A/N Hey guys! As always I truly appreciate all the reviews, favs and follows.
Fair warning, this chapter is a long one. I really loved writing it, took me ages though.
Christian and I are sitting upright in bed after a few more rounds of mind blowing sex. I swear this man is a machine, he is always ready for action. What surprises me more is my own sexual appetite, he makes feel like a wanton goddess and just looking at him I feel myself moisten, this never happened with Elliot or any of the other men i have been with.
I take this rare opportunity to get to know Christian better. He tells me all about his business which fascinates me, someone so young has achieved so much and when talks about work I see the passion and determination in his eyes. His desire to improve sustainable technology and poverty stricken projects is powerful and I am in awe. By the time he was my age he was acting on his ambition whereas I feel like I am stuck in a rut, I have graduated and earned my degree in English literature, the issue is deciding what to do with it. I would like to go into publishing eventually i admit to him when he asks.
During our conversation Christian's phone rings. He leans over the bed and fishes it out of his jean pocket. He look at the caller ID and his face immediately changes, I'm sure if the phone was a person it would wither under his angry stare.
" Who is it Christian?"
" Excuse me, I have to take this" He rises from the bed and hurries out the room. Butt naked. It's a sight to behold. I snuggle further into the sheets and inhale the scent, the mix of freshly laundered bedding, his unique manly fragrance and the essence of hard sweaty lovemaking.
I hear Christian's raised voice coming from outside and I frown. This is the first time I have had a glimpse of that side of him. I stand up and grab his shirt which had been tossed on the floor after he untied me from the bedposts, i wrap the shirt tight around my bare body. Quietly i open the bedroom door and walk towards the sound of Christian's voice. I've only seen one room of his apartment as I was unconscious when he brought me here and then we were sidetracked by other activities. I reach what I assume is the Great Room and i am instantly distracted by the floor to ceiling glass wall overlooking Seattle. I approach it with caution even though I know it's pretty safe, the view is staggering but I can't help but feel saddened by it. I can just imagine Christian standing here in his opulent ivory tower with billions of dollars, all alone bar what i speculate is some pretty harrowing issues based on the scars on his chest. I carry on my mission to find him and do so in his office but I halt outside the door, listening to the heated conversation taking place inside
"Elena just stop! I don't need this right now... I told you why?... Why do you need to know her name?... It's Ana, her name is Ana okay" Why are they talking about me and who is this Elena?
" I don't give a fuck what you think I need" Whoa he is really pissed now " Stay the fuck away from her Elena and don't even think about ruining this for me because I will destroy you and not think twice about it!" He slams the phone back in its holder and I hear him take a huge breath. It scares me that he thinks this stranger is some kind of threat to me. I am also a little afraid of his temper, his reputation as a cold, hard, unrelenting man at the moment is spot on.
I am about to make my presence known why I hear him talking again
" Elliot why are you calling me?" Oh crap! I want to storm in there, grab the phone and smash it into a thousand pieces but I refrain knowing that it wouldn't help the situation.
"Ana is here and is fine, she woke up some time ago"
I've had enough. Now he is concerned for my welfare!, where was that concern when he was fucking my best friend. I open the door and make my way into Christian office. He swivels in his desk chair to face me as soon as he hears the door. His eyes roam down my body much like they did the first time he saw me only this time I am dressed in his shirt and I witness the lust cloud his gaze. I manage to walk over to the chairs in front of his desk and sit tucking my legs under me
" What was I meant to do Elliot, your girlfriend was having a full on panic attack after finding out you had been fucking about behind her back" I look down at the floor trying to control my temper. He was seriously annoyed at Christian for helping me, the nerve of that man!
" Your on your way over here" My head snaps up and my panicking eyes meet his. Shaking my head vigorously I mouth " Stop him Christian"
"Elliot that is a really bad idea... I know you have to speak but now isn't the time... I won't let you in here, she isn't..." I stand up, walk round his desk and grab the phone from him mid sentence
" Don't you dare come round here Elliot"
" Baby please!"
"Baby!" I roar surprising Christian" you think you can still call me baby! Did you call Kate that too? Did you call her it when you two where laughing at me? Leave. Me. Alone."
"Ana just give me the chance to explain"
"I don't want to hear it. I need to be around people who don't lie and cheat on me" I snarl down the reciever
"Oh and that's with Christian is it?" he hisses
" What!?"
" Why is my brother so concerned for you Ana? He only met you yesterday. Don't you find that a bit strange?" This is not the appropriate way to come clean about Christian and I. Tears once again fill my eyes for what feels like the millionth time today
" Maybe he just cares about me, please don't come here Elliot. Don't break my heart anymore than you already have" I whisper, the tears now freely flowing. I hang up and Christian stands to comfort me but I push him away.
" Just give me a minute please" I don't want him to see me like this, a crying, mess of a woman is enough to put any man off. I flea from his office and I know he is chasing after me
" Ana please... Wait a second...Ana!"
I approach the great room, swiping the tears from my face when i freeze in my tracks. Christian runs into the back of me
"Ana wha...Mother!"
There in front of us stands Grace. Dressed in a long elegant cream jacket, she is looking disapprovingly at us and I suddenly realise why. I am wearing Christian's shirt and nothing else which bad enough but her son, who is currently hiding behind me holding my hips in front of his package in some kind of death grip, is stark naked.
" Christian, Ana" her voice is deceptively soft " I came over to check on Ana, we were all worried. I see now there was no need"
" Mom, I can explain"
" Enough Christian, I don't know what is going on with this family anymore but you can be as sure as hell it ends now, I want the truth. Go and get some clothes on" He nods, grabs a pillow from the couch to cover himself, kisses the back of my head and walks to his room. I am left with Grace. Brilliant
" Sit down Ana" she demands and I do what she asks " I had been looking forward to meeting you for a while, Elliot talks about you a lot" She said this when I first met her and it has been playing on my mind ever since. Why if he has been messing around behind my back with Kate for 3 months did he take me home to meet the family, why did he talk so much about me to his mom. It doesn't make any sense. I guess I will have to talk to him but I can't even entertain the idea at the moment.
" And when you walked through the front door I knew why" Grace continues " you are a beautiful woman who is pleasant and polite and I could see you really cared for my son which pleased me no end. I'm sure you know before you, Elliot was... Lets just say he enjoyed the company of women" He still does my sub conscious growls. " I thought you two where the perfect match, you were the one who tamed him."
"Grace, all is not what it seems" I interrupt her. I deserve her ire but Elliot is not getting away scot free " Before this weekend, I was in love with him I thought we were in a committed long term relationship, clearly I was the only one with this mind set"
" I know what Elliot has done dear" she admits softly. I am taken aback by this
" You do?"
" Yes, after you left i dragged him inside and forced him to tell me what happened. His behaviour disgusts me, he was wrong and i am not defending his actions, as for Kate well" she scoffs at the mention of her her name" but is what you are doing with Christian any worse?"
" No" I sob " I didn't mean for this to happen Grace, i really didn't"
" I know. I see the way Christian looks you Ana. I have never seen him act this way. He had a rough start in life which has had a huge effect on him which is why I am very protective. I have to ask Ana, did you know about Christian before you entered my home? did you know about his money? His fame?"
She may as well have slapped me across the face
"Grace if you are implying that I am after his money you are wrong."
" Then what is it Ana? They are brothers for goddess sake!" She is angry and I don't blame her
" Mother enough!" Christian storms back into the room, now in a grey tshirt and sweatpants, " What we did was wrong, we accept that but you cannot place all the blame on Ana"
" But this is your brother's girlfriend son!"
" You don't think I know that!"
" Then why?"
" We just have this connection, I can't seem to stay away from her. I made the first move, not Ana"
I have leave. I get up and head to the bedroom to get changed. Neither Christian or Grace stop me.
As I am putting me clothes on, I have never felt more like a whore. What have I done to this family. I should have just followed my first instinct and stayed at home, away from Christian away from that world. I grab my purse and head out. Mother and son are still arguing
" I like her Christian. I really do but you have to question her motives, she came with Elliot and left with you"
"You are just not getting this mom. We are going around in circles" Christian despairs.
" I think you should take some time to think about all this especially what it will do to your brother"
" He has no right to be angry after what he has done." Christian's head turns and he notices me standing in the archway
" I'm going to head off" I murmur. He stands and moves towards me but I am already heading for the elevators. He catches me just in time
" Baby no, don't run"
" Your moms right, you need to think about this."
" No I don't, I need you stay here. With me" I see him panicking. I reach up and caress his cheek, his stubble pricking my palm.
" Thank you for everything you have done for me today. You have no idea what it means to me. How about we still go for that coffee tomorrow?"
His face lights up slightly " I'll hold you to that Miss Steele"
I push up on my tiptoes and press my lips to his. He cups the back of my neck and gently strokes his tongue against mine
" Taylor will take you where you want to go. Be safe ok and I'll call you later" I smile and enter the elevator with Taylor who just appeared from nowhere. I send Christian one last wave before the doors shut.
I ask Taylor to drop me off at my apartment. I am so tired, today's events have exhausted me and I am looking forward to crawling into my bed and blocking out the world. I dig through my purse searching for my keys when the door suddenly opens and there standing in front of me is the last person I want to see
" Ana thank god!"
Kate. Could this day get any worse
A/N I struggled with writing Grace in this chapter. I really liked her in the books and i think she is one of the better characters but she is their mother and is understandably protective and i have tried to show that here. I will be exploring the Ana/Grace relationship further.
Anyway thanks for reading as always!