Author's Note: Tomorrow's a big travel day, so I might not be able to post for a day or two. Someone asked how many chapters this story will have, so I'll answer for everyone, in case you're wondering. If I follow the outline, it'll be 74, but once we're in the midst of the drama, I might stretch it out because I want to keep the chapters short. I don't envision getting up to 80 chapters. Enjoy!

Chapter 5: Breakfast with the Grey Wolf, Part 2

"OK, I'll repeat my question, Princess," Christian said. "Why do you personally feel offended by this manuscript?"

Anastasia replied, "Honestly, it's much more information than any submissive should ever even consider giving away about her Dominant. She doesn't just out you, Sir. She completely disrespects you in a way that no true submissive ever would. She's spent the first half of the book giving the reader a real respect for the mind of a submissive, but then she blows that all to hell, revealing things she never should have told anyone. She tells the reader, a stranger, about very personal things that should have only ever remained between the two of you. But then, your subs do have a habit of sharing too much information about their experiences with you."

She realized too late that she shouldn't have added that personal comment, so she quickly continued, "Anyway, in Chapter Thirteen, she writes about how you renewed the contract, and then the rest of that chapter is about your break-up. Umm… that's how she describes it… when you ended the contract… as a break-up. That's how she saw it."

"Shit," Christian muttered. "I don't break up with subs. You have to have a relationship to have a break-up. They were contracts."

"You do realize that you can have both a relationship and a contract," BB reminded Christian tiredly. It was a common argument between them.

Christian insisted, "I did NOT have a relationship with any of my former submissives. I made it clear to every one of them that I didn't do romance."

"Yes, Sir," Anastasia acknowledged. "I understand how you see it because I read your contract in Chapter Eight, so I think you made it clear how you saw your arrangement with her. But she obviously didn't see it the same way, and she thought, from the beginning, that she could change your mind. She thought she was succeeding when you agreed to renew her contract. Apparently, you'd never done that before. To my knowledge, you haven't done it since then. The Grey Wolf never keeps the same sub beyond three months; everyone knows that. At least, everyone I know at Down Under knows that."

"Usually, three months is too long," Christian admitted.

BB just sighed and shook his head. His friend was just so damn fucked up.

Anastasia didn't know how to respond. Christian's refusal to consider a relationship was the very reason why she could never consider subbing for him, but she wasn't ready to tell him that. She didn't need to tell him, anyway. Instead, she focused on the manuscript.

"Chapters Fourteen through Eighteen are all about Leila's broken heart and how she tried to recover from… umm… how you ended things with her. She went on to have three more Doms after you, but none of them satisfied her. The last two chapters… I'm not really sure what to call them. She sounds crazy but determined. She writes a lot of stream of consciousness… what most people would consider ramblings. The writing style is so different from the beginning of the book that I'm not sure she wrote it all herself. I have serious doubts. The closer to the end she gets, the more delusional she sounds. She is determined to get you back. You, Mr. Grey, not any of the other Doms she had before or after you. The Grey Wolf." Anastasia used finger quotes to add, "'The only Dom who ever satisfied me yet always left me aching for more.' Her words."

"Damn," BB commented.

"Shut up, Bear," Christian warned him. He shifted in his chair, hoping Anastasia didn't realize that he was trying to relieve the pressure from his aching erection that had just gotten a lot harder, imagining Anastasia saying those words to him about herself. God, he wanted her. He had to have her.

Focus, Grey, he reminded himself. Calling on all his control, he turned back to Anastasia and asked her, "What did you mean when you said that my subs have a habit of sharing too much about their experiences with me?"

Anastasia sighed. "I'm sorry, Sir, I really shouldn't have said that," she replied quietly.

"If you make me repeat myself again, I'm not going to be happy," Christian warned. The threat in his voice made Anastasia feel even more aroused. Being in his presence was in itself an aphrodisiac, but add the threat of a punishment to the mix, and she was a trembling mess. God she wanted him. If only!

For a moment, Anastasia considered pushing Christian just to see if he would punish her. But she knew better. The only person likely to punish her was BB, her trainer and protector. She didn't belong to the Grey Wolf, so he wouldn't lay a hand on her. He would never touch her unless they had a contract first. And she knew damn well that it was never going to happen.

Anastasia was blushing deeply as she answered Christian's question. She admitted, "I've been at Down Under, in the ladies' room, on more than one occasion, when your subs were there, talking about you. They often give the new girl advice for how to keep you and... umm... get things from you. I'm sorry, Sir. I don't like the way they treat you."

Christian looked at her, dumbfounded. While he found her blush endearing, he needed to understand her words. "My subs? Who do you mean?" he asked.

Anastasia's blush only deepened, but she was very forthcoming with her answer. "Girls you've played with at Down Under. I've seen you, Sir. You know I've seen you because you've seen me too. A few weeks later, I'll see the same girl that you've been playing with for a few weeks. She'll be in the ladies' room, along with one or two others I recognize from months ago, talking about you with a new girl. Then that same night, I'll see you with the new girl. They're all very supportive of one another, but they have no business at… they aren't really… I'm sorry, Sir, I've said too much."

Surprisingly, the look BB was giving her was not disapproval. He actually looked proud of her.

"They aren't really what, Anastasia?" Christian prompted.

"They aren't really submissives, Sir," she answered. "Those women are… trained. But it's not like the training BB has given me. They aren't being trained to be submissives. They're being trained to act like submissives, or at least a certain type of submissive. Your type. There's a difference. It's easy to recognize if you're really a submissive."

"It's easy to recognize if you're a Dominant, too, Anastasia," Christian admitted, as much to himself as to her.

Anastasia looked shocked. "What? You mean, you knew?"

BB was equally shocked. "Are you serious, Grey? You're finally admitting they're as fake as their tits?"

Christian sighed. He told BB, "I'm realizing that you might be right, OK? I knew that none of them satisfied me. Elena's subs haven't satisfied me in a long time. And she said it was me, that I was… No, now I fucking know, it's not just me." He turned back to Anastasia and told her gratefully, "Princess, you just put into words something I've been unable to make sense of until now."

"She's evil, Sir," Anastasia said venomously before she could stop herself.

"Who?" Christian asked curiously.

"Ana…," BB warned.

Anastasia answered Christian, "Mistress Elena. I'm sorry, Sir. I know she's your friend… or something… but…" When Anastasia saw the dark look on Christian's face, she knew she'd screwed up. B.B. had warned her never to question the Grey Wolf's strange friendship with Mistress Elena, but she let her emotions overcome her. "I'm truly sorry, Mr. Grey. I know better, and I won't say anything else about your friend. B.B. warned me, and I disobeyed him."

Christian's dark look disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared and was replaced by a smile. "Oh, good!" he said excitedly as he turned to BB. "Does this mean I get to watch you punish her? If so, I suggest that you remove her panties this time. I mean, seriously, how can you see how red her ass is if you keep her panties on her? And if you insist on leaving them on her, you could at least make it a thong."

"In your dreams, Grey," BB muttered, but his smirk made it clear that he wasn't offended.

Christian shot back, "No, in my dreams, I'd be punishing her myself, right before I fuck her."

Anastasia's face was as red as a beet, and she couldn't have looked at Christian even if she had wanted to. She stared at her plate, playing with the eggs, trying to make sense of that comment.

"Grey, nothing has changed," BB told him tiredly. "My girl still wants what my girl wants. And you're still the Grey Wolf."

"Fuck the Grey Wolf," Christian spat. "I want her, Bear. Hell, I'll let her write the damn contract herself. I'll give her every damn thing she wants. All of it. I'll even send her fucking flowers and take her out on dates. We can have a date night. Hell, we can double date with you and Jose."

BB snorted. "Flowers, Grey? Have you ever sent a woman flowers in your life?"

Christian answered honestly, "No, but there's a first time for everything. She wants a relationship. I get that. I've never had that, but I'm willing to do it. More than willing. I want it, too. You know that I'm sick of Elena's shit, and I don't want it anymore. I want something different. And I know I want Princess Rose. I want her more than anything. So let's do things her way. I'm ready. I'm all in."

BB didn't look convinced, but he decided for the first time to ask Anastasia, to give her a say in choosing her future Dom. As her protector, he hadn't allowed her to consider this question in the past because he knew Christian hadn't been serious about doing more with her than he'd ever done with any of those other women. BB knew that Anastasia was attracted to the Grey Wolf, and she would have given herself to him months ago if BB had allowed it. But she would have only gotten hurt. If BB had allowed Christian to do things with Ana like he'd done them with every other submissive he'd ever had, Christian would have chewed her up and spit her out, and she would have been ruined. BB would never allow that to happen to his baby girl.

But now? Maybe forcing Christian to wait all of these months had worked its magic. BB knew Christian well enough to know that if Christian said he was all in, he meant it. He was willing to do romance for the first time in his life. And flowers? Damn. That would be interesting to see.

"Well, baby girl, here's your chance," BB told Anastasia. "You heard it from his own mouth. The Grey Wolf wants to not only dominate you, but he also wants a relationship with you. What do you think about that?"

Anastasia looked skeptical. "The Grey Wolf doesn't do relationships," she responded.

"You'll be the first," Christian admitted.

Anastasia was bewildered. As much as she wanted him, she didn't believe what she was hearing. "But… the Grey Wolf doesn't do intimacy," she reminded him.

"I'll… do intimacy… with you," Christian promised awkwardly. "With some restrictions. But we can lay all of that out in the contract." He didn't want to go into detail right now about his touch issues. He had no idea how this was going to work, but he wanted it.

Anastasia felt hopeful, but she was also afraid to let those hopes grow too much. "But… are you capable of intimacy?" she asked worriedly. She wasn't trying to be disrespectful. She was trying to protect her own heart.

Christian felt more frustrated than he'd ever felt in his life. Yes, goddam it! He was capable of intimacy with a woman. And it occurred to him just how to prove that to her, but in their lifestyle, there were strict rules about such things. Plus, he'd never done it before.

"Can I kiss her?" he asked BB. Christian knew he needed permission from her protector before touching her.

BB looked shocked, but he didn't express his surprise. Instead, he answered, "That's fine with me if it's fine with her."

Christian slid his chair closer to Anastasia. "Let me kiss you, Princess. I'll show you how intimate I can be."

Anastasia wanted to feel Christian's lips on her own more than anything. She glanced at his perfect mouth, and parted her own lips.

Christian took that as affirmation and didn't waste a moment. He took what he wanted. As his lips locked with hers, his hands held hers in place, and he made love to her mouth. God, it felt amazing. Why had he never done this before? It occurred to him that he'd never met a woman he actually wanted to kiss before Anastasia. And now that he'd tasted her lips, he knew he could easily get addicted.