A/N: I know this one doesn't have much in it, but I needed one more buffer chapter before a little drama happens.
It's barely been twenty-four hours since finding out that Hyde is on the loose, and Christian is having a terrible time trying to navigate through his emotions. He's trying to hide it, but anyone who's been around him for more than a few seconds can see his inner struggle. He was unable to focus and keep still during his morning meetings and he skipped his morning coffee all together, even telling Andrea to take it back after she brought it to him. He felt as if he was having heart palpitations already, adding caffeine to his already fragile nerves might cause him to have one of his infamous 'fits'.
He'd rather feel exhausted than lose the reputation of being the confident, calm, dominant businessman that he's put so much effort into building. His company is large and he's at the top. What would people think if they saw him lose it first hand? Not only would they question his stability as a person, but also his ability to run a business. A basketcase cannot run a successful business. It would be devastating to run it right into the ground after all this work, especially now that he has a baby on the way.
Fortunately, Anastasia knows Christian like the back of her hand and knows just how hard he's working at keeping up the facade. She decides to leave work a little early and head to Escala to surprise him by making his favorite dinner. She shoo's Gail back to their side of the apartment and searches through his closet, looking over the wardrobe he bought her a couple of weeks ago with the hope it'd convince her to move in officially. It hadn't done the job, but it is nice for her to have a full wardrobe to choose from while she's at Escala. He handpicked every maternity outfit and piece of lingerie and just the thought of Christian spending the precious time he has on this painstaking task just to make her happy has her melting into a puddle on the floor. She had almost succumbed to his charm and agreed to move in then, but she bit her tongue.
Christian doesn't know it yet, but Anastasia has already made the decision to move in with him...but not yet. The baby will be born before they know it and once the bundle of joy is here, they'll all live as a beautiful little family. Until then, she wants to soak up all the time alone that she can. She knows that once the baby is born, she'll rarely get any breathing room for herself. Secretly, she hopes Christian finds a home for the three of them before the baby is born, because if he doesn't, she'll have to move twice.
She hates moving.
As she's standing at the counter cutting up the potatoes for the oven, a song comes over the built in stereo system for the apartment, making her smile. Christian is finally home and he's playing her favorite, Billy Currington. Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right cuts through the sound of her knife on the cutting board and she feels two strong arms wrap around her. Christian.
She relaxes back into his chest and lets him sway them back and forth while his hands cup her stomach and he nibbles on her ear.
"I've missed you today." He whispers in her ear.
"Mmm." She hums in agreement. His smell is intoxicating.
Christian nuzzles into her neck and breathes in deep. "This is the only thing that calms me." He murmurs against her skin.
Anastasia smiles. "What is?"
"What I've got my arms around. You and our baby. You two are the only things I need in the world, love. I couldn't cope without either of you. If I lost either of you… it'd be the end of me."
His heartfelt confession brings tears to her eyes. She doesn't even know how to respond to something so lovely. Instead, she turns her head and presses a sweet, firm kiss to his lips, showing her appreciation.
"We both love you so much, Christian. Our baby is going to be head over heels for you." She smiles at the thought.
"I hope so. I'm already head over heels for them." He rubs her stomach affectionately as he begins to rock them back and forth along with the music once again.
Christian's right hand wanders up to her shoulder, where he slides the black spaghetti strap to the side, letting it fall to her arm. Leaning down, he presses his lips to her soft, pale skin. "Is this all for me?" He tugs lightly at the lace black babydoll she's wearing.
The warm breath on her neck makes her shiver.
"Yes." She breathes out, her body beginning to ache for him already.
"Can't we have dessert first?" He asks, nipping along her shoulder.
Anastasia opens her mouth to reply, but her stomach speaks for her with a large gurgle, evidence of her empty stomach.
Christian sighs. "Dinner first, Anastasia. You should never leave your stomach that empty while pregnant."
She rolls her eyes as he chastises her. "Christian, I ate lunch and had an apple as a snack afterward. It's just dinner time. We'll play after dinner." She picks up the forgotten knife on the cutting board and begins to chop the potatoes again.
XxXxXx
Cooking dinner takes twice as long as it should because Christian can't keep his hands to himself. Anastasia's body is like a magnet, drawing him to her every time he manages to wander a few feet away. His fingertips keep stroking their way down her bare arms, creamy thighs, and swollen stomach, causing her to lose focus while preparing their meal.
Watching her pregnant and in the kitchen puts his body in overdrive, luring him even deeper into his need to touch her. She's his siren, her body her song, and he's just a poor, lonely sailor finding himself willing to lose everything, including his life, to be with her. He never knew that attraction like this existed until they finally crossed the line from friends to lovers. Now, he finds himself aching for her constantly...aching just to touch her...to hear her giggle...watch her smile...listen to his name on her lips as he pushes her over the edge of yet another beautiful orgasm…
"Christian?"
He shakes away his thoughts and sees that she's staring up at him.
"Are you ready to eat?"
Fuck, yes. He's ready to eat. But food won't satisfy him.
Patience, Grey.
He has to remind himself that Baby Grey needs to eat. Knowing that their child has gone hungry because he couldn't keep his dick in his pants for twenty more minutes would be devastating. What kind of man would that make him?
Nothing, but a bastard. A real man wouldn't allow his child to go hungry.
"Come sit with me." She gives him a sweet smile and takes his hand, while her other hand carries a dish. But there's only one dish… It confuses him.
"Ana… where's the other plate?"
Anastasia gives him a salacious grin. "You'll see."
Oh…
Anastasia knows that he won't have her until after she eats, but her body is begging for him. She knows she'll have to get creative. Nothing wrong with satisfying two needs at once.
When they reach the table, she releases his hand and and places the food at the head of the table, next to his chair. While he takes a seat, she reaches down and slips off her black panties, discarding them on the floor for now.
"Ana… food first." It takes effort for Christian to remain business-like, but his voice is breathier than he had hoped it'd be.
She nods. "Yes, we're going to eat. Just getting comfortable." She slides into his lap and shimmies a little, glad to feel the hard bulge against her soft backside. She looks over his shoulder at him. "Is this okay?"
"Perfect." He breathes out in a whisper. His dick is now throbbing for her.
She takes the fork and knife and takes her time cutting up the chicken breasts, before taking a bite. "Mmm, it's good." Turning sideways, she presses a soft kiss to her lips. "May I feed you?"
Christian groans and his head falls back a little. "Please."
Anastasia holds the fork to his lips and he takes an appreciative bite. "It is good." He says, while chewing.
"Baby, we aren't having seafood tonight." Seeing his mashed up food in his mouth makes her pregnant stomach a little queasy.
He chuckles at her comment and swallows. "Sorry, love."
She stands and turns so that she's straddling him and reaches back to stab a piece of potato. As she brings it to her mouth, the potato falls off the fork and onto her chest, getting stuck between her swollen breasts and the lacy black material barely holding them in place. Her breasts seem to grow with every day that passes and she finds herself dropping things on them more each day.
"Oh, no." Her eyebrows knit together, but before she can reach in to grab it, Christian ducks his head, beating her to it. She leans back a little to make it easier for him and she feels his warm, soft lips against her sensitive skin as he dives for it. His tongue slips out of his mouth to grab it and she hums at the feel of it.
The feeling of him growing for her again makes her center clench and she slides back just enough to release him from his bottoms.
As she's unzipping his pants, Christian cocks an eyebrow at her. "I thought we agreed dinner first."
Anastasia gives him a sassy smile. "I just want to keep it hard and warm while we eat."
"Fuck." At her words, his dick jumps in her hand. He lets her pump his length a few times with her soft hands, enjoying the look of concentration on her face and the way her bottom lip finds its way between her teeth.
She rises just enough for him to slip in between her folds and she impales herself onto his length, making them both groan.
"We're eating dinner like this?" Christian's voice is breathy as he grips her hips. Sex is the only thing that can keep his mind from food. Especially sex with her.
She grinds and gives him a salacious grin when he groans. "Yes. If you don't finish your meal, you don't get to come."
His eyes that are closed pop open and he gives her a shocked look. "Excuse me?"
She bites her lip and giggles. "You heard me, Mr. Grey."
He becomes impossibly harder inside of her and she clenches her muscles hard around him.
Reaching around, she stabs at a piece of chicken and a potato, holding both of them to his mouth. "Open wide."
He gives her a crooked smirk. "Soon, I'll be telling you that." Quickly, he takes the food from the fork and gives her a wink as he chews.
Anastasia continues to feed them both, grinding against him every so often so that pleasure shoots through them both and keeps him hard.
It doesn't take long before the plate is empty and Christian stands quickly, depositing Anastasia onto the table in front of him. He sits down in front of her, her center bared to him, making him lick his lips.
She laughs. "What are you doing?" She was planning on fucking his brains out.
"Eating my dessert. I earned it." Taking an asscheek in each hand he spreads them lightly, opening up her center beautifully for him. She's deep pink, dripping wet, and her clit is begging to be touched. He blows lightly on it.
"Christian…" She whimpers, relaxing back on the wood table. "Please…"
"Please what?"
"Kiss me."
"Where?"
She growls out in frustration. "You know where!"
He chuckles. "I do. It's practically begging for it." Leaning forward, he kisses the ball of nerves lightly, making her let out a soft sigh. The sigh urges him on and he ceases his teasing and gets to work, enjoying the sounds he manages to pull from her.
It still bothers him a little that no man has never had the urge to pleasure Anastasia this way before. A part of his is grateful though, that no one has gotten the pleasure of tasting or hearing her while their face was between her thighs. Only him. Her pleasure is now all for him. He gets to control how, where, and when he makes her convulse underneath him while she cries out his name. It's completely intoxicating. He can't get enough.
XxXxXx
He fucked her right there on the table before carrying her straight to bed, where they spend the next two hours floating in and out of consciousness, basking in their post-coital bliss.
Anastasia's body feels warm, light, and is practically humming from the feeling of content lying in bed. She breathes in deeply and lets it out slowly, letting her body relax back into the bed as she drifts back into unconsciousness.
Christian's eyes remain closed, but he's awake, enjoying the feel of Anastasia's warm body against his own. When she takes the deep breath, he grins.
"Ana…" He presses a kiss to her ear, then two more to the sweet spot behind her ear.
"Hmm?" Her voice is soft and sleepy.
He presses his hard on against her bum.
A sleepy smile forms on her lips. "Again?"
Chuckling, he runs a hand down her side. "I can't help it. I'm addicted. You're the best I've ever had."
She rolls onto her back and turns her head to press a kiss to his lips, humming in agreement. "It's all thanks to our baby." She pats her stomach. "Crazy pregnancy hormones making me want to jump your bones."
He shakes his head at her silliness, grinning down at her. "You two are the best things that ever happened to me. I just wish it could have happened sooner."
"It happened when it was supposed to."
"Yea, you're probably right. I would have never been able to graduate from college if we would have become a couple back then. My grades would have gone to shit. I wouldn't have been able to keep my hands and mind off you." He runs his palm up the center of her body, resting it between her breasts so he can feel her heartbeat. "Just like now." His penis is throbbing for her. "I need you, Ana. I promise, I'll make it fast."
Anastasia shakes her head, making him pout. "I don't want it fast. I want it long and slow."
Christian's pout quickly turns into a smile. "Your wish is my command."
XxXxXx
"Fuck, you're incredible. Let's play hooky tomorrow and come home early to fall back into bed."
Anastasia laughs. "Christian, you're forgetting that I have plans tomorrow night."
Christian's eyebrows knit together. "You can't tell me you're still planning on going! With that dickbeater loose!"
Anastasia lets out a long sigh, knowing that getting angry will only make this argument worse. "Christian, I am not going to stop living my life because of him. You're doubling up on my CPO's. There are going to be two with me and I know what he looks like. I'll be careful. I won't let him ruin my life."
"I understand you want your independence, but this is an awful time to get stubborn about it! It's for your own good!" Christian feels the relaxation from their second round of lovemaking quickly dissipating, anger and frustration replacing it.
"I have protection! It's just dinner with a few people from work. I'll be gone for two hours, max. I promise."
"I don't like it. I don't know if you're safe if I can't see you with my own eyes."
"Then, why the hell do you pay these people to babysit me? Don't you trust them?"
"Of course, I do. I just… I just want to see you with my own eyes. Know you're happy and healthy." Christian does his best to try to reason with his girl, but he knows how stubborn she is. He's hoping that just this once, she'll listen.
"If you're going to keep me locked up in this ivory tower, I am not going to be happy."
"It's not that I want to keep you locked up…" Well, that's a lie, Grey. At least if she stayed in the apartment, he'd know she was safe.
"You know… I don't believe you even for a minute. But… to show you that I'm not as stubborn as you think I am… and because we're in a relationship and we need to find a way to compromise sometimes…"
He is now intrigued. "Well? Spit it out."
"Why don't you come with me?"
He's surprised that she's so willing to bring him along. "Really?"
"Yea, why not? That way you'll be with me and know that I am perfectly fine. Plus, I mean, you're my boyfriend now and everyone has realized I'm pregnant… or I hope they have. I suppose someone could just be thinking I'm getting fat. There's been whispers on who the father is, so I might as well officially introduce you to everyone as my boyfriend and father of my baby."
He grins. "Your baby daddy."
"No! I told you never to say that again!" Anastasia sighs. "So, are you going to come?"
"Of-fucking-course I'm coming! It's about time you claim me in public." He leans down and presses a kiss to her bare stomach. "It's official, baby. Mommy and Daddy are admitting it to the world!"