Oh… Christian…"
"That's it, baby, give it to me. I want it," he growls, thrusting harder, deeper. He drops his head and sucks her nipple into his mouth again, hard.
"Ah… oh fuck… oh!" She explodes around him, her body quivering, clenching around him.
Ana rides her wave down as Christian reaches his own climax, pushing deep and stilling, growling her name like a curse and a prayer before collapsing over her, his face in her hair.
"Oh, baby, that was good," he sighs. "I needed that."
Ana sighs a heavy, contented sigh and unwinds her legs from around his still-clothed hips.
After a minute, she giggles, and Christian smiles. "I know what you're giggling at," he says, lifting his head.
"We're under your desk and people are working out there," she says, still giggling.
"Yep," he answers, rolling gently off of her. He eases her skirt back down, kissing her thigh just above her knee while she fixes her top half.
"Was that another first? Under the desk?" Ana asks, sitting up.
"Indeed it was, Mrs. Grey. I do believe you are a bad influence on me," he teases, holding his hand down to help her to her feet.
"Yes, I'm the bad influence here," she says, almost rolling her eyes at him. He notices.
"Ooo, close," he says. "I'll have to try harder next time."
Ana pauses. "Do you mean to tell me you try to get me to roll my eyes at you?"
"Sometimes," Christian says, pulling his chair back over and sitting. He pulls her into his lap again.
"If you want to spank me, just tell me," she says.
"Ah, but it's so much better when you earn it," he answers, kissing her neck.
"Christian, if you start this again we'll be back on the floor under your desk…"
"Mmm," he answers, not really answering.
"I have to go back to work, and so do… oh… you…"
"Mmm."
"Christian." She finds her resolve. It was somewhere on the floor, most likely.
"I know," he sighs. "Call Gwen and invite them to dinner Saturday," he says quite suddenly.
Shift gears. Keep up, Ana. "Okay. Is the paperwork ready?"
"Nearly."
"Get back to work," she says, standing.
He swats her ass before she is out of reach, likely a promise for later. "You, too."
xXx
"Grey," Arthur says as he and Gwen find Ana and Christian at the bar of the restaurant at which they were meeting.
"Ah, Pendragon," Christian turns, extending his hand. "Hello, Gwen," he nods. She leans forward and kisses his cheek, and he stiffens just briefly, just from surprise.
"Christian," Gwen says, smiling warmly at him. "Ana, you look fantastic. You really have to give me the name of your stylist," Gwen says hugging her.
"Of course," Ana says. "Hi, Arthur." Mirroring Gwen, she leans up and kisses his cheek.
Arthur and Gwen order drinks, and when they arrive, Christian suggests they go to their table.
"I've got us a private room," he says casually, leading the way, his fingers twined with Ana's.
"Excellent," Arthur says, pleased but not impressed. He'd've done the same.
They sit and peruse their menus, making small talk. Ana is a bit anxious, but she tries to remain casual and calm, drawing from the easy manner with which Christian seems to be handling things.
Of course, he's accustomed to things like this, she thinks, reaching for his hand beneath the table. He squeezes it reassuringly, then brings her hand up to softly kiss her knuckles.
The waiter knocks, pausing in the doorway, and Christian waves him over to take their orders. Once he's gone, he decides to drop the first bomb.
"Arthur, Gwen, Ana and I actually have something we'd like to discuss with you both," he begins.
I wonder if this is what one of his business meetings is like, Ana finds herself wondering.
"Oh?" Arthur asks, setting his glass down and folding his hands in front of him on the table.
Christian reaches into his inside jacket pocket, withdrawing some papers. "This might seem odd, but we'd like for you both to sign this NDA before we continue our conversation. Ana and I will sign it as well. We have two copies, one for you, one for us."
Gwen inclines her head, intrigued. "NDA?"
"We like you and we trust you both, but we do need to protect ourselves," Christian explains casually as Arthur peruses the document. "All this states is that if you guys discover some juicy gossip about us and go running to the press, we can sue you for every penny you have."
"And vice versa," Ana adds quickly, trying to soften the blow. "You'll see it works both ways. We won't divulge anything about the two of you, either. Basically it says that whatever we say or do stays within the four of us."
"What…" Arthur furrows his brow, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?" he quips cautiously.
"Yes," Ana smiles indulgently at him.
"Oh good, I got it right," he beams. Gwen strokes his cheek, but rolls her eyes.
Ana glances at Christian because his hand has just tightened on her knee.
Steady, man.
"Do you have a pen?" Gwen asks, holding her hand out.
"Guinevere, I'm still reading this," Arthur protests.
"I don't care. I'm signing."
"So eager, Mrs. Pendragon," Christian smirks. Ana remembers back to a time where Christian said those same words to her.
"You've piqued my curiosity, Christian," Gwen says. "Pen," she repeats, snapping her fingers impatiently at him now.
Oh, shit, Ana thinks, worried that Christian is going to lose it. He calmly pulls a pen from inside his jacket and hands it to her. Ana glances at him and sees him gazing intently at Gwen, his eyes smoldering and his jaw clenched.
I may be paying for her behavior later! Ana doesn't know if she should feel excited or scared about this.
Gwen signs and hands the pen to Arthur.
"Why do I have a feeling that this has nothing to do with business?" she asks, taking a sip of her wine.
"Because you are a highly-educated and very sharp woman, Gwen," Christian answers smoothly. "Of course this does make good business sense as well, but we have another sort of proposal for you in mind."
Arthur finally signs, and then passes the documents across to Ana. He passes the pen to her and their fingers brush as she takes it from him. Ana notices for the first time that Arthur has beautiful hands. Sexy. Broad and square with long fingers like Christian has. Yet Arthur's are different; a bit thicker, almost like his hands should be wielding a sword or handling a crossbow, while Christian's graceful hands look completely at home on the piano keyboard.
Ana signs and then Christian signs.
"There. Now we can speak freely," Christian says. He hands one set of papers to Arthur.
"Thank you," Arthur says, and both men tuck the documents away into their jackets.
Their food arrives then. Steak for Christian and Gwen, sea bass for Ana, and duck for Arthur.
"So now I imagine you're wondering specifically why," Christian says, cutting into his steak.
"Naturally," Arthur says.
"Well," Christian sets his fork down. "There's no delicate way of saying this, so I'm just going to say it: We want to play with you."
"Play?" Gwen says, raising an eyebrow.
"Christian and I… enjoy certain… activities. We'd like to share these with you," Ana says.
"What sort of activities?"
"I like to tie her up, blindfold her, spank her, and various other things involving specialized… equipment. Toys, if you prefer," Christian says.
"You're into BDSM," Gwen says, almost too casually.
"Yes. I'm a dominant and Ana is my submissive. In the bedroom," he adds, glancing at Arthur.
"And the playroom," Ana says, smirking.
"Playroom?" Now Arthur's eyebrows lift.
"I tend to refer to it as the red room of pain," Ana says, grinning and blushing slightly. "Though mostly it's pleasure that happens in there." I know that now.
"We are interested in having the two of you participate in some of these activities with us," Christian says, picking up his fork again.
"We don't expect you to answer immediately, of course," Ana says. "But this has been something we've been talking about and thinking about for a while now. Then we met the two of you, and…"
"We're attracted to you," Christian says simply.
"Hmm," Gwen says noncommittally, popping a piece of steak into her mouth and chewing thoughtfully.
"Why us? I mean, apart from the attraction, which, I believe, is mutual," Arthur says, glancing at Gwen. She nods. "But what makes you think we'd be into playing your little depraved games in your… torture chamber?" Because we would, Arthur mentally answers his own question, but he's a businessman. He's conducting business.
"Because I know the two of you were fucking in a janitor's closet last Saturday at that charity cocktail party," Christian explains casually. He looks lazily at Gwen. "Had to powder your nose?"
Gwen almost chokes on her wine. Ana is alarmed at first, but then she realizes that Gwen is laughing. So is Arthur.
"Um, yeah," he admits. "Were you listening?"
"Of course," Christian admits, shameless. "Sounded like you were having quite the time in there."
"Okay, so yes, we're a little kinky," Arthur admits.
"That's what we were counting on," Christian says, half-smiling as he takes a drink of his wine. "How do you feel about getting a little kinkier?" He sets his knife and fork on his plate, done eating.
"I was about to ask how you know you're kinkier than we are, but if you have an entire room devoted to your, ah, hobby, then never mind," Gwen chuckles. "But I, for one, am intrigued enough to continue this conversation. Love?"
Arthur nods thoughtfully, licking his fingers. This distracts Ana a moment. Then she feels Christian's hand skim up her inner thigh beneath the table and she is distracted again.
"Of course we'll have a written agreement," Christian says. "Establish rules and boundaries, that sort of thing. We are willing to play with the both of you, but Ana is still mine, just as Gwen is still yours, Arthur. We aren't proposing any sort of wife-swapping or swinging, just so we're clear."
Arthur visibly relaxes at this. "Good."
"And of course I'd be happy to give you any pointers for being a safe and effective dom. I've been doing this a very long time." Christian glances at Ana. "Of course, before I met Ana, it was purely physical and had no real meaning," he adds, and Ana blushes.
Is that a blush or a flush? Gwen wonders.
"Um…" Arthur screws his face up, trying to think of how to say what's on his mind.
"Problem?"
"Um, as far as Guinevere and I go, well, she's the dominant one in the bedroom," Arthur says.
"Oh," Christian's eyebrows rise in surprise. I hadn't counted on this. "Well, then. I'm sorry, I just assumed…"
"It's all right," Arthur shrugs.
"You just said that you like to control everything, the same as I do, so naturally I figured…"
"Ah, well I do like to control everything. But in behind closed doors with my wife, she's in charge. And I rather like it that way."
Christian thinks about this a moment, and Gwen looks at him sideways. "You're not reconsidering now because of this, are you?"
"No! No. Just… adjusting my expectations," Christian says. Then he shrugs. "Could be fun," he decides, but something tells Gwen that he's not entirely convinced.
"Ana, you've been quiet," Gwen says, noting that not only is she quiet, but she seems to be a little uncomfortable.
"Just listening," she says, her voice slightly breathy. "Christian is much better at the whole… mergers-and-acquisitions thing…"
"Ana, are you all right?" Gwen asks.
Christian smirks. "She's fine. Actually, she's more than fine. My hand has been beneath her skirt for the past several minutes. That is probably what is accounting for her apparent distress."
"Christian!" Ana gasps, both from shock and from desire. She grabs the edge of the table, and since the cat is out of the bag now, she releases the moan that she's been holding in.
"Really?" Arthur asks, ducking his head under the table. "Bloody hell." He can't see everything, but he can see enough.
"Arthur, stop gawking," Gwen laughs, pulling his head up again.
"You should take a look," he says, winking at her.
Gwen bites just the corner of her lip, glancing over at Ana, then Christian. Ana is still gripping the table's edge, her eyes closed now. Christian calmly sips his wine with his other hand; the only things giving him away are his eyes.
"Mrs. Pendragon, Ana can tell you that I have a bit of a fetish about her biting her lower lip. Don't make me come over there and bite your lip as well. Or should we have Arthur do that?" Christian says, the corner of his lip quirking up in a sly smile.
This is a test, Gwen realizes. All right, Christian Grey, I'll play your game. She grabs Arthur's tie and brings him close, her lips parted. She pulls him closer, closer still, not kissing him. Waiting. Commanding him with her eyes.
"Open your eyes, Ana," Christian whispers. "Watch."
Finally, Gwen's chin lifts a fraction of an inch and Arthur draws her succulent lower lip into his mouth, sucking it as though it were sweet candy.
"Bite it, Arthur," Christian says, his voice a low rumble.
Arthur draws his lips back and bares his teeth, sinking them into Gwen's lower lip, not hard, but just enough. Gwen's tongue snakes out and flicks Arthur's upper lip, drawing a groan from him as he nibbles her. He releases her lip and closes his mouth over hers, his hand finding her breast over her dress, squeezing, caressing.
"Oh!" Ana gasps suddenly, climaxing there at the table. Christian smirks. Gwen giggles. Arthur grins, then kisses Gwen one more time.
Christian brings his hand up, contemplates his fingers a moment, then licks and sucks Ana's juices from them.
"Dessert, Grey?" Arthur asks archly.
"Delicious," Christian declares.
A still-blushing Ana reaches for her water and takes a long drink.
"Don't be embarrassed, Ana," Gwen says, reaching over and putting her hand over Ana's. "It was beautiful."
"I've never been much of an exhibitionist," Ana finally says. "Christian is a bad influence on me," she says, smirking at Christian, using his own words back at him now.
"She's always been a very apt pupil," Christian remarks. "Well. I'd say we're off to a good start already. Would you like to follow us home and discuss things further? I believe Mrs. Jones has made a nice cheesecake for us, if anyone else is interested in dessert."
Arthur laughs. "Lead the way, my friend."
