AN: Early update as I've had some writing time... I've written something new too and I'm so excited to share it with you all but I'm thinking I'll finish it first and bulk upload it when done rather than upload a chapter at a time... we shall see!

Chapter Twenty-One

Ana, Christian, and the team were spending the lead up to Christmas touring the country's Constituency Labour Parties together, trying to garner Ana the support she needed to win the Leadership election. It was extremely tiring and Ana was constantly on edge, snappy and miserable with her friends and team. They understood though, the pressure was getting to her especially as the battle heated up and those who supported other candidates started becoming more aggressive and nastier on social media.

Today, they were in Wales, in a place called Clwyd meeting with both Clwyd North and Clwyd East CLP's in a hotel conference hall. Ana had approached all these meetings the same, dressing more casually, opening the floor up to discussion after a small speech about her manifesto. It seemed to go down well being a lot less formal and down to earth and she hoped she was making herself out to be a very approachable person, a leader they would feel close and connected to.

"Good evening everyone, thank you so much for having me here." Ana started after the Chair of the CLP introduced her to the crowd who were waiting patiently for her to start. "I'm sure, like myself, you all have a vision for the type of country that you want to live in. What I want to do, is share my vision with you and hope that you can see it as a real possibility for our country and can see how much better our country could be."

Christian watched as Ana spoke, she walked around the front of the audience, talking so confidently. It amazed him when he watched her. She was so passionate, using her hands to talk to the audience, connecting with everyone she could. While Kate and Phillip sat beside him on their phones, not really paying attention to Ana, Rosin and Emily were watching her closely, taking notes and making sure they corrected any slip up if necessary.

All Christian could do was think that Ana was a natural leader. Not exactly what some would expect of someone who was submissive behind closed doors. However, that's what Ana was like. She needed the submission at home so she could let go of the self-control she needed in her work life. They'd found an amazing balance with each other that just worked naturally, without too much effort on either part anymore.

Of course, it had taken a while after the bombing to get back into the swing of things and Christian was still hesitant at times. Ana had this habit of topping from the bottom lately, telling Christian when she needed him by showing up in the room he was in and kneeling or relentlessly teasing him till he lost his own self-control. He loved that about her though, he loved how she was so self-assured and confident in her own skin both as a submissive at home and as a politician.

"Oh my God." Both Kate and Phillip gasped simultaneously beside Christian. He looked at them both but they were frantically typing on their phones, not telling him what was going on.

He looked over at Ana who was frowning, a lot of people in the audience had stopped paying attention to Ana, they were also looking at their phones. Something big had happened.

"Umm…" Ana's eyes met Christian's, she didn't know what to do now no one was paying attention to her.

"Miss Steele…" An audience member called, bringing Ana's attention to her.

"Yes?" Ana asked, glad to have something to do because she couldn't just stand there and do nothing but very few people were paying attention to her now, something was unfolding somewhere and everyone was on their phones.

"Sara Cooper has just announced she's withdrawing from the race." The audience member said.

Ana's eyes opened wide, her mouth popped open. She was speechless. This was a huge surprise to her and to Christian too who looked to Kate for confirmation. Kate gave a small nod, letting him know that yes that was the big breaking news. Christian looked back to Ana who was frozen on the spot, her mind clearly racing as she tried to figure out her next move.

"Well…" She said quietly. "I guess that means you've all now only got two options. Anti-austerity politics with me or continued austerity with James." Ana stuttered, this news was huge and had really taken her by surprise. No way had she expected someone to drop out just four weeks before the ballot opened and the members began voting for their leader.

"Brilliant." Rosin gasped quietly making Christian smirk, he was so impressed that Ana was thinking on her feet like this, even if she did look a little bit like a goldfish for a moment.

"This is now a two-horse race, me or James. What I can promise is something that James is completely against, a reversal of austerity. Following Douglas' wish to have a manifesto that is fully costed we will show we can reverse austerity and increase wages to public sector workers and increase minimum wages for private-sector workers. We can do this if we just believe and work together. We've suffered nearly ten years of Tory Austerity; enough is enough I say. The next General Election is ours to lose with anti-austerity politics. You know this, I know this. Together we can do this. Thank you for having me." Ana smiled broadly, she'd managed to save this after that news thankfully, now she was worried though, a two-horse race, her and James going head to head for the leadership. That meant there was a fifty percent chance she would be the next leader. Those odds, she didn't like.

After taking some questions and taking pictures with members they finally made it out of the meeting hall at around ten PM. The debrief could wait until tomorrow, instead, Ana and Christian just wanted to go back to their hotel and spend some time together.

"So just you and James." Christian said as soon as their taxi was on the move.

"Apparently so." Ana said turning to look out the window.

"Ana what's wrong?" Christian asked, he thought she would have been happy to be one step closer to being the leader.

"I never wanted this Christian." Ana sighed sadly. "I didn't want to be leader, not yet anyway, I've been put in this position when I'm too young and too inexperienced to do it."

"Well, some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." Christian said quietly making Ana turn to him, her eyes were so sad and he wished he could understand why.

"Christian, do you understand that if I become leader… there's a high chance in a few month's time I'll be Prime Minister?" Ana asked quietly.

"Is that what you're afraid of?" Christian asked, Ana nodded slowly before turning back to look out the window into the dark night. "Ana you'll make an incredible Prime Minister."

"Christian… It's not whether or not I can do the job that worries me. It's whether or not we can survive it. Do you know what it will mean for us?" Ana questioned as a stray tear fell from her eye, she was finally opening up to Christian, something he'd been waiting for since this had started.

"What? That we will be under constant scrutiny, that we will barely get any time together?" Christian asked, showing Ana he had thought about it. He grabbed her hand and brought it into his lap, forcing her to turn to him again.

"Ana, this isn't just about us, it's about the good of the Party and the country. Yes, I'm not saying it will be easy because we both know it won't be. It will be hard work, being the most powerful person in the country. But you're going to be amazing at it. You'll do so much and do so well. It's a sacrifice, I know that, but it's a sacrifice for the good of the country we live in. For our children and our grandchildren."

Ana's eyes almost fell out of her head, he just mentioned children, they'd not had that conversation yet. They hadn't really talked about their future much, other than when they bought the house and about it being a family home.

"Yes, Ana our children, one day." Christian smiled seeing Ana's face. "The things you could do as PM could affect everyone for generations to come. You'll be amazing."

Ana fell into Christian and kissed him hard. She had needed to hear all of that, she needed to hear how he understood what being PM would mean for their relationship, for their future together. It would be hard, they'd be separated more than they'd be together. However, with him by her side she could conquer anything, that she knew. Christian kissed her back just as hard, he knew she was thanking him for his words without saying a word in return. He loved her, didn't she understand that? He would walk a million miles for her if that was what she wanted.

Back at the hotel, he commanded that she stripped and kneeled, she quickly complied while he went into their suitcase to get the few toys he'd brought with them on this tour so that they could play while they were away. Ana loved that he'd bought things with them, she'd imagined being weeks on the road without having the sexual side of their D/s relationship when she knew she'd need it the most. However, Christian knew her, he knew what she would need and had ensured he'd be able to take care of her wellbeing completely.

"Sit on the edge of the bed." He growled in his Dom voice once he had pulled out everything he needed. Ana jumped up and did as she was told, already excited about what was to come.

Christian placed her in a harness, a strap went under her breasts and over her shoulders where it met in the back. He placed cuffs on her wrists and straps on her thighs. Her wrists were then taken behind her back in upside down prayer and clipped to the back straps. The thigh straps were then lifted up, one at a time and clipped to d-rings just beneath her breasts. She was now wide open, her knees bent at ninety-degree angles.

"You're so beautiful." Christian told her as he stroked his hands up and down her thighs. She moaned softly, loving how he caressed her and what his touch did to her.

He then went to her nipple and started to suck, Ana looked down, watched his lips curl around the nub which was already standing to attention. She purred appreciatively, her head rolling back as he nibbled softly before turning his attention to the other. Once he was happy with how they'd swelled under his manipulation he pulled the nipple clamps from the side of the bed. Ana panted excitedly as he carefully pulled at the nub, sliding it into place. The sharp pinch as Christian tightened the tweezer style clamp made Ana bite her bottom lip and groan. He smirked, he loved the sounds she made, he could never make her stay silent when they played, those sounds were his cue that she was enjoying herself. He did the same to the other nipple, tightening it as much as he knew she could handle for the period he wanted to keep them there and Ana's eyes widened with excitement when she saw the extra clamp and when he went onto his knees at the foot of the bed she knew exactly where it was going to go.

He sucked a little at her clit, not that he needed to, it was already swollen with her need, her wetness pooling beneath it ready for his penetration of her. She was writhing now, desperate for more. He pulled away and watched as she clamped and released hungrily. There was no sight in the world like it. The gasp that echoed from her chest when he attached the clamp to her went straight to his groin, he was already erect and it was taking every ounce of self-control he had to take his time with her.

He kissed her, hard and she struggled to hold herself up and stop herself falling backward without her hands to keep her upright, if BDSM had done anything to her it had increased her abdominal strength!

"You look incredible like this." Christian groaned as his lips still brushed against hers. Her big blue doe eyes looked at him, a shyness there that he adored, she never knew how beautiful she looked. "I'm going to lower you back. Hold yourself on your arms." Christian warned before slowly lowering Ana back so she was resting on her lower arms against the crisp sheets. It caused the nipple clamps and clit clamp to pull against each other deliciously.

Christian's mouth returned to Ana's clit, he penetrated her with his fingers and licked and sucked around the clamp until just before she orgasmed, that's when he popped the clamp off causing an intense throb to run through Ana, triggering her climax while Christian sucked and licked at the clit to soothe the burn. Her face scrunched up, her teeth on show as she groaned loudly, ecstasy consuming her. As she started to catch her breath, her chest rising and falling hard even though it was restricted by the restraint, she realised he was naked, he'd lined himself up at her entrance, his body leaning over her. She wanted to touch him, caress him, but she couldn't because she was bound. She was at his mercy as he began to pound himself into her. His hands were either side of her waist, his grey eyes hooked onto hers and she desperately tried to control her body so she could be in the moment with him, hold his gaze. He kept up a steady pace, not too fast and not too slow. Every now and again he'd take hold of the clamp chain and gave it a bit of a tug. Ana's eyes would roll back in her head and a glutaral groan would catch in her throat.

"Come for me Ana." Christian commanded as soon as he was close. Ana's head flew back as she clamped down on him, he quickly flicked off her clamps as she started to vibrate and he grunted as he began to spurt inside her. He brought her body as close to him as he could, as they came together. It was their dance, their partnership reaching ecstasy in unison. These were their favourite moments together.

He dropped Ana back as he pulled out of her, he was quick to unclip her thigh restraints before pulling her up to sitting so he could undo her wrists, she was always so fluid after a session, allowing him to move her to remove whatever devices he'd put on her. Once everything was off he took her in his arms and carried her up to the top of the bed. They were both sated and now it was time to get some sleep before they repeated the whole day again tomorrow.

"Always be mine." Ana said as she curled up in Christian's chest.

"Always." He replied before kissing her head. She didn't know just how much he wanted to ensure that their relationship was forever, he spent so much time fearing that the end would rear its ugly head especially with all the stresses and strains they had gone through. Yet, somehow, she was still with him, two years down the line and she was still his girlfriend, still wanting and needing him. He wanted to make that forever, sooner rather than later.