Exceptional

It was late in the morning by the time Christian returned to the Heathman with Elliot after dropping Anastasia off at her apartment, and he hadn't even gotten to the elevator when Elliot, who'd been lagging behind, called, "Christian, wait!"

"What?" Christian turned back to see Elliot examining a brochure, taken from a stack on a round, glossy table in the lobby. "What's that?"

"D'you want to go hiking?"

"What?"

"Look!" Elliot pointed enthusiastically at the cover of the brochure he held, and Christian stepped closer to see printed in tacky letters across the top, "Visit Oregon the Right Way - Local Cuisine, White Water Rafting, Fishing, and so Much More!" On the cover were a pair of hikers, replete with heavy-duty boots and overstuffed backpacks.

"Exactly what kind of cuisine would be something you could only get in Portland, Oregon?" Christian asked, raising his eyebrows. "Come on, Elliot, you don't actually want to do this."

"Why not?" Elliot beamed at Christian, rolling forward eagerly onto the balls of his feet.

"Because I have work to do. Because I'm seeing Anastasia at eight. Because hiking is boring. Because halfway through you'll decide you're hungry and be too lazy to walk back and I'll have to half-drag you the whole way we came until we find a place to eat. So many reasons."

"We're going hiking!"

"What part of what I just said gave you that impression?"

Elliot punched Christian lightly in the shoulder, his smile not in the least dampened. "The part where I'm your big brother, and therefore I get to make you do things you think you'll hate, so that I can say 'I told you so' after when you realize it was awesome."

"I don't think the word 'awesome' applies to hiking."

"Please, Christian?" Christian narrowed his eyes at Elliot, but couldn't resist breaking into laughter when Elliot continued, flicking the brochure for effect, "We have to make the most of this while we're still in Portland!"

"You do realize that you can fly to Portland from Seattle in an hour whenever you want, don't you?"

"You're no fun," Elliot complained.

With that admission, Christian decided he'd held out long enough and gave in, as he'd known he would. "Fine."

"Really?"

"Not if you keep looking like you're about to start jumping up and down."

"Let's go," Elliot beamed, ignoring Christian's threat.

When Christian got back to the hotel, there was a large manila envelope waiting for him at the reception desk. He took it up to his suite before opening it, knowing that inside would be a notarized nondisclosure agreement. Along with it was an old copy of the playroom contract, dated from several months ago.

He flipped through the contract and tried to find the parts Anastasia would object to. She wouldn't mind the toys from the playroom, he decided, once she learned to trust him. Once she realized that her fear was more painful than any of the actual instruments there. She would try to break the more basic terms of the agreement, Christian thought, as he scanned the pages of food, sleep, and exercise requirements, but that was something to which he could acquiesce. He drew out a pen and went over the document, making corrections as he went, shortening the personal training sessions to four, rather than five, times per week, and smirking as he added a line under "Personal Safety" that prohibited excessive drinking.

He'd just faxed the document to his lawyer for final certification when his BlackBerry buzzed in his pocket, and he snatched it up quickly, already half convinced that it was Anastasia calling to say that she'd come to her senses and decided to cancel. Instead, it was Elena, and Christian smiled, relieved.

"Elena," he greeted her. "I'm hearing from you a lot lately."

"I had to check in on how your stay in Portland was going." Even after all this time, Christian could still hear the tone of dominance in her voice, a master supervising her submissive.

"You mean you wanted to check in on how it's going with Anastasia." He'd told Elena about Ana before he'd even mentioned her to Dr. Flynn, and Elena's concern had been instantly clear.

"You know me too well."

"She's seeing me in Seattle tonight." Christian couldn't help but sound proud.

"So Anastasia agreed? To the contract? You know, I must confess, I didn't think she would."

"No," Christian sighed, feeling like a boy caught cheating on an exam. So much for pride. "I haven't showed her the contract yet."

"That's not like you." Disapproval rang in Elena's voice, the disappointment of a mentor seeing their student wander astray.

"I know." Christian sighed and ran a hand through his hair, wishing that, just for once, she'd keep her observations to herself.

"You're changing. You never bring them home unless they've already agreed."

"I'm not changing," Christian said defensively. "I'm… making an exception."

"Exactly. You don't make exceptions."

"There's nothing wrong with bringing her home first." Christian's voice was clipped.

"Really? Have you planned ahead at all? She's unaware of your needs, your desires… what's going to happen when you turn out not to be what she expects at all? Not even normal people bring women home on the second date, Christian."

"I'm well aware of what normal people do." Christian tried not to sound like it wasn't slightly offensive to be referred to as abnormal, even if it was true.

"So you see that it won't do to take her back to Seattle."

"I've made up my mind, Elena." Christian's tone was a warning. "You know I don't make decisions unless I'm sure."

"A few weeks ago I'd have known that, but now…" Elena trailed off, and Christian could imagine her shaking her head in disapproval. "You haven't answered me. Does she know what you need from a partner?"

"She knows that I don't want a romance."

"Are you sure? Because, the way you're acting, you'd think you're looking for a romance."

"For Christ's sake, Elena, don't be so extreme. She was at my hotel this morning, she had questions, and I told her I'd answer them soon. I just happen to be going to answer them at my house."

There was silence, and Christian's brow furrowed. "Elena?"

"She was at your hotel? Christian, do you want me to come down there, talk some sense into you?"

"No, it wasn't-"

"Darling," - Christian grimaced at her old term of endearment, usually used only during punishments - "you can't just have a one-night stand with a woman and expect everything to be okay afterwards. You didn't have her sign the contract, god knows if you even remembered to have her sign an NDA first-"

"Stop it." Christian's voice was sharp and cutting, and it broke Elena's speech off immediately. "I haven't forgotten the paperwork. I told her I wouldn't touch her until I have her written permission." Christian paused for a moment and decided not to mention that he'd kissed her. "She's aware that I'm not a normal man. She's not stupid, and she's not a gossip. I received the NDA from my staff not five minutes ago, and I'll have her sign it tonight before we go any further, not that my legal business is any of your's."

"But-"

"And I didn't have a one-night stand with her," he finished forcefully.

"Then what were you doing?"

"She was drunk. I took her back to the hotel before she had time to do something moronic, and I let her sleep it off."

"Oh, Christian," Elena sighed lightly. "I'm going to fly down, okay? I won't be long. You need help."

"What's wrong with what I did? You're supposed to take care of your submissives, too, you know, not just enjoy their bodies. I'd like to think you'd have done the same for me, when we were younger."

"When we were younger, you had the good sense not to get wasted, just as you had the sense not to get involved with a woman without a contract, and if you didn't, I'd have paddled it into you. What hotel are you staying in?"

"Don't be ridiculous, you don't need to-"

"You'll be in the Heathman, it's the only one high-class enough. I'll be there soon, alright?"

"To paddle some sense into me?" Christian's voice was sarcastic.

He was hoping for something equally sarcastic on her end, something to show that she wasn't blowing the situation out of proportion as sincerely as she seemed to be doing, but there was only a click as she hung up her phone.

"You don't need to be here," Christian said, just over an hour later, standing in his doorway and not returning the squeeze Elena gave to both his hands. "In fact, I'd rather you weren't."

"Don't be rude," she chastised, brushing past him. "Didn't Grace ever teach you that it's only polite to ask a lady inside and offer her a drink?"

"Yes, but then you came along and taught me a lot of other things that weren't quite so gentlemanly," Christian smiled, pouring Elena a glass of Sauterne and handing it to her with resignation as he took a seat next her on the couch. "What do you want? I have to be on my way to pick up Ana at a quarter to eight."

"If I do any good here, you won't be on your way at all. You need to let Anastasia go, okay? It was a good fantasy, but you've complicated her too much. Find someone else, and keep it straightforward this time. Don't mess around with feelings."

"Feelings?" Christian raised his eyebrows. "I don't have feelings for her," he clarified quickly, not giving himself an opportunity to wonder if he did.

"She's a girl, okay? Not even out of college yet. You show up with all your money and beautiful body - I know you don't think you're all that, but, trust me, you are - and you sweep her off her feet and act like you're her prince charming, there to save her from the bad guys."

Christian shook his head, trying not to remember Ana's words, "Which medieval chronicle did you escape from? You sound like a courtly knight."

"She's going to have expectations, Christian," Elena continued, misinterpreting his negative gesture as disagreement. "Expectations that you're not able to meet."

It was everything that had made Christian try to resist Ana in the beginning, verbalized out loud now, and Christian tried not to believe Elena's words, tried to keep his voice level as he countered, "Then I'll let her decide that. That's what submission is all about, remember? Choices. If she doesn't want what I am, then she'll leave. It's not as complicated as you make it sound."

"And will you be able to deal with it, if she does leave? You know, I'm getting worried about you, darling." Elena raised her hand and stroked his cheek, and Christian struggled not to lean instinctively out of her touch, when coupled with that word, darling. "The way you talk, someone might think you're attached to her. It's not good."

"Dr. Flynn suggested that I pursue the things I want, and if Ana isn't interested, then that's how it'll be." Christian looked down, not quite meeting Elena's gaze as he directly acknowledged, for the first time aloud, that he wanted Ana.

"Well that goes to show that Dr. Flynn isn't as good as you thought he was. But really, you couldn't expect him to understand. He can't know, unless he's been a part of it. Not the way I know."

"Do you know, though?" Christian mused, suddenly. "You've never been a submissive."

"I've subbed for you, Christian," Elena said, surprised. "Do you need… I thought we agreed that that wasn't wise for us, but if that's what you-"

"No!" Christian paused, taken aback by his own vehemence, and continued more calmly, "No, but that's exactly it. You subbed for me, but you weren't a submissive. The whole time, we both knew that you were always the dominant."

"You were in control, you could have done anything. I'm sorry if I didn't make it clear-"

"It's not the same. Physically, yes, you let me dominate you, but psychologically, you were still the dominate and I was the submissive."

"Is this some nonsense your psychologist has given you?"

Christian smirked. "No, it's nonsense I came up with all on my own."

Elena laughed with him, but when Christian sobered, he said, "I'm bringing Ana to Seattle with me tonight."

"It's a mistake."

"It's what I need."

"At least have her sign the things here in Portland, before you leave. So if it's too much for her, she can leave without you having gotten too involved. It'll be better that way, a clean break."

"I want her at home before I tell her everything. On purpose. I want her to know me, before she reads about it on a piece of paper. It's not the same."

"You've never needed this before."

Christian tried to be annoyed at her refusal to accept what he didn't know how to express in words, but there was nothing but genuine concern in Elena's eyes, and he couldn't muster any anger towards it. She knew him so well, but this was new, even to him, and he couldn't expect her to understand it when he hardly could. "Needs change."

A/N: Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter! You guys are great, I asked for some more feedback and you gave me plenty! I really appreciate it. I had a lot of fun with Elena's character for this chapter, so I hope you had a good time reading it.

Tomorrow (January 13th) is my 17th birthday, so review for my birthday, please?