A/N: Thank you for the reviews on the previous chapter.
I'm in one of those moods where I would do anything except for open a text book again. I thought they would have the talk in this chapter, but then thought that the talk would be better after they reconnected.
Ana POV:
I should not be happy. I should not have butterflies in my stomach. Most of all, I should not be smiling like a fool. But I just can't help it. It feels good to smile and its made perfect with his hand on the small of my back.
We have a lot to discuss and a lot to work through, but if he wants me, and it looks like he really does, I'm sure we can make this work. I'm not sure what will come out during his full disclosure, but I will have to remember that everything he tells me is a part of his past.
"Christian Grey, just what do you think…" I hear Grace's voice and she does not sound happy. I turn around to see her behind us. I see first anger and then happiness on her face. "Oh, I see, I'm…"
"Hello mother. It's good to see you too." Christian says with a kiss on her cheek. "What do I think about what?" Christian asks innocently, knowing full well what his mother was about to ask. The poor woman probably thought he came with a date.
"Oh, never mind. It's good to see you… alive and well. You have some explaining to do later, a lot of explaining young man. But that can wait. Why don't the two of you get something to drink quickly as we are about to start? Our table is over there." Grace says, pointing to where we set up a table for the Grey family. Mia insisted that it will be a good thing to put Christian and me next to each other. It was something I was not happy about earlier as I didn't want to cause any tension at the table, but I'm grateful at this moment.
"Thank you. We'll see you at the table then." Christian says, leading me to where the drinks are being served at the right side of the entrance of the massive tent set up in the back yard of Bellevue.
When I look to see where Grace disappeared to, I see her at our table with Mia, Jose and Garrick in deep discussion, all looking to where we are standing.
"Uhm, Christian… about Jose…" I start, immediately stopping when he narrows his eyes. He hands me my drink and leads me slowly to our table.
"What about Jose?" Oh boy, some things never change.
"Well, it seems that Jose and Mia… well… sort off…hititoff." I say, cramping the last part into one word.
"They what?"
"They… hit it off?" I say and I should have left this part to Mia. It is well known how protective Christian is off his baby sister. "I thought I would tell you before you see them."
"They hit it off. Good for them." He simply says, but I don't buy his calm demeanour about this. "As long as he doesn't sell my pictures to anyone, we're good."
"Your pictures?" Last time I checked they were mine and also not for sale.
"Yes. My pictures. There are five of them in the house and they will not to be sold to anyone else." He says just as we reach the table.
"Oh good. You're here… together." Mia screeches in that high pitched voice of hers and turns to Garrick. "Dad, I think we should start now."
A smiling Garrick gets onto the stage to begin the evening and I'm left wondering what Christian would think of the help I agreed to for the evening.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, on behalf of the entire Grey family and the small group of people involved in Helping Hands, I would like to say thank you for your attendance here tonight. As you all know, Helping Hands have this gala once a year as a fundraiser to assist in helping families affected by drugs and abuse. It is a cause that is very close to the hearts of the Grey family.
"First off, as you've seen in the reception area in the house, Jose Rodriguez, a close friend of Anastasia, has put together some of his work for this evening. These wonderful pieces are for sale and twenty five percent of the proceeds will be going to Helping Hands, so we will be grateful if you could support him." Christian turns white and glares at Mia and Jose. Mia must pick up on this and quickly make her way to the stage to whisper something in Garrick's ear.
"My apologies, ladies and gentlemen, I forgot to mention that there are indeed some pictures which are not for sale, the picture of Kathrine Kavanagh and Anastasia Steele. The young ladies, and I can assure you my two sons, will not be happy if I forget to mention this." Garrick says, smiling at me as the crowd bursts out laughing.
"Well, with that now out of the way, it's time for the first dance auction. Ladies, please can you make your way to the stage?" Garrick says and Christian grips my elbow as Mia makes her way over to us.
"Oh please, as if anyone here can outbid you… or would even try?" Mia says, grabbing my hand and pulling me with her.
"Sorry," I mouth to Christian, regretting my agreement to this, which is causing me to be separated from him when we've just sort off made up, without a make-up kiss I might add.
"Okay, gentlemen. It took a lot of courage for these ladies to get onto this stage. Show your appreciation by digging deep into your pockets."
He gestures for Lilly to come forward first. She's one of Mia's friends and not happy at all with my presence here this evening. Seems she is just one of the many who have been trying to get Christian's attention.
"Lilly got the highest bids three years in a row. She will not be happy tonight, but don't let that spoil things for you. Just go with it." When I turn to give her a look, she simply smiles, "It's for charity, Ana."
"Lilly is a professional dancer. She loves the outdoors and likes to bungee jump. Let's start the bidding at 1000$." Bungee jump… not for me and even if it was, I can't see controlling Christian allowing it.
The bidding gets up to 5500$ and Lilly gets off the stage with a triumphant smile. This of course brings out my inner bitch and I look at Christian. It is for charity after all.
Being last is not very good for the nerves. Thus far, Lilly still achieved the highest bid. Even the bid for Mia, won by Jose, was 5000$.
"Anastasia is a beautician. She likes adventure sports, fast cars and going out with friends. She is a new face to this auction, so let's start the bidding at 2000$." Oh, I should have just said no. Being in the spotlight is not something that I like and attention on me makes me uncomfortable.
Christian is sitting at our table, quietly observing the bidding, which reached a ridiculous 7000$ already. That is until a man from the other side of the tent gives his bid.
"Twenty five thousand." I'm sure this guy is either insane or has a death wish. Lilly looks like she is about to throw up. When Christian gets up, I hold my breath, but then he smiles, totally confusing me.
"Fifty thousand," he says and this is met with a lot of applause and some gasps.
"Seventy five," the other man says and I'm tempted to grab the mic and telling him to sit down and shut up.
"Hundred thousand," Christian says and the man throws his hands in the air.
"Sold, to Christian Grey for a hundred thousand dollars. Thank you for the generous donation." Garrick says and Christian walks over to the stage to help me down.
"Are you insane?" I whisper as we walk back to the table.
"Ana, I give my mother half a million for this evening every year and it's for a good cause. Besides, it's a small price to pay to have you in my arms." He says, ending with a kiss on my cheek.
Before the dancing commence, we all take our seat for dinner to be served. Jose is busy explaining some of the pictures on show to Garrick, Grace and Mia. Christian's grandparents are busy with a private discussion, looking and Christian and me from time to time. I think they try to be inconspicuous, but shame, they are failing miserably.
"Christian, we need to get going as Gwen is feeling well. We just wanted to say goodbye and give your mother our contribution." I hear someone say and turn to come see a gorgeous, tall, red headed woman dressed in a ladies suit. She looks sexy, even if I have to say so myself. Christian gets up from his seat, pulling me with him, and kisses the woman on the cheek.
"Ros, thank you for coming and thank you for the contribution. This is Anastasia. Ana, this is Ros, my right hand woman." Christian introduce us and for some reason, when he spoke about Ros, I was imagining a man.
"Ana, nice to finally meet you. This is my partner, Gwen." She gestures to the small, feminine woman dressed in a beautiful soft pink dress. Now I get the suit.
"Gwen, nice to meet you." I say politely and shake her hand while Christian and Ros gets into a conversation about some deal regarding a shipping yard.
"Nice to meet you too. I read a lot about you, but don't tell Ros. She gets upset about me reading the gossip columns. I'm glad to see the reports were not true after all." She whispers and I smile, kicking myself for going into hiding and not following the news. I wonder what they said about me.
When they leave and we sit back down, I lean over to whisper in Christian's ear. "What did the gossip columns say this week?" I ask, but he looks straight ahead of him.
"Not much, nothing true. Why do you ask?"
"Christian, I know you and I also know that you would have followed the news about the two of us." I tell him and he puts his glass down to give me his full attention.
"What they said doesn't matter. It was nothing new, nothing true and nothing to worry about. If it bothers you, I will show you later." He says and I nod.
"It's time for the first dance. Can the winning bidders please get your partners and make your way to the dance floor?" Garrick says and the couples all make their way to the dance floor. Christian gets up and offers his hand to me and I smile at the gesture. He can be such a gentleman sometimes.
"I asked Mia to play this song, it's how you make me feel." Christian says just as the song starts to play. We dance and I listen to every word. It's an old song that I know well, but it's never meant anything to me until this moment.
You make me strong
You make me weak
You lift me off my feet
You give me hope
When all my dreams
Seem like they're out of reach
You make me understand
The way the perfect love
Should be
You take me to a place
So high
I never wanna leave
Sometimes I think
All of the things
I should have said
I hope it's not too late
I wanna make you understand
If the world crashes down over me
I know that my life is complete
'Cause I've held you
In my arms all night
'Cause I can't imagine
Life without you by my side
You whisper in my ear the words
"Just hold me close tonight"
And when the pain is holding me
Your love just sets me free
Sometimes I think
All of the things
I should have said
I hope it's not too late
I wanna make you understand
If the world crashes down over me
I know that my life is complete
'Cause I've held you
In my arms all night
'Cause I can't imagine
Life without you by my side
I'm dragged back to reality with a light flashing and look up to see a couple of the invited reporters not far from where we are dancing. Christian spins me around and then pull me close to him again. We both are smiling and I think I understand what he is trying to say, but can't.
When the song comes to an end, he takes my hand and makes eye contact with Taylor at the one exit. Taylor says something into his sleeve and Christian picks up my clutch from the table. I guess this is the appropriate time to leave.
"It's still early. Do you guys really have to leave now?" Grace says, Christian giving her a kiss on the cheek before turning to me.
"We have a couple of things to talk about." Comes Christian's short answer and this time the butterflies are not because of happiness.
"Well, as long as that talk ends with the two of you joining us for dinner tomorrow, it will be fine." Grace says, giving me a hug.
Before I can respond, Mia comes up to us with Jose and hugs Christian. Now that I think about it, apart from me, she's the only one I've ever seen hugging Christian.
"Jose, can I discuss something with you quickly?" Christian asks and Jose smiles, offering Christian his hand.
"Sorry, dude. This is where I have to say goodbye. I know what you want to discuss with me, but I'm no longer the owner of those pictures, so I would rather not want to know what you would have been prepared to pay for them. Beside, I'm sure you can work something out with the new owner." Jose says, stepping to the side and giving me a hug after shaking Christian's hand. "Give the guy a break, Ana. All men fuck up from time to time." He whispers in my ear and then drags Mia to the dance floor.
"Ana, if Jose sold those pictures to some pervert, who will be ogling you in his living room, so help me…" Christian begins and all I can do is laugh.
"Grace, Garrick, thank you for a lovely evening. We will see you tomorrow."
We only get to the reception area of the house and I freeze when I see a man, the same man who bid against Christian for my first dance, standing in front of my pictures like he is examining me. Shit, this is not going to end well and I needed Christian in a good mood.
"Ah, there she is. I was just standing here looking for the wings I'm sure you have hidden somewhere." He says walking over to us.
"Excuse me?" I ask, confused as to why Christian is smiling as well as this man that seems to know me and I don't recognise him at all.
"John, good to see you. This…" Christian says, gesturing with his hand to me, "is Anastasia Steele, but you can call her Ana." Okay, this is new. Normally it's 'This is Anastasia Steele, but you can call her Ms. Steele.'
"Ana, it is very nice to formally meet you. I was hoping to talk to you earlier, but could not get the chance and now I see you guys are on your way out." John says, taking my hand in his. "I was just waiting for my wife to come back from the ladies room and thought I would see if I can find the wings in the pictures." I think he is insane. Won't surprise me at all after the events this evening.
"Ana, apart from being a friend of the family, John is my therapist. Remember I told you that he wanted to meet you?" Christian explains and I like the guy a lot more instantly.
"I see, in that case, Christian, why don't you go freshen up and the two of us can get to know each other." I suggest with a smile, making both of them laugh.
"Ana, before my wife gets back, and I'm sure Christian won't mind, I just want to say that the change that you have brought out of Christian in such a short time, is extraordinary. I couldn't get him open up or bring out his emotions, well, except for anger, after years of therapy. You are very good for him… his personal angel." John says and I blush. I've never been referred to as an angel before.
"Well, it was good to see you John. Unfortunately, Ana and I have some talking to do. If you will excuse us." Christian says, shaking his hand and pulling me towards the door. "Don't worry, he can't tell you anything that I won't." Yep, still reading my mind.
Christian POV:
With Ana safely where she belongs, I can start to relax. It wasn't the same here knowing that she might never be here again. I get myself a glass of wine for liquid courage and a glass of water for Ana. I'm putting blind faith in us. With what I'm about to tell her, she has to love me if she can see past all that shit and still stay with me. If she doesn't want to, I'm not sure what I'll do. My heart is racing like I've run a marathon. I take off the bowtie and loosen the top buttons of my shirt in order to breathe and calm down.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Grey. She never does what you expect her to do anyway." I say to myself, gulping down the glass of wine and filling it up again before walking to where Ana is sitting in the great room.
Then it hits me, I never told her how beautiful she looks tonight. Dressed in a silver evening dress with delicate matching high heels, she looks stunning. The hair I can tell was done by Franco. He's done my mother and Mia's hair enough times that I can see when he did a woman's hair. He is also a firm believer that you don't mess with natural beauty. Most hair stylists would have done her hair up, but he only pinned some of the hair back and left the rest to run down her back.
"Forgive me for not saying something sooner, baby, but you look absolutely stunning tonight." I say and she blush as she takes the glass of water from me.
"Thank you. You looked very handsome tonight and very sexy right now. This is a good look on you." She tells me and my dick immediately responds.
"Sexy huh?" I say, wanting to kiss her like I've wanted to the entire evening. I haven't been with her for almost a week. Who can blame me?
"Oh no, sit down. You promised." When she looks down at her glass, taking her lip between her teeth and pressing her legs together, I can tell that she is turned on and it won't take much to get her to put this conversation on ice, but I did promise, so I sit down… very uncomfortably. After a long silence, I decide to just jump in.
"Let's start with the pictures. What did Jose mean with a new owner?" Admittedly, I wanted to punch him. I'm not used to people saying no to me.
"He did them for me as a gift." She says, still looking at the glass of water.
"I see." But I don't, Ana is not the type to put five huge pictures of herself in her apartment.
"They were taken as a gift… for you." She says softly looking up, possibly to see my reaction and I did not disappoint judging from the smile on her face.
"For me? Really?" I ask to make sure I heard correctly, struggling not to grab and kiss her breathless. When she nods, I feel like a kid on Christmas morning. "Well, that is just fucking awesome. Best gift ever." I say and I just can't wait anymore. "Please, can I kiss you? To say thank you. Just a kiss." I plead and don't waste any time when she nods again.
The moment our lips touch, for the first time in five days, five days of unbearable pain, all thoughts leave my brain. All I can think about is us, right here in this moment. Being with Ana just feels right, like I've finally find the place where I belong.
I push her backwards and she goes willingly. When her hands reach for my hair, I let go. I stop waiting for her to stop me and just go with it. Everyone has been telling me for weeks to let go and I chose this very moment to follow their advice. The sensual dance of our tongues, is driving me out of my fucking mind. I pull back slightly and softly bite her bottom lip, making her moan and pull at my hair. This in turn makes my dick painfully hard.
I kiss my way down her neck and she lets her head fall back, giving the access that I want. When I reach her shoulder, I just can't help myself and I bit down a bit harder than earlier and suck lightly, leaving a mark that looks sexy as hell. From her moans and the opening of her legs, I take it she likes it. But then I remember my promise and I pull away, smiling at her protest.
"I'm sorry. I got carried away. We should…" I begin, but she pulls on my jacket until I'm on top of her again.
"Please, don't stop. We can talk later. I need to be with you first." She says, sounding desperate and who am I to deny this woman anything?
She lets her hands go up my arms and pushes my jacket off, careful as always not to touch my chest. When I pull away and stand in front of her, she removes my belt while I kick off my shoes. Unfortunately, as much as a turn on it is for me to have her undress me, I don't have the patience for this right now and I grab her hands to pull her up.
"Let me see you," I tell her and she turns for me to unzip her dress. I slowly push her hair over her shoulder to reveal her naked back, brushing my finger softly against her skin and loving the shiver I see running through her. I unzip the dress and let it fall to the floor and she steps out of it.
She turns to face me and I almost lose it like a teenager. Nothing could ever be sexier than Ana right at this moment. Standing in front of me in high heels, gray lace panties and silver earrings, she looks perfect… made for me. I'm obviously not paying attention and she took advantage of my distraction to unbutton pants and I only realize what is happening when she is on her knees, with my pants on my ankles.
Giving me that same look she did that day in the shower, she takes my dick into her mouth and gently runs her tongue around it before she begins to move slowly and suck way too gently for me. I fist my hands next to my sides in order to stop myself from grabbing her hair and fucking her mouth. That goes out the window however when the scrapes her teeth against my dick. My hands goes to her hair on their own and when they pull on her hair, she moans against my dick and the vibrations snaps my last bit of control.
"Fuck, Ana. Don't stop. Please suck me harder," I beg, ecstatic when she does. I hold her head in place and begin to move in and out of her mouth, careful not to hurt her, but knowing that she does not have gag reflex.
Her one hand reaches around me and grabs onto my butt, her nails biting into me with just the right level of pain to turn me on more. But it is when her other hand touches my balls when I just give in. Years of practice learning how to control myself is worthless when it comes to Ana.
"Annnnnaaaa," I cry out as I come into her warm mouth, pulling her hair and loving it when her grip on my ass increases. Somewhere in the back of my mind, while she sucks me through my orgasm, I wonder what it would be like to feel those nails run down my back. When I finally come down to earth, I reach behind her and grab the blanket from the couch, helping her onto her feet in the process. After a kick kiss, I put the blanket over the table and pat myself on the back for switching off all cameras in the apartment for the night. Of course, that was so that they won't overhear our conversation, should they ever need to review footage, not because I wanted to have a taste of Ana on the centre table of the great room.
"My turn. Let me help you out of these panties and lie down on the table, baby." When she reach down, I grab her hand. "No, leave the shoes, just the panties." I tell her and she smiles.
She gets down on the table and I bend over her to kiss my way down from her soft lips, lightly swollen from that magnificent blow job, down the centre of her chest, all the way to her hip bone, then across her stomach to the other hip bone. She likes it when I kiss her breasts, so I leave it for last. Anticipation is half the fun anyway.
Kissing my way back up, I finally reach the first nipple. I take it into my mouth and suck softly, waiting it to peak a bit more, and then I bite down, harder than usual. She is turned on enough to give her a bit more pain. When her one hand reach for my hair, it worked perfectly. Her other hand comes up my arm to my shoulder, where she increases her grip and surely leaving marks of her nails there while I continue my routine on her nipple… circle, suck, bite, lick… circle, suck, bite, lick. Maybe I should see if I can make her cum like this?
I shift to the other side and that nipple is already peaking. I start the same routine on this side, with her hand now on my upper arm. It is now that I would have liked for her to touch my back, to feel her run her nails down my back. When I bite down on her nipple, she reaches for my hand and places it on her sex, her soaking wet sex.
"Please," she begs, very close to orgasm. Seems my little experiment will have to wait as I can't help but to give this woman whatever she needs.
"Anything for you, baby." I tell her, but I move down slowly in order for her to cool off a bit. I get onto my knees between her legs and spread her open for me. With my hands on her thighs, I bend down and run my tongue across the length of her sex. She cries out and gets onto her elbows, but lets her head fall back.
"Look at me, Ana. Look at me giving you pleasure." I tell her and she lifts her head to look into my eyes. I let my tongue circle the opening of her sex before moving up towards her pleasure point. I pull her towards the end of the table in order to get closer, and she sits up slightly, grabbing onto my hair and pressing my head into her sex. Fuck! Did I mention that this woman was made for me?
While playing with her clit, I push two fingers into her, bending them to rub against her g-spot. Eight times is all it took for her to reach her climax. Normally I would push her down and fuck her before she comes down from her orgasm, but I want to taste her juices first. I pull out my fingers and start to lap up every drop of her juice, licking her clean and by the looks of it, quickly sending her to another orgasm.
"I'm going to fuck you now, baby." I tell her, but don't wait for her to respond and push into her as deep as I can possibly go.
"Ahhh… yes…" she moans, but I don't move. This feels so good, buried deep inside her, in what will be our apartment if I get my way. Then I move and I look into her eyes as I make love to her. I was planning on hard and rough to take the edge off, but that's for later. I want to show her that she's mine just like I'm hers, completely hers.
"Feel how good I make you feel, baby. We belong together, like two pieces of a puzzle. We were made for each other." I tell her, moving at the same slow pace. "Say it."
"Yes… we belong together." She says and I bend down to kiss her tenderly, liking the mixed taste of both of us.
Sitting in front of the fire, her dressed in my dress shirt and me in only my pants, I think of where to begin and decide to start where she wanted to earlier. This is not going to be easy.
A/N: And here it comes… stay tuned and please review.
Song: "If the world crashes down,"- Enrique Iglesias