WHOA! Wasn't expecting such a huge response. 25 Reviews in the first two chapters with up to 60 followers! Thank you so much guys. Your support really means a lot to me. Moreover your review gives me the better insight upon the story and specially the song suggestions encourage me to right more and more. Cheers to all of you XD

I would like to thank perfectdark8523 for proof-reading this chapter. This one's dedicated to you 3

I am just so annoyed with this couple. Ana and Christian are literally the most frustrating couple I've ever dealt with as a writer. They just wouldn't stay away from each other. I have been trying to create a miserable angst between them which I thought would intensify their chemistry, specially with Christopher as a major barrier between them.

But their Chemistry is already too strong, especially Christian. No matter what I do he just refuses to stay away from Ana. Ana is the most unpredictable character I've ever written about and Christian is the most stubborn one when it comes to Ana. He literally spoke in my head "The world can go and fuck themselves, The Brooke and Christopher included. Nothing can keep me away from Ana." *sigh*

I wasn't expecting this chapter to turn out how it did. It was surprising and a shocker for me as well. Like I said, Ana is very unpredictable. Enjoy reading XD

NOTE : I'm telling you a ballpark figure of my updating schedule, just so you know when to expect a new chapter. I'll be uploading every new chapter within 12-16 days of the prior one.

3.

Anastasia

I wasn't sure I had heard Christian correctly.

"Brandon?" I asked as I stood from the bed and turned to face him.

Even speaking his name out loud sent shivers down my spine.

The memories pounced on me fresh as the raw wounds.

Brandon was one of my allies in the Pinnacle Race. Just like Lucy.

I hadn't known he was alive. Never thought of the possibility.

"Yes. You know him?" Christian stood up as well. Watching me way too closely.

Like he was expecting me to lose it anytime now.

"He... he was my friend. I thought he didn't survive."

"Why do you think so? Did you watch him die?"

I shook my head vigorously.

It made sense now.

"No I didn't. He was struck by lightning in the last level. We, Christopher and I, carried him to the tower."

And then with all the horrors that followed, I had forgotten all about Brandon.

"Ana.. " Christian hesitated. His fingers came across my cheek, brushing away the strands of my hair.

He cleared his throat. "Do you think you could tell me? About what happened there? After Jose was injured I mean?"

I knew I needed to tell him. I owed him after everything he has done for me.

Since the attack, Christian has rarely left my side.

He supported me throughout my breakdowns, took all the rage of my nightmares and protected me as well.

He wouldn't even let Jose scream at me when I had lost my cool at my home-welcoming party.

The worst were the days when I'd miss Christopher and cry for him. Christian spent those days with me as well.

Knowing what Christian felt for me (and what I felt for him also), I knew it was best to maintain some distance between us.

But Christian was having none of it. He would let me run a truck over him if it meant I'd feel better.

The guilt was consuming me of how unfair it was to him. To Christopher.

Even after what Christopher had done, I couldn't stop loving him.

A part of me would always love him. We had been through so much together.

But now that I looked back, my twenty-year-old self tried to argue with my naive sixteen-year-old self that maybe it wasn't true love.

How could it be if it ended so catastrophically?

Yes I loved Christopher, no doubt about that, but maybe I wasn't in love with him.

We were teenagers, attracted to each other. We were thrown into the hell together. He saved my life countless times just as I did.

Maybe that's what brought us together.

The desperation. The need for survival.

Or maybe you're just trying to reason with yourself so you could find a way to be with Christian.

That might be true too.

I had loved Christopher once and now I was undeniably attracted to Christian. It was such a complicated mess.

I was just so tired of all this.

Telling Christian about the final level felt like the easiest task to do among all these complexes.

It might help me. Put some weight off my shoulders, and all.

But how could I tell him that I have killed?

How could I lay the ugliest part of me and expect him to not judge?

Because if he judged me, if I saw the disgust in his eyes, I don't think I would be able to survive it.

I have been through so much. Mom and Dad's accident. Mia going away.

The Brooke, attempted rape, the horrendous time-table.

The Pinnacle Race. Polar bears, falling cliffs, man-eating trees, snakes, the drowning, electric eels, lightning and battles.

Lucy's and Cody's death, Christopher's betrayal, falling from a mountain in a glass chamber, Jack's attack and amnesia.

I have survived it all.

But somehow, seeing repulsion is Christian's eyes seemed to be the worst thing.

My eyes were stinging. Water filling in them quickly. I tried my best to contain my tears as I shook my head at him.

"It's not pretty. I did something horrible there." My voice cracked several times, barely above a whisper.

"I can't have you looking at me differently, C. I can't. I won't be able to bear it when you see me as a monster."

The tears won the war and rolled down my face like a tsunami. Nothing about me crying like that was pretty. Just like my story.

So. Damn. Ugly.

So. Enormously. Broken.

So. Destructively. Shattered.

Just as my knees began to sway from the unbearable pressure in my chest, I was surrounded by strong able arms.

My face was being burrowed into the crook of his shoulder, a musky woody smell surrounding me.

Without wasting a second, my arms came around his neck, binding him to me.

If it were up to me I wouldn't ever let him leave.

I could stay trapped here with him.

Away from the worries, the past and the traumas.

Away from The Brooke. BHMS. Christopher.

As if sensing my inner turmoil, Christian's arms tightened around me.

"It won't ever happen Ana. You're not a monster. We all have got some ugly pasts. That doesn't make you any less beautiful. What matters is that you survived it. That makes you prettier. So whatever it is, tell me. I can take whatever you throw at me babe."

His nose brushed across my hair, as if sniffing my scent. While one of his hands soothed the back of my head.

This, right here what I felt with Christian. The safety, the peace, the contentment.

What I wouldn't give or do to have it all with him forever.

But I was fearful that it was all an illusion. Going to fade away pretty soon. Possibly as soon as I told him.

Maybe that's why I looked up at him. Maybe that's why my hands reached up and fisted his hair.

And maybe that's why I brought his face down until his lips crashed onto mine and kissed him.

Kissed him like there was no tomorrow.

Kissed him like we were standing right at the apocalypse from where there was no turning back.

Kissed him like the leaves showed their bright colors in autumn, just before losing them all.

My lips captured his desperately, hungrily.

I sucked onto his upper lip before repeating the action with the lower one.

A deep growl left his throat, shattering whatever self control he had.

His tongue smashed with mine, inhaling all the breaths and the whimpers that left my throat.

Our mouths collided with each other's.

The result was equivalent of that of the aftermath of a crash site.

Daunting.

Abandoned.

Demolished.

Obliterated.

Dismantled.

I barely registered my back being smashed against the wall, my hands were too busy searching and exploring the heat coming off his body.

He was the sunshine I have been missing from so long.

My body demanded to soak him deep in my skin.

Christian's fingers wrapped around my hips, slowly yet quickly making their way downwards until they landed on the curve of my ass.

My teeth sank into his lower lip, nipping it. Then my tongue was there to soothe the ache I caused.
Christian went wild.

His fingers dug painfully into me until I wrapped my legs around his hips.

The wall behind me supported us as one of his hands wounded into my hair and yanked my face a little roughly.

My neck gave the access he was longing for.

His tongue landed against my beating pulse, soft lips closed around my sensitive skin. Sucking at it like the last few droplets of Ambrosia.

The moan that left my mouth was different this time. Louder.

Probably because his mouth wasn't capturing my sounds this time.

My loud aching voice gave Christian the boost that he had exactly needed.

His other hand, the one that wasn't fisting my hair, crawled upwards my torso. Slowly.

Leaving a burning trail behind until he grabbed my breast, palming it emphatically.

I gasped, arching into his touch. Fire was pooling down my belly making me throb down there.

Wanton to seek some relief I pulled him closer to me as I stooped a bit lower in his hold so that my hips rubbed against his.

Christian groaned at the friction.

"Fuck. Ana!" He choked out. His voice sounded unfocused and raspy. It did wonders to the desire burning inside me.

He yanked at my hardened nipple through the fabric of my shirt.

I yelped.

He took the advantage of my shocked state and rocked against me harder.

I grounded my hips in respond. Rubbing my softest part against his hardest.

My hands, having a mind of their own, left their hold around his neck. Seeking his warm skin under his shirt. Touching his stony abs.

Christian settled me down on the floor for a second to remove his shirt.

My lips dried, mouth watered and eyes widened with hunger at the sight.

Muscles bulging around the arms, a smooth soft chest with pinkish brown nipples and a perfect six-pack abdomen.

He was a sight for sore eyes.

Suddenly I was feeling hot. So unbearably, deliciously hot.

I took the opportunity of our momentarily separated bodies and shimmied down my own shirt, leaving me standing before him in a bra and sweat pants.

Christian covered the distance between us, his hands coming down to press against both my breasts as he cupped me in his hands.

But never once did he took off his eyes from mine. The way he stared at me, with too much intensity.

It left me raw, wanton and aching.

Craving for more, I let my hands wander around his chest. His bare torso. His abs. His lower belly.

"Ana.. " Christian choked out. Sounding strained.

One glance at his closed eyes and clenched jaw told me he was holding himself back.

I didn't want him to.

So I brought his head down once more and kissed him senselessly.

He returned me the same passion.

Holding me tight enough yet not close enough as he kissed me with all the force of his life.

My hands fumbled for the zipper on his pants just as his fingers came down at my shoulders, playing with my bra straps.

But then something totally unexpected happened.

He stopped.

Christian stopped.

My face lifted to meet his eyes. My confused set met his determined ones.

The blue burning against the grey flecks, shining like a clear beautiful sky after a delightful rain.

"This stops right here Ana."

My heartbeat stuttered. "Wha-what stops?" I stammered.

I had pushed him away enough number of times. So maybe he didn't want me anymore.

Rejection burned through my veins, pricking at my skin like needles.

"This shit. You pretending you don't want me. Once we go ahead, I ain't coming back. It's all or none. So you decide Ana and this time if you back out, you back off for good."

My first reaction was to feel relief. He wasn't rejecting me.

Second came the acknowledgment. C was right. I needed to make a decision now.

Followed by the fear, the doubt. Was I ready for this? Did I want to take that risk? Should I take a leap and jump with Christian?

The answer was yes. I wanted to. I should.

Fourth was realization. Yes, this shit needed to end now.

It didn't matter we were soon going back to the nightmare we had barely survived.

It didn't matter what I had done in the past.

It didn't matter that I once loved Christopher and possibly still do.

All that mattered right here and right now was Christian.

I trusted him with my life. I was attracted to him. I wanted him. I yearned for him.

No one else.

So my fifth and the final reaction was to jump on him and lick his lips with my tongue until they opened and his tongue twisted with mine.

Christian carried me to his bed. He settled me down and reached for his pants, I removed my own.

When I began to unclasp my bra he stopped me by imprisoning my small hands into his large ones.

"Allow me." He smirked at me in a wicked way and I melted right there.

Pushing the straps down first, his lips landed across my collarbone, then my shoulder. He repeated the motion on my next side as well, prepping kisses all over me.

Only when he reached the rising swell of my breast did he finally unclasped my bra.

My nipples hardened impossibly under his sight as if they only spoke to him.

Whatever they said, he must have understood because he leaned down and took one in his mouth while arresting the other in his forefinger and thumb.

"First I'll make you come with my fingers and tongue. After that, you'll tell me whatever you're hiding. Only then will I fuck you Ana. You got that?"

I nodded eagerly. His dirty words making me wetter.

"Say it. Say that you want me Ana." He ordered and bit gently onto my puckered nipple.

"Yes." I replied, breathless. "Yes I want you. So much, C. I want you."

His response was to push me down on the bed and kiss me in a painful, devouring manner.

Christian's hands left my breast to caress the sides of my waist. His hand slid up and down my curves, tormenting me in the most delectable way.

My needy groans rolled off right onto his lips and tongue. His five o'clock shadow felt rough yet soothing against my skin.

Soon his hands travelled down. And down. And down.

Until they landed upon the strings of my panties.

Within seconds, they joined the pile of discarded clothes onto the floor.

C teased me with his feathery light touches across my inner thigh, hitting too close to home, but still not meeting the point where I wanted them to be.
He shifted low, moving downwards and kissed my belly button along his way.

He stayed there for a few seconds, tonguing my navel. Making strange and unfamiliar sounds come out of my throat.

Only when he was eye leveled with my glistening wetness, did he slid one of his fingers inside me.

My hips practically bounced off the bed, if not for his other hand holding me thighs down.

"Dammit Ana. You're so tight and warm. I can't wait to be inside you. "

Before I could respond in any way, he added another finger. Followed by his thumb rubbing at my clit.

"Ahhh!" Wild choking sounds left me. My hips shook against the sheet, wanting some relief against the ache increasing by every second.

"C.. please... " I was longing for something badly. Something only he could give me.

The bastard removed his fingers from inside me.

"Christian!" I roared.

"What? What do you want Ana?" He taunted me. "I want you to say it."

"I..." My words faltered in their wake, wanting to leave my mouth so bad, but the door of mortification blocked them.

Christian made it none the easier for me as he dropped a lingering, tortured kiss on my inner thigh.

"What Ana? Say it."

"Just.. just do that."

"Do what?" He asked, tracing lazy pattern on my soft skin, his fingertips brushed so close to where I wanted him to be.

I had always been in control of myself of my emotions. There was no other way I had known around it.

Even in the Brooke, I had always been in charge of my own actions.

Which was why I never understood that fuck it moment I have usually seen happen with people in books or movies.

How one let their emotions take over them so strongly that you can't seem to think or anything expect saying 'fuck it' and just do what you are lusting after?

There were no words to explain it. But I did get that now.

As Christian continued to tease me, making me desperate for his touch more and more by each second.

I did get it.

Thus I thought fuck it!

I let all other emotions mix and get drowned into the single one I was feeling solely for him.

So that was my moment.

Ah! Fuck it.

"Make me come. Please." I begged, finally.

Any the resolute he had was broken away by my pleading.

His eyes burned against mine and he opened his mouth with a feral lust buzzing from him.

The first lick of his tongue against my clit left me screaming his name.

He stopped, then licked again.

The third lick was longer, turning into a series of lapping and twisting my clit under his tongue.

I screamed, growled and roared his name throughout.

Soon his fingers joined his tongue, rubbing my sensitive bundle of nerves viciously while he tongued my entrance.

In and out. In and out.

I watched him as he fucked me with his tongue.

Lapping at me like I was his last meal in the free world.

The whole time he kept staring at me, watching my reactions curiously. Finding my sensitive spots with the way I moaned.

I was falling into a blissful state where nothing else mattered.

It was just me and him.

We were in our own world.

A beautiful world.

Christian pinched at my clit harshly at the same time his tongue curled inside me.

My world exploded into colors and blind spots.

The only thing I could hear was my own voice screaming his name.

The only thing I felt was his fingers and tongue still working against me, making me come harder.

I flooded his mouth as the wetness gushed from me.

He continued lapping at me. Finishing each single drop till I was left bare and dry.

I collapsed against the soft mattress. He climbed over me and gave me a meaningful kiss.

Although I was still exhausted from what had happened moments ago, tasting myself on his tongue revoked something deep inside me.

I looked up at him and gave him a tired smile.

He kept staring at me in awe.

"What?" I asked him.

"You look beautifully stunning with your sedated smile, lying across my bed."

I felt blood rising in my cheeks so I turned to look away.

He chuckled lightly before grabbing my chin in his fingers.

"No more hiding, Ana. Remember what I told you when I made you come first time? That I wanted you to blush from here to here."

He pointed as my temple then towards my feet. "So I'd say let me enjoy my view here. It's kinda' breath-taking."

My only reply was to blush harder under his scorching gaze.

"Ana." Christian called out once again.

"Hmm?"

His expressions turned serious. "You need to start telling me what happened."

And just like that the happy bubble was broken.

Christian must have noticed my crumbling expression because he gathered me in his arms and rolled me up.

My weight settled against his, as he brought down the covers around us.

We were both hidden neck-deep into the covers. Our bare skin meeting and relishing the feel against each other.

"It's not going to change anything, babe. I swear."

"Then why do you want to know?"

"Because I know it's killing you from inside. Whatever happened there was bad enough and you shouldn't be going through this alone Ana. I'm here to share your burden. Let me carry some of your ghosts. Please?"

Looks like he wasn't the only one vulnerable to the pleadings.

I sighed deeply. Settling my face against his chest.

His hands adjusted me until I was lying completely on top of him with my legs entwined with his and my hands resting on either sides of his torso.

I closed my eyes as I began speaking.

"Jose was injured. Cody has sliced his leg when we all were sleeping so no one knew who did it. Not even Jose."

That was something I had guessed, but Jose and I had yet to talk about it.

"The landslides were coming up ways. So we helped Jose and ran. Soon his leg tired him out and he insisted we leave him. I didn't want to, but Christopher dragged me away."

I thought recounting those events with Christopher while lying naked with Christian would be awkward.

But it felt as natural as telling a bed time story.

Probably because his hands were drawing soothing patterns on my bare back. That seemed to calm me, keeping my emotions at bay.

"We were running towards the abandoned building Christopher had found earlier. That's when the lightning struck. Brandon was hit."

I winced remembering how close I had got to the lightning. It had brushed my arm too. Lucy had helped me maintaining my balance.

"We carried him to the house. Barely making it there. Brandon was hurt, but alive. It was just four of us when we heard one of our fellow contestants screaming."

"She came rolling down the stairs. Her throat was slit open. She died right there. Christopher, Lucy and I went upstairs to check for whatever danger we had to fight for that level."

I shivered against C, losing myself into my memories.

"Turns out it was another one of our fellow contestants. Cody was a set up, an implant by BMHS to make sure no one won the race. How sick is that? The whole point of Pinnacle Race turned out to be pointless."

I chuckled bitterly. Christian didn't reply, knowing it was a rhetorical question.

He didn't interrupt me once either. As if he knew not to disturb my story-telling.

I appreciated that.

"Cody attacked us then knocked us out. When I came to, we all were tied against the chair. He wanted to know who saved me from being raped in that first week."

Another sick memory I had buried deep inside me.

"He called it First Lesson. Can you believe that? There were just no limits of how sick these people can be. Of course I didn't tell him. He stabbed at my arm with his knife."

Christian's hold tightened against me, but I barely felt it. I was lost in my worst nightmare.

"Christopher stopped him before he could stab my other arm. Telling him that it was him who had saved me. He wanted to kill Lucy while we watched then make Christopher watch as he killed me and kill him later on."

"Jesus Ana." Christian cursed. But I didn't pay attention.

I was back in The Brooke. Back in the Brooke Mountain Range, in the Pinnacle Games.

"He moved towards Lucy. I managed to free from the ropes, but only too late. My hand grabbed the sword that was lying on the floor in an attempt to stop Cody.

His axe and my sword came down almost together. Mine was a second too late. He beheaded Lucy. Chopped her head off her body. Right in front of me eye sight. My sword came next. Landing straight across his chest."

I closed my eyes trying to erase the picture out of my mind.

"I killed her. Right after he killed Lucy. I became like him. I became a monster C."

Christian stopped running his fingers through my hair. Just like I had expected him to.

He was a good person. He couldn't oversee what I had done.

Pathetic tears came again, rolling off my cheeks. I chuckled bitterly.

Now that the damn was open, it was impossible to close it back.

So I continued. "I wanted to die right then and there. I begged Christopher to kill me. He didn't. We went another level up, I saw the Lotus Trophy, C. We both saw it."

And I had done something ridiculously disastrous. One that had sealed my own fate.

"I was just this close to victory, but I was so angry. For all my friends I had lost. For what I have become to win that race. And for what? A meaningless Lotus Trophy that didn't guarantee our safety."

I snickered. "Who knew what would be the outcome after we won the race? It's not like they gave us a free card to our homes. Cody said no one has ever won the race. I was just so angry. I threw the Lotus Trophy."

Christian sucked a breath beside me. He knew what was coming.

The end of the story.

His brother's betrayal towards me.

"I regretted it instantly. Not because I would have to face the consequences of my actions, but what it would mean for Christopher. I looked up to apologize to him."

"I don't know what was going through his mind. He has saved me countless times throughout the Race. He was looking like he was the one who was sorry. I didn't get it."

I still don't get it. Maybe I never would understand why he did that.

"He threw me into the chamber and locked me in. Then he turned all cold and stony. He looked right at me, C. But I was like I didn't exist anymore. He pressed some button and I tumbled down the pinnacle."

"I am pretty sure I hadn't survived it. When I woke up next I was back in time with Mia. Forgetting everything that had happened in the Brooke. Like all of this never occurred."

I was babbling on and on, not realizing how quite and still Christian lay beneath me.

When I looked at him, the sight nearly broke my heart.

Christian looked at me with such a vulnerable expression. His blue-grey eyes all misty and shining. Water filled in them.

From hurt. From agony. And from misery.

For me.

He was feeling all this for me.

I had expected him to be disgusted. To shrink away from me and call me a monster, a killer.

Just like Cody had done in my dreams.

What I hadn't expected was empathy.

He brought my face down and kissed me with unbelievable softness.

I hadn't expected that either.

"Thank you for sharing this with me. I know it wasn't easy for you, babe."

No it wasn't. Neither letting my worst deeds out in front of him. Nor reliving those horrific moments.

But this was Christian and I trusted him with my life.

So all I did was give him a mere nod.

Christian captured my hand in his. Our fingers sinking into each other's almost involuntarily.

He brought my hand up to his face and dropped a quick kiss on my knuckles.

"We'll get through this Ana. We'll get through this together. You know why? Cause' you and me, we're not just survivors. We're goddamn fighters and we'll fight for what we want."

C knew just to say perfect things.

I didn't know how much I had wanted to hear something like this until he said those words.

Also I loved how he said we. Not you.

Like it wasn't just me who hurt. It was us.

This time I was the one who kissed him.

But my kiss wasn't soft.

It was needy, demanding and painful.

He responded just like I wanted him to. Uncontrollable and wild.

Our bare bodies burned against each other, seeking for more fire.

"Make me forget all this C. Make me yours." I whispered against his mouth.

He breathed out in a ragged tone. The words he said, along with the intensity in his eyes, heated me from my core.

"Your wish is my command."

Damn! Told you, you might need a cold shower :P I definitely need one. But aren't you guys happy that they are finally getting some action?

Warning : Don't even think I grew a heart and will have them together throughout The Cinder. You guys know how sadistic I am :D So just enjoy them together and their steamy romance while you can!

DO NOT FORGET TO REVIEW AND LEMME' KNOW YOUR PLAYLIST FOR THIS CHAPTER.

Love ya all,

Kaishi Springs xoxo