Ana's POV
We arrived at Christian's penthouse after a stop at my apartment around 4 in the afternoon and I already felt exhausted. Thank god I was able to reschedule my two evening dance classes because after today's drama all I want to do is go to bed.
Mia on the other hand is so energetic that I wonder if she had to much coffee today. Christian went straight into his study after he told us to feel at home and that we would have dinner together. So Mia gave me a tour of the penthouse and then we settled with some snacks, courtesy of Mrs. Jones, in the tv room.
" So tell me do you like him?" Mia wastes no time and I think she is trying play cupid for Christian and I.
" Yes I like your brother. I don't have many friends so if I let him in it usually means a lot coming from me."
" Why? I mean you are fun to hang out with, I thought you would have lots of friends."
" No, it's just I have a hard time with trust and I think you know it's not about how many friends you have. If you have just 2 or 3 friends who you can trust no matter what it's worth more than having hundreds of friends."
" I guess you are right about that. So what kind of dance classes do you teach?"
" Mainly ballroom and latin but I also have a pole dance class." I answer and Mia's eyes grow wide. " No way can I sign up for that class."
" Sure it's every tuesday and friday from 6 to 7 in the evening. You can come with me to the dance studio sign up and then start tomorrow evening the class has just begun so you have only missed two lessons."
" Cool!"
After our dinner Mia forces Christian to watch a movie with us and since I'm really tired I call it a day and Christian shows me the guestroom. But once I'm out of the shower and dressed in my pj's I can't sleep. I grab my bag and get my I-pad out to read hoping that will make me so tired that I can fall asleep but after more than an hour I give up. It's just after 11 p.m. and so I decide to get a glass of milk.
I walk out of the room and down the stairs but stop surprised in the great room when I see Christian staring out of the floor to ceiling windows.
" Can't sleep?" I ask and he turns around. " Hey, no not really, you?"
" Nope, I'm completely exhausted but I can't find sleep. I thought a glass of milk might help."
" How about a glass of brandy instead?"
" Why not, let's try if that will make me fall asleep." he walks into his study and returns with two tumblers of brandy. We sit down and I take the tumbler he is holding out to me.
" So what keeps you up Ana?"
" I don't know a lot has happened in the last days and I try to make sense of it." he sighs and looks up at me.
" It's complicated Ana."
" I get that and I don't want to press you for answers but there are just so many things I don't understand."
" What don't you understand?"
" Your birthmother why did she gave you up for adoption I mean I know you weren't a baby when you came to live with the Grey's"
" She was a crackwhore, she did some really bad things to me and got arrested. Court terminated her parental rights and declared her unfit to parent me. I came into state care. When.. when she got arrested I was in a bad condition and was hospitalized. Grace was the doctor in the ER when the police brought me in.
We had an instant connection and when she found out that I was in state care she and Carrick decided to adopt me. Best thing that has ever happened to me."
" And she never came to see you before?"
" No actually she had no idea who adopted me. So I guess now it's my turn to ask a question." Oh crap!
" Ok ask"
" I overheard your phone call with your Dad. Why did you act like it would be a bad idea to go to your mothers birthday party."
" Because my sister is there and I decided two years ago not to be in the same room with her ever again." Christian frowns and I know he will want more information.
" Why?" there we go. " She hasn't spoken a single word to me in 4 years and 2 years ago on christmas eve I couldn't take it anymore. I just completely lost it I started to yell at her threw things around and in the end I beat her up pretty badly. Eversince then I haven't been to any birthday or holiday where the whole family came together." I down my brandy in one big gulp.
" I guess we should leave the topic for now or you might end up drunk if you need a drink after everything you say." Christian says gets up and returns with a bottle of water. " Here it's better you stay with this."
" Yeah I guess so, too. Shit that stuff burns" I mutter a little embarrassed and rub my throat.
" Why don't you just ask her what she wants?"
" What, who?"
" Your birthmother I mean you have security and everything why not just go to her and find out?"
" Because I might kill. I hate that fucking excuse of a human beeing and I don't want to have anything to do with her or anything related to her." he says harshly.
" I understand that but she is following you for a reason. I don't think she will leave only because you chose to ignore her. So the best for of defense is attack. Just approach her and ask her what she wants, maybe then she will leave you alone and if not you can get a restraining order against her or maybe if her parent rights were terminated she isn't even allowed anywhere near you though I think those orders end once the child is 18 or 21."
He looks deep in thoughts for a moment but then nods. " I guess your right, fuck that shit couldn't come up at any other time" he sighs.
" You are stressed you need to sleep Christian."
" I can't, fuck if I go to bed now, I know I will have a fucking nightmare again so I might aswell stay up." I look at him and he looks so tired that I make a decision. I get up take his hand and start to pull him up.
" What are you doing?"
" You Mister Grey need to sleep, so tonight I will be your personal dreamcatcher. Come on"
" You mean you will sleep with me again?"
" Yes"
" Still no fucking" he asks playfully and I laugh. " No, still no fucking."
" You know one day you will say yes" he says matter of factly and I gather all my courage to answer what I really feel. " Maybe one day you will ask me the right question."
He frowns. " What question."
" You only ever asked me to fuck, but if I'm going to say yes and I'm not ready to do so yet, but if I am then I want you to ask me if you can make love to me."
Ok I think I have just shocked Christian Grey into silence and for the longest time he says nothing.
" Ana I.. I have never done that. I don't know if I can do that" he finally says and to lighten the mood I grin. " Well they say there is a learning curve to everything so maybe one day I let you fuck me until we reach love making. Now let's go to bed we both had very long 72 hours and I don't think whatever is going on is over so we need sleep."
"You're right" he says gets up and we go to his bedroom.
Saturday morning
I can't wait to finally see Kate. Eversince she was in the accident on monday I haven't seen her. Once she was released from the hospital she took Grace up on her offer to stay at Bellevue with Elliot for a couple of days. Of course they both need help, since Elliot has to be careful with his bruised ribs and she has her arm in a cast due to her broken wrist, so it's easier to be at Bellevue where Grace can watch them or have the staff do it when she has to work.
I talked to Kate on the phone but on tuesday and wednesday she was to tired for visitors and I had late classes on thursday and friday so I couldn't go over to Bellevue after work. The rest of the week was uneventful, thank god. Since Kate wasn't there Christian insisted that I would stay at his penthouse until she would return. Though I suspect it's more due to the fact that I slept in his bed every night and so far he hasn't had a nightmare while I slept with him.
I have to grin thinking about tuesday morning. Once we went to bed monday night we both fell asleep very quickly and didn't wake up until Taylor came in at 8 in the morning because Christian wasn't up and had a meeting in 30 minutes. Christian was so pissed that he overslept because that had never happened to him. He was muttering cuss words and even accused me of beeing a bad influence on him but I couldn't stop to giggle because he was running around like a headless chicken trying to get ready on time while I just lounged in bed and watched the show. Since then he double checks the alarm clock before we go to sleep.
To be honest I will miss sharing a bed with him when Kate returns home tomorrow. But on the other hand I know deep down that just sharing a bed with me won't be enough for Christian for a long time and I'm not sure I am ready to take the next step and with all the shit going on right now I don't think Christian is ready to enter a relationship either.
Mia and I became friends over the last few days. She is so much fun to spend time with and she chose to go to the dance studio with me rather than hanging out at GEH all day. Jose and Mia hit it of right away as I knew they would because they are both bubbly and always smiling. So while I had classes to give Jose would sometimes stay longer and give Mia some private dance lessons. I guess Dave will have to like Mia, too because I can totally see them go shopping and clubbing together as Mia and Jose share their fashion passion.
When I told Mia that I would go back to my apartment on sunday she was pouting. So I offered her that as long as Christian insists that she had to stay in the city she could stay in the third bedroom in my apartment. We thought he would be pissed about that but he wasn't. Though I was pretty pissed yesterday when I found out that he actually bought the apartment next to mine so security for Mia, Kate and I could stay there.
I know he wants to keep us safe but that is way over the top. After all Escala is one of the safest buildings in Seattle so how could anyone get into our apartment? But again I calmed myself down thinking about under how much pressure he is right now.
Christian agreed that it is probably best to just approach his birthmother if she shows up the next time. She was seen outside GEH once, but was gone before Christian could get outside. So right now it's like we are all just waiting for the next thing to happen and it's really unnerving.
Right now Christian, Mia and I are on our way to Bellevue for a saturday morning brunch with his family and I can finally see Kate. She already told me that Elliot is in a poor mood because he was not allowed to go to work all week and since he is the owner of his own construction company he was constantly worried that something would go wrong with one of his construction sites and he wasn't there to fix it. And of course with his bruised ribs they couldn't have sex but what Kate told me about that was just TMI and she laughed at me when I told her that I probably could never look at her or Elliot again after she told me what she did to keep him happy in that department.
When we arive at Bellevue I barely have the time to say hello to Grace and Carrick before Kate grabs my hand and urges me into the next empty room.
" Sorry but I needed to talk to you in privacy. Ana there is some serious shit going on here. I heard Grace and Carrick talking about something they need to tell their children before this cougar Elena can do it all week. Do you have any idea what it could be?"
" No, look Kate what ever it is, it is none of our business."
" Oh really last time I checked I was in a car accident that might has something to do with that woman. They still couldn't find the driver, the car was stolen and there were no signs that the driver tried to hit the breakes before he ran into Elliot's car. Whatever is going on I want to know. Besides I'm worried about you."
" I'm fine Kate believe me with all the security there is nothing that can possibly happen to me." I try to convince her but Kate looks still worried.
" Look Ana I can see that you feel safe, but I feel anything but safe right now. Actually I'm ready to take you and Elliot and just leave until what ever the fuck is going on is over."
" Come on Kate I understand that after the accident you are worried, but running is no option and anyways it's just some old miserable woman. Oh before I forget it I asked Mia to stay with us for a while. You know Christian wants her close and this way she won't get bored."
" Ok, well she is Elliot's sister so I this is a good chance to get to know her better. Oh and you have some explaining to do Ana. Mia called Elliot and told him that you slept in Christians bedroom every night is there something I need to know?"
Kate looks expectantly at me but I can't help it I have to laugh. " Sorry Kate but it's not what you think. We just share his bed because for some reason the terrible nightmares he has almost every night don't come if we sleep in the same bed."
" Oh of course, so you want me to believe that Christian - man whore - Grey who by his own admission wants to fuck your brains out is now only sleeping happily next to you?" Her voice is laced with disbelief and I feel myself getting defensive.
"Kate, Christian and I are just friends. Yes he wants to have sex with me and to be honest with you I want to have sex with him. But it's not going to happen anytime soon. First he has enough things to deal with as it is right now and second I don't think he or I are ready for a relationship. And umm you know I'm still not sure if that is what he really wants. So for now we are friends and it is working for us."
Kate looks shocked. "You want him?"
"Yes but I'm not ready I guess ... you know ... after what happened with Josh I just want to be sure this time that if I give enough trust in someone to be with him that he really wants the same and is not just playing with my feelings to get what he wants."
"Wow that was the first time since you told me about him that I heard you use his name Ana." Damn she is right, I didn't even notice that I said his name and funny enough it doesn't hurt as it would have any other other time. And then I have to smirk.
" Call it the Christian Grey effect Kate" we both giggle and I wrap one arm around her shoulders. "Come on I'm hungry let's do brunch"
Christian's POV
Just when I'm about to go see what is keeping Ana and Kate so long they come outside. Ana looks relaxed. Good. I hate that this shit with Elena and my birthmother is affecting her, too. Actually I'm surprised she is still there, but then again nothing about her is normal.
When she told me she wants me to make love to her once she agrees to it I was a little panicky. I mean I'm a guy who fucks for his pleasure. Most of the time I haven't give a fuck if the girl got hers or not. Not that I don't know how to pleasure a woman, fucking Elena made sure of it, but I just don't care. Call me selfish but when I fuck all I care about is my pleasure. And now there is Ana.
She is a virgin for fucks sake. Meaning if I fuck up her first time she most likely won't let me have her again. So I need to figure this out before I have her. I talked to Flynn about it and joked that I might go out and find another virgin to practise. He couldn't see the humor in it. Funny enough since I became obsessed with Ana I don't even look at other women and the one time I tried before I safed her from that asshole I knew my dick wouldn't cooperate before I had picked out a girl to fuck.
So I started to do some research. Who would have thought that there are so many books out there about how to pleasure a woman and be the perfect lover. Some where crap but others well I might learned a thing or two. Of course I have all those books hidden away in my study. I don't want Mia or Elliot if they are over to find them because I would never hear the end of that. And of course Ana is not supposed to see them as well. Shit she would probably think I don't know my ass from my elbow, so they are now in my safe.
I have to admit the one good thing about the whole Elena / birthmother situation is that Ana had to stay with me. At first I wasn't sure if I could handle to share my space with someone outside of my family but I can. And more so I don't want Ana to leave but the rational part of me knows that I can't keep her in my penthouse once her roommate is back tomorrow.
I know she was pissed that I bought the apartment next to hers for the security guys, but it was the best I could do without having them camp in her livingroom. Fuck maybe I'm going to camp in her livingroom just to be close to her. It's crazy I have never felt anything like that, but with her around for the first time my penthouse became a home and I found myself looking forward to go home in the evening.
Wednesday was a pleasant surprise. I came home after a shitty day in the office and while Mia was having cocktails with friends I found Ana cooking dinner for us. She told me she asked Gail if she could do that after I left for work to surprise me and because she loves to cook. The dinner was delicious and to be honest even if it would have been a shitty meal I would have ate it just to make Ana happy.
To my own surprise her beeing happy is really important to me. I'm not sure what it is about her but I want to spend as much time as possible with her. And then there are my nightmares. It's like they just disappear when she is with me. At first I was a little worried I would accidently hurt her in my sleep if I would have a nightmare while she slept beside me, but that is not a problem since I don't have them as long as she is sleeping next to me.
They only thing that is bothering me is that I can see that she has so many questions about my past. But I'm not ready to tell her just as she isn't ready to tell me all about hers. Though I'm convinced that the end of her relationship, the thing with her sister and her accident are somehow connected but I won't ask her and have restrained myself from getting Welch on it.
I need her to trust me enough to tell me herself. Right now it's like we are both afraid to ask more questions because we fear what ever trust we build up in the little time we have known each other will evaporate if we push the other one to hard for answers.
"Hey day dreaming" I turn my gaze to Ana who is now sitting next to my with an amused grin on her face. " No, why?"
"Well in that case, try your coffee" I raise a questioning brow take a sip in spit it right back into my cup while Ana is giggling. Shit I must have been putting sugar into my coffee the whole time I was reflecting on last week.
"Something amusing you Miss Steele?"
"Yes you" she giggles and I love that sound, but it is Taylor who catches my attention when he comes outside to the patio were we are having our brunch with a grim look on his face.
" Sir, Mrs. Elena Lincoln and Miss Ella Peterson are outside wanting to talk to you and your family."
"Tell them to leave or I will call the..." I stop my Dad by holding up one hand. "Dad let's get this over with. Let them in and listen to what the hell they want."
My father looks unhappy but nods. "Taylor search them before you let them in. I want Sawyer, Ryan and Reynolds here with you as long as they are here."
" Yes Sir" Taylor leaves and I look around. Fuck I don't want Kate here. I don't trust her, she is a reporter and this can give her plenty to write about.
" Christian maybe Kate and I should wait inside." I look at Ana and I don't want her to leave, but if that's the only way to get rid of Kate for now I have to so I nod.
Kate looks not to pleased but gets up with Ana. Just when Ana is about to leave the table she takes my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze before she goes inside with Kate.
Two minutes later my security guys emerge with Elena and my birthmother. Fuck I haven't seen my birthmother that close since I was a boy and it is shocking. She looks at least 30 years older than her age. She is pale with a yellow undertone to her skin and her eyes are completely lifeless. She looks completely out of place and I know she is most likely on drugs right now. Elena on the other hand looks as good as it gets seeing that she had to many plastic surgeries in too little time. Actually she looks creepy. Of course she is dressed completely in black as she always was. Dark like her soul, I muse bitterly.
" Elena what do you want" surprisingly it's my mother who found her voice first.
" Oh Grace still so overprotective of your loved ones." Elena laughs and looks at her and my Dad in disgust. "What I want is simple Grace. I want revenge. I was helping those boys. I was helping your fucked up son. I showed them discipline and respect. Things they haven't learned anywhere else and you ruined my life by getting me into jail. Because I know it was you and your husband. Don't try to deny it. Now I will return the favor."
" Helped them. You didn't help any of those boys you used them for your sick, twisted preferences and made them believe they wanted it and what you did to my son..."
" Oh Grace don't yell at me you have wrinkles all over your face if you scream like that. I makes you look old, but anyway I'm not here to hurt you." she says with a sick smile on her face.
"You know Grace you told me all your dirty, little secrets that was a mistake, because now I will use them to do what you fear the most I will destroy your perfect little family, starting with your relationship with your perfect boy here." She points to me and I push to my feet.
"What the fuck do you want and why the hell did you bring her to Seattle" I yell at Elena barely hanging on to my temper and point to my birthmother.
" Oh Christian darling I didn't bring her here for you. Ella tell them what you want"
My birthmother steps a little forward and nothing in the world could have prepared me for what she was about to say.
" I'm here to see my daughter"
Next Chapter will be up tomorrow. Please leave a review ;)
Sunny