Ana POV:

I'm lying on my back in the middle of the living room floor panting. My legs, ass, and abs are burning. The 30 Day Butt Challenge DVD Kate bought last week is playing relaxing music as it graciously gives us a few seconds break from the grueling pace it's set.

"I can't do this anymore." Kate whines, rolling over to empty what used to be a full wine glass.

"Only ten more minutes, Kate." I encourage her. It's been a little awkward between the two of us over the past few days. She's been trying to be extra nice to me to make up for the awful things she said during our fight, but every small, uncharacteristically kind thing she does makes me feel like shit. Especially since, the first day she got this DVD and asked me to do it with her, I could hardly do anything at all because I was still too sore from being with the guy she's into the night before.

She pours herself another glass of wine, but then groans as the perky blonde on the screen tells us to get ready for round two. She lays back down next to me and we both spread our hands over the carpet, bend our knees, and begin to raise our butts into the air. We get all the way through the first three sets when the door opens, and I hear heavy footfalls over the stone floor in the entryway before seeing Elliot's face through the arch to the living room. He looks down at us and then smiles.

"Hey ladies, what's going on?" He asks, and there is a little more than just a hint of suggestion beneath his tone when he looks down at us essentially humping the air.

"Elliot!" Kate gasps, scrambling to her feet. "What are you doing here?"

"I uh… I came to apologize to you, Katie. I haven't been fair to you and, well, I've missed you."

"Really?" She replies, trying to hold back the sentimental smile that automatically creeps over her lips.

"Yeah. Take me back?" He asks. They look at each other for a moment and then she holds her arms open and closes the space between them in three quick, long strides. He pulls her into his chest, hugging her tightly, but then very purposefully looks at me over her shoulder and winks. I roll my eyes and then collapse back onto the floor to finish the workout still in progress. Kate wraps her hand around Elliot's and drags him back down the hall with her. Before he disappears though, he cranes his neck back to get one last look at me doing butt lifts on the floor.

Once I hear the two of them going at it, I get off the ground, turn off the TV, and pick up Kate's glass and bottle of wine off the coffee table. It's fairly late in the evening and she's almost polished the bottle off herself, so rather than put it back in the fridge, I simply empty the bottle into a clean wine glass and then take it with me back to my room where I decide it's time to do the thing I've been dreading all day.

I pick up my phone and quickly find my mom's number in my contacts list and make the call. It rings enough times for me to lose count and I figure it's probably going to go to voicemail, but she answers at the last second.

"Ana!" She cries merrily, but I can tell just from the tone of her voice that she's loaded.

"Hey Mom, I hope I didn't wake you."

"Of course not dear, the night is young! We're celebrating!"

"Celebrating what?"

"Oh, I don't know… there has to be something in the world to celebrate right? Besides, Bob brought home champagne which we both know means that he's planning on getting a little something between the sheets later so I'd better be prepared." She laughs, and I take a deep, bracing breath.

"Great, Mom." I say dismissively. "Look, I was just calling to find out if I should get a ticket down to Georgia for Thanksgiving. It's only a couple of weeks away, and I've been saving but they get more expensive the longer you wait."

"Oh, Ana. Sweetheart. I'm sorry, but Bob and I are taking a little trip down to Green Turtle Cay for Thanksgiving. It's going to be fantastic! We've reserved this gorgeous beachfront house that we'll have, just the two of us, and he's arranged for us to go snorkeling out on the reef."

"Oh." I say, feeling a small pang of disappointment that I immediately want to smack myself for. Honestly, I don't know why I would have expected anything different… It's the same thing year after year, holiday after holiday, and has been since she skipped town when I was 16 and I had to legally file for emancipation so that I could go to the doctor when I needed to or sign legal documents for myself. When she met this husband, it looked like she was finally going to settle down and we were going to be able to have a relationship again, but that seems to have passed now, and I honestly don't even know why I try anymore. "Well, I hope you both have a great time."

"Thank you, dear. Now, I've got to go. Call me later in the week, okay? We can talk about you."

"Sure, Mom." I say, very doubtful that she would spend even ten minutes of her valuable time considering me and what I've been up to. She sends me a check every month, supplied by her new rich husband. That's her contribution to my life, and she seems to be okay with that. I'd give anything to have a relationship with her the way Leila has a relationship with Kathy… but my mom's interests lie in shopping, vacations, alcohol, and sex. Not in me.

I tell her good-bye and try to blink the tears out of my eyes, once again feeling stupid for getting my hopes up. As I lay there, trying to convince myself that it's not getting to me as much as I know it is, I feel my phone vibrate in my hand. I look down and see Christian's name flash across the screen.

Great.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Good evening, Anastasia." He says softly. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, how are you?"

"I'm… missing you actually. I met with the directors of a business my company is acquiring today and it was probably one of the least productive meetings I've had in awhile. I couldn't stop thinking about you. Actually, it's been like that all week for me. I can't seem to get you out of my head."

I take a deep breath, cursing the feeling of warmth that courses through me at his words. After the conversation I just had with my mother, this is exactly what I need to hear right now. That someone wants me. That someone is thinking about me. That someone cares that I exist. I just don't understand why it's coming from Christian Grey.

I've spent the entirety of last week trying to reconcile our date and this new relationship in my head. Why it is that he's so kind and sweet and romantic with me, but was so brutal and vicious towards Leila? I wish I could talk to her, find out if this is what it was like between the two of them in the beginning. Maybe this is how he got his hooks into her so deep. There's no denying the guy is as charming as he is heart stoppingly beautiful. He always seems to know exactly what to say. Which, I suppose, could be how he gets women to do whatever it is he wants, even when what he wants is to beat them.

"Ana? Did I lose you?" Christian asks.

"No, I'm here." I say quickly. "I'm sorry, I just got off the phone with my mom and it wasn't a great conversation. I miss you too. I wish… I wish you were here now."

"Do you need me to be?" He asks and suddenly my body tenses with nervous energy. It was a bluff. A cool lie to try and play the part of the all too willing girlfriend. I hadn't expected him to take me up on it and, now that he's offered, part of me does kind of want to see him. The truth is, I feel… ugh, I feel good when I'm around him, and that's exactly what I need right now. But, I'm still not fully psyched up to have sex with him yet. My cheeks heat as the embarrassing memory from earlier in the week, when I had pulled a belt from my closet and hit myself, hard, across the leg with it several times to see if I could take the pain, crosses my mind. I couldn't. If I don't let him come over here, I still have 24 hours to prepare myself for sex. If he comes over here now, well…

"You're very sweet, but I'm tired." I say into the phone, and I hear him exhale slowly, probably with irritation, as I rebuff him again. Fuck, I need to figure this whole BDSM thing out... He's going to lose interest if I don't do it soon and I know I'm pushing it. I can't let this all be for nothing.

"Tomorrow." I say, hoping the promise is implicit in my voice. "Tomorrow night, I'm all yours."

"I can't wait." He says. "How are you getting here tomorrow?"

"Kate is going to let me use her car. She's going out of town for the weekend with her parents so she won't need it."

"Good. And, you know how to get here?"

"That giant, beautiful building in the middle of the city with the word Escala printed on top? I think it's a little hard to miss." I say, laughing as I do so that he doesn't take what I've said the wrong way.

"Fair point." He says with a chuckle. "I'll email you later tonight with the code to the parking garage and the elevator. I have several spaces reserved so I'll make sure one is open for you."

"I'll keep an eye out." I promise.

"Oh, and I wanted to let you know that I had my staff search The Grace high and low. I'm trying everything I can, but… I haven't been able to find your necklace yet."

My breath catches with shock. He's been looking? "You have?"

"Of course I have. Seeing the way you were when you lost it really gutted me, Anastasia. I never want to see you upset like that. I'd do anything to be able to give it back to you."

I'm nearly speechless. "Christian… I don't know what to say. Thank you."

"Of course. Now, get some sleep. Until tomorrow, Miss Steele."

"Until tomorrow, Mr. Grey." I repeat.

"Goodnight." He hangs up and I let out a long drawn out breath as I drop the phone onto the bed and cover my face with the pillow so I don't have to listen to Kate and Elliot from the other room. The pillow isn't enough to muffle the sound though, so I decide to hop in the shower and wash away the sweat from my workout earlier. It works because by the time I step out of the tub and into the steam filling the bathroom, I can't hear anything from down the hall.

After my hair is dried, my teeth brushed, and I'm dressed again, I head back out into my bedroom and pick up my phone again. I've missed a call from Leila's dad. Oh no…

Immediately, I pick up the phone and call him back, waiting anxiously as each ring seems to make my gut clench tighter with trepidation.

"Hey, Ana." Phil answers.

"Hi, what's wrong? What's happened?" I ask quickly.

"Whoa. Nothing's happened, Ana. I was just calling to check on you and see how you were doing. You haven't called us this week and that's not like you."

"Oh…" I say, and then I feel a rush of gratitude at the gesture. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize it'd been so long since I called. I'm doing fine, how are you and Kathy?"

"Oh, same ol', same ol'." He says. "Have you made any plans for the holiday?"

"Actually…" I hesitate, and Phil picks up on it immediately.

"What happened, Ana?" He asks, concerned, so I take a bracing breath and continue.

"Well, I called my mom tonight, asking if I should make arrangements to go out to Georgia to spend Thanksgiving with her, but she told me she's made plans to go on vacation with Bob. I don't know, I guess I should have expected it. It's really not that big of a deal. Maybe I can tag along with Kate or something…"

"I'm sorry, Ana. I just don't know what goes through your mother's head sometimes. But, you know that both Kathy and I would just love it if you came over here and spent the day with us. We're going to be missing Leila at the Thanksgiving table for the first time since she's been born and having you here, I think would make us both feel a lot better about it."

"Really?" I ask.

"Of course, sweetheart. You know you're always welcome here."

I smile and feel tears begin to well in my eyes again. I really don't know what I ever did to deserve a friend as wonderful as Leila has always been to me, and her family on top of that is just… it's really unbelievable sometimes.

"I'd love to come." I tell him. "What can I bring?"

"Oh you don't worry about anything…" He says, "Unless you happened to have a deep desire to bake one of your famous pumpkin pies. Because if you did, I wouldn't want to hold you back."

I laugh. "Pumpkin pie it is. I'll even bake two so I can leave one there, just for you."

"If you insist." He says good humoredly. "I also wanted to tell you that we spoke to the doctor at the psychiatric ward yesterday about Leila's progress and he thinks she might be ready for some visitors. Not too many mind you, I wouldn't want Kate to go yet, but you're her best friend and she's been asking about you."

"Really?" I say hopefully.

"Really. She has some time on Saturday afternoon, if you're able to make it."

"Of course." I assure him. "Just give me a time."

"How about 2 o'clock? She's got therapy until about 1:30 and that will give her some time to go back to her room and relax a little before she gets all excited again."

"I'll be there." I promise, and he gives me the details of where to go and who to talk to before he tells me he's got to get going. I thank him again for calling and for the invitation to Thanksgiving dinner and then hang up the phone.

Relief washes over me. If Leila is finally up to having someone other than her parents come and visit her, it must mean she's had some kind of break through. The last time I saw her she was completely out of it and looked so broken down. Phil told me that not long after I'd left, she'd had a complete meltdown out of nowhere and it's just all gone downhill since. Maybe on Saturday, I'll finally get a real glimpse of my best friend again and I'll be able to push the haunting memories of her in that hospital bed aside once and for all.

Suddenly, I freeze. Saturday?

Fuck, I'm going to be with Christian on Saturday.

Well, maybe. I'm supposed to spend the night Friday night and that's really the main event, so maybe by 2 o'clock I'll be able to slip away. I bite down on my lip as I ponder this but ultimately decide that no matter what, I have to go see Leila. I'll figure out how to make that happen when the time comes.

"Hey." A voice says behind me, making me jump, and I turn to see Elliot standing in my doorway. His hair is wet and he's only wearing a towel fastened securely around his waist so he must have just gotten out of the shower too.

"Elliot, what are you doing?" I say, looking down the hall through the door behind him with panic. "If Kate sees you..."

"She's asleep." He says. "Don't worry, I tired her out pretty good."

I roll my eyes as he turns to close and lock my bedroom door behind him, and then faces me again, holding my gaze as he reaches for the towel and gently pulls on it so that if falls to the floor. He's standing in front of me, completely naked, and I narrow my eyes at him.

"If you think I'm going to fuck you after you just had Kate, you're out of your god damned mind." I hiss at him, trying to keep my voice low in case Kate wakes up.

"The idea crossed my mind." He says, grinning and stalking towards me. "Why haven't you called me this week, Ana?"

"What do you mean?" I ask.

He rolls his eyes. "I mean, we had a good time last weekend. You said you wanted me in on your little destroy Christian plan, why haven't you called me? I've felt like a needy chick waiting by the phone for you all week."

I raise an eyebrow and then turn away from him so that I can sit crossed legged on my bed. "I'm sorry, that must have been terrible for you." I tell him. "I wonder how many girls have done the same for you?"

"Oh come on, Ana. Don't compare what I did with all those other girls to what is going on between us. You have to know that what we had last weekend wasn't just run of the mill sex. There's something here, something… different. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all week. I have to have you again."

"You just fucked my roommate, Elliot." I say pointedly.

"I took a shower." He argues, "Besides, I came here tonight to make up with Kate only so that I would have an excuse to be around you. I had sex with her because I'm expected to have sex with her. Same as you and Christian tomorrow night. It doesn't mean we care about them, right?"

"How did you know about…"

"Well, that's the other reason I'm here." He says. "I was asked to deliver a message to you."

"A message?"

"Christian called me this afternoon. He asked if I was going to see you before you go over to his apartment tomorrow. I told him maybe, and he gave me a whole list of things he wanted me to say to you about him."

I raise an incredulous eyebrow. "He wanted you to talk him up?"

"Apparently, you turning him down last weekend did a number on his ego, Ana." He says, smiling in an overly pleased kind of way. "It's never happened before."

"So what did he want you to say?" I ask. He saunters towards the bed, climbing on top of it and then crawling towards me like a jungle cat. I feel my body tense as I see the hungry way he's looking at me, and when his lips make contact with mine and his tongue thrusts past my lips in the fierce, possessive way I've come to expect, he pushes me back into the pillows.

"Are you ready?" He asks, but the feel of him pressing into me and the aggressive way his mouth moves with mine has clouded my mind and I've forgotten what we're talking about.

"Ready for what?" I ask, panting as I reach up into his hair. His erection presses against my shorts and I moan quietly.

"For what I'm supposed to tell you." He says. His hands move down to the elastic waistband around my bottoms and he slowly begins to ease them down.

"Oh, what?"

He smiles against my lips as he divests me of my shorts and then his fingers slip under my panties in search of my clitoris.

"So, I hear you're going on a date with my brother again." He says and I moan as his finger sinks into me.

"Yes." I whisper.

"He's a good guy." He says, his voice flat as though he's reading from a script. "I really admire him."

"You do?" I laugh, but my laugh is cut off by a moan as he slips another finger into me and slowly eases them in and out.

"Oh yes." Elliot continues. "He's smart, you know. And there doesn't seem to be anything he can't do if he puts his mind to it."

"Really?"

"Mhm." Elliot mumbles, closing his eyes and running his tongue over his bottom lip as he concentrates on the feel of me around his fingers. "But most importantly, he's always been there for me. There's no one in this world that I'd trust more. People think of him as cold and impersonal, but they don't know him. He's got a big heart. I just think he needs to find the right girl."

I look down at him with disbelief. "He told you to say that?"

"Yep." Elliot groans. "And now I have. Let me have your pussy again, Anastasia."

He pushes his fingers forward again, as deeply as he can, and I moan, but he silences me with another kiss. All sense of self control is out the window as I lose myself in the feeling of him on my lips, inside of me, on top of me. He's everywhere, and yet, I'm still not experiencing nearly enough of him.

"There are condoms in my drawer." I whisper, and the second the words are out of my mouth, he reaches for my bedside table and roughly yanks the drawer open.

Christian POV:

I hang up the phone with Anastasia, feeling a slight twinge of frustration at my offer to go to her tonight. Not because she rebuffed me, of course she did, it came off as desperate, but because I made it at all.

I do not chase women.

Really, it's just been too long since I've fucked a woman. Leila was what…? Five weeks ago now? Six maybe? Either way, entirely too long. Miss Steele has proved harder to crack than I would have anticipated, I've never had trouble like this before. But there's excitement in it too. The thrill of the chase. It'll make breaking her in all the more satisfying. A true conquest.

I close my Macbook and stand from my desk, feeling the ache of the long hours sitting here in my muscles. I've been working too hard, too much, over the past few weeks and while GEH is thriving, I'm beginning to find my days monotonous. Boredom is never good for me, and definitely never good for my submissives. And since Anastasia is not yet a submissive, it's probably a good idea for me to work some of this stress out before I have her in my bed tomorrow night.

I stretch slightly and then walk from my office, stopping at Taylor's door on my way upstairs.

"Taylor." I say to call his attention and he immediately looks up at me. "I'm expecting company. I'll be in my playroom, send them straight up to me."

"Yes, sir." Taylor replies quickly. I nod and then continue on towards the stairs. Once I'm inside the comforting red room, I strip out of my jacket and pull the tie already hanging loosely around my neck the rest of the way off. It doesn't give me the sense of freedom I'm seeking though, so quickly I remove the rest of my clothes, except my pants. Once I'm undressed, I walk purposefully forward to the wall where my favorite instruments hang. Canes, whips, cats, floggers, crops, belts… everything I need to reach the peak of my sexual desires.

I might not be able to punish Anastasia for denying me, but I've kept a running tally of each and every one of her discretions so far. Refusing my advances, twice, rolling her eyes at me, three times, and that quippy little scoff she lets out every now and then… Yes, I think that will be rebutted with the sweet sting of a belt.

My breath hisses through my teeth at the thought and my body reacts instinctively, my cock stirring awake. I pull the belt off the wall and then turn to face my room, examining each piece of furniture individually as I let my fantasies swim through my mind. The whipping bench has always been a favorite, but it's too recently used. I'm also fond of the sawhorse and the St. Andrew's Cross, but neither are ideal for whipping punishments. I could lay her over the bed, tie her hands to the posts so she can't move away… Yes. Yes, that would do nicely.

I move to the bed and picture her there, bend over the side with her arms stretched out in front of her, tied to a post on the other side. Her ass, which I spent a great deal of time focusing on when I had her on The Grace last weekend, naked and on display for me, begging to be lashed. I grip the belt tightly in my hand, and with a hard, swift motion, crack it against the side of the mattress. The sound is cathartic, almost healing, and sends a comforting sense of relief through my muscles. I wield it again, and again, perhaps using more force than I could if I were hitting an actual human, but also reveling in the idea that I could. I wonder how much pain little Miss Steele can take? It's a limit I'm going to test, to push… Oh god, I hope she's a crier.

"Having fun?" A voice asks behind me, and I turn to see Elena Lincoln standing in the doorway of the playroom, raising an eyebrow at me in amusement.

"Practice makes perfect." I reply, and she smirks, shaking her head a little as she steps into the room and closes the door behind her. "Did you bring what I asked?"

"Yes…" She says hesitantly, but as I hold my hand out for it, she purses her lips and steps back out of my reach. "Can I ask what you intend to use if for?" She asks.

"Anastasia can be a little… hesitant. It's simply a backup plan." I reply shortly and she frowns. "I'm joking, Elena." I reassure her. "You know I'm more careful than that. People have seen me with her."

"So… they're not for this new girl then?" Elena asks.

"No, they're not for her." I say. "They're for someone else."

"Christian, look… far be it for me to-"

"Oh cut the shit, Elena." I interrupt her. "You know exactly what this for and you brought it anyway. I don't have time to play moral dilemma with you. Just give it to me and be on your way."

She sighs, reaches into her purse, and pulls out an envelope. I take it from her and look inside, counting each of the small blue tablets individually before nodding and tucking the envelope into the pocket of my pants.

"Thank you." I say abruptly and then turn back to the bed to begin to swing again.

"Can I be… frank with you, Christian?" Elena asks.

"You usually do as you please." I reply.

"I'm concerned. This girl that you've found, she's… well, she isn't like us. She's never been in the lifestyle and, well, to be blunt, it takes a certain amount of experience to deal with a dom of your caliber. I'm afraid you're going to be… too much for her."

"I'm counting on that." I say flatly and she inhales sharply.

"Christian. You know I've always been on your side, always been willing to help satisfy some of your… darker tendencies, but it's always been with willing participants. What you're doing now… well, it goes beyond the pale. You're not practicing safe BDSM anymore, you're… abusing young women."

I let out a humorless laugh. "You're going to lecture me on the line between BDSM and abuse? Tell me, how concerned were you with that line when you fucked me when I was fifteen?"

"That was different…" She hesitates, her confidence deflating a little as I pull my weightiest trump card. "Young as you may have been you were always a willing participant. This girl has no idea what she's consenting to."

"Then she won't say no." I say darkly. "You may go, Elena. I'm tired of this conversation."

"Fine." She says. Her mouth forms a tight line as she turns to leave, but before she reaches the door, I toss the belt onto the bed and then turn to her once more.

"Wait." I call for her, and she stops to face me again. "There's one more thing I want you to do for me."

"And what is that, Christian?" She snaps.

"I need you to get a delivery to Leila Williams for me."

"A delivery? What for? You ended your contract over a month ago and sent that poor girl to a mental institution."

"Because I haven't gotten laid in six weeks and I'm bored." I tell her, dryly. I stalk across the room and out the door in front of her. She follows in my wake, but I ask her to wait in the living room for me, rather than to follow me into my office. There is a silk flower sitting on the edge of my desk and when I pick it up, I take a second to examine it, smiling at the simplicity of it, before finishing the project and then returning to Elena.

"A fake flower?" She asks, confused, as I hold out the flower for her. "You're sending her a fake flower?"

"No, you're sending her a fake flower." I reply. "Mixed into a bouquet of real flowers of course. Find a match, slip this into the center, and send it to her."

"Would you like a card?" She asks, slightly sarcastic as she clearly thinks whatever I'm doing is both a waste of time and stupid. The corner of my mouth turns up into a half smile and I reach into my pocket for the scrap piece of paper I've already composed a message on. She reads it, rolls her eyes, but then slips the note into her purse.

"Anything else?" She asks.

"That should do it. Thank you, Elena."

She nods and then turns to leave but once again, when she get to the entrance of the foyer, she stops. "You know, if you're really this anxious to work out some of your stress… I wouldn't be opposed to stepping into the red room with you. If memory serves, you do have an undeniable skill set that is difficult to find in the community."

"I have a girlfriend, Elena." I say dismissively. "Isn't anything sacred to you?"

"My apologies, Christian." She says. "I've forgotten how old fashioned you were."