Chapter Twenty-Two

Christian and Ana had the most amazing Christmas together. It had been a 'no politics' time for them, a little over a week off from Christmas Eve to the day after New Year where they just got to be at home and spend time together.

They'd spent Christmas Day with Ana's parents, a proper family Christmas where they had treated Christian as though he was their own son, spoiled him rotten just like they did Ana and it had melted his heart. A few years ago he hadn't even believed he was capable of love and now he was realising not only did he love Ana, he loved her family too and they had accepted him for their daughter. Incredible really as they had such a good background and while his work allowed him to be financially comfortable when living in London and he'd been able to put a bit of money towards their house. But he was just a casual accountant for an old friend, the money was ok but he had an Open U degree that Elena had insisted he do, nothing spectacular. Ana's parents should have wanted her with a lawyer or a doctor, someone who came from a good background, he didn't come from one of those, yet they'd accepted him anyway.

Maybe it was they could see how happy he made Ana, or how happy Ana made him. Or maybe it was that they could see that he worshipped the ground Ana walked on and it was his priority to make her happy in every way he could. Whatever it was, they made him feel loved by them in a different way to the way he felt loved by Ana but loved all the same.

"Vote opens today." Ana said softly as she lay on his bare chest drawing patterns with her perfect fingernail.

"Yup." He said taking her finger and kissing it softly, she smiled shyly. "Whatever happens, you're a winner."

"Don't be silly." She scoffed. He frowned and Ana bit her lip, that wasn't a normal frown, that was one where she had been disobedient and was going to be punished.

"You need to start believing in yourself." He stated. "Get up, go stand by the mirror."

Ana jumped to her feet and ran over to the full-length mirror, still naked from the night before she wondered what punishment was in store for her now. He had told her more than once that she had to stop being so hard on herself and that if she continued to put herself down he'd punish her every time she did. Well, Christian never spoke about punishing her and then failed to carry it out.

She tried to watch him in the mirror but he disappeared, out of their bedroom and by the noise she could tell he was disappearing up to their dungeon to get something. Ana couldn't help but be worried. Being punished meant she had disappointed Christian and she hated doing that more than anything. However, she was human and sometimes she made mistakes and she appreciated that Christian wanted to punish her. There was something special about having her behaviour corrected by him rather than have him ignore her or maybe argue with her. This was them, this was how their relationship worked. Of course, there had been times over the last couple of years where he had pushed the boundaries and she had called him out on them, safewording and then arguing about it, but it was rare. He knew what he was allowed to punish her for and so did she, it was a mutual agreement. Christian had asked her only recently what she wanted to work on and her response had been that she wanted to be more self-confident. Christian had said to do that she'd need to stop being so hard on herself and it had been agreed that if she was hard on herself then he would punish her. This was all completely consentual between them.

Christian returned but Ana didn't turn to look. Her eyes were downcast ensuring she wouldn't meet his gaze in the mirror. He took a moment to admire her naked body, the way her silky hair fell down her back, the curve of her spine, her perfectly proportioned silky hips and that spankable ass that he loved so much. Her legs were so thin and long too, they looked like they could go on forever.

"This is a posture collar." Christian said bringing it over her shoulder so she could see it. She looked up at this huge black collar and she gulped, that was to go around her neck? She lifted her chin a little, giving Christian the only signal he needed to put it on though he could see the uncertainty in her eyes. He said nothing as he placed it around her neck, forcing her chin to be directly in line with the floor and the minute it was closed Ana realised she couldn't move her neck at all. Christian then put black restraints around her thighs and locked her wrists to her thighs before putting some weight on her shoulders, encouraging her to fall to her knees. She did as she was told, wondering how this could be a punishment when it also excited her.

"Open your mouth, wide." He told her pulling what Ana realised was a gag from his pocket. It wasn't the usual ball or bar gag like they normally used, instead this was an open ring. Ana opened her mouth and without having to be asked she allowed Christian to slip it in, rendering her speechless.

"Scream." He told her and she did as loudly as she could. "That is your safeword." He told her and she tried to nod but failed, the collar restricting her from being able to. Christian smirked. "Turn toward me a little." He told her and she shuffled awkwardly along the rough carpet.

Ana's eyes widened when he took his erect penis in his hand and started to pump softly, she couldn't stop the saliva pooling in her mouth and she couldn't stop it running from her mouth, down her chin.

"Like this, you're at your most beautiful." Christian told her, she peeked up at him through long fanned eyelashes, she did look incredible and as always it took so much restraint for him not to have his wicked way with her. "I mean it." He said as the saliva dripped down onto her naked breasts. "You're an incredible woman, so strong, so powerful. You have done so much and yet will do so much more. It's time you started believing in yourself." He said and at that moment, if she could have she would have nodded vigorously, she'd have agreed with anything if he'd satisfy the hunger that was burning in her core.

He wrapped his hand around her hair and slowly popped his penis in through the ring till she gagged, she wanted so badly to close her lips around him but all she could do was swipe him with his tongue as he withdrew. He moaned, her eyes lit up with her smirk.

"Oh no you don't." He said putting the second hand into her hair and before she could think what he was going to do he started to pound into her mouth. Ana groaned and gagged around him as he punished her mouth relentlessly, this was for saying don't be silly to him, she'd not believed in herself and let it fall out of her mouth, so he was punishing her mouth. Ana groaned helplessly, loving the assault he was putting on her throat. It was incredible, her eyes rolled back in her head, because whether anyone else believed it or not, she was enjoying this far more than she should have.

Christian came apart all over her mouth and chin. She couldn't lap it up, so it dripped helplessly down her chest. Christian quickly undid the collar but not the gag and Ana rolled her neck a little, glad one part of her restraint was gone.

"Turn around, onto your front, ass in the air." He commanded. Ana was again quick to do as she was asked and Christian gave her perfect behind a hard spank, a red handprint quickly appeared. He continued this until she counted a total of twenty five then he plunged deep into her. Ana groaned and moaned through the gag in her mouth as he pounded her hard, she could do nothing to support her body, her wrists still bound to her thighs. Though whenever she pulled on her restraints it caused her ass cheeks to push together and Christian would squeeze them tight, he loved seeing her ass pucker up like that.

He pushed her face into the carpet, she faced to the side, her saliva now dripping from her mouth onto the carpet. It was a relentless fuck she had to hold back her orgasm until he said she could have it too, she couldn't ask for permission to come. He gave her the permission he needed with another hard smack on her ass. She came gloriously, it was always more intense when she'd had to hold off. He came again too, but he spurted his seed all over her ass rather than inside her, it was already all over her chest and she was going to need to shower now. He loved seeing her covered in his juices just like he enjoyed being covered in hers.

"Fuck me." Ana gasped when he removed the gag.

"I think I've just done that." Christian chuckled as he undid the restraints from her wrists and thighs. Ana giggled, before she wiped her chin with her arm, she was all wet and sticky now and desperately needed a shower.

"I love you." Ana said softly as Christian tucked a strand of sweat filled hair behind Ana's ear, a loving gesture when he couldn't kiss her due to the semen still all over her.

"I love you too. Now, you might think twice before you say something negative about yourself. Let's go shower." She smiled as she walked away, earning her another hard spank that made her jump before running into the bathroom.

She jumped into the shower and closed the door behind her stopping Christian from coming in. He tried to open the door but she held it tight, her face laughing from behind the glass.

"Please let me in." Christian said tugging at the shower door.

"Nope." Ana replied giggling. "You're not being very nice to me, you spanked me!"

"You like to be spanked though." Christian pouted, this was playful Ana, his favourite Ana in the world.

"I do, but I don't like it when I've done nothing to deserve it." It was Ana's turn to pout.

"I'm sorry." Christian pouted back, they were like a pair of school children. "I'll make it up to you in the shower…" He sang, his eyes sparkling again. Ana's eyes widened with her joy and she allowed him to open the door. He stalked towards her, making her back further into the long cubicle, this was a shower built for two. Her back crashed into the cold tile and as he brought his lips towards hers, he switched the water on making Ana jump as the cold water hit her skin.

"Oh Christian!" She scowled giving his chest a swat. He laughed, before leaning in to kiss Ana, the water already washing away whatever remained of him on her. She moaned into the kiss, the water warming up above them as it rained onto their skin. He spun her around bought her back to his chest, and her head fell back against his shoulder while he massaged her breasts. He took hold of the showerhead from above his head and brought it down between Ana's legs. Her legs buckled beneath her as the powerful water jet made contact with her throbbing clit but Christian had a tight grip on her. It didn't take long, still sensitive from the orgasm before, as she slipped and slid against Christian's wet chest she came apart loudly in his arm. He sucked and nibble at her ear lobe as she yelled out, her voice echoing around the long white chamber.

"My Ana." He whispered before returning the showerhead to its stand. "Insatiable."

"It's all your fault." Ana giggled as she turned back to face him. "I didn't know what multiple orgasms were till I met you."

"Hmm." He teased before kissing her again. "Now, enough, let's get you clean."

They washed each other's hair and bodies quickly and then climbed out of the shower before things could get heated again. Tonight, was the last TV debate that Ana would have to take part in, the only one which would occur after the voting opened this morning and they didn't have the time for any more fun.

Christian had known that playing would take her mind off what was coming but they were now running behind with a million things to do before the head to head with James. This was it, her last chance to impress the voters. She would be going to spend the time with Rosin, Gracie and Emily while Phillip and Kate were going to help Christian master the social media side of things, a job he would be able to do with Phillip if Ana was to win tonight.

There had been long conversations about whether or not Christian would join Ana's office if she was to win. She had immediately said that she wanted him but he'd had to think long and hard about it, not that he didn't want the job, because getting any job in Ana's team would mean being closer to her while she worked and she'd ensure it was a job that required him to be on the road with her. However, it was that line he wasn't sure about, being her Dom while she was his boss. It might get a bit messy if they weren't careful.

However, they'd worked it out, work was work and their life was their life, if it crossed over they would have a new and more inconspicuous safeword that they could both use if they felt the other was crossing that line inappropriately and they would discuss it afterwards, when they were alone in private. At that point he'd agreed, knowing they had a plan in place that would protect them both but make it easier for him to be with her as she worked if he was a part of her team. It was also the done thing apparently, giving family members jobs.

"You look beautiful." Christian smiled when Ana emerged from the wardrobe wearing a pair of black leggings, a white vest top and a long cardigan belted loosely at the waist and a pair of knee-high leather boots.

"You chose my outfit." She sniggered, making Christian beam, he loved hearing her laugh.

"Babe you're beautiful whether you're in clothes or not. Nothing to do with this outfit." He said stalking towards her across the room.

"Don't look at me like that." She pleaded as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into him.

"Like what?" He asked, an eyebrow cocked at her.

"Like you want to jump me." Ana loudly whispered even though no one would have heard her if she'd talk normally.

"I always want to jump you." Christian shrugged, still holding Ana flush up against him, while she leant back to look at him.

"We don't have time." Ana sighed. "And you're making me hungry."

She didn't mean hungry as in needing food, she meant hungry as in needing Christian, he planted his lips on hers again and kissed her deeply until she found the inner strength she needed to pull away, she had a long day ahead of her.

After finally getting out of the house, Ana spent the day working incredibly hard on the debate she was going to have with James. The plan for tonight was a proper head to head debate, responding to each other and asking each other questions rather than having to answer the audiences. Ana was looking forward to it, this was far more up her street than answering audience questions. This felt like it would give the people a good impression of what their skills would be like with other people, especially at PMQ's where they would be scrutinising the PM and then possibly scrutinised if they became PM. Ana was looking forward to pulling apart James' austerity policy, forcing him to admit that he wouldn't reverse austerity for quite some time.

Her outfit for tonight was chosen by both Christian and Gracie, who'd had a bit of a debate about whether she should have been in trousers or a dress. Ana settled that argument by stating she wanted to be in trousers tonight as she needed to appear a little less girly. They'd not gone for a bland suit though, oh no, not when Ana already had a reputation for her style choices. Instead, they chose Ana a pair of navy cropped trousers with a pair of opened toed black stilettos, a navy vest top with a crew neckline and a bright canary yellow jacket with three quarter length sleeves and a turned up neckline. Her hair was pulled back into a side plait allowing her to look both strong and feminine.

James looked a little nervous in the green room. He kept throwing awkward glances in Ana's direction and running his fingers through his salt and pepper hair. Ana was nervous too, naturally, knowing she would be going head to head in a debate with her competitor, but Christian was doing everything he could to keep her calm with small touches and lots of playful smiles in her direction.

When it was time to go on set Ana kissed Christian and followed James up to the studio floor. That left Christian and the rest of the team to make their way into the spin room. The spin room was where all the action would be happening based on what happened in the studio. For the first time, Christian would be taking an active roll in what was happening with Ana's campaign rather than just sitting watching a screen from the green room and hoping for the best.

"She'll do great." Kate reassured, seeing the nervousness on Christian's face. He grimaced, it wasn't so much her he was worried about, he had a job to do tonight and he knew if he made a mistake it was Ana he would be damaging.

His job was to run her for-leader twitter account, leaving one thing less for Phillip and Kate to do. He would be responsible for re-tweeting and loving comments, making posts with the right hashtags and keeping an eye on the mood on those hashtags. It wasn't rocket science really, but it was a big deal for him knowing it was for Ana and her future.

As the show started, the hubbub in the room quietened down, everyone wanting to listen to the debate and get whatever they could out of it. The world's media was in this room, ready to pounce on any slip up either party made. They would be live-tweeting too and keeping an eye on their accounts was of vital importance to get a feel which way the media would swing by morning. Whoever won tonight, it was likely they would win the election because they'd have the media backing.

Ana was tall, strong and confident as she did her opening speech. Christian sat and just listened for the moment. His pride was immense, the small smile playing on his lips and the way his head nodded to the things Ana was talking about giving that away to anyone who looked in his direction. She spoke with so much passion and enthusiasm about the things she wanted to change and it was impossible not to feel her energy through the screen. It was amazing.

When it was James' turn to do his well-prepared opening, Christian turned to his phone. Kate was already furiously typing away on the iPad and Phillip too. Even Rosin and Emily were scribbling away on their legal pads, one ear on the TV while they worked.

The tweets were mostly good so far and Christian was enjoying reading them. There were a few inappropriate ones commenting on Ana's attractiveness, but it just made Christian laugh, they'd never see her the way he got to.

"Let's remember one thing here." Ana's voice filtered through the TV, Christian turned to look again his heart racing, this was where the fun began because now the duo were going to begin debating. "I've made it crystal clear that if I'm leader I will work hard to take down the Conservatives Austerity politics. If I then become Prime Minister it will be the sole goal of my Government to undo the hardship and poverty inflicted on the people of the United Kingdom by the Tory Government. James refers only to balancing the books, not once has he sworn to turn around austerity. He believes in spending more but only when they know where the money is coming from. The funniest thing about that is he hasn't told a single one of us where any money is going to come from. I have made it clear where I plan to raise funds from to undo austerity. So I question my honourable friend now, how do you intend to raise the required funds to increase public spending?" Ana was on a bit of a roll with this one, but she hadn't been asked a question yet.

Christian watched as James bumbled on about raising the cost of cigarettes and alcohol, making nicotine-containing vaping products fall into the same tax band as cigarettes and bringing in a fat tax on fast food industry.

"Tell us Ana, how do you trust a former Tory? Someone who has been involved in the creating of austerity?" Ouch that one burned, Christian could see the pang of guilt on Ana's face.

"We're all entitled to make mistakes in life." Ana smiled sadly and glanced down at the podium, giving away the shame that was bubbling in her tummy. "When I joined the Conservatives I was young, stupid and naïve. We've all been there, in a place where we allow other people to guide us. I won't lie. I was stupid. I believed their views of a better world, it took an incredible human being to open my eyes and show me the true horrors of austerity. It was a journey for me, but one I'm glad I got to take. Now my passion is to help support the poorer people in our society, bridge the gap between those at the top and those at the bottom. In twenty-first century Britain we shouldn't have homeless people on our streets, we shouldn't have veterans unable to access mental health services, we shouldn't have children going to school and bed hungry, we shouldn't have nurses using foodbanks. But that is what austerity has caused. I was blind when I was younger, completely blind and stupid and naïve. However, not anymore, my eyes are wide open now and I will do whatever I can, whatever it takes to change this. Unlike you James because the money you talk about raising cannot be ring-fenced, there is no guarantee from year to year as people stop smoking, drinking and cutting back on fast food. So James, maybe they shouldn't trust a Tory but I'm not a Tory, my blood is Labour red I just hadn't seen it until my eyes were opened for me. But why on earth should anyone trust an individual who wants to undo the protections that are in place to defend the country from terrorism?"

That was Ana's lead into James' next question. Christian had to blink back his tears. He was so incredibly proud that Ana had faced the fact she was once a Tory. He turned back to social media, to gauge the mood of the nation in response.

"Fuck." Phillip said and Christian knew why, the response to that was not good. Ana being young and stupid was now the main topic of conversation, her age going against her because she was still young. People were commenting on the fact that she had only been a politician for a few years and that she'd been with the Tories for longer than she'd been with Labour. Christian almost screamed himself when he saw a vile comment saying that maybe Ana had planned for Douglas to die. He had to respond to that one. He clicked the retweet button and popped a statement about how much Douglas meant to Ana and no one had the right to question that. Douglas himself was partly responsible for Ana's move to Labour.

"She needs to come out with something good here." Phillip muttered as James finished talking about why he felt it necessary to scale back some of the anti-terror laws and turning it back on Ana that she was just afraid because she'd been a victim.

"How dare you?" Ana asked angrily. "How dare you think I'd put my own feelings before the welfare of every single citizen of this nation?" She was near growling.

"Calm down." Kate whispered, Ana couldn't lose her temper or she'd likely throw this election.

"I have been held up in two terrorist incidents. Two. How much have you been caught up in? None? Exactly. The reason you haven't been caught up in one isn't just because you've been lucky James. It's because the powers that our police and secret services have to protect us do just that, they protect us. All of us. Sometimes, yes they get it wrong, they monitor the emails of that little old lady down the street. However, do you think they care how many times she's bought condoms from Amazon? No? But that ISIS terrorist who they find looking at how to make IEDs? They're interested in that. If you don't have anything to hide, you shouldn't care about the secret services accidentally glancing in your inbox. They're not going to start following everything you do, once they're happy you're not a suspect, the information goes away. There are a number of terrorist incidents that have been foiled because of these new powers. Do you remember the seven seven anniversary plot? That was stopped because of the powers the secret service have to investigate. Can you imagine how many people would have died if that plot would have succeeded? You could have been on that tube on your way to Westminster. Any of us could have been! So yes, I have personal experience of what it's like to be held up in a terrorist incident. I know what it's like to see bodies littered over the street but it's those bodies that make me want to ensure those powers stay in place because next time that body could be yours or anyone else's here." Ana was practically spitting by the end but a huge round of applause ruptured around not only the studio but the spin room too.

Christian, Kate and Phillip were frantic on social media, watching the reactions come in. It was like in the space of that rant Ana had just made everyone forget about the fact she was a former Tory and people came to her defence against James Whitehall. He'd got her angry, but the public were angrier at him for using what had happened to her against her for political gain.

"She's going to have to bring the incident in a bit more, the public is responding really positively to it." Kate mumbled, Christian had to agree it did seem to be setting social media alight.

Throughout the debate, Christian watched as Ana's social media response fluctuated from positive to negative. He quickly saw a pattern that when people agreed with anything James said, they responded negatively to Ana even though she hadn't said anything, then she'd respond and it would flip in her favour again. All in all, the positive outweighed the negative in Christian's opinion and so he hoped that the media felt the same thing.

Ana and James were now doing their closing speeches and Rosin and Emily had gone to work the reporters, get a feel for what stories they were planning to lead with in the morning. When Ana finally joined Christian, Kate and Phillip she looked exhausted but happy.

"Well?" She asked her voice shaking a little, she wasn't sure if she wanted to know how well it had gone.

"Couldn't have gone better." Phillip smiled before giving Ana a hug. Christian saw as her shoulders fell in that embrace, the relief so obvious. "Honestly." He added though he didn't need to. Ana trusted him as her media officer. "Now I'm going to work the room, otherwise Rosin and Emily will be here all night." He said flamboyantly and Ana laughed as she turned to embrace Kate.

"We'll go through the meat of it tomorrow but any interviews you've got coming up it's worth keeping Islington in the forefront of people's minds."

"What?" Ana gasped, horrified at what Kate had just said.

"Well it was when people most came out in support for you, when you talked about Islington after what James said, people rallied around to your defence and support. I think if you talk about that it will keep your support, you could actually win this."

"Kate." Ana took a deep breath to calm herself, she didn't want to explode here in front of the media but she was close to. "I am not going to use Islington to win myself votes, I am not going to keep going on about Islington either, it's painful not just to me but to the families of those who were injured."

"I'm just saying Ana…"

"No. I'm just saying Kate." Ana replied with her hand up stopping Kate in her tracks. "No." She said. "That's the end of it."

"I…"

"Kate." Ana growled. "I am not using Islington. I don't care how positive it makes me come across. No." And on that note Ana turned on her heels and marched for the green room to get her things, afraid she'd blow up if she stayed with Kate any longer. "Do you think she was right?" Ana asked Christian as he ran behind her, trying to keep up.

"No." Christian replied, he would never say that Kate was right, and Ana was wrong. However, on this one, he thought Kate was in the wrong anyway.

"Good." Ana said, ending the conversation there. It had been a long evening, she didn't care what anyone else had to say, she just wanted to go home and curl in her bed. Voting was open, whatever happened tonight, people would be voting for or against her. She didn't want to think about that though, she'd know in four weeks exactly which way people had voted and then she'd live with the consequences.