My dear little broccolis πŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’š

πŸ’š 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 πŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’š

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Chapter 47: That One Little Thing (3,9K)

πŸ’š Guys, we are almost at 400 reviews! THANK YOU SO MUCH. You have no idea how encouraging this is! Honestly, it is like fuel.

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Christian's PoV

When Christian got back to his place from his trip to Detroit, it was the middle of the day, and he had to the nice surprise to find Ana in his apartment. He had planned to go to the headquarters after dropping his bag, but seeing her bent over the counter, completely oblivious of his arrival made him reconsider his plans. It had been a few weeks since their debate over his parents, and how he did not like the way she handled the whole affair, and everything had been going on fine since then.

Ana had been coming just as much as before, if not more often, and to his greatest surprise, Christian had been opening up more to her. It was never something voluntary, but more of him seeing something in a movie they'd watch together, and him telling her how he experienced the same thing. Or Ana talking about something that happened in her childhood, and him letting her know something that happened in his youth as well.

Even at work, things have been doing fine. The alliance Idris had made with the Yakuza had had the effect that Christian had wanted, calming down any enemies who would be bold enough to go against them. Even the Mazarati seemed to understand and finally stayed at their rightful place.

Without a sound, he tiptoed his way to his girlfriend, under the very curious eyes of Bastille and hoping that the cat would not betray him; and once he was behind her, he hugged her, kissing her neck with tenderness. She gasped a little, before letting out that sweet giggle that Christian loved so much, and he told her that phrase he knew she liked to hear,

"Honey, I'm home."

She craned her neck so she could kiss him, and Christian eagerly answered, bending her a little bit more so his hand could play with the hem of her skirt, all the way to her thighs. It had been a while since he had this thought in mind, but he was under the impression that Ana had put on a little weight compared to when he first saw her naked, lying beneath him. Not that he minded, far from it. Especially since it seemed that this weight had been mostly distributed to her ass and thighs.

Slowly, he let go of her lips, kissing the skin of her neck as one of his hands busied itself under her shirt while the other came dangerously close to her most intimate area. He glanced at her, watching her eyes close with pleasure, and when his fingers pushed her panties to the side, she let out a moan coming from the depth of her chest, before opening her eyes with urgency and pushing him away from her.

"Nope! No sex!"

"What? Why?!" He exclaimed, not really sure why she would refuse him anything bed related. Out of the two of them, Ana was definitely the one with the bigger sexual appetite, and she loved having sex with him when he came back from a business trip.

For a second, he paused, trying to calculate the date to see if she was on her periods, but then he recalled that this 'moment of the month' had ended just a week before. So he watched Ana straighten herself, pulling her skirt down as she argued with reason,

"If you want birthday sex, we can't have back-home-sex today. My body isn't going to live through both."

The day after the morrow was his birthday, and Ana had been making a big deal about it for two whole weeks. In all honesty, he hadn't celebrated his birthday since he was twelve and did not care to celebrate it. To him, it was a day like any other. In truth, he was sure that no one actually knew the date of his birthday. No one but a certain person, of course. And now, Ana had taken out of him that his birthday was in the first week of September, and was completely outraged that he had made no plan to celebrate it.

Still, Ana's rationalisation and promises for mind-blowing sex did not stop Christian from pursuing what he had intended to do in the first place. He stalked his way to her, and once she was at arm's length, he caged her and kissed her sensitive spot between her collar and her jaw.

"I am not a monster, babe. I know how to play nice," He cooed her, his hand massaging her breast as his erection grew against her stomach.

"Maybe you are not a monster, but there is one in your pants."

"He'll be gentle, and take you to Heaven," Christian charmed, lightly pinching her nipple, and he could feel that she was about to give in before she loudly breathed through her nose and walked to the other side of the counter.

"Let's be honest. I'm not like you. I don't control my libido like you can. If I give in, you'll be all nice, until you do that thing that gets me all flustered and mushy. And then, I'll ask for more, and then, in two days, I'll end up limping."

"What thing?" Christian asked with a smirk, retrieving from his attack, but not losing sight of what was important. Ana shook her head and turned to the fridge as she judiciously said,

"Like I'm going to tell you! I don't want you to use that kind of power over me. As long as I don't know your sex-trigger, you shall not know mine."

She waved her finger at him as if he was a child being scolded, and Christian couldn't help but smile. If she knew that his 'sex-trigger' was her mere presence, she would not be so smug about having one of her own. He had always found it funny that Ana was so persuaded that he was always in control of himself when he was with her when it was rather the contrary. Intimately or emotionally, Christian was well aware that Ana was the only person who ever managed to take him out of his comfort zone and make him feel emotions in their rawest forms.

"So, what are you doing here, if you didn't want to be eaten yet?" Christian asked, going to his couch where Bastille joined him and sat on his laps. The first time the cat watched him have sex with Ana, he had found it extremely weird. It seemed a bit voyeur of the cat. But Bastille never interrupted their special times, and always seemed to know that there was a certain amount of time to wait afterwards, before jumping in the bed.

Christian watched as Ana put a couple things in the fridge, admiring the view, and asserting to himself that she had definitely gained weight while she explained, "I didn't think you would be home so soon. I just wanted to put some things in your fridge, and then be in my very way."

"Are you going to make me a cake?" He teased because though Ana had started cooking, she was far from being a master chef.

"Nope. I ordered a small cake at the bakery. Without sugar. The girl looked at me as if I was crazy, but she said it would be done. But I'm still cooking the meal though."

Christian mindlessly petted Bastille while Ana was still going back and forth in the kitchen. He closed his eyes, as he let her know,

"I don't mind being your guinea-pig for bakeries."

"I do! I don't want you to be poisoned. That would be rather sad if your tombstone read your date of death as your day of birth, with written below, "There lies Christian Grey poisoned by uneatable cakes". Who would keep a straight face at that tomb?"

Christian let out a small chuckle, appreciating this simple moment he was having with his girlfriend. In truth, no matter how much he liked the sex, it was moments like that that he liked the most. Those moments that seemed so mundane, but that made him feel like his home wasn't simply a flat, but a whole. It was the fact that Ana was in the apartment, talking about ordinary things that made it a home. And Bastille heavily played a part in that as well.

"So, everything that has a red sticker on, you can't touch. If you do, I will be so pissed, that you will have to run for your life," Ana threatened, finally coming to sit down next to him, and though he knew that she had meant to be taken seriously, Christian couldn't help but smile at the futility of the threat. Ana could be many things, but scary was not one of them.

She cuddled against him, making Bastille interrupt his purr, probably to glare at Ana bothering him during an intense seance of petting, and Christian kept his eyes closed, knowing that he would be better off not arguing with Ana and the emptiness of her threat. After all, she could change the threat to something she had a grasp on, like abstinence.

"You see? That's why you need a TV. We could have some background noise, instead of waiting for Bastille to purr," She suddenly complained, making Christian smirk, before he reached for the remote of his stereo and put some music on.

More than once, Ana had criticised his minimalism. It wasn't much that she minded per se, but more that she found it odd that Christian, who was a working and functioning member of a capitalist society, was anything but the ultimate consumer. His walls were blanks, his appliances were of the strict minimum, and Ana often joked that, had she not seen that room full of toys, she would have doubted Christian's ability to buy something simply because he wanted to.

Since they had gotten together, Ana had brought in a few things to give his apartment some life. Every now and then she brought flowers, or a plant (to Bastille's greatest pleasure). She also framed a few pictures of them, that Christian confined to his room, after all, he had been surprised a few times by his boss's unexpected visits, and Mia would often come up to feed Bastille. In fact, he had never set a rule with her not to go upstairs, but he knew that as long as he would not give her the go, she would not go. He simply knew it. It wasn't Mia's style to go snooping around in other people's business.

"So, you still didn't tell me. What do you want to do for your birthday?" Ana asked, tearing him out of his thoughts.

Christian smirked, opening his eyes to look at the brunette in his arms as he sensually told her, "Well, how about we do what I have been deprived of today?"

If Ryan could hear him, he would definitely make fun of him. The word pussy-whipped would also most likely be mentioned, if not to his face, at least thought of. Though Christian doubted that Ryan would sensor himself, even for him. He knew that amongst the men he worked with he had this bad image of never letting loose, and being rather cold and unforgiven. But that never stopped Ryan from telling him what he thought, even when all he wanted to do was vent about Raymond. Sure, Christian was sure that there were topics that Ryan avoided with him on purpose, but he had always been straight with him. Which was probably why he was the man Christian trusted the most.

Ana rolled her eyes, not pleased with the tease. "I mean, besides that. We can't decently have sex all day long."

Christian was about to argue that it was very much possible when the full meaning of the sentence made its way to his brain. "All day?"

Ana slightly frowned, before she inquired, "you're not working on your birthday, are you?"

"Of course, I am."

She slightly narrowed her eyes at him, and pouted as she tried to convince him, "Can't you take the day off?"

"No one takes a day off for their birthday, Ana."

"Yeah, but you're not anyone. Dad never works on his birthday, he spends it with me. I'm sure you could do that as well."

Christian was very well aware that every year, on February the first, Raymond stayed at his mansion, spending the day with his daughter, the two of them having the time of their lives. Raymond always came back to work with a smile on his face, telling Christian how much of a blessing children could be. But that was Raymond …

"I am not your Dad." It wasn't even on a personal level. It was just that he had never taken a day off and that it felt weird to simply impose one out of the blue. No matter his place in the hierarchy, he was not Raymond Steele.

Ana rolled her eyes, clearly thinking that he could pull some strings, and so he told her, "I work for your Dad, I am not him, no matter how it looks. I can't take a day off like that, last minute, out of nowhere."

"It's not out of nowhere, it's for your birthday," She argued, before adding with a small voice, "I just thought we would spend it together."

"But I have to work, babe. It's not like I don't want to."

She once again narrowed her eyes at him, but this time, Christian knew that she was going to win the argument. When she had the last stone that would make the balance weight on her favour, she always scrunched her nose a little. Not much, but just enough for her upper lip to get closer to her nostrils, without ever touching them. Every time she had the winning argument, she had made this face, and this time was no different.

"I just thought that we could have at least one celebration together. Since you forgot our one year anniversary."

Christian let his head fall backwards, repressing a groan. Three weeks ago was supposedly their one year anniversary, and Ana had planned it all. When he came home, late that night, he saw a beautiful table dressed for two, with candles and untouched food, and two mugs that clamped into one another. One for 'His Tea', the other for 'Her Coffee'. And in his bedroom had been a sleeping Ana, wearing blue lingerie and with a face showing signs of obvious tears. He had had no idea that this was their anniversary, and Ana had been really upset with him for forgetting such an important date for them. But then again,

"Technically, our anniversary should be when we decided on our little arrangement, here in New York. So I still have a month toβ€”"

"Everyone knows that the day of your relationship anniversary is the day you kiss. And if I recall properly, we did plenty of kissing in Japan. And not part of me was left unkissed."

Christian didn't reply anything, because she always used that argument, and he had nothing to retort to that. Especially after Mia unknowingly backed Ana on that whole kissing is important business when he lightly mentioned that he forgot their one year anniversary. still, he was grateful, because Mia helped him pick up a present to redeem himself. A clock, with a map of the world as a background, where he coloured the places they had already been together.

According to Mia, it was a perfect gift because traditionally one would offer something related to his significant other after one year (the map). But as times evolved, it became a clock. So he had both in one.

"I'll see what I can do," He conceded, rewarded by her brightest smile before she kissed him,

"Thank you."

"I'm not promising anything, Ana," He warned, not wanting her to have false hopes, and end up crying once again during one of their celebrations.

"I know. But I appreciate the effort."

She kissed him once again, before getting up, saying that she didn't plan to stay here for so long. Christian walked her to the door, and when she was about to leave, she turned and kissed him again, before letting him know, wiggling her eyebrows,

"And just so you know, your birthday starts at midnight. So don't be late."

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Christian's PoV

The very same night Christian was having dinner with Raymond and few politicians at the Mile High, planning a campaign that would put Paul in an excellent position for the next mayoral election in two years. Christian was only half listening to what was being said, mostly because it was all repeats and repeats of things he had already gone over with Paul and he was not much of a fan of politics. He understood why Raymond meddled in them, and why it was important to have someone in his pocket, especially someone as important as Paul was meant to be. But he simply didn't like politicians.

Which was probably why he never even tried to socialise with Paul. A few times, Jack and other businessmen with whom he worked at Clark Inc had asked him to go out with them for a drink, or a club; and Christian had most of the time gave in, sticking to the adage to keep one's friends close, and one's enemies closer. But he never managed to do it with Paul. To him, someone who could so easily lie was not someone that could be trusted in his personal life.

Sure that could be applied to lawyers as well, and therefore to Mia. But he had known Mia before she started studying, even if it was for a brief period f time. And … he knew that Mia would not lie to him, just like he would not lie to her. She was one of his closest friends, and no matter how wary he usually was of people, he couldn't picture Mia betraying him.

He was actually relieved that Ana also shared his point-of-view on politicians. At some point, he had asked her why she would always take Paul as her date, though the confrontation might have been more intense than he had intended. She assured him that there was nothing going on between her and Paul and that she picked him because she knew that there never would be anything given the fact that he was a politician.

Of course, during this conversation came the matter of Jack, and of how much time she was spending with the guy. Though Christian had to admit that she was often accompanied by Elliott and Katherine when she would go out with Jack. Apparently, though they had not been close friends, they had all been to the same school, ultimately ending up in the same class several times. Which made Christian see Jack with much more respect.

He had known that he was young, but knowing he was the same age as Ana, and already working in his father's place made him see the blond man with another light. Jack knew what he wanted, and was not afraid to go for it. And apparently, not afraid to cut ties with those who hurt him. He had completely cut off his father's helping his mother (and stepmother) to win the trial and rip him of all his money.

As they were looking at the dessert menus, Christian noticed that finally, Raymond was not participating in any conversation, and so he went with the mission Ana had entrusted in him, and dropped the bomb,

"I'm taking the day after the next off."

For a moment, Christian wondered if Raymond had heard him for he did not say a word, his eyes still roaming the menu. But then, his mentor asked, "Any particular reason?"

"Personal reasons," He eluded, aware that he could not say a word more without putting at risk his relationship with Ana.

Raymond rose an eyebrow, putting his menu down as he let Christian know, "I thought you didn't celebrate your birthday."

"Who said it's the reason behind my day off?" Christian countered, not the least surprised that Raymond knew of his birth date. He even wondered if Raymond knew of the tattoo he had gotten on his chest.

The older man nodded, not questioning Christian any longer before he gave his order to the waiter and dove into the conversation Paul was having with a Senator. Once again, Christian only listened with one ear, taking mental notes if anything new came into light.

He surprisingly saw Ethan come and go, only stopping to tell something to the manager who wiggled her eyebrows at him before he left. Jose had told him that he was due to officially meet the Kavanagh parents soon, and apparently, his partner had just made the reservation for them to eat at his own restaurant.

He let his eyes wander from the different clients eating here, to the busboys hurrying to bring their plates to the customers, to the waiters and waitresses taking orders. And suddenly, something took his all attention. He saw a courier come into the restaurant, dressed with the uniform of a local company and walking to the manager. In all honesty, it was rather common for a courier to come to the Mile High, given the clientele … but not at dinner time.

The manager walked to them, and leaned down so only Raymond and Christian would hear what she had to say, "I have a courier here asking for you, sir? Shall I take the package, or are you willing to take it."

"Let him come," Raymond simply said, but Christian could tell that he was as curious as him to have a courier at this hour of the night.

The two men watched the young boy walk to them, his curly hair half hidden by his uniform cap. If he had to guess, Christian would say the boy was still in high school, probably working this job to put money aside for college. He gave Raymond the envelope, under the curious eyes of the people sharing their diner, and after signing the receipt, Raymond sent the boy away, giving a small polite smile to the table.

They all went back to their conversation, and the boss opened the envelop, sheltering the content from everyone but Christian and revealing pictures that made Christian's blood suddenly leave his body.

On the pictures, he could see an oblivious Ana, sitting at a cafΓ© with some young man, smiling at him while holding her cup. But that wasn't what made Christian's heart stop. No, what made him feel like her was about to die was the fact that on every single pictures, there was a red target painted on Ana's face.

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‼️PLEASE DON'T BE A SILENT READER AND LEAVE A REVIEW

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πŸ’šYour thoughts and opinions are always welcomedπŸ’š

πŸ’šSo, I can't wait for your reactions to this chapter! I've been waiting for so long! Well, there are others, but this one, comes before the others, so ….

πŸ’šAlso, I have to tell you guys, I almost ended the chapter a paragraph early … but I did not feel like leaving you on such a cliffhanger. I could have, but I don't want you to focus on 'Does Raymond know or not?" And more on WHAT THE HECK IS HAPPENING?!

~ Anyway, question time:

πŸ’š So how about Christian's birthday? What do you think will happen?

πŸ’š How Christian's thoughts about Jack and Will?

πŸ’š How do think Raymond and Christian will react?

πŸ’šWhat did you think of this chapter overall? And what do you think will happen next?

πŸ’šWhat was your favourite part?

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

Love, MinaπŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’š