Author's note: Hi all, I will reiterate to answer a few common questions; no, there will be no surprise baby in S&S. No, I will not be doing a POV for Elena or anyone else outside of CG and AS. No, I do not have a twitter account but I am on FaceBook under Claire Fraser. My picture is the same as the one for this story. And finally, thank you all for your constant encouragement and support, I so appreciate each one of you, you've all made this an enjoyable experience for me!
APOV
In the shower, not long after the last of the pictures has burned he sits on the stone bench. Quiet, perfectly still with his eyes closed as the water beats down on him from every angle. I'd always known this would be emotional for him but I guess I expected something grand. Tears, yelling, aggression. Something other than the sullen silence he's slipped into.
The corners of his mouth tick up slightly when I shampoo his hair but the smile is gone before I rinse out the suds a few seconds later. His shoulders, usually so strong and unyielding are soft beneath my hands as I rub in the body oil the hotel has provided. He's not immune to my naked body next to him, if he hadn't been sporting a hard on I would have called 911 for fear of a total melt down. But as it is, even though I'm naked, wet and soapy he makes no move to touch me other than his hands on the outside of my legs when I rinse him. If I had to choose a word to describe his state of mind, I'd go with deflated.
"I'm tired," he finally breathes, turning his face up again at the stream of water.
"We've still got about an hour and a half before our first meeting. Why don't you lie down while I prepare? I need to focus anyway."
"OK," he answers without even looking at me. He lets me dry him off and takes the boxers I hand to him, mechanically pulling them on. I have no idea how our clothes have been delivered and unpacked for us without me seeing since we left the airport with them but there they are, in drawers and closets as if this were our home.
Without a word he gets into the bed, immediately flipping to his stomach while I lift the down comforter to his shoulders. For the first time since we've been together he doesn't ask me to join him or try to seduce me. Instead he wraps his arms around the fluffy white pillow and sighs, the exhale long, slow and heart breaking. I hate to leave him but intuition tells me that right now he needs to just be by himself whether it's in slumber or rest.
"I'll be on the balcony if you need me," I whisper when I kiss his forehead, his answer a low grunt.
In the guest room I blow dry my hair and then pull it back into a twist that looks professional and feminine. I abhor makeup outside of mascara but put on a bit anyway in an attempt to look a bit older than my almost 23 years. I am painfully aware of how my age and my sex are about to be perceived and despite being confident in my abilities and despite knowing that I have a team of people on my side, I'm nervous for the reception I'll be getting.
Ros is ready for war, that much I know but Andrea isn't concerned at all. Her role is that of assistant to the GEH team and subsequently, aligns with the ideals of the men we're going to be working with for the next two days.
The plan, as I read it over again, is to hammer out a fair purchase price for Shinzu's properties and existing businesses. Nobody on either side feels as if this will be the final meeting. In fact, Andrea has already started making travel plans for the next meeting to be held in Shanghai in two months. While another trip sounds fun, dealing with these people again does not.
Shinzu wants $555 million along with the right to stay on as CEO for two more years. He is also requiring that his top tier executives, all 34 of them, are kept on at their inflated salaries for five years before being offered golden parachutes to retire. Christian has no intention of keeping any of them on, Shinzu included. The sale price is the only thing GEH will negotiate on and even then, they've put the cap at $530 million. Since both companies are privately owned, the usual back and forth over stocks, shares and board of directors is thankfully a non-issue. Having dealt with both sides for a few months now, I'll be shocked if we have a deal by year's end.
I am excited to see Christian in CEO mode though. I saw the black suits Gail packed up for him, noticed the platinum cuff links and starched white hand kerchief and I'd be lying if I said it didn't make my panties wet. Ros spent the better part of the flight preaching to him the importance of maintaining calm should they disrespect me. "Get the contract signed, fire his ass and then you can rip him apart but so help me god if you take my legs out from underneath me on this because you can't stay in control," she had growled until he put his hand up to stop her. And Ros, tough as nails, goes at him toe to toe, isn't intimidated by him...even she stopped talking when he did that.
So she waited until he was in a conversation with the acquisitions team before pouncing on me. "You have to keep him on a short leash in there. These men are not going to respect you the way he demands, he has to understand that. It's business, not personal but I know him, if he sees them treating you in a manner he doesn't like, he's going to lose it and we both know Christian Grey doesn't just get pissed. He goes off the deep end. You've got to help me on this, Ana."
I nodded, unsure of exactly how I was supposed to do that without unmanning him. It's a part of him that I know, no matter how many times I speak to him about it, won't be tamed. He has always been a champion of women and I'm no different in that respect. Add to it his fierce protective nature for me and there's not much I can do to 'keep him on a short leash' about it. And with a small amount of wonder I realize, I don't really want that part of him tamed.
Once I'm satisfied with my appearance I grab my laptop and head to the kitchen not at all surprised to find unsweetened iced tea in the refridgerator next to root beer, fresh squeezed orange juice, cucumber water and the acai berry drink Christian drinks during his workouts. I'm a bit perplexed as to where the wine could be until I walk back a bit further into the kitchen and see a glass walled room filled from floor to ceiling with hundreds of bottles in shades ranging from dark pinks to almost clear whites. Next to the glass room is another room constructed with bricks, again filled from floor to ceiling with dark wines and spirits. Some bottles I recognize but most I don't.
At Escala the wine room is huge but here, it's cavernous. The door to the brick room opens with a sucking sound and a small click and closes behind me the same way. A vacuum sealed room just for wine in a hotel. What has happened to my little life? Each section is labeled by the region the wine is from with subsections listing the type of wine. I would love to sit down at dinner and ask the waiter if they had a boxed Gallo just to see the look on his face.
Out on the balcony, iced tea in hand I settle into one of ten plush lounge chairs to listen to the local radio station of the region Shinzu is from. For me, this is the best way to pick up dialect, slang and natural flow but I can't get into the rhythm of it since Devin texts me to remind me to pluck my eyebrows and then starts sending me pictures of dresses, one after the other in rapid sequence.
After the twenty second one I call him. "I'm going to have you blocked if you send me one more picture."
"Please. Like that would stop me. I'm a Vera girl myself but Carolyn Herrera has some amazingly simple pieces that are just the picture of elegant. And I also thought we could check out Calvin Klein, I know he's not a huge bridal player but simple is his motto."
"Devin, so not the time."
"Annie. It so is the time. May I remind you you have like, a hot minute before you're walking down the aisle? But I'll let it go for now because I have gossip. Somebody, I don't know who and it was not yours truly, informed Mr. Elliot Grey that his woman was getting a tattoo and holy Cher he went off the wall. I was there, Annie, I saw it unfold with my own two eyes and you know how Katie gets when she's cornered. Oooh baby it was a sight. That man went from easy going hottie to hot headed hottie in less than two seconds. I had to shower it got so hot in that room."
"What room? Where were you guys? You know this is your fault, he probably heard it from Christian who heard it from you!"
"Like he wasn't going to find out? Helllllllo? She's getting a tattoo, he's going to see it!"
"So what happened? Not the dramatic Devin version but the real version."
"Oh you know me so well. My version is so much more fun though. OK, so, me and Lisa were at Kate's this morning getting caught up on the Real Housewives, that New Jersey bunch is such trash. Ugh! They give fake eyelashes and animal prints a bad name. Anywhoo, we were out on the back deck, you know the one off the kitchen with the unfortunate white plastic patio set?"
"Actually, I've never been to Elliot and Kates."
"No I guess you haven't, you're too busy boinking the billionaire. So we're on the deck, faces turned towards the sun in our pj's because of course we were nursing hang overs, well except for Lisa because that girl is like a tank when out of the blue the front door slams and I hear the voice of an angel bellow out, Kate! Kate! Like the place is on fire and he needs to find her before the house burns down."
"So Kate jumps up to run to him thinking somethings wrong but before she can even get to the sliding doors he's whipping them open and there he stood. 6' 2" 230 pounds of angry American male. That shit is hot as hell, never gets old either. She's standing like, a foot from him but when she reaches out to him he puts his hands up and says with a low voice that made my belly do indecent things, 'What's this bull shit I hear about you getting a tattoo'? And don't you know that bitch looked right at me like I had something to do with him finding out!"
"Well, you did I'm sure. And what were you all doing drinking on a Wednesday night?"
"Elliot had a business meeting in Tacoma or something and got back really late so what started out as us having cocktails and a quick dinner turned into a Dirty Dancing, Point Break, To Wong Foo kinda night."
"You Swayze'd without me? How could you?" His silence says it all. Traitor. "Did you make Malibu Bay Breezes too?" Silence. "The deception goes deep I see."
"Oh good lord. So in typical Kate Kavanagh fashion she reacts to his fire with more fire. Puts her hands on her hips, points that left toe outward and says to him, 'So what? You don't own me.' And you know what he said? Can you guess what he said to her? Do you even want to know what his response was?"
"Um, yes?"
"He said, 'I don't own you yet, Katie. Yet. But I will soon and there is no way in fuck you're getting a tattoo.' And after Lisa and I came back from audio orgasm land he says, 'The two of you need to leave. Kate will call you later.' My GOD Annie what did they give those boys growing up? I swear to Bette Midler he had her over his shoulder and was marching up the stairs before we had closed the front door."
"So…Kate's not getting a tattoo now?" He laughs his shrill cackle when something makes him extremely happy.
"I haven't spoken to her since but I would gamble no. Which is just fine and well because tattoos are not cute. Not now, not when you're chasing toddlers and certainly not when your boobs are sweeping the floor. She'll thank me one day."
Somehow the conversation goes back to dresses, flowers and music. For someone so anti-wedding planning, he sure does have a boat load of opinions on the matter. 15 minutes before we need to leave I cut him off mid rant about some woman who was wearing open toed heels without a pedicure and tiptoe into the bedroom to wake Christian.
He's already up, freshly showered and fully dressed. The smile he offers me is genuine but still hints at a sadness that makes my gut ache. This was supposed to be the end of it but instead he seems more despondent than ever.
"Did you sleep well?"
"I did. Woke up to use the bathroom and figured it was better if I just stayed awake. I heard you on the phone when I came to find you and didn't want to disturb you. Swayze'd?"
"As in Patrick. We have marathons and they had one without me." He chuckles and slips on his shoes, bending to fix the back of one. "Did you tell Elliot about Kate getting a tattoo?" He cocks his head to one side and hands me the suit I've taken out for today.
"No. But I told Taylor who probably told her CPO Penny who probably told Elliot."
"Is she supposed to be reporting things back to him?"
"It's not a requirement of mine. I personally don't care what Ms. Kavanagh does so long as she's good to my brother. If Penny and Elliot have something set up between them I'm unaware of it."
"So it's not just you."
"No, Ana," he grins and takes my iced tea from me so I can get dressed, "it's not just me. It's men. Grey men especially. You see it as meddling, we see it as taking care of what's ours."
Assembled, dressed in high end clothes with perfectly styled hair, minus Christian's wild locks of course, the team from GEH looks amazing. I've opted for a deep slate gray skirt suit with a silk gray blouse underneath. Carolyn Acton chose the ensemble specifically for this trip and while I still can't wrap my head around having someone shop for me, I'm grateful that I'm in this and not the usual attire I wore pre-Christian. Until this moment, I hadn't realized how nervous I was looking the part does help a bit.
The room has been set up so that Christian is at the head of the table with Ros at the opposing end and the GEH team along the left side. I'm seated to Christian's right and next to me will be Mr. Shinzu himself. I've been involved in a few corporate meetings over the last year but nothing even remotely close to this level. The glasses at each setting are not glass but cut crystal, the pens all Mont Blanc with each persons name inscribed along the side. I'm caught off guard, totally, when I glance at mine and see the last name Grey instead of Steele.
Christian watches with amusement while I look at the letters and then turn to smile at him, his face breaking into a shit eating grin that melts me. Sweet as pie he leans over and kisses my hand, "I thought you might want to use it after the wedding." I so love this man!
Andrea has just finished giving final instructions to the business manager at the Waldorf when the door opens and in walks the six men I've been speaking with almost daily. They politely acknowledge all of us and shake Christian's hand, allowing a cursory nod to myself and Ros. Shinzu himself is unnervingly sharp looking, his eyes taking everything in shrewdly before he sits, unbuttoning his suit jacket. While his team converses in English with the GEH team he sits and breathes deeply, signaling that he sees this less as negotiations and more as a battle. The undercurrent is not lost on Christian who so far has remained silent but observant.
"Ready to start, Ms. Steele?" Tsang asks in Mandarin, making eye contact with me for the first time. Next to me Christian shifts slightly, the back of his hand lightly brushing over my skirt.
I answer him in kind and launch right into my prepared monologue and initial presentation for GEH. The decision to hand the opening remarks to me was made by Ros who wanted to enter the negotiations by showing respect to their culture. They listen intently, the entire room watching me as I recite, from memory the outline of today's agenda. With each passing second the heat in the room ticks up while the attention is focused on me and my words. As confident as I am in my job, this is, without question the most anxious I've ever been.
While having Christian present is a comfort in and of itself, his constant attention to me, to my every move, my every word, my every breath has had the opposite effect. For the most part he's remained quiet, more content to listen to what everyone else has to say, occasionally making notes or sipping his water. Each side is respectful, quiet when someone else is speaking, both listening intently when I interpret. A few times I have to take a minute to really think about what I want to say, there are some things that just do not translate from Mandarin to English and twice I've had to ask one of the Chinese to repeat themselves, a task they are gracious about.
Surprisingly, while the tone of the meeting is anything but friendly, the mood remains light. I feel a bit like a referee, smoothing sharp comments into something a bit more benign for each side while maintaining the integrity of the comment itself. Since Tsang grew up in the US, I'm very careful not to alter too much and after two hours, he begins a friendly banter with me during a quick break, congratulating me on my engagement. I'm surprised by his friendly overture as is his team who watch with fascination.
Though Christian has no idea what's being said, he clearly doesn't like the private conversation between me and another man since he cuts the chatter short and calls the meeting back to order with a gruff, "Let's proceed". As we begin again, Andrea pours hot tea for everyone in the most delicate tea cups I've ever seen, all with a gold rim and sitting on a gold saucer.
Tensions run high when Christian brings up the executive demotions and/or terminations he will enact. It takes quite a bit of patience to weed out which comments and questions are relevant for interpretation since both sides are firing arguments back and forth and as the volume rises, so does the obvious annoyance of the two men in charge. When Shinzu yells something at me, a cutting statement meant for Ros, Christian reacts by gripping my hand and menacingly leaning forward.
"Tell him, if he speaks to you in that manner again, we will move from negotiations to takeover."
"Christian," I say gently, lowering my hand to my leg so that it's not so obvious on the table top, "he was yelling at Ros, not me. To me he's been nothing but a gentleman."
"I don't give a shit, Ana, nobody disrespects you while I'm around." His eyes bore into the man on the other side of me, willing him to understand through body language what he knows I won't tell him with words. Tsang, who is acting as my counterpart to the Chinese team watches carefully, no doubt curious to see how I handle this.
"Let me handle it, Christian, please. It's been fine, we're making good progress, just trust me, ok?" He doesn't answer but leans back slightly, unwilling to let go of my hand but meeting me in the middle by pressing his lips shut. Ros catches my eye and silently thanks me but I shoot her a warning look. It's her antics that are riling up the room and she knows it.
Tsang and I lead the conversation back to middle ground and go over, point by point the package alterations GEH has made with regards to the executives currently in charge. It takes a good 40 minutes but eventually they acquiesce, realizing the futility of the argument when next to me Christian shuts off. He's said his piece, listened to their rebuttal, denied their request and to him, this argument is done. While their team makes a few good points, it's obvious after a few minutes that this particular point is moot. Christian Grey is very clearly in charge and he's not listening anymore. His absolute authority is hot as hell.
I won't lie and say that the conversation is fascinating. In fact, it's quite boring as a whole until warm fingertips begin to sweep mindlessly back and forth over the hemline of my skirt. There is nothing overtly sexual about the movement, it's more of a comforting familiarity between us but it still heats my blood up enough to flush my face. When those fingers curl up to feel the skin of my thighs I carefully adjust my skirt and remove his hand, turning enough so that I can see the unhappy scowl on his handsome face.
"I can't concentrate," I whisper and much to my relief he smiles, happy that he has that sort of hold over me. Only Christian Grey, in the middle of a heated and extremely tense meeting would care more about the state of my libido than the state of the business we've flown halfway across the country for. Every few minutes he repeats the movement until I'm forced to pull his hands away only to watch him drag one finger over his lips in a quiet seduction. Damn that man and his perfect mouth.
Four hours, two Advil and three glasses of water later I'm fried and two thousand dollar suit outfit or not, I'm uncomfortable and in a bad mood by the time we break for the night. In normal circumstances I would have removed the jacket portion of my black Tahari suit but respect for the culture demands that I remain not only covered but professional. So the second the doors to the suite close I kick off my four inch patent leather Louboutins and whip off the jacket.
In an instant Christian's lifted me to the entryway table and has my legs wrapped around him, the meaning behind his well-placed grind between my legs clear.
"I was hard the entire meeting. You, the sounds coming out of your mouth, the very obvious genius of your brain, the business woman, the sight of my name after yours on that pen," his teeth scrape along my collarbone, a shudder wracking my body, "it turned me the fuck on."
And just as I begin to melt into him, just when my desire for him reaches a fever pitch his phone rings, the shrill tone of the GEH office slicing through the air. Destractedly he pulls it out of his pocket and shuts it off without looking but a few seconds later, my phone goes off in the bag next to us.
"Ignore it, there's nothing that can't wait," he says gruffly, reaching under my skirt to pull my panties down while his tongue invades my mouth over and over. But my phone won't stop and a new sound adds itself to the mix. The doorbell. Our hotel room has a doorbell?
With a growl he rips at his tie and shoves my panties into his pocket as he makes his way to the door. "God damn it what do you want, Taylor?"
"Sir, the FTC showed up at Esclava twenty minutes ago to arrest Ms. Lincoln after being unable to find her at her home."
Holy crap. The heat I was feeling a minute ago is replaced with more heat but this time it's unwanted and terrifying. Christian is staring dumbly at Taylor who says, very slowly, "She wasn't at the salon either."
"Could she be somewhere else? The store? The doctors?" There's a frenetic quality to his questions that pulls on my heart strings.
"Welch has three people, David included, looking for her but her last known whereabouts were at her home. We know she entered the residence at nine pm and there is no record of her leaving. Her alarm was set at midnight and was still active when the FTC showed up."
"Is someone waiting for her there?"
"Yes, Sir, the FTC has requested that the local police watch the house."
"How long will they wait?" His question throws Taylor off because for the first time since I've known him he studders.
"I…they'll wait for as long as it takes. The charges against her are federal offences, this is serious shit." He pauses and for a split second looks pained as he watches Christian tug on his hair in frustration. "Sir they'll find her."
"And Pamela Wincher?" Taylor visibly cringes.
"Her whereabouts are unknown to us but the Feds won't be looking for her. I'll have Welch scour travel records for the last 48 hours from every airport in the area for both of them though I'm sure the authorities will already be doing that for Ms. Lincoln."
"Fuck! She had to have been tipped off. How did this happen?"
"Her attorney would most likely have been told as a courtesy, someone that high up the food chain surely has a few palms he can grease."
"Mother fucker cock sucker god damn!" Taylor looks as uncomfortable as I've ever seen him and I'm sure it has at least something to do with the scrap of red satin peeking out of Christian's pockets along with the news he's just delivered. Christian paces, hands in his hair, shoes clicking on the Italian marble.
"Have they searched the house yet? Did they look in the dungeon?" Taylor's brows raise before the mask slips back into place.
"They'll need a search warrant to do that, something I'm sure has already been requested."
"The dungeon, it's not something they'll find without knowing where to look. How can we relate that information without it being tied to me?" Taylor looks away uncomfortably. "Fuck it, you'll figure something out. In the formal dining room there's a pocket door between the two china cabinets. The latch is hidden in the cabinet to the right against the wall on the second shelf. The door will click open if you press it for four consecutive seconds."
My stomach roils, knowing that the only way he would know this is because he went down there willingly. How many times? How many different times did he seek entrance into her domination? How many times as a young man did he hold down that secret latch excited at the prospect of seeing her? The thought process could drive me crazy and maybe it would have had I not looked at him then, face red with frustration, eyes wild with anger. In his pacing my panties have all but fallen out of his pocket, the red silk swaying against his hip with each angry step.
I step forward, face aflame but determined anyway to do what I can to help the man in front of me about to have a nervous breakdown.
"Is there anything else we can do at this point?"
"No, Ma'am."
"Thank you, Taylor, we'll call you if we hear anything, I'm sure you'll do the same." Without even looking at Christian for approval he takes his leave, a nod at each of us and then he's gone. I'm the only one who notices that he deferred to my authority.
"Baby, do you want me to tell everyone we'll be unable to make it down to dinner?" Gray eyes turn and stare into mine, vacant of any recognition, void of any emotion. Christian has checked out. "I'll handle it. Come with me." And before he can protest or argue or even think I lead him by the hand to the bedroom and undress him, holding his pajama pants open for him as if he were a child.
He robotically steps into them and then sits on the edge of the bed, eyes downcast, hair everywhere. Slowly I unknot his tie and then unbutton his shirt, sliding it off of his shoulders. While I struggle with the cufflinks, his arms trapped until I remove them, he watches me, his eyes searching mine for a truth I know nothing about.
"Do you think she's getting the shit of me as a kid? Those three videos? Do you think she knows we got everything else and this is her last ditch effort at getting back at me?"
"No. I don't. I think she found out she was going to go to jail and panicked. The charges against her have nothing to do with pedophilia or anything even remotely sexual so for her to do that to herself would be the height of stupidity and one thing Elena Lincoln is not is stupid. I doubt she even knows the safe was broken into."
Finally I release his arms, his hands immediately finding their way to his face where he presses his palms against his forehead.
"How do you do this? Stay with me when everything I touch dissolves into drama? How can you possibly want to be a part of this?"
"Because," I say softly, my hand running over his scalp, "it has nothing to do with you. You're taking responsibility for drama that isn't yours. Plus," I lift him by his shoulders and begin to pull him to the balcony, "I'm in love with you. All of you. You're the love of my life, I'd stay with you through anything."
Once he's settled on a lounge chair facing the slowly setting sun, feet up, sunglasses on, glass of his favorite white wine in his hand I order dinner. Ros wasn't surprised to hear we'd be staying in but her reasoning wasn't even remotely close to reality. He claims to have no appetite so I order his two favorite dinners, a roasted salmon and a rib-eye with red wine reduction.
We sit in silence, watching the lights of Rome below us come on little by little. When dusk settles I take off his sunglasses but he only stares straight ahead, his fingers curled around the stem of the glass in his hand. When the doorbell rings again he yells out to wait for Taylor, the first sign of my fiancé in close to 45 minutes.
Taylor is already waiting with the two tuxedoed waiters and points them to the balcony where they set up our dinner complete with crystal, fine china and candles. Christian watches with detached interest, rising when they nod his way and bid us a 'bon appetit'.
Alone again I watch as those sexy as sin bare feet pad over slowly while he swirls his wine with a smirk before standing behind me, leaning down to bite the top of my shoulder. Oh god.
"Well played, Ms. Steele, all of my favorites. I presume you also got cheesecake for dessert?"
"In the refridgerator, Sir." At that his fingers tighten just slightly on his glass but I notice it and know, immediately, what it is he needs. "Sit, baby, let's eat." And he does, without protest or anymore delays.
"Wow, this is amazeballs good. Holy hell, I've had a lot of chicken in my life but I have never, and I mean never had chicken like this." He opens his mouth and takes the bite I've cut for him, winking and then closing his eyes to relish the morsel.
"That is good. Here, try some of this, it's one of the best steaks I've ever had." I laugh.
"It better be! It cost over $90! And the sides are all extra! You'd think for $90 they'd at least give you the asparagus." He laughs and finishes his wine, pouring a deep Cabernet Sauvignon into the same glass he just finished his white wine in.
"I may not be a wine snob but isn't that like, totally unacceptable?" He laughs again and swirls the wine around, pausing to sniff it and then sip it.
"Are you calling me a wine snob?"
"Uh, yes," I deadpan before taking another bite of chicken in a white wine sauce with mushrooms and leeks. He chuckles and tops off my own glass before resuming his dinner.
"I concede you are correct. I am, without question, a wine snob." We sip in companionable silence, each passing minute draining away bit by bit the tension surrounding the recent developments on Elena. "You were quite impressive today, baby. I knew you were good but you blew me away." I blush, can't help it.
"Thank you. You were awfully quiet. I expected to see you in action, you know, guns drawn and blazing CEO, throwing around demands, yelling at everyone in the room."
"So you've spoken to my staff then?" He grins, cutting into the steak, taking a bite of the salmon and then eating both.
"I have. They love you in action so long as it's not them you're arguing against."
"You'll see that side when we get down to the nitty gritty details. I was pleased they conceded to drop the golden parachutes and the retainment of those rich pricks that are absolutely useless to me but I was not happy that neither Tsang or Shinzu were willing to even discuss pricing options." He takes another bite. "I expect to be a bit more involved tomorrow but the real fight will come towards the end of the negotiations. Until then I take it all in, study my opponent for weakness, make mental notes on what I think I can win on and focus on the things I can't." He points his fork at me, "I always, always get what I want. If I bend at all, it's because I wanted to appear willing. But you can bet your sweet ass I'll get this company and every asset he has for the price I'm willing to pay for it."
He continues to eat, the everyday mundane task made somehow incredibly sexy by the man wielding the fork. I avert my eyes after a few minutes, afraid that to continue to watch him eat will have me tearing my clothes off and begging him to make love to me. Instead I look down at the city below, envisioning the many things I want to do while we're here.
The night settles around us, somehow sweeter and more intimate than the previous nights we've spent together. I steal a glance over to find him staring at me with heavy lids and a knowing little smirk. Oh I know this look well. Just as I prepare myself for something sexual and totally inappropriate he opens that sinful mouth and says in that sexy as hell baritone of his; "How about you go get that cheesecake."
CPOV
I don't know why she finds that so funny but she folds forward and laughs until tears are in her eyes. I just asked for the cheesecake. "I'll get it," I say after another minute of her laughing but she waves me off and stands, retrieving it from the kitchen along with the two glasses of port the servers had brought up. Only then do I notice that she's still in her clothes from our meeting.
"Why didn't you change?"
"I didn't think about it, I was too busy changing you and ordering a $400 dinner. Probably more like a $2k dinner if you include the wine."
"Ana," I start, exhasperated, "you have got to get over the money issue. Every vacation you take from now on for the rest of your life will be like this. Every bottle of wine we open will be expensive, every outfit you wear will be high end. You will drive in the most expensive cars and fly on the most expensive jets. Get over it."
She sighs. "I'm trying. But it's hard. I look at this and I think, 'that could have fed 100 people in Liberia'. It just seems like such a waste. Do I really need a $2k suit? Can't I effectively do my job in something from TJMaxx?"
"TJMaxx?" She laughs again tries the dark read port, her lips pursing together before she pushes the small glass towards me.
"That's gross."
"It's a 1948, it's priceless."
"Actually, it's gross. And TJMaxx is where I used to shop before I had a personal shopper."
"Carolyn can go there for you if you want." This time she laughs so hard she chokes a bit on her water. "What?"
"You. You're adorable. I just love you, that's all." Oooook.
"And we do feed hundreds in Liberia and all over that area. It's alright for us to indulge ourselves and enjoy the finer things in life. It doesn't mean we're not aware of the trials of others and it doesn't mean we're bad people because we like $90 rib-eyes. And if you're going to expect a big paycheck for your services, then you should expect to dress like it."
"I hate it when you make sense like that," she pouts. "What do you want to do tonight? If we're free from everyone else we can do pretty much anything we want, right?"
"What do I want to do tonight? Oh Ms. Steele the possibilities are endless. But I'll defer to you on this since it's your first time in Rome."
"We can leave the hotel?" She bounces in her seat with excitement. Shit, not what I had in mind.
"We can do anything you want to do."
"Well, in that case, I want play the five question game but we're going to keep it light this time." I smile sardonically.
"Yes, I imagine keeping it light would be a good idea tonight. Would you mind if I checked in with Welch first?"
"Not at all, I'll call room service to have these taken away. Do you want anything else?"
"See if they have pistachio gelato."
"Seriously? You just had two dinners!"
"Ana, in Italy, you eat as much as you can. It's the law or something." So while I call Welch she orders a pistachio gelato, a chocolate gelato and a cherry gelato in perfect Italian. So fucking sexy.
"Nothing," I spit out, tossing my phone onto the table between us. Not only is there no word on where Elena is, but nobody can tell me when they're getting a search warrant or what kind of net they've cast to find her. Immediately my mood begins to shift back into the melancholy of before and try as I might I'm helpless to stop it.
Until Ana tastes the cherry gelato, leaning back and drawing the spoon out of her mouth with a groan that goes straight to my dick. "Oh this is so good, want some?" And just like that my thoughts move from what's happening in Seattle to what's happening at this table. I should save some of that to lick off of her later.
"OK, Christian, game time." Another swipe, this time of chocolate. My mouth waters at the possibilities. Game? "What is your favorite food to eat while you're here?"
"You really meant light, huh? OK, favorite food to eat here. Easy. Pizza." She looks at me like I'm nuts but she hasn't had it yet. I'll convince her.
"That is so not what I expected to hear from you. Pizza?" I nod.
"We found a place when we first came here as a family when I was a kid. You wait. Once you try it, you will never again want pizza from a US place again. It's, as you would say, amazeballs. OK, Ana." She giggles at my playful tone. "What was the first thing you thought when you saw me in the doorway of your apartment?"
"Holy shit he's hot as fuck."
"Really? You said fuck?" She nods excitedly. "You never say that."
"Ugh, I do a lot more since being with you." Pistachio goes in next, the spoon coming out clean from the sucking of her mouth. Sucking...her mouth...is she saying something? "What would you be doing if you weren't insanely smart and rich? Like if you were…ordinary?"
"I can't imagine not doing this. I love it. Taking something broken and fixing it or making money off of something that seems worthless. But I guess if I had to choose something else, I'd be a stock broker. The market fascinates me almost as much as you do. If you could have dinner with any person, living or dead, who would it be?"
"Not a fictional character?"
"What? No, of course not. A real person."
"A real person…I'd have to go with Emily Bronte." Boooooring. "What about you?"
"William Wallace. Braveheart's one of my favorites but it's the passion of the crusade that I like the most. They knew they couldn't win yet they fought as hard as they could. I admire that kind of dedication."
"Oh and I love the love story in that movie. So sweet." What? Right. The love story.
"What are you most looking forward to when you think of being married?"
"Oh gosh, there's so many things but I seriously cannot wait to see you with a wedding ring on." She grabs at her stomach and moans. "Just the thought of it makes me wet." Well fuck me she did not just say that. But she did because she gets as red as the cherry gelato and giggles. "Never mind."
"No, no, please, tell me more about this wetness."
"No! Back to the game! Are you ever going to let me drive my car?" At this I choke on a laugh.
"You are always unexpected, Ana. And most likely no. It's too dangerous for you to drive at this point and when you're my wife, it will only get more dangerous." Wife. I can't wait.
"Why buy it for me then?" I'm not sure I've laughed this much since camping. How she takes me from the pit of despair to a giddy fool I'll never know.
"Well at the time I was just trying to get into your panties."
"Speaking of which, I have none on." My dick tingles.
"Oh, I know."
"So, I need to rectify that."
"No, you really don't. You'll be pantyless all night, baby." Idea after idea begins to swirl in my head as my eyes take in the room behind me. "All night."
"Are you telling me what to do, Christian?" My gut drops but I see the gleam in her eye, the playful way she licks the back of the spoon, the way she says my name.
"Do you want me to tell you what to do, Anastasia?" Two slow nods of her head. Fuck yes.
"Then stand up and come here."
And when she does without argument, eyes playful but submissive, hands at her sides, legs parted over mine I feel my world begin to center itself again. The pieces of my psyche that have been spinning around for the last few hours begin to still, the roar of frustration turning into the hum of desire. Before me she stands, entrusting her body to me to use for our mutual pleasure under my control.
Yes, this is exactly what I need, I think when I motion for her to lift her skirt so that I can see her nakedness, mine to explore and enjoy. And when I tell her to turn and bend she does so without hesitation, the feeling of inner peace so great I have to bite my lip to avoid whimpering my gratitude.
Ninety short minutes later, still naked but now back in control of my faculties I wash the pink skin of her ass and thighs, still reeling from her unveiling of a red leather spanking strap that she purchased off of Amazon of all places.
I had come up with no less than ten different ways to incorporate a bit of kink into what I was hoping would be a submissive sex session and I was not disappointed in the least. On our way to the bedroom after a particularly tasty session on the balcony table she asked, sweet as the gelato I had just licked off of her body if I would please untie her hands, still bound by the ornate dinner napkin.
"Bathroom, baby?" I smirked but she demurely shook her head and then walked to her carryon bag stowed in the closet. With a 'ta-da!' she shocked the ever loving shit out of me when in her hand were the diamond nipple clamps and the red leather strap, one that I had never seen before.
"I had it delivered to Karen, my old neighbor," she explained, rushing to add that nobody knew what was in the box that had been delivered but that she didn't want to use her real name or address just in case. Smart girl.
"What else did you have delivered?" At this she blushed and reached back into the bag to retrieve a small clear bottle of lube. I swear to all things holy if I hadn't been so afraid of passing out, I'd have been able to pick my jaw up off the floor before she laughed.
"I thought this would be good for…you know…hand jobs and stuff like that…"
And it was, god damn it. There was a slight strawberry scent to it that I quite enjoyed, especially when she rubbed it in from my nipples down to my cock as I instructed of her. And while I wasn't angry in the least that she had purchased these things, I did give her a good spanking with that strap while she alternated between sucking and jerking me off.
It was erotic as hell and I can say with certainty, not once did anything other than the scene in front of me cross my mind. And now, satiated and calmed in a way that's seeped into my bones I listen to her chatter on about some string quartet she assigned Casey to listen to and how he said they sucked.
From caretaker to vixen to submissive to fiancée. Mine. Mindlessly she lathers shaving cream between her hands and spreads it down one leg before picking up the razor lying in the soap dish, all the while talking to me about the small things that make up our life together.
It's the first time I've ever seen her shave her legs in the four plus months we've been together and for some strange reason, I find it fascinating. It's not exactly sexy to watch the skin of her legs reappear after she swipes away the shaving cream line by line but there's something oddly soothing about it. She's still prattling on about wedding plans so I sit on the bench, her foot propped up on my knee while she shaves and watch her, listening to her voice but not really hearing what she's saying. It's not that I don't care, I just sometimes get so caught up in her presence that I forget to listen.
"…so she was really excited when I asked her and your dad to come. I hope you're not upset but I thought it would be nice to include them."
"What? Include my dad in what?" She drops her arm, the razor still in her hand and gives me a nasty little look.
"Did you hear anything I just said?"
"Sure. Casey, string quartet sucks, Ros gets sea sick, something about Lisa getting drunk in front of my family, Ray wanting to fish and my dad going somewhere with us." Her eyes slant shut but she buys it.
"I said, I invited your mom and dad to the tasting on Wednesday so that we could spend some time with them and also to include them."
"Sounds great."
Satisfied, cleaned, dressed and lounging in bed I catch up on emails and the news while Ana surrounds herself with a multitude of bridal magazines that Kate and Missy insisted she go through. At first she rejected the idea but I've been paying close attention and as much as she's not your typical wedding obsessed girl, she's not immune to the fanfare either. There are no less than 40 pages torn out and piled up next to me on the night table for safe keeping.
Taylor has texted me to let me know that there is no change in Elena's whereabouts but that Welch has connected with Wendy's boyfriend, a detective in the sex crimes division of the Seattle Police Department and has asked him to keep them abreast of any information he may be privy to. He has, of course, agreed. Welch, a girlfriend like Wendy Shote and a wad of cash tend to make the information flow a bit easier.
It's been a few minutes since she handed me a page for the pile or asked my opinion on a particular table setting so when I look up from my tablet to find her asleep, 'The Knot' magazine open across her chest and my t-shirt tangled up around her waist I'm not surprised. As I tuck her in, gathering the 14 magazines and pad of Post-it notes I'm struck again at how comforting this is. How utterly filled I feel to have someone to share my life with.
In the morning there is still no word on where Elena is but Welch did manage to find Pamela Wincher's name on a passenger list for a flight from Portland, Oregon to Zurich, Switzerland. I had a bit of a meltdown over breakfast, yelling obscenities into the phone so loudly that Ana finally told me to quiet down or she was going to throw my phone in the pool.
So instead I hissed and barked orders, demanding things from my security team I knew were unobtainable just so I'd have something to hiss and bark about in a few hours. While I ranted, she smeared fresh strawberry jam onto steaming croissants and stirred in just the right amount of honey into the yogurt parfaits she had ordered for us, calm as can be.
"Karma, Christian. She'll get caught. Maybe Pamela just left her. Maybe she caught wind of the fact that Elena's ship was sinking and took off before she was linked to her and her passport was detained."
"Maybe," I huffed, pushing away the parfait in favor of an omelet heavy on spinach and feta. "How's your backside this morning?"
She lowers her croissant and rolls her eyes. Clearly she wants another spanking. "Sweety, no one other than grandmothers call it a backside. My ass is just fine thank you very much."
"I'm impressed that you remembered the Arnica cream."
"You and me both," she laughs, sipping her espresso and then grimacing at the bitter taste. "You should have seen me in that room, tiptoeing around while you were in your office yelling at some poor employee."
"See anything else you liked while you were in there?"
"Actually," she starts, her eyes immediately dropping to her plate, "I was trying to figure out that spreader bar thingy. It looks a little…restrictive." I laugh, loudly, and drop my fork.
"That's the whole point! OK, we'll experiment with the spreader bar when we get back. Anything else?" And even though she shakes her head no I know there's something else. I can't begin to describe how pleased I am that it was me, someone who had the ability to draw out her sexuality, that took her for the first time. To not only be able to claim her as all mine, free from another man's touch but to know that her sexuality, the raw unrestrained desire she feels so comfortable with was set alight by me? Sublime.
"Is there something else, Ana?" I tease, reaching for her hand and circling my thumb over the back of it, delighting in the way she shivers under my touch. Coyly she smiles and looks up at me through her lashes, the blush on her cheeks promising a conversation I'm very much looking forward to. Elliot's ring tone interrupts my exploration much to my dismay but since it's late night in Seattle I answer without hesitation.
"Hello, Elliot."
"Yo. Took care of the tattoo issue, you can be assured no Grey woman will be sporting any ink. Took a hell of an argument and one hell of a fucking session but Katie got the message."
"I'm so very happy for you. Did you need something?"
"Just checking in. Wanted to see what was going on with Italy and let you know I've got the bachelor party all planned out. And before you ask, no, there are no women so long as you don't count the drag strippers I've hired." And I laugh because with Elliot, you just never know.
"I'm looking forward to it," I offer him and find that, surprisingly, I am.
"Cool. I'm keeping it small, just the cousins, uncles, dad and Ray and Ana's friends. I was thinking about inviting Ros since she's got bigger balls than all of us but thought the guys might find her intimidating."
"You're an idiot. Nobody's balls are bigger than mine." Ana shoots me a 'what the hell?' look and then rises to finish getting ready. Looking good, Ms. Steele.
"No, that's your ego you're talking about. Anything else going on? Any news to report?" It's an odd question, especially since he's never asked one like it before but I let it go, tell him no because I'm not about to implicate him in what just went down, and then rush off to get to our meeting on time.
"Killer. Absolutely killer. I don't know how you're walking in those heels, but message sent and received; you are an assassin."
I roll my eyes, Ana laughs and Andrea adjusts her shirt uncomfortably at the attention Ana's shoes have garnered. The men in the room are wise not to look but I still catch that asshole from mergers staring at her a little too long and if he thinks I didn't notice that he waited to see where she was going to sit yesterday so that he could sit next to her he's an idiot. It took everything in me not to laugh when he sulked away as she settled herself next to me. It was funny yesterday, today, it will cost him his job.
"So today you'll see a bit harsher of a meeting. Yesterday was more of a feel you out, how far can I push you kind of thing but today is when it starts to get ugly. Don't freak out, ok? Tsang is a grade A asshole but if we can bypass him and deal directly with Shinzu, we're better off. He seems to have a sweet spot for you, exploit it." Ros speaks with her usual animation when she can smell blood in the air.
"I am not exploiting myself by using my gender as a business tool." Damn right, baby. Andrea reaches over and switches out the Mont Blanc pen I had been using for a new one.
"You need to hang up your hang ups then. If he's weak enough to buy it, then you should exploit it."
"Andrea!" She blushes, straightens her back and pulls down her suit coat.
"Sorry, Sir."
"What the fuck is this? A fucking sorority?" Duly chastised she walks to her seat at the corner of the table closest to the door and begins to tap away on her laptop. Ros laughs as if that exchange wasn't completely inappropriate and then excuses herself.
"You use your sexuality on anyone but me and we're going to have major problems, Ms. Steele."
Her eyes narrow at mine but then I slide my hand up her thigh and watch her go from furious to confused to turned on. "Stop," she hisses, grabbing at my fingers as I run them over the silk of her panties. "You are not doing this to me again all day."
"Oh my god, are you wearing garters?" My dick throbs as it presses against the zipper of my pants, begging for a chance to come out and play. She nods, bites that fucking lip and then lowers her lashes. Fuck me. Literally. Fuck me. "I have half a mind to postpone this for a half an hour and take you upstairs to fuck you so hard you can't walk back down here."
She full on laughs at me, throws her head back and laughs while the room turns to watch. So I'm now stuck with a boner for the record books, a girlfriend who has a case of the giggles and a staff that encourages my fiancée to be slutty. But as serious as I try to be, I can't do it. Little by little my laughter bubbles up, at first in the form of a stifled cough, then a clearing of the throat and then, finally, actual laughter.
"You're insane!" She exclaims, gripping my hand to peel it from her leg only dissolve into a giggle fit when I refuse and squeeze the tender flesh my fingers are so fond of. "Stop!" She wheezes, desperately trying to stop herself from laughing.
"You're ticklish here?" As if to answer I squeeze again and she squirms, doing her best to hide what I'm doing from the rest of the GEH team who are doing their best not to look. "Oh, Ms. Steele, this is bad news for you." The giggle stops, her eyes blink and her face tightens.
"If you think you're going to tickle me, you are out of your damn mind, Grey. That would be another hellstotheno." I lean in and quickly lick the shell of her ear, allowing my lips to linger a second too long, my breath to blow through her hair a degree too hot.
"It will be very difficult for you to stop me when you're tied up on my bed."
"Well then," she says, eyes bright and serious, "I'll make sure not to find myself tied to your bed then!" My lips purse, the smart ass remark I had dying on my tongue as I circle that spot behind her ear.
"You win. No tickling." But then she moans, so quietly it's more of a vibration and I squeeze again, this time high enough to flick the band of her garter. "I'm not going to be able to concentrate until I've fucked you."
"A problem you'll need to work out quickly since they're here," she stands, pulls down her light gray skirt and smiles at the men walking in the room. To my utter shock Shinzu smiles back at her, nodding once in respect before making his way down the line. Again we begin with formalities in English and then, as we had discussed, David Mendinton takes over, focusing on the first of nine financial issues that are at the heart of this acquisition.
All eyes turn to him as he speaks and then to Ana as she interprets. She speaks slowly and fluidly, stopping occasionally to answer a question or to ask GEH a clarifying question. I shouldn't be but I'm surprised at how well she understands not only the language but the business behind the conversation. Acquisitions are not an easy thing to navigate when they're at their most simple form. To add in fifteen people, multiple assets, locations, administrative structures and countries it's nearly impossible to keep straight. Throw in an extremely complicated foreign language and frankly, I'm the most impressed I've ever been.
With ease she breaks down the hardened façade of the men to her right, maintaining a professional demeanor while somehow creating a bridge to the team on her left. Without even trying, she has unified the room so that instead of the fight we were all expecting, the battles and heated words are kept to a minimum.
When we break for lunch the entire Grey Holdings team heads into La Pergola, high on what seems to be an easy day. I'm still stuck on the fact that under that demure business suit is the sexiest body I have ever seen in garters, stockings and from what I can tell, a tiny thong. Lunch will have to wait.
"I need you upstairs," I say before we're seated, clearing my throat when I hear the husk in my voice. She responds with a knowing smile, a short nod only I can see and turns to the table.
"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to head upstairs for a bit of quiet to let my mind rest. I know the mood is good right now but I have to tell you that I can sense a bit of frustration from Shinzu with the constant back and forth. Just something to consider." I feel no need whatsoever to explain to my staff where I'm going and instead lead her by the elbow to the elevator, the presence of the lift operator annoying the shit out of me.
In the suite I waste no time ordering her to strip, which she does after she tells me to sit. Which I do. We've only made it to the foyer but that's far enough. In less than a minute she's in her bra and panties, a black lace garter and black thigh highs, the look completed by those killer heels Ros had pointed out. She was right.
"Come here. Slowly, I want to watch you walk to me." Her breasts jiggle a bit with each step, the alluring softness only causing me to harden past the point of painful. "Your mouth's tired?" A nod, a lip bite, a slow blink. I unzip my pants as I stand and circle around her, my hands greedily cupping her breasts and ass, fingers flicking those elastic connections over the pale skin of her thighs. "Put your hands on the back of the chair and spread your legs for me."
God damn her hips are perfect, flared just enough so that the curves of womanhood drive me to insanity. "I think we'll leave the panties on today," I growl, lightly running two fingers over the puffy flesh barely covered by the black satin.
Behind her, on my knees I admire the perfect round smoothness of her ass, relishing the way the thong covers the part of her that I covet so much. "I can smell you, Anastasia. So fucking sexy, so fucking sinful. God, the things you make me want to do to you."
"So do them," she grinds back, pushing her ass up into my face, giggling when I inhale.
"I plan to, we've got our entire lives to work through the list I've got. But until then," I say, moving that thin strip of satin to the side, "I'm going to make you come," I slide my tongue over her from top to bottom twice, "and pant my name," another two licks, "while I fuck this sweet pussy of yours."
"Oh shit," she groans when my thumbs spread her so that I can lick between her lips, my tongue running over her clit with quick butterfly movements that leave her trembling. "Shit shit shit oh god oh god oh god," she rushes out. We've got limited time and I want to feel her pulse around me so regretfully I pull back and stand, moving back to the chair to sit, my pants pushed down to my knees.
"Fuck me," I demand, holding my cock up, purple and rigid, pre-cum dripping over my fingers. She leans down, licks them clean and then straddles me. She wants to tease, I can see it in her eyes and the way she circles around my tip but I'm way past the point of foreplay. I need to be inside, deep and sheathed in female perfection.
"Ugh!" Her cry rents through the marble room when I plow upwards into her, my hands guiding her hips in a fast and relentless pursuit of completion. After a minute she slows me with one hand over my chest, the other leaning back to balance on my knee.
"Ana, if that was meant to slow me down, it's not going to work. Fuck, you're so hot." I know I'm not going to last much longer, there's too many factors at play here, the main one being the attire the hottest woman on the planet is wearing as she rides my cock. If I grit my teeth I can hold off for another minute so I do that, leaning her forward so that the base of my dick slides over her clit with each thrust.
She makes tiny noises in the back of her throat, each one sexier than the last until she falls silent and balls the hand on my chest into a fist. If I couldn't feel her tightening around me like a vise I'd know she was coming just by these two tells. My balls pull up, the tingle in my spine shooting straight to the tip of my dick, desperate for release until she falls over the precipice and I allow myself to follow.
"Don't we need to get back downstairs?" Sweaty, half dressed and out of breath I answer her with a grunt, unwilling to pry myself away from the warmth and pleasure that is her naked body.
"Eventually," I finally muster, "they won't start without me". When she pulls away and frowns I look down and see the sweat on my shirt, still buttoned up to my neck, my tie wrinkled and half off.
"You're a disaster," she giggles, lifting herself and immediately pulling her panties back into place. "I'm going to go clean up while you change your shirt and then we'll head down."
And when she comes out three minutes later I've managed to change into a clean shirt and a new tie. The truth is, before Ana, I lived for meetings like this. I lived for the hunt of new business, the thrill of taking what I wanted and doing whatever I wanted with it. I relished the power afforded to me, the control so easily handed over, the satisfaction of knowing that in the room, I was the one who was feared the most.
But today, my haste isn't because I want to strut my authority around or watch men cower in my presence. I hurry back to that conference room for no other reason than to watch this woman in action. It's the first time since I started GEH that I feel an equal exchange of power in a business setting and while that would have been a huge problem for me normally, with Ana, I find it to be an extension of our personal relationship.
Be it redecorating a house, planning a wedding, putting away an abuser, prosecuting a pedophile and now conquering the business world, together we make one hell of a team.