My dear little broccolis 💚💚💚

💚 So remember that this pic is RATED M, and it is not only for the sexy times. Some dark moments will be approached in this story, and they can trigger some people. This is a fair warning to remind you that this story sets place in a dark world, which means it is bound to mountains dark themes.

Love, Mina 💚💚💚

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Chapter 37: Happy Birthday (2,9K)

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💚 So … I lied. We are still going to get many many chapters from Christian's point-of-view, hihi

💚And for those wondering about Ana and her Vegas plans, it wasn't her idea. It was Kate trying to take Ana's mind off things. And it is very easy to fake enthusiasm by text.

💚Also, the next chapter is going to be very short, but with a rather long author's note, please read the author's note as well!

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Christian's PoV

Christian looked at Ana, peacefully sleeping in her bed, her hair spread on her pillow, and finally, a feeling of peace flowed through him. Nothing compared to that feeling of seeing her well and alive. Not breathing back to life, not being stitched up to health, not recovering from his wound. Nothing gave him this feeling of ease and wellbeing as much as seeing Ana, even if she was asleep.

And this was how he knew he was in love with her. She had been his last thought when he thought he was about to die, and his first thought when someone had fished him out of the water. In all truths, she had been a constant thought for him all the while his convalescence. It wasn't the perspective of shooting back those who have shot him that helped him get back on his feet, but the sweet sweet goal of seeing her again.

Silently, he knelt by her bed, a small satisfied smile on his lips, and he lovingly brushed the few strands of hair hiding her face from him. Never before he would have thought that such a simple situation could bring him so much pleasure. He longly looked at her, drinking the sight of her and not caring the least in the world if she would call him a creep if she knew.

As he was endlessly watching the girl he loved, his thought drifted to Macau and how he almost never got the possibility to watch Ana sleep again. He had been very lucky to have been fished out of the water, and even luckier to have been fished out by someone who knew a thing or two about medicine. Ping, the man who took care of him during his convalescence.

He was a villager from continental China who served as a doctor for the whole village, despite the fact that he had no medical training whatsoever. Though Ping had told him several times that it wasn't necessary, Christian had no idea how to thank the man for saving his life. He had no illusion that if Ping hadn't been there, he would have died, drowning and decomposing amongst the fish.

When he got back to the living city of Macau, Christian heard the rumour in the streets that Raymond was offering half a million dollars to anyone who would bring him his corpse. He knew that his first move should have been to go back to his boss and to let him know that he was alive and kicking, but he didn't. Instead, for the past two days that he had been on his feet, Christian travelled through Eurasia, only thinking of Ana.

As if she knew that he was thinking of her, Ana stirred a little in her sleep, her eyes fluttering open before closing again, sleep obvious on her face. Christian simply smiled, trying to not overthink of the warmth growing in his heart, and suddenly, she opened back her eyes, all trace of sleep having vaporised. She stared at him for half a second and jumped in his arms as soon as her brain confirmed that it was really him at her bedside.

"I knew you weren't dead," She whispered in his neck, holding him even closer to her. "I knew it. I knew it!"

Christian chuckled, stroking her lower back as he pointed out, "For someone who was so sure of herself, you seem pretty relieved."

She broke their embrace, slapping Christian on the chest, and he had to repress himself from hissing with pain. Still, his face showed his discomfort, instead of being its usual unreadable self. Ana looked where her hand had hit him, clearly connecting the dots, and Christian stopped her from saying anything by doing what he had wanted to do for a long time.

He kissed her.

She left herself melt under his kiss, bringing her hands around his neck and deepening, even more, their kiss, and Christian relished in that act. At this right moment, he didn't care about anything, but the woman in his arms. Still, he broke their kiss and leant his forehead against her, looking deep in the blue of her eyes and internally thanking Ana for sleeping with her curtains open, unknowingly letting him see her even better.

"Happy birthday," He softly said as he took out of his pocket a small box. Today was her birthday, and once again, he thanked his lucky stars to have made him heal at the rate he did. Any day longer, and he would have missed it.

She brightly smiled as he gave her the box, but barely looked at it. instead, she looked at Christian as she told him with pride, "I knew it. I told Kate over and over again that you would be back for my birthday. You promised."

"I did promise you." She smiled even wider, happy to see that her reasoning hadn't failed her, and though Christian knew that it was naive of her to think like that, he didn't try to debate with her. Mostly because he liked how highly she valued his word, and how much she had faith that he wouldn't break it.

She opened the box, curiosity painted on her face, and took out of it a silver charm bracelet with a little Eiffel Tower and a small Japanese Temple hanging. Christian took it from her hand to clip it on her wrist as he explained,

"I had already bought the bracelet before leaving New York. The Eiffel Tower and the temple are both from their respective countries."

Ana's smile widened even more if this was even possible, and she admired the small charms, reminding them of the good times they had together while abroad. But then, she suddenly frowned and glared at Christian,

"When did you have time to buy the charms?!"

"During the last two days."

Without any warning, Ana threw the empty box at Christian's face; and as he massaged his injured forehead, she accused, "You could have been home two days ago!"

"I thought you knew I wasn't dead," He reminded her, not thinking that she would have been that affected by his absence. She blinked, sniffling a little before looking down her hands.

"Still. I would have liked better to have you back two days ago than to have the bracelet."

"I'm sorry," He apologised, leaning his forehead against hers and sweetly rubbing her nape. "I just wanted to get you your present on your birthday."

She nodded, caressing the bracelet but keeping her eyes down. Christian forced her to look up, and once he was sure he had all her attention, he told her from the bottom of his heart,

"I missed you." He kissed her, putting in the kiss all the angst he felt when he thought he would never see her again. "I really thought I was going to die, Ana. And all I could think about was you."

"Really?" There was a mix of joy and hope in her eyes, making Christian's heart swell. He nodded, and Ana announced,

"You're not allowed to die, anyway. I forbid it." Christian laughed with honesty, but Ana only shook her head and affirmed, "I'm not kidding! I want you to promise me you won't let a stupid bullet kill you like that!"

Christian caressed her face, trying to ease the panic he could hear rising in her voice, and he promised, "I'll do my best."

For a moment, they silently battled, Ana clearly not satisfied with this answer. But after a few seconds, she gave in, and changed the topic, knowing that the promise Christian made her was the best she would get,

"I missed you too. Especially since Kate kept on trying to make me accept the fact that you were dead. It was really annoying that she didn't believe me, and expected me to believe her."

After those words, she fondly caressed the side of his face, his usual stubble having grown into a fuller beard and scratching her palm. She didn't seem to mind, gently smiling at him while they kept on staring at one another. She leant toward him and gave him a gentle kiss. But what started as an innocent and chaste kiss, quickly turned out to be more.

Without any of them really aware of how anything happened, Ana found herself on her back, with Christian between her legs, passionately kissing her and bringing her closer to him than it was possible. When Christian broke their kiss to suckle on the sweet spot she had on her neck, she couldn't stop the moan that came out of her, and though Christian knew he should try to keep her quiet, at this right instant, he didn't care, and so the rational part of him assured him that Raymond wouldn't hear a thing since his room was on the other side of the mansion.

Ana tried to help him out of his shirt, but Christian stopped her and pinned her hands against the mattress, taking complete control of their intercourse. Gathering both her hands above her head and within one of his, he slowly pecked his way down to her breast, pulling up her nightgown, before his free hand wandered down to play with Ana's sweet little nub.

Ana started to trash and pant when he pinched her clit, and he took it as his cue to go down, and pleasure her like he liked to do so much. He played with her, completely lost in the moment and loving all the little moans she had, and the more she was trying to keep quiet, the faster his fingers went inside of her. Until she couldn't hold it anymore, and climaxed, milking his fingers and biting on her hand.

Christian let her ride out her orgasm, kissing his way back, and when they were kissing again, Ana unbuttoned his shirt while he was aligning himself with her folds. They looked at each other, and Christian penetrated her with one hard motion, relishing on this sensation of feeling complete once inside of her. He rammed into her, loving how tight she was, how hot she was, how wet she was; and when he saw that she was reaching her climax, he increased his pace.

She closed her eyes, but Christian cupped her face with one of his hands, and blurted, "Ana, baby, look at me."

She immediately opened her eyes, and as soon as she did, she came undone beneath him. And that's only then that Christian realised his mistake. He felt his own orgasm build up, but retrieved last second, finishing in her stomach instead of inside of her.

Then, he collapsed next to her, and Ana immediately snuggled against him as the two of them were trying to catch their breath. After a minute or two, Christian looked down, seeing Ana's head on his chest, with her eyes closed and a happy satisfied smile on her lips.

"I didn't plan for this to happen," He let her know because the primary reason why he came to her room was to see her. Having her wake up was a bonus, and what just transpired was yet another bonus.

"I'm certainly not complaining. I like it when you let go. It makes me feel … special."

He kissed her forehead and reached for tissues, before wiping her stomach as he apologised, "Sorry about the mess."

Ana looked at him with a smug smile as she said, "I'm certainly not complaining. Who knew that feeling your monster-cock like that would make me feel so great."

Christian kissed her, keeping his hand on her cheek when he stopped and looking deeply in her eyes. She seemed so happy at this moment. She curled up against him, making him lay back down as she pointed out,

"This is the first time you're calling me 'baby'." He nodded, and she kept on going, "Why is that?"

"This is the first time I realised how much you mean to me."

He saw Ana grin with delight, making him smile at her bliss, and he gently rubbed circles on her arms, waiting for her to fall asleep. As if she heard what he was thinking, she declared, "I'm not going to sleep."

"Why not?"

"I don't want you to go. What if this all a dream?"

"I don't have to go. I can stay if you want," He told her, perfectly aware of the double meanings behind his words.

She seemed to think about it, and though Christian would like it better if they came out of the closet, he had decided to go with whatever decision she would make. Almost dying had put some perspective on his life, and being with Ana was the major one. He would rather see her in secret, than fight with her and risk losing her. This was one thing he was not ready for.

"I don't think it would be a good idea for you to 'stay here'. No matter how sad Dad was over your 'death', I don't think he would appreciate finding you in my bed."

"Okay," Christian agreed, and he saw the faint surprise in Ana's eyes to not have him argue over this. After all, this topic was the only thing that actually started an argument between the two of them.

"You don't have to leave right now, though!" She exclaimed, fearing that he might have misinterpreted her words, and Christian shook his head, assuring her that he was not moving for the moment.

She cuddled, resting her face against his chest and drawing lines on his chest like she did every time they pillow-talked, and she nonchalantly let him know her plans for the upcoming weekend, "I'm leaving for Vegas tonight. Since Peru was off, Kate organised this little weekend with friends for my birthday. She's trying to cheer me up. And Dad is coming with us."

"Friends?"

"Well, Kate wanted Elliott to come as well, but he's working on his thesis or something like that, so he'd rather not be distracted. And Kaelie … she said she wanted to study, but I think that she isn't really in the mood to party with you being dead and all. So it's going to be Kate, Alec and I."

Christian hid his surprised at Ana's comment concerning Kaelie. He never thought that she would be affected by his death. In fact, he didn't think anyone but Bastille would be affected by his death.

"Will you join us?" Ana asked, hopeful.

"Probably." He had figured that Raymond would go to Vegas at some point after he learnt in Macau that the casino manager problem had been taken care off. Though he did his best to keep a low profile, he saw that the manager he had fired had been replaced by Paul who used to take care of one of the casinos Raymond had in Vegas. Which meant Raymond needed to go to Vegas to find a new manager for his lacking casino.

And though he couldn't assert it at a hundred per cent, he knew that as soon as he would show up, Raymond would ask him to join him to Vegas so they could find that new manager together.

Suddenly, Christian shivered, feeling Ana's fingers delicately trace the line of his fresh wound, still cicatrising. He looked at her, but she was mesmerised by the wound, swallowing hard. It just above his pectoral, and according to Ping, he was lucky that the bullet did not touch any major veins. He could have lost either the use of his arm or even worse, his life.

He took her chin between his fingers, forcing her to look at him and to tear her gaze away from his forming scar, and he assured her, "Don't worry about it. I made it out alive, and now, it's all in the past."

She nodded, and Christian saw that her eyes were teary. He gently caressed her cheek before kissing her with affection.

"Christian …" she looked for her words, apparently unsure of what she wanted to say. "I'm so happy that you're here."

"I'm just happy to be with you," He honestly responded, keeping his hand on her cheek and looking deep in the blue of her eyes. If he had to pick a moment to die, it would be right then. Looking at the woman he loved.

Ana smiled to him, and quickly pecked his lips before she teased, "Well, don't die, and it's a done deal."

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💚Your thoughts and opinions are always welcomed💚

💚So, Christian is alive! Yay! First off, congrats to all of those who remembered that the prologue was in his point-of-view, about something that we still did not witness. second, read the author's note in the next chapter, it's really important!

💚And the next chapter will be a new point-of-view, if you guess, you get a surprise 😉

~ Anyway, question time:

💚What did you think of the reunion?

💚What did you think of the gift Christian had for Ana?

💚 How do you think Raymond will react?

💚What did you think of this chapter overall? And what do you think will happen next?

💚What was your favourite part?

💚Anyway, E L James owns the names of the characters from the Fifty Shades franchise, everything else is mine.

‼️FOR REVIEWERS‼️

I am so sorry, but because I hurried to get this chapter out, and it is already past midnight, I am just too dead to respond. Next update, I will go back to answering people

Love, Mina💚💚💚