SUBSPACES
Thank you reviewers, I wouldn´t feel like it is worth to keep going if not for you!
And I´m sorry about the delay, I know that, following my schedule, I should have uploaded this a few days ago. But I wanted to add a few things, sort of trying to get into Christian´s business mind a little bit. Although I planned this story entirely on Christian´s POV, you´ll be hearing from Anastasia soon – I will be adding a little interlude in her POV.
The usual disclaimer always apply. I do not own the Fifty Shades trilogy, I am writing just for fun. No profit is intended.
Chapter 04
When these pillars get pulled down
It will be you who wears the crown
And I'll owe everything to you.
How much pain has cracked your soul?
How much love would make you whole?
You're my guiding lightning strike.
I can't find the words to say,
They're overdue.
I've traveled half the world to say,
I belong to you
Muse, I belong to you
I wake up alone in bed. The feeling should be familiar, since it´s been that way during all my adult life, but I don´t like it anymore. I´m no longer comfortable with it. It was still dark outside, the rain finally stopped.
We´re going to chase the dawn again, I thought, sighing in contentment. Nice!
Where is my Ana?
Frowning, I realize how different this scenario is from, let´s say, only six months ago. In the day of a very important meeting, I would wake up already channeling all my self-control and discipline towards whatever I wanted to accomplish, the laser focus for which I am famous in the business would be precisely aimed towards my goal in Portland. Before even getting up, I would start exercising my mind first, recalling all the pros and cons of every possible decision ahead of me, making a mental list of everything I had to say, every point I had to make. I would think about nothing else. I certainly would not wake up thinking about rope bondage and Anastasia Steele – and not in this order. Without the shadow of a doubt I am a better man because of those changes, because of Ana. A happier man. If that also makes me a better businessman, only time will tell. My gut instinct tells me that such a thing was highly possible. Yes, I can make that work.
Can I?
I let out an impatient sigh. Let me try this shit again.
Six months in a day like this I would start thinking about Asclepius instead, the Greek god of medicine and… no, wait. Not him, his Roman counterpart, Vedius. Fuck, how am I supposed to do well today if I can´t even remember the name of the company I will be adding to the GEH portfolio before the day is over?
Vedius Pharma.
Vedius.
That´s it.
Focus, Grey!
I take a few deep breaths. No need to panick, I have nothing to worry about today, and not only because I´ll have my usual safety net, a very competent staff working with me to guarantee my success. Tempting as the idea was, I did not spend most of my time last week carefully planning a BDSM scene down to the smallest detail to impress the hell out of my girlfriend and push through her soft and hard limits. I worked on planning other things as well, I studied hard. Today´s meetings, for instance. I am well and fully prepared, every detail is stored in my memory. Information about the company I´m buying, about each member of the team of conservative executives that will be sitting across from me in the boardroom, what will have to do, what I will have to say to those men and women, who are no so easily impressed, to convince them to sign those papers and hand over their company to me… The graphics, the numbers, the statistics… All of it. I was… No, I am ready.
If all goes well – and it will go well - this will be only the beginning for me towards another one of the long-term goals for my company. That´s a pleasant thought to focus for a moment or two. Vedius Pharma first appeared on my radar when I heard about how serious they are about funding scientific research about manufacturing vaccines and basic medication for developing countries at an extremely low cost. They are so focused on that goal that of the conditions for the final acquisition of the company is that GEH will commit to keep funding those researches. That I can to, with both arms tied behind my fucking back – I will throw so much money at the Vedius team of Nobel nominated scientists that it will make them dizzy, but I will also make sure it was well spent and in tune with GEH´s goals.
Good business.
Survival.
Producing food more efficiently and at a lower cost. Shipyards and airlines to transport that food around the world, wherever and whenever it is needed. Technology to do all that and more in a self-sustaining manner, improving the planet for future generations instead of ruining it any further. Technology to help people communicate in an easy affordable manner about what they need to survive, to make it possible to act quickly whenever a high risk situation is detected. Healthy people to be able to do all that efficiently - and that was where Vedius finally comes in. There will be more in the future, of course. Buying SIP has not been an anomaly for GEH, not a whim of mine because Anastasia happens to work there and I was – no, I still am – insanely jealous of her now former boss. It was only the first, small step towards what will be a plan to promote literacy around the world. If people can´t read, they can´t communicate, they can´t ask for help, they will be sick because they don´t eat or they won´t eat because they are sick…
Good business.
Yes. Good business. More consumers in the world, more money spent, more companies thriving, more money to make this world a better place to live. That is all there is to it.
Not because I am doing my part so that there are fewer Jack Hyde´s out there in the world preying on helpless women… Less crack whore mothers dying of an overdose and pimps who use their little boys as human ash trays… Boys who grow up to be sadistic monsters, so broken that the only way they can survive is by not being touched by another human being, by controlling everything and everyone around them, by living a secret life where they get off on disciplining and spanking pretty brown-haired girls who...
Fuck!
I hate it when the one thing I can´t control is the flow of thoughts coming from my fucking subconscious mind.
And Anastasia… I can´t control her, can I?
Where are you, Ana?
She didn´t sleep very well last night, I could tell that she is anxious, and it drives me mad when she is like this and she still won´t open up to me. She trashed and turned for a long time, something that she doesn´t normally do. At some point, one of her elbows hit my ribs with a painful jab. I yelped. It´s weird, but the truth is that I am not used to suffering pain anymore, I haven´t been for a while. It caught me by surprise.
"That´s it," I said out loud, wondering where does such a frail looking creature like Anastasia Steele stores so much strength in her body. I brought her to me, wrapped my arms and legs around her.
"Stay still. Sleep. Now!"
It never fails.
I love you, Anastasia. That´s the last thing I remember, murmuring those words on her ear and listening to her contented sigh as she finally calmed and drifted off to sleep.
I don´t know what it is that had her so shaken last night, perhaps it is the impromptu trip to Portland – I recently discovered that Anastasia is uncomfortable with sudden changes in her routine. Or, perhaps it is because we´ve been pushing too many limits too soon. At last, but not least, there is also the tiny matter of our little disagreement last night, just before we went to bed.
Music coming from the kitchen tells me where she is and distracts me from the direction my thoughts were taking me. She is there in my kitchen, where she has been every morning since she has agreed to move in with me. Once my mind is at ease about that simple fact, at least, old fears are put to rest.
Pink Floyd… The Doors… Def Leppard… The Who…
Anastasia is going through a classic rock phase, it seems. At least that is the kind of music she favors early in the morning. "It wakes me up," she told me once. With a silly smile on my face, I shower and change as quickly as possible, the lingering humidity in the bathroom telling me that she´d done the same not too long ago. With my hair still damp, I run to the living room, carrying my overnight bag and the suit I will be wearing later that day. I place everything by the door, right next to her stuff.
Good, she´s ready, I thought. No changing her mind about Portland. I breathe the first of many sighs of relief that morning.
I quickly message Taylor, asking him to get our stuff, so that it will be waiting for us at the hotel by the time we arrive there. He will be driving to Portland ahead of us, and will be on standby all day. I´ll probably do most the driving myself while we are there, but I always need my top security man and the rest of the team nearby. I wouldn´t feel that Ana was safe otherwise, something told me we haven´t heard the last of that fucker Jack Hyde.
Since we are going to be out of town until tomorrow, I decided to give Mrs. Jones a couple of days off, so Ana is busy fixing us a quick breakfast when I make my appearance in the kitchen. Bacon and eggs. Buttered toast. Coffee for me, tea for her. Although I might be expanding her horizons in that area as well - she always ends up stealing one sip or two from my cup.
She is singing now…
She comes in colors ev'rywhere
She combs her hair
She's like a rainbow
Coming, colors in the air
Oh, everywhere
She comes in colors… (*)
"Good morning, Anastasia!" I exclaim cheerfully.
She jumps, as she always does whenever I take her by surprise like that. She´s so adorable! I grin like a fucking idiot.
"Hi!" More than a little flushed, she quickly swallows a bite of the toast in her hands - her choice for a microphone this morning.
Good, at least she´s eating. One less argument between me and the delightful mass of contradictions that is Anastasia Steele.
"Christian! Good morning! You´re up already, I was going to call you in a few minutes."
She is about to turn around again but stops, contemplating me in appraisal, her head tilted to one side. Her flush deepens. I think know the kind of look she has on her face by now.
"Oh my!"
"What is it?" I look down at myself. Jeans and a tee-shirt, nothing out of place. "What?"
"I expected you would be in your full CEO mode this morning, Mr. Grey. You know." And - air quote. "Business meetings"." One day I should tell him that those have the same effect on me that the eye rolling has.
"CEO mode. Seriously?"
"Yup." She gives a little shrug. "You know. The Chief Executive Officer thing. How do you guys call it? The C-section?"
"You mean the C-suit?" I grin.
"I know that, I was only messing with you a little bit. You know what I mean, all of you CEO´s, CFO´s, COO´s and all of those C people. Clean shaven, perfectly tailored suit, amazing tie, expensive cologne, arrogant cocky walk, megalomaniac attitude, like if the world belongs to you… and it kind of does, anyway. Which is very annoying to us little minions, if you ask me." She points to me. "Not old blue jeans and… all spiky and scruffy rock and roll bikerthing going on. I wasn´t prepared for that, you just took me by surprise. I like it. I like it a lot."
There is a noticeable burn mark in her neck – she is reminded of it as she makes her comment, and touches it lightly. That was a new one – it probably happened last night, because I would have noticed it yesterday.
I rub my jaw.
Scruffy?
Well, she likes it that way, she told me so repeatedly. She loves the roughness of my whiskers in the more sensitive spots, and who am I to complain about that? She doesn´t seem to object the those burn marks – I certainly will not, although I know I must be careful with that too. I have no wish to turn Anastasia into a walking rash - her skin is just too delicate.
Ana might not mind my growing beard, but it might be a good idea to shave again before my first meeting in Portland. The conservative bunch of executives of Vedius Pharma I would be dealing with today, including a CEO belonging to the old French aristocracy, might not be keen to my current grunge look.
Which reminds me…
"Do you? A biker? Really, Miss Steele?" She gives an apologetic little shrug, but she never meets my eyes.
I caught her watching Sons of Anarchy a few days ago… She had assured me that she wouldn´t steal a second glance towards the blond actor who played the badass biker after meeting me, but I still wanted to kick that brit´s ass because my girl was drooling over him. Yeah, I know he is British because she told me – her trivia knowledge about the guy is more than enough to make me squirm. Apparently, she and Kate Kavanagh indulged themselves in a Jax Teller marathon once a month. A girl´s night, they called it.
I hate that guy!
"Which one is your favorite, Miss Steele?" I hug her from behind and kiss the mark on her neck, making sure she feels my spiky whiskerson her skin. She shivers, I wanted to kiss every little goose bump I see forming in the skin of her arms.
"Both make me want to jump on you, so there is your answer." Her voice is husky.
"Only me?"
"Only you."
Eat your heart out, Jax Teller!
"What about that biker you and Kate are always drooling over?" I provoke.
Yes, maybe I do have a masochistic side after all.
"Are you kidding me? He doesn't hold a candle to you, Christian Grey, you have no reason to be jealous."
Jealous? Who? Me?
"You´ve got the edge over him, he´s fictional, you´re real. End of discussion."
Her honesty could be disarming at times. Still, I pry.
"The guy who plays him is real…"
"… and probably married – Kate told me, though I have no idea. And I don´t care, if you must know, like to know too much about the real lives of those who play the characters I like, it kills the fantasy."
"That makes sense. You still know he is British." That qualifies as too much information in my book.
"That´s common knowledge, Christian. It doesn´t matter anyway, it is not about the man, it´s the bike."
Oh, is it?
"I always wanted to ride a Harley."
WTF?
"Seriously?"
Hmm, that would be a hard wish to make true. I´ve never ridden a Harley Davidson myself, and I have no intention of learning how to drive one those things. I´d rather spending the little free time I have for that soaring or learning to fly my jet.
"Yup. My mom´s husband number three had one of those, but he wouldn´t let me get within ten feet of it. That was only one of the many, many reasons why I didn´t like him very much."
She said it almost casually, but it was like a dark cloud crossed her eyes, her voice lowered. Was a little darkness in her past as well? The idea makes me uneasy – I feel the urge to track husband number three find out what he did to Anastasia or her mother that makes her shrink and squirm like that when she mentions him. Stephen M. Morton was the bastard´s name, if I remember correctly from Ana´s dossier. Depending on what I find out, I will probably want to squeeze the life out of him.
Slowly.
Yes, I would talk to my security team about it as soon as I got back from Portland.
"Was Mr. Morton a biker?"
She laughs.
"Stephen? No way, he wasn´t cool enough for that. He just kept it there in the garage, no one was allowed to touch it, even my mom. It was pretty ridiculous." Another giggle. "And by the way, I never drool. Except over you, of course."
Oh, abrupt change of subject, Miss Steele. What can I do to make you tell me about husband number three one of these days, I wonder…
Perhaps some other time.
"Really?"
"Really. Actually, I am absurdly pathetic about it, Mr. Grey, I am surprised you never noticed anything."
"I notice, all right, all the time, Miss Steele. Come here. Now what have you done with my morning kiss?"
I turn her around for a quick peck on her inviting lips. She is not happy with just that - she grabs my head, smooths my hair back and suddenly pulls me down to her, reminding me of what a proper morning kiss should be like.
Needless to say, I like her interpretation much better than mine.
Unlike me, she is dressed to kill this morning, in that style that is so uniquely hers, a little bit the young business woman and a little bit of the college grad. I am pleased that she is wearing a dress - that always brings interesting possibilities. I pull her even closer, spreading my hands over her butt and…
Whoa, she is wearing underwear.
I am tempted to tell her to remove whatever lingerie she's wearing, but I let it pass - knowing Anastasia there would be more challenges for me to face before we even reached the door. But then…
A garter, Anastasia?
Interesting. I like that. I like it very much. I wonder what sassy Miss Steele has in mind for today. Her choice of lingerie poses some very interesting possibilities.
"Breakfast. Now."
I reluctantly let her go with a playful slap on her butt to sit on the balcony and attack my breakfast. We didn´t have much time, I want to be up in the air before 6 am. Although I have to admit I will be thinking about that garter she is wearing for the rest of the day.
"You do look yummy, you know" she says dreamingly, still gawking at me. "Good enough to eat. But then, you always do."
"Yummy, mmm? This is yummy," I say, taking a bite of the scrambled eggs and crispy bacon she had prepared for me.
She giggles.
"I love all of your fifty modes, Mr. Grey. Sometimes they combine, like right now. It can all be very confusing and mercurial. Not to mention sexy as hell."
"Flying Charlie Tango wearing a suit is not very comfortable," I explain, trying to distract myself from her sexy as hell comment, not to mention my growing jealousy towards scruffy bikers in leather jackets riding Harleys. "I avoid that as much as possible. I like some extra freedom of movement, and since I´ve booked the suite at the Heathman, I´ll have time to change and shave before my first meeting."
"Oh. Makes perfect sense. OK. Oh, I was wondering, Is Ross coming with us? Would you like me go ahead and call her while you eat?"
"Nope. She´s already there in Portland," I inform her.
"Oh."
"There were some preliminary meetings over the weekend and she took care of those for me."
"You mean, like foreplay."
I nearly choke on a piece of bacon, she promptly slaps my back.
"There you go," she hands me a glass of orange juice. Freshly squeezed. Yes, she knows me well.
"Thank you, Ana."
"You're welcome." She winks at me.
"Are you teasing me with your newly acquired knowledge on sex this morning, Miss Steele?" I raise a quizzical eyebrow at her.
"Oh please, don´t mock my recently acquired sex knowledge, Mr. Grey. Even a veritable encyclopedia such as yourself was a novice once, remember?" I flinch slightly, and she is quick to change the subject, steering us away from dangerous waters. "It all sounds so important - your mergers and acquisitions this morning, I mean."
"Because they are."
More than you can possibly know.
"Like, uh, likely to "cause a potential uproar in the market" important?" she pries.
"Might be…" I don´t elaborate, although it feels great whenever she takes any interest in my job. I really, really don´t want to bore her with that stuff this morning, I like the way things are going too much, her light, playful mood. If all goes well in the boardroom today, I´ll tell her all about it later, in detail. I loved talking about my job with her, she was a good listener and surprisingly enthusiastic about my business feats.
"Oh, what am I saying," she dismisses the idea with a gesture. "The stock market stirs if you as much as glare in the direction of another CEO. It was one of the first things I ever read about you."
"And I love that you are so well read, Miss Steele." I decide to tell a little bit. "It´s only a pharmaceutical company I have my eye on."
"Oh? Only that? Is this another change of direction for you? I mean, publishing and now this. Healing the world, Mr. Grey?"
I shrug again.
"Not really. Some slow part of my brain finally figured out that people won´t eat if they are sick, and that if they are sick they won´t eat, so…" Another shrug.
Just don´t go there Anastasia, not today. Not now.
I don´t wish to elaborate about my reasons for that. Not even to her or John Flynn who seems to be bent on using all his psychological mumbo jumbo to prove to me that I am some kind of humanitarian hero. I am nothing like that. So, I continue with my usual, near standard, explanation.
"Seems logical. Good business, as usual, it´s all there is to it, Anastasia." Her fingers comb through my hair again, and she kisses my temple. If she only knew how much I virtually come undone by these little tender gestures of hers…
"I know."
"Did you eat?" I ask, trying to appear nonchalant, my acting skills made easier when I note that she is only watching me with a dreamy look in her eyes that, in any other woman, I would find annoying as hell.
Drooling again, Miss Steele?
She blinks, then shakes her head a little, then replies.
"Yes, sir."
I smirk - my fifty modes all come and go, but the Dom is always there lingering on the background. And she always responds to him.
"Speaking about you and food, did Professor Frazier reply to your email. About lunch?"
I want to make sure that she doesn´t forget herself, and in case she most likely will remain in that hotel suite all day immersed in her work and her notes about the subspace writer.
I hate it when she doesn´t eat.
"Yeah, but she can´t make it though, she has a previous engagement. But she is coming to meet me later in the afternoon at the Heathman. For tea. Kind of odd, isn´t it?"
"Why odd?"
I sip my coffee - hot, strong. Just the way I like it.
"She is coming to meet me, that is not how those things work. It is not that Professor Frazier is a sucker for old fashioned hierarchy, but such things are almost natural, I guess. Hmm. I never knew a 4.0 GPA would have that kind of power," she snickered. "I mean, I´m just an ordinary former student, she is a professor with a mile-long CV, not to mention a published writer. I should go to meet her wherever she is, not the other way around."
I shake my head, saying nothing for the moment. Anastasia Steele is not fully aware yet that she is not any ordinary WSU graduate with a 4.0 GPA, and for a number of reasons. The main one - she is bright, wickedly clever, and I think she doesn´t realize how smart she is but her former thesis advisor certainly knows that very well. Any academian in the world would kill to have a student like Ana. Two, she is my girlfriend, and judging by the paparazzi that my security team has to brush off from time to time, the world is now just becoming aware of the fact. Consequently, so is Professor Frasier and the whole WSU faculty.
Yes, it is a fucking ugly world out there!
"Just make sure you eat, OK?" I touch the corner of her lip, removing an invisible bread crumble.
"Mmm…"
"I don´t want to worry about you."
"OK. I´ll eat. I´ll order something from room service."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"I am very serious about this, I need you strong and fit later this week, Anastasia."
She swallows. No, she hadn´t forgotten it.
I glance at my watch.
"Are you finished?"
She nods.
"Just leave the dishes, Mrs. Jones will take care of it when she returns. I hate to rush you, but we should be up on the roof in less than fifteen minutes if I want to make to that boardroom on time. I still have to stop at the hotel to shave and change. Did you pack everything you need? Your notes, books, computer, your phone…"
"Yes. Sir. Did you? Handcuffs, spreader bar, clamps, blindfold, flogger." Again the narrowed eyes.
Is she mocking me?
"Oh, the flogger. Don´t forget the flogger!"
That smart mouth of hers…
My turn to roll my eyes.
"If need arises, Miss Steele - and I am pretty damn sure it will eventually -, I thought we could improvise."
"Yes. I know improvisation is your forte. But I´m kind of in the mood to be flogged today, since anything else is off limits to me. Except for rulers and your twitchy palms. Are they twitching yet, Mr. Grey?"
Yes, she is still more than a little pissed about last night, I can tell, and that is her attempt at sarcasm. Her eyes are throwing daggers at me again.
And she calls me mercurial.
"Like never. Anastasia, you have no idea!"
Yes, they were twitching like never before.
She touches that place above my right eyebrow.
Why does she keep doing that? I make a mental not to ask her sometime later.
"Of course, I do!"
I wonder if there was time for me to dash into the playroom and grab the first flogger in sight and throw it in my briefcase.
"You keep saying we should walk before we run."
"And you keep reminding me. I also say that I like running." As predicted, she takes a sip of my coffee. "Mmm. You know, that is not quite that bad."
"It´s acquired taste, I won´t be surprised if you end up liking it." She wrinkles her pert little nose at me.
"Nope. Not gonna happen."
Part of our conversation last night starts playing in my mind…
"Did you do that on purpose? What was that all about? Kissing me like that in front of Kate and Elliot?"
"Don´t you know me better? Of course not, it wasn´t on purpose, it was an impulse I couldn´t resist. I forgot that they were there for a crazy moment, and I just… did it!"
"I happen to like your occasional public displays of affection, Miss Steele. This one in particular was not only harmless, but it gave your friend and my brother a badly needed those of their own medicine."
"I don´t know what came over me. But I guess you´re right, we showed them, didn´t we?"
"I do. And yes, we did. I don´t think I´ll ever forget that kiss."
"Neither will I. That means you won´t…"
"Won´t I what?"
"You know. Punish me…?"
"Ana… don´t toy with me like that, please."
"I´m not, but… I wanna feel it. I am curious."
"What is it that you want to feel? What is it that you are so curious about?"
I remember being reacquainted with the meaning of cold sweat running down my spine she answered my question.
"Anastasia, are you drunk?"
No, she wasn´t drunk - just pleasant inebriated, as she described it to me. There was a certain glint of darkness in her eyes that told me that she wasn´t joking either. In any case, she was tempting the monster.
With a cane, of all things.
Did she have any idea at all of what that thing could do to her?
She had seen my collection in the playroom, she had touched it, felt it, even played with them a little bit - but feeling them on her soft skin was another matter entirely.
Shit!
She wouldn´t be able to handle it. I wouldn´t be able to handle it.
"Still mad at me about last night, baby?" I whisper softly
That is the overture she wants.
"You think?" She rolls her eyes. "I´m not as mad as I should be. As I would like to be. But yes, since you're asking, yes, when I think about it, I am a little pissed."
"Because I said no to you?"
"No! Because you went all thermonuclear fifty on me again. Because… you…" Words catch in her throat and she seems unable to say them, as she looks around in frustration.
"Talk to me, Ana. We have to communicate about this."
"Fine. What was that, Christian, some kind of reverse safe word? A new BDSM protocol I am not familiar with yet? Tell me, please!"
"Nothing that complicated. That was only me keeping you safe."
"Mmm…"
"What you suggested last night wasn´t running, baby. It was beating Usain Bolt´s 100m world record."
She finally smiles again.
"I´m sorry. I guess I am a little unreasonable when I am… you know…," she starts rambling. "And I seem to be in a state of permanent arousalaround you. I just wanted to know what it feels like. Call it scientific curiosity this time."
"Ana…"
"When I think that you took so many women there with you, but not me I… Oh crap, I… I hate not being able to reach that part of you, Christian, I hate being such a coward. I hate it!"
"Anastasia…" I don´t think she is even paying attention to me anymore. "You´re not a coward, you´re the bravest woman I´ve ever…"
"You and your kinky fuckery, Mr. Grey, I think you´re turning me into a sex addict. Your sex addict exclusively, because the very thought of doing any of this with any other man makes me sick to my stomach."
It makes me sick to my stomach as well, Anastasia. It revolts me.
A dagger twisting into my dark soul…
"OK," I say simply, my voice loud enough so that she hears me over her own endless rambling.
She gasps and stares at me, mesmerized.
"Wait. You lost me… or I lost you." She takes a huge breath. "OK… to what?"
"We´ll try. I´ll show you, if you want."
"Are you messing with me?"
"I would never joke about this, Anastasia. Never! But I don´t want to repeat the experience with the belt. Just. One. Strike. Because you are asking for it. That will be all. And then never again."
I wonder briefly how could I possibly work around that one. Maybe the threat of a strike would be enough to satisfy her curiosity. I am counting on that because I am not sure right now if my arm would obey me with a cane in my hand and Ana...
"Unless I like it."
"Unless you…"
Is she fucking kidding me?
No!
"Ana please!"
Another curveball from Miss Steele. Well, at least she was not asking for the whip, I told myself. That could potentially break her skin or, at least, leave a bruise that wouldn´t disappear for days, and I would not have that.
100% hard limit for me.
"Fine, I´ll behave."
"Just me more careful for what you wish for around me, babe. We´ve been both burned once, I don´t want it to happen again."
She swallows.
"No, I´m not backing down. I know more now than I knew then, I know you better. There are things that I can understand now that I couldn´t before. This time I am not jumping blindly into this like before, Christian. I just hope it´s not..."
"… one strike and I am out?" I continue meaningfully.
"I´m not leaving you. Not. Leaving. You."
"OK. Case closed. We´ll give it a try that and see how it goes. You can always say no up to the last moment. I can always say no if I see you won´t be able to handle it. Satisfied?"
"Extremely. It is always a pleasure negotiating with you, Mr. Grey."
"We aim to please, Miss Steele. Now let´s get out of here!"
—
(*) She´s Like a Rainbow, The Rolling Stones.
