Author's Note: Several of you were cringing as you read that last chapter. I think probably most of us wouldn't appreciate the type of humiliation that Anastasia gets off on. But she does like it, and she would safe word if he pushed her too far. Anyway, I think you'll like this chapter, which brings a bit of balance.


Chapter 20: Becoming Friends

"That's five… Master," Anastasia panted. She'd hoped her Dom would be generous with orgasms, but she hadn't expected him to make her keep count from the time they entered the penthouse. He'd taken her to his master bedroom again, into the gigantic shower where they'd already had their first orgasms of the day together that morning. And now, he'd just given her five more in the past half hour. And she was very close to passing out.

"Enough?" Christian asked, knowing that she had reached her limit and wasn't going to be able to keep standing much longer. He turned off the shower and got out, pulling her gently with him. Grabbing a towel from the heated drying rack, he towel-dried her hair and then moved down her body, being more gentle than he'd been all day. He knew her body was sore and exhausted.

"Thank you," Anastasia told him tiredly.

Christian smirked. "You're welcome, Princess, but I'm not sure if you're thanking me for all the orgasms or for stopping. If you haven't had enough, don't worry, I'm not finished for the day. You'll get more later. I'm feeling especially generous, what with our first date coming up and all. We need to get dressed, but we need to talk first."

Christian realized two things. One, Anastasia had needed and wanted the Dominance that he'd just shown her. And two, since their date to the fundraiser was fast approaching, he needed to get them both in a different head space to be ready for the evening. This, however, was new territory for him, as he'd never taken a submissive out to an event like this before. He wasn't sure where to begin, but he also knew what he'd committed himself to, and he wanted it.

In the bedroom, he sat down on the sofa in the sitting area near the window. Anastasia started to kneel at his feet, but he tugged her hand so she sat on the sofa next to him. She kept her eyes downcast.

"Look at me, Anastasia," Christian told her, and she obeyed immediately. "I need your help right now, Princess," Christian admitted.

Anastasia was surprised. "Of course, Sir. How can I help?"

Christian told her, "Remember this morning, when I admitted I don't know what I'm doing? That's where we are right now." He was amazed at himself for admitting it to her just like that. It was a first. But it was in their agreement to be this open with each other, and he wanted to try things this way. It was exciting and new.

Anastasia was confused, which caused the wrinkle between her eyes to appear again, which caused Christian to rub it gently with a smirk. "You're so cute when you're confused, Princess."

"I'm sorry, Sir, but you've just shown me that you know very much what you're doing. You're an excellent Dominant. And you're by far the best lover I've ever had. I'm… very satisfied, Sir."

Christian was happy to hear that. "Well, Princess, we aim to please." Then, more seriously, he explained, "I've only ever had submissives who stayed in their mind space as submissives the entire time I was with them. At least, that was how it was supposed to have worked. But right now, I'm getting ready to take a woman out on a date. I've never done that before, Anastasia. We're leaving for the fundraiser in a little over an hour. And you aren't my submissive tonight. I mean, you are, but you aren't."

"Oh," Anastasia responded. "You need me to get in the friend zone. Girlfriend. Should I call you Christian?"

He nodded. "Yeah, as much as I liked hearing you call me 'Master' earlier, you can't do that tonight. You need to call me 'Christian' tonight, so if it helps you get in the right mindset, go ahead and do that for the rest of the night, starting now. I mean, I won't punish you if you forget between now and the time we leave, but don't fuck up and call me anything other than Christian while we're in public tonight. And… how is this friendship thing going to work between us? I mean… how do you see it working?"

Anastasia stared at him blankly, not knowing how to answer. Finally, she said, "Um… I don't know. We… talk? We get to know each other. I know a lot about you from what's been printed. I mean besides the billionaire thing and GEH. I mean personal things. You're BB's best friend. Not that he's talked much about you. He respects your privacy. But I know you're the second child of five siblings. Your older brother's name is Elliot. I only know that because he owns a construction company, and he has commercials on TV. You have a sister named Mia who's good friends with BB's sisters, Beverly and Bethany. And two younger siblings, twins. I don't know their names."

"Carson and Gabriela," Christian supplied. "They're teenagers. She's an angel and he's a terror, a lot like I was at his age." It felt strange telling his submissive something so personal, but he didn't mind it.

"It must be nice having such a large family," Anastasia commented. "I'm an only child. For most of my life, it was just me and my dad."

"Raymond Steele," Christian said. It was a comment, not a question. He remembered the name from Anastasia's background report. He knew a lot of details about her that she probably didn't realize he knew.

"That's right," she said. "He's a retired Marine First Sergeant. He retired when I was a teenager, and we settled in Montesano. Dad built our cabin, where he still lives today, on the Chehalis River. He can fish from his own backyard, so he's happy."

"How long have you known Jose?" Christian asked. He knew they'd been friends for a long time, long before Jose had met BB.

"They were our next door neighbors when we moved to Montesano," Anastasia explained. "His dad, Jose senior, was also a retired Marine, so our dads bonded. His parents were really strict. His mom's a devoted Roman Catholic, and his dad's not all that religious, but very strict. Jose had a difficult childhood. So did I, but for different reasons. We became each other's confidantes. He's still my very best friend."

Christian felt a stab of jealousy, which was an entirely new feeling that he wasn't sure how to take. He decided to ask Anastasia a question that he'd wanted to for many months now. "Does it not feel weird for you to have your gay best friend get you off with a vibrator at Down Under?"

Anastasia shrugged, "Well, after watching all those scenes, especially yours, even with those women, and getting flogged by BB, I was always painfully horny. BB was kind to allow it. He and Jose are monogamous, so I didn't expect he would. Our arrangement was always clearly non-sexual from the start, and he'd warned me that I wouldn't be able to get off at Down Under at all until I had my own Dominant. He would allow me to masturbate, but that was it. He made me agree to it before allowing me to join Down Under. I was very relieved when he understood that I was too tired to do it myself, so he did permit Jose to help me with orgasms, even if it was with a vibrator, not Jose's cock."

Christian was surprised. "Would you have preferred his cock?" he asked.

She smirked. "I always prefer cock. And Jose has a really nice cock. Not as nice as yours, of course, but still not bad. He knows how to use it." When she saw the look on his face, she asked innocently, "What, you didn't know he was bi? He's monogamous with BB now, so it's not an issue."

"You're telling me that you and Jose… you've fucked? And BB still allowed him to be alone with you in his private room, giving you aftercare that included orgasms with a vibrator?"

She nodded. "It's called trust, Christian. Jose and I both tell BB everything. He knows he can trust us both. I would never fuck Jose again, mainly because he belongs to BB and I belong to you now. But in the past, we did. A lot. Both of us discovered sex with each other. We experimented with each other through most of our teenage years. Jose's the one who taught me how to deep throat, among other things. And I taught him things he doesn't really need to know now that his life partner is a man, but it doesn't matter."

"It sounded very natural when you called me 'Christian' just now. I liked it." His mind was still reeling from this new information, but he decided to focus on more pleasant things.

She smiled because she liked it, too. She told him, "While we're on that subject, my friends generally call me 'Ana,' so you can feel free to shorten it if you want."

"I prefer Anastasia, though," he said. "It's the name of a princess. It suits you perfectly."

She smiled at him. "So… does this feel like we're becoming friends to you?"

"It feels… strange," he admitted. "But I like it. I like getting to know you, even if you did fuck Jose. I could have done without knowing that."

"I'm sure we've both fucked people we now regret fucking," she told him. "But I don't regret fucking Jose. We needed each other at the time. He had a really difficult time as a teenager, and I could comfort him, and I needed him just as much. His parents were both abusive in different ways. He never sees them anymore. And my own life was just… lonely. I'd moved around a lot before moving to Montesano, so I didn't have any friends when I moved there. And it was just Dad and me. I needed Jose's friendship. We needed each other. We still do, but I can assure you, it's completely platonic now."

"Can I ask… what's the story with your mother?" Christian asked. He knew from her background report that Anastasia's mother, Carla Adams, lived in Savannah, Georgia with her current husband, Bob Adams.

"There's not much to tell," Anastasia answered. "She married Ray when I was just a toddler, and he adopted me. My birth father was also a Marine, but he was killed in an accident on the base the day after I was born. Anyway, Mom didn't stay married to Ray more than a few years. He was too old and boring for her, I guess. It's true that he's old enough to be her father. He could be my grandfather. He's a quiet and simple guy, and Mom wanted more excitement in her life. She also didn't want to be weighed down by an unwanted kid. So she took off and left me behind. She went through a lot more men. I'm not even sure how many times she's been married by now. I haven't talked to her since I invited her to my college graduation and she… couldn't make it. Whatever. I was better off growing up with Ray. He's a simple guy, but he's kind. He loves me. He's always made sure I was taken care of."

"I just realized something, Princess," Christian told her. "You and I have something in common. Neither of us has many friends. We both have a best friend, and they happen to be in a relationship with each other."

"A relationship that we both admire," Anastasia added with an affirming nod. "I chose to pursue the lifestyle and join Down Under because I knew I wanted a Dominant who would meet my needs the way BB meets Jose's needs. I mean, I didn't need a Dom Daddy. Jose, like I said, had a really difficult childhood, and he grew up with a lot of anxiety. Relationships were especially hard for him, and he didn't trust easily. He still doesn't. But BB just seemed to know exactly what Jose needed. He's able to somehow get inside Jose's head and know what he's thinking before Jose is able to even say a word, which is amazing because Jose has always had trouble expressing himself verbally, especially when he's intimidated, which happened often when we were kids. But BB reads him like a book and meets his needs. Their relationship is beautiful."

"I'm nothing like BB," Christian warned Anastasia.

"And I'm thankful," Anastasia added quickly. "Another gay Daddy wouldn't work for me. I already have one of those, and he's enough. I need a Master. And you're very good at dominance."

"That wasn't what I mean, and I think you know it," Christian told her.

"I know," she responded. "But… I don't expect you to be able to read me like that, not yet anyway. So far, I'm very happy with you. Relax, Christian. Let's… see where this goes."

He smiled. "You're really good at moving from submissive to friend in your headspace. I'm impressed with you as a submissive so far. And… this feels… different but interesting. I like hearing you call me 'Christian.'"

"I like saying it," she confessed. "I just hope I don't fuck up and call you 'Christian' when we're back in the Dom/sub zone. I think I might like it a little too much."

He smirked. "It would be a good reason to spank your pretty little ass. Which you seem to enjoy. Besides… I think I would like it… In fact, I know I would like it a lot… if you scream out my name when you're coming. Maybe we'll stay in the friend zone when we get back tonight. I'll fuck you in the friend zone, and you'll call me 'Christian.'"

Anastasia smiled a delighted smile. "Well… as your submissive, I say, 'if that pleases you, Sir.' And as your girlfriend, I say, 'hell yeah, I look forward to that a lot, and we can start anytime you want to." She looked pointedly at his semi-erect penis and asked, "Am I allowed to touch your dick when we're in friend zone?" She waited for his answer before daring to touch him.

Christian had not held back from ogling her naked body during the entire conversation. He was very tempted to take her up on her invitation and fuck her right there on the sofa. But she'd just had five massive orgasms in the shower, and they needed to start getting ready to go.

"No, Anastasia," he told her firmly. "Not without permission, even when we're… like this. Now… as your Dominant, I say, 'Stop topping from the bottom, little brat.' And as your boyfriend… God, that feels strange to say… Anyway, as your boyfriend, I say, 'We don't have time right now, but I'm going to fuck your brains out later.'"

"Promises, promises," Anastasia said with a seductive smile. "And for what it's worth… I realize from what you've said that you're new to all this. To be honest, so am I. I've never had this type of relationship either, but I know it's what I want. And you're doing great so far. I'm really happy with you, Christian Grey."

"That's good to know," he told her. He was feeling pretty damn happy himself, which was new. He liked this feeling, and he wanted more of it.

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked.

"Of course," he answered.

"How did you become the Grey Wolf?" she asked.

He sighed. It wasn't something he wanted to get into right now. He was enjoying being the happy boyfriend at the moment, and thinking about that asshole, and how he became himself, would make that difficult.

"It's a long story, Princess, and we don't have time right now. I'll tell you later, but not tonight. It goes back to how I got my start in the lifestyle, and then eventually became a Dominant. My own introduction to the lifestyle was very… unorthodox," Christian admitted.

"Is there an orthodox way of being introduced to the lifestyle?" she asked, somewhat rhetorically.

He smirked. "No, I guess not. Anyway, that's another story for another day. We really do need to get dressed. I have some more pretty pink things I want to put on you."