CPOV
The house had been unloaded, each piece like an intricate part of a puzzle waiting to be put into place. It was so peaceful here, not a town or even another house for a few miles.
Lewis wanted to escape to the country and he certainly had, although with the hot summer they'd just had here, unlike the grass and fields of home there was not a speck of green in sight, it was more like scorched earth.
"I'm so glad you're not putting my house up, Christian, I'll have my bathroom on the roof" Lewis laughed.
"Sorry" I replied, looking at him.
"Your mind is miles away, or a few hundred feet" he smiled, knocking my shoulder with his own before running his hand over the tiles that would one day soon be covering his roof.
My focus had been on Ana upon hearing her laughter at something she had written down. She was working on a few ideas she had for her latest book, a few tweaks here and there to include some things she had seen or heard on our journey.
"You were like this yesterday, watching her, savouring every moment as if she's going to disappear."
"Ana's…."
"What, special" he laughed. "No shit Sherlock, you can't keep your eyes off of her."
I smiled, knowing what he said to be true.
"Ana's not had a lot to smile about in her life so far, so getting to see and enjoy her laughter is something special."
"What do you mean," he asked, looking between Ana and me.
Lewis was very happily married and there was no one more important than his wife, his children and he would stand for no one upsetting them.
"Sorry, it's not my story to tell Lewis," I replied, knowing that after my conversation with Ana last night while we were in bed that her story would be written one day, by nobody else but her. For now, though, I only told my friend that she had been hurt by those who should've protected her above all others and left it at that. "Now this bathroom on the roof, is that something you want me to ask Elliot to include."
"Get lost" he laughed. "You made me the perfect house back in Seattle and I want nothing less than that here."
"Would you ever go back?" I asked him.
"Leave here? You must be mad... I might not have everything on my doorstep any more but I don't mind that. Having to deal with sitting in traffic every morning and getting home after dark every night, I don't think I was living at all. I get to have breakfast with Maggie and the kids every day, I get to bathe and put them to bed every night too, something I only did on the weekends before. I get to see my parents more than just on the holidays, so no, I don't regret the move. Besides, it was you who gave me the idea."
"How so," I asked.
"Every time we spoke during the construction of the first house you built for me, you kept telling me about this home you were building with nothing to block the view of the stars."
"My home is still a work in progress but the view is still the same. Thankfully it will never change."
"Well, who knows my friend," he said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Maybe getting to spend time with that crazy young woman under the stars every night is the perfect excuse to finish it."
"Crazy?" I asked, trying not to get pissed that he had called my girl that. His next words though brought a smile to my face.
"Yes, crazy that she puts up with you."
"Fuck off" I laughed, before opening my arms to my crazy girl when she joined us, having left the cab and her pen and book behind.
"You two seem to be having more fun over here" she smiled before I placed a kiss upon her lips.
"You looked like you were having fun over there too," I said of her writing.
"I was just creating a character with the personality of Sam" she laughed. "God help anyone who crosses her."
"You're a writer" Lewis stated.
"I try to be, a distraction from the goings-on of real-life" she replied seeing the nod of my friend. Having heard what, I had said earlier about Ana's story being just hers, he didn't pry.
I did wonder if when I had introduced them that he might have recognised Ana. He would certainly know who her father was but then again apart from the various functions Ana said she had attended as part of her job, none I know the family man before me would have been interested in, their paths would never have crossed.
I just thank whoever put Ana in my path that day because now I couldn't imagine my life without her.
"Is your work here done?" Ana asked as we walked back to the truck, leaving Lewis surrounded by those puzzle pieces.
"Yes, I only came back today to help unload the roof tiles that Elliot ordered. I wanted to make sure before we head back tomorrow that everything was perfect."
"It will be. Maggie showed me the plans yesterday. She could hardly contain her excitement to be finally getting her home back. She said she's fed up with Lewis's snoring in the trailer because she can't escape it" she laughed.
"It does kind of echo I hear, although as I don't snore myself..." I teased, making her laugh louder.
"Very funny, Mr Grey. I didn't realise you were a comedian. Your snoring shakes the trailer at home, the windows and even my mug rattles."
I spun Ana around to face me before throwing her over my shoulder and as once promised I would do, spanked her behind.
Ana felt no pain at my touch, I would never leave a mark on her beautiful body, although with her nails on my back in the throes of passion, she had left a few on mine.
It was a giggling Ana that I was aiming for and one I received upon reaching my truck.
"I love you" she declared upon me letting her down to the ground, her hands now cradling my face.
"I love you, Ana, I'm so happy to be with you here. I don't ever want our trip to end."
"We'll have many more trips, Christian, because, besides you and my friends I have nothing tying me to Seattle and I can write on the road so wherever you go now, I go too. Unless you want some peace that is."
I silenced those words and any thoughts she would have of me leaving her behind, with my lips.
…
We had left the site of Lewis's home over an hour ago and were now ensconced, water up to our necks in the bath back at the bed and breakfast. Neither of us was dirty despite me working this morning, it was just an excuse to get Ana naked again.
"I think my hands are clean" she laughed, as I covered each of her fingers in bubbles.
"I'm just making sure" I protested. "I've got to make sure you're warm and clean."
"Warm and clean are ok but I much prefer dirty and sweaty just like in the shower this morning before breakfast."
"Ana" I groaned, now having images of this morning flashing through my mind. Pinning Ana up against the shower wall, her legs wrapped around my waist as I moved inside her.
Her giggle brought me to the here and now, especially when she turned around to face me.
It didn't take long before the laughter turned to moans as Ana moved forward and sunk down on my cock. It also didn't take long before the bathroom had its own lake as with our erratic movements, more water now covered the floor.
"I think we have some cleaning up to do" she panted, her forehead against mine as we tried to catch our breath, upon coming down from our orgasm's.
"I think we do" I smiled, looking down to the floor before my lips crashed against hers once again.
We did clean the floor, our towels now soaked. I would tell the owners that they had fallen into the tub but I doubt they would believe me. I've come to notice that when Ana and I are together in that moment of pure bliss that I'm unable to stay quiet.
That is something the wildlife back home would have to get used to because once my house is finally done, I plan on christening every surface with Ana and maybe never letting her leave.
...
"When you were a child, what did you want to be and now, in five years what do you want to have achieved," she asked me, continuing what was now our one-hundred-questions as we took a walk around the garden, finding a seat under the old oak tree.
"For the first part, taller" I replied, making her laugh.
"Seriously."
"Yes, I'm deadly serious about that one. I was a right short arse compared to Elliot until I was ten and then my dad said I must have slept in some manure while we were out camping because I seemed to have a major growth spurt overnight. If you mean a job, something outside. I loved to help my mother in the garden. Before she took a job at Northwestern, we used to live about an hour out of the city, past where my half a home is now. That's how we knew about the property we purchased there; it had belonged to a friend of my parents. We were never the indoors type of family, we were building dens in the trees while friends of ours preferred to stay inside, addicted to a screen. Working outside in any capacity we could is what I wanted to do, whether that's gardener, carpenter or lumberjack, I'd like to think though that I'm all three…. For the second part of your question, happy, married with a few little ones running around."
I could see her blush at my words but she need not be embarrassed. I want everything with this woman and I wasn't afraid to tell her that. Earning a smile before a kiss was placed upon my lips, I got the feeling Ana wanted those things too.
"Does Mia live at your parent's place or does she have a home in the trees too?" she asked.
"No one lives there, none of our family anyway. We'd only lived there a couple of years before I went to Uni, I don't think Elliot spent much time there at all apart from the holidays. Mia was there the longest but she said she felt no ties to the place, unlike the home where we grew up so we sold it. Our old home, that went up for sale just last year but it was too painful for all of us to buy it, so I hear a young family live there now. Besides, it was only small, three bedrooms and I'm sure after years of Elliot's farts in the room that we shared, it will still be saturated with his smell. Mia has an apartment in the city, not far from her store because of convenience more than anything. She does spend her days off staying in the guest house at Elliot's, a place she's claimed as her own... What about you, when you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up and where do you see yourself in five years."
"A writer" she admitted, a beautiful smile appearing on her face.
"Nothing else, a little taller maybe" I teased.
"Excuse me Christian Grey, tall or short, I can still bring a man to his knees."
"You're perfect Ana just the way you are and the man you're bringing to his knees better not be any man but me."
"Always," she said, placing a kiss on my cheek. "Unless your name is Hyde, then your knees will hit the floor a different way."
"Yes," I agreed. "Painfully. Enough talk of that little shit, why a writer."
"Because the words in my head, the places I could envisage even though I would never visit them, no one could take them away from me."
"Why would you never visit," I asked.
"Could you see my parents in Vegas" she laughed. "When I was in high school, I would hear all about my friend's vacations, hear in detail from some everything they'd done. When they would ask me what I'd done during the holidays especially knowing who my parents were and from their parents, how much they were worth, I used to make things up because the only place I'd been during the summer was my room at home. We did go to Aspen once though; I was so excited to be visiting someplace new only to swap one bedroom for another as the clients my father was trying to impress because he wanted their company were more important than me…. They had no choice but to give me attention though because, on the third day there, I'd taken it upon myself to go skiing. I mean how hard could it be sticking two pieces of wood to the bottom of my boots and staying upright for more than a minute. I broke my leg and the attention that was begrudging given was only because the wife of the man whose company my father wanted was a nurse and inquired why it was a security guard at the hospital with me and not my family."
"Where do you want to go," I asked, earning a giggle. "What, what's so funny about my question. If I could take you anywhere in this country, where would it be."
"Vegas" she stated, making me smile. "I'd like to go and be an observer, watching normal people enjoy themselves without the pomp and ceremony of what I've grown up with. I'm only going off what I've read of people visiting there and I may be completely wrong but it seems like a fun place to go."
"It is" I admitted. "Elliot and I went to a bachelor party there about five years ago."
"A bachelor party, I know now why you said it was fun" she teased.
"I meant getting to see friends away from work, having a few days to let our hair down."
"And watch a stripper show" she giggled.
"Ana, there was no stripper show that I went to while we were there, although I know some of the group did. Ell and I spent the night commiserating in the hotel bar with the groom because he said the bride's parents hated him because he didn't have the high-profile job and salary that they would approve of."
"Was the bride's family related to mine then?" she asked.
"Your parents hate me?" I laughed. "What a shock, I didn't know that."
"My parents, well I don't know what they feel about me let alone about you Christian and to be honest, I don't care because what they think doesn't matter... How did it turn out for him?"
"They're still very happily married with twins. He took his wife back to Vegas for their first anniversary, to renew their vows in a quiet ceremony that they had wanted the first to be and I suppose they had such a good time as the twins were conceived. So, Vegas then?" I asked.
"I wish."
"Don't wish Ana, do" I told her earning a shy smile as if there was something she wanted to say. "What is it."
"It's nothing."
"Ana" I groaned, hearing a giggle from her lips. "Tell me."
"Ok, I'll tell you then. Going back to the question of where do I see myself in five years. I want to be happy, married and have a couple or more than a couple of children too. The wedding, I want it to be in Vegas. No big ceremony, no sequins and money flashed around, just the groom, real family and me."
I smiled, knowing one day just who that groom would be, Me.
Thank you for reading, a shorter chapter this time but I still hope you enjoyed it. A little calm and tranquillity before the shit hits the fan next time.
Until then, take care.
Caroline.