Chpt. 8 APOV:

"How are you?" Christian asks.

"That was….intense," I answer honestly. There are no words to describe what that was; it was more intense than any of the other scenes we've done this week. More intense than anything I've ever experienced before.

"That was the idea," he chuckles. "By limiting your senses, you were forced to focus on only what was happening to you. You couldn't see, touch or hear anything. This is an excellent way to keep a sub in a scene when she's struggling…staying out of her head. Sometimes it's easy to walk in and for both parties to easily focus on the scene and what's going on in the room. Other times though, especially when things outside of the scene become too much, it's much more difficult to stop your mind from wondering."

"Was this what you originally had planned for today?" I ask even though I suspect I already know the answer.

"No," he admits but offers no further explanation.

"Oh."

"We should probably head back to the house so I can set up those videos for you before my call," he suggest. "If possible, I'd like to see if we can't get back here for another scene later tonight. I don't know if my schedule will allow it though. If not we'll be back tomorrow."

"Is it possible…" I wonder aloud.

"Is what possible?" he asks.

"It's what a 40 minute drive here from your house?"

"With traffic, yes. Why?"

"It just seems like we could save time if we could do the scene at your house," I suggest surprising myself even as the words come out. "I mean…it would save at least an hour and half today if we come back for a second scene. Then the same amount tomorrow or more if we end up back here twice…"

"I suppose that's an option," he appears to be considering it. "You know most of the furniture already so we wouldn't need to worry about that. I could borrow a few items from here to take with us."

"You don't have anything….at the house?" I ask hesitantly.

"No," he answers quickly. "I don't…I don't have women at my house."

"Like at all?" I can't help but ask.

"Any scene is limited to Time Out," he says after a few minutes of silence. "I don't…not at home."

"Oh."

"If you're sure about this, I can gather a few items and adjust the scenes I wanted to do later today and tomorrow."

"I'm sure."

If it were anyone else, I wouldn't even consider suggesting we do the scene at his house. I can't see suggesting this to Simpson. But with Christian is just made sense…logistically. It would give us the most time to focus on the mission and would let Christian get done whatever he needs to get done so he could be ready to leave Monday.

"Do you mind if we stop at my apartment so I can pick up a change of clothes?" I ask as we head back to his house a short time later. I threw back on my clothes from yesterday but definitely don't want to spend another day in them.

"I had my housekeeper pick up a few items for you when we were gone," he says.

"Really? You didn't need to do that. I could have just picked something up at my apartment."

"I know I didn't."

Once we get back to Christian's house I take a shower, washing off the residual oil that is still left on me from the scene. I change into the new clothes that were left on my bed, surprised to see that they fit perfectly. By the time I get back downstairs, Christian has sandwiches set out on the table where he is busy typing away on his phone.

"I figured you might be hungry," he gestures towards the subs.

"Thank you."

"I don't have much time, but while we're eating maybe you could tell me a little about the resort?" he asks.

"It's about a four hour drive from here," I begin with a general overview given the time restraints. "The resort itself sits on over 200 acres of woods in the middle of the mountains; about as far away as you can get from anything. We know in general cell phone reception is very limited at the resort, not that we'll be able to bring cell phones in. Personal items including our cell phones and wallets will be stored in a locker however we won't be able to access them until the leave."

"Hmmmm."

"The say it's to protect the identity of their guests," I explain what we know. "The one building is essentially one large hotel where all the guests stay. All workers stay in another building further away but still on the grounds of the resort. Then there are many different smaller buildings which are kept locked and can only be accessed by the key to the room which is tied to privilege levels."

"Privilege levels?"

"Everyone who stays at the resort starts at level one; that gives you access to the main common areas: the restaurants, pools, gym and the basic…play areas," I explain. "In order to access other areas, you need to pass…a test. If you're successful then you'll be approved to go into the next level which from what we understand is where more intense scenes occur. This of course is in a different area of the resort than level one is."

"How many levels are there?"

"Three that we know of, although there are rumors of a fourth level."

"What does the test entail?" he asks.

"Essentially we have to perform a scene together, if they think we're competent then we move on."

"Fuck…" he runs his hands through his hair. "They wanted you and Simpson to be able to pass a test in front of people who live this lifestyle 24/7 in order to gain access to the other areas?"

"Yes."

"Do we know anything about what the scenes need to entail?"

"To move from level 1 to level 2, from what we understand, it's a scene on the St. Andrew's Cross using a crop, cat or cane…the choice is up to the dom based upon the sub's limits. To go from Level 2 to level 3 is more intense and seem to vary based on the person making the decision. We know the sub is always restrained and blindfolded."

"I assume the objective is to get to level 3?" he asks.

"Yes. If possible, they want us to find out if this level 4 exists and where it might be."

"It's not going to be easy."

"I know," I gulp trying to keep my mind on Kate. Finding her will make all of this worth it; no matter how uncomfortable, painful or embarrassing any of the scenes are.

"I…I'll do whatever I can to get us to the next levels, but you need to know that I will not push any of your hard limits."

"I know you won't."

Even though I'm still pissed at hell at Christian for what he did, I know he wouldn't ever physically hurt me. And although I was against Christian going with me on this mission, I now realize he's probably the best person to go with me. With the reality of leaving quickly approaching us, I'm beginning to realize how wrong Simpson and I were to even consider going undercover together. I'm nervous as well, but knowing that Christian is going with me helps…just a little.

"My call starts in a few minutes," Christian sighs. "We'll have to talk more about the resort later. I can set you up with the recordings in my office."

A short time later, Christian has me set up on a small couch in his office. He's streaming the videos onto a television in his office and I have headphones on so the sound doesn't interrupt him. He's across the room, at his desk and already on the phone by the time the first video starts. Over the next hour, I watch scene after scene, definitely preparing me for what I'm likely going to see at the resort. I've watched scenes with two people, with three people and scenes with items I've never even seen before. Sometimes the women are nude, other times they're wearing very revealing clothes which I know is similar to what I will be bringing to the resort to wear in between scenes.

What surprises me the most though is my body's response to watching the scenes; I actually find myself getting turned on. In several of the scenes I can easily picture Christian as the dom doing those things to me. In a couple scenes, I can't picture Christian at all though because it just doesn't seem like how he would act. The scenes where the dom was down right mean to the sub was one of those scenes where I can't picture Christian as the dom.

A hand on my leg makes me nearly jump off the couch; with the headphones on I hadn't heard Christian approach me. He's sitting on the small couch next to me, our legs touching as he looks at the screen to see what I'm watching. The current scene on the TV is one where a sub is naked, on her knees in front of her dom. Her hands are cuffed behind her; her dom holds her head, guiding her as she pleases him with her mouth.

I'm going to need to do that when we're there, I realize.

"Yes," Christian answers surprising me because I didn't think I asked the question aloud.

"Why haven't you…we rehearsed that part of a scene?" I find myself asking.

"I…I didn't want to push that on you," he sighs. "I figured you would rather leave that for when we're actually there."

Neither of us say anything, instead we watch the scene on the television in front of us. The man's grip on the woman's head tightens as he begins thrusting into her mouth. Her hands are clasped behind her, letting him have the control over how he deep and fast he is going. Glancing over, Christian's eyes are on the television but I can't miss the tent in his pants from his erection.

I'd rather have the first time we do something like this here than at the resort with people watching is a startling realization for me. I think back over all the scenes we've had this week, during several of them I've felt Christian's erection against me. During any one of those scenes he could have ordered me to my knees to do what the sub on the screen is doing. Yet he didn't; not once. He focused on me, the mission and the scene we were doing. If I hadn't felt his erection, I would have wondered if he even found me attractive. But just this morning, when he leaned over me, I felt him; I knew that wasn't the reason.

I take a deep breath and with determination, I slide off the couch and kneel in front of him.

"Ana?" the surprise in Christian's voice is evident and I can feel his eyes on me.

I don't say anything, not sure what exactly to say without embarrassing myself further.

"Do you want to do that?" he asks.

"Yes sir," I whisper.

I hear him take a deep breath but he doesn't say anything for what feels like forever. I can't help but question what I'm doing…I should get up, I should pretend this never happened, I should go back to watching the scene.

"Are you sure?" his voice is softer, it's not the one he uses during a scene.

"Yes sir."

He stand up, right in front of me and seconds later I see his jeans fall to the floor. He kicks them away before his shirt is added to the pile. He sits back down on the couch behind him; he places his hand gently on the back of my head, not pulling me but guiding me closer to him. I lean up, moving closer to him until he's right in front of me.

FUCK…he's huge!

I remember the first time he made love to me; I was scared to death that it would hurt but Christian took his time, making me come twice with his mouth before slowly easing into me. He prepared me so thoroughly that there was barely any discomfort when he took my virginity. He was so cautious, so careful, so sweet that night. I shake my head in surprise; I haven't thought about that night in so long.

Christian jumps when I glide my fingers over his hardened erection; he groans loudly when I tease him with my tongue. He fists my ponytail in his hand, but doesn't take control. He lets me set the pace, letting me become comfortable with what I'm doing.

"Ana," he hisses when I finally take him in my mouth.

Keeping my hand wrapped around his shaft, I alternate between taking him as deep as I can and sucking just on the tip of him. He groans when I tease his balls, feeling their heavy weight in my hand when he's buried deep in my mouth. It takes a few times, but eventually I can take him in completely.

"AAAANNNNNAAAAA!" he screams out when I swallow around him seconds before he erupts in my mouth.

He pulls back slightly, as I struggle to take everything he offers. Breathing heavy, he collapses on the back of the couch as I gently slow my movements. Just as I'm finished, he leans down and lifts me up, bringing me on the couch next to him. For the first time, he's the one naked while I'm fully clothed.

"That was incredible," he complements causing me to blush.

We sit there for several minutes, neither of us saying a word. After walking into Christian's house yesterday, I never would have thought we would be here. And that I would have been the one to initiate it. I could easily say what just happened was to help prepare us, er me, for the mission. The reality though is I did it for him.

"Christian?" I was lost in my own thoughts until he unsnaps my jeans.

"Let me," he whispers.

"No," I put my hand over his.

"Ana-"

"That was…for you," I whisper.

"You didn't have to."

"I know."

Eventually Christian gets up, puts on his jeans and uses the small bathroom attached before heading to the kitchen. A few minutes later her returns with a tray of cheese and crackers and two cold water bottles. His shirt is still lying on the floor where he tossed it earlier; I can't help but admire his incredibly defined muscles. He was fit in high school, but now…everything is much….larger, more defined.

"Ana?" I blush knowing he caught me staring.

"Sorry," I mumble.

"What did you think of the scenes you've watched so far?" he asks.

"Ummm," right the scenes. The whole reason we're here; the reason I'm sitting in his office…with the taste of him still on my lips. "I think the only ones I had a hard time watching were the ones were the doms were just…mean. I don't mean by punishing the sub, but there was one where the dom was actually calling her names."

"Some people, both men and women, get off on humiliation. The sub actually likes being humiliated, being called those names."

"And the dom…likes it as well?"

"Some do," he shrugs. "Some get off on the idea of using women and the humiliation part I think just feeds into that notion. Other doms don't necessarily enjoy that, but focus more on the pleasure the sub gets from that type of a scene."

"Have you…."

"No," he quickly answers. "That's not my thing at all."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked," I quickly apologize realizing it's truly none of my business if he enjoys that sort of thing.

"You can ask me anything Ana," he says.

"Are you…dating anyone right now?" I ask hesitantly. "No, don't answer that. I'm sorry."

"Ana, I said you can ask me anything," he repeats. "No, I'm not dating anyone. It's been a long time since I've dating anyone."

"How did you-"

A phone ringing cuts me off, Christian answers his phone and sits back at his desk to take his call. The rest of the afternoon is spent watching the videos but after a while they tend to feel like I'm watching a rerun of a sitcom over and over again. For the most part the scenes tend to be the same, with some variations. I'm relieved when Christian decides we need to break for dinner, which his housekeeper whom I've yet to see, prepared for us at some point.

"I was wondering," Christian begins. "With the resort so closed off, how do you know as much as you do about the different levels?"

"We have an agent in there undercover already," I say.

"What? Really? Then why are we going in?" he asks.

"The agent at the resort is working undercover in security, unfortunately they don't allow someone new to the resort access to the other areas. He's able to provide general information about the resort, but he hasn't been able to gain access to the other areas that we need to see. Not that he hasn't tried, from what I'm told Taylor has done everything possible to gain entry into those areas but their rules are apparently firm."

"You trust him?" he asks.

"Yes," I don't hesitate in my answer. "He's been an agent for several years and has gone undercover several times. I reviewed his file and before I agreed to the mission. He will be our connection while we're there; if we have a concern we need to find him."

"How long has he been undercover there?"

"About a month now, he went under just as Simpson and I started training together."

"What do we know about the people who run this place?"

"Jack Hyde is the owner of the resort, although legally it's buried under an LLC name that isn't easily traceable back to Jack," I explain. "On paper, he's clean."

"But?"

"He's been accused of domestic violence and sexual assault in the past," I begin. "The issue is when it comes time to press charges, the women all recant their accounts of what happened and say it was consensual. He inherited a large sum of money when his father died which he lives off of plus any profit from the resort."

"The FBI believes he's behind the women going missing?"

"Yes, they believe the resort is being used as a cover to find women," I take a deep breath pushing the thought of Kate being one of these women to the back of my mind.

"Ana-"

"They believe," I push on focusing on the mission. "that Jack lures a certain type of women to the resort knowing when they arrive they will be taken. We don't know if it's Jack who is involved in the actual disappearance of the women or if he just orchestrates it and has people he uses to carry out their disappearance. Either way, the FBI believes he has intimate knowledge of the women who have gone missing from his resort."

"Have they questioned him?"

"There isn't enough evidence," I sigh. "When we asked if Kate had ever been there, his legal team stated she had a reservation but never checked in. Some women they told us they had no communication from and when we looked at their emails, we saw nothing. We believe some women booked their reservation over the phone rather than via email like Kate did. Anytime we've asked about someone, he's had an immediate response. We don't have enough evidence to formally ask him to come in for questioning so we're proceeding cautiously."

"I don't like him," Christian hisses. "No matter what happens, I don't want you to go anywhere alone at the resort. Before you say anything," he puts his hand up to stop me from interrupting. "I know you're in charge, but given what you know of him and his role, even you have to admit it isn't safe to go anywhere alone."

"I agree there's a risk, but the bureau does not believe that he is likely to seek me out given that I'll be there with you," I point out.

"I know, but that doesn't make me feel any better," he says.

"That said, I don't foresee any reason we wouldn't be together while we're there," I reply.

"Let's keep it that way."

"I should probably head home, it's getting late," I put my dish in the sink and begin clearing the table.

"Stay," he replies quickly.

"What?"

"Stay here," he repeats. "You yourself said it saves time then driving back forth to Time Out. Staying here will save us time in the morning. We only have tomorrow left, there's still so much left to do."

"I don't know."