Chapter 24: Seattle's Most Eligible Bachelor is Officially Off the Market

Various media outlets on Saturday morning:

Hearts are breaking across the nation today as we learn that last night, one of Seattle's most eligible bachelors was spotted at an event with a beautiful brunette on his arm. Until last night, Christian Grey, known by many as the "youngest self-made billionaire in the world," had never been seen in public with a date. Inquiring minds want to know… who is she?

Well, ladies (and gentlemen), the news is out. Christian Grey has a GIRLFRIEND! Yes, and you read it here first. Last night, Seattle's sexiest business mogul was seen attending a fundraiser with the lovely Anastasia Steele, owner of a local publishing company, on his arm. Apparently, the two are an item now. Stay tuned for more spicy tidbits about Christiastasia.

Stop the press! Christian Grey is straight? No, say it isn't so! What's to become of our little fan club if our hero is a straight man? And if he's really straight, why did he wait so long to take a girl out in public? I, for one, am holding out hope that this was some kind of publicity stunt, and that Anastasia Steele is his beard. If that's the case, I have a message for Mr. Grey. This is the 21st Century, hot stuff. You don't need to hide who you really are. Come out and play with us!

News is now out about the love life of one of Seattle's most private young billionaires. Christian Grey, the founder and CEO of GEH, has never given the public any information about his love life. Until last night, nothing was known of the mysterious mogul apart from his spectacular rise in the business world. Christian Grey's beautiful date to last night's Gates Foundation fundraiser was Anastasia Steele, the founder and CEO of a small independent publishing house, Bennington Steele.

Who is Anastasia Steele? Last night, the pretty brunette had the attention of all of Seattle as she graced the arm of billionaire Christian Grey, otherwise known as Seattle's most eligible bachelor. Is Mr. Grey officially off the market? If so, we wish him and Anastasia all the best, and we think they look good together.

What's the deal with this nobody named Anastasia Steele and her supposed big date with tall dark and handsome (and mega wealthy) Christian Grey? I mean, has anybody out there ever heard of her before she showed up looking like a bottle of Pepto Bismol in her fake Jimmy Choos? I mean, seriously, I only have two questions? How much is he paying her to pose as his girlfriend, and why does he think he needs a pretend girlfriend?

Seattle is buzzing with news of Christian Grey's night out, and everyone wants to know who that lady in pink on his arm was. We found out what we hope to be a love story in the making. Anastasia Steele is her name, and she was raised by her single father, Raymond Steele. Anastasia spent her childhood moving around due to her father's military career. Her father retired in 2009, finally settling in Montesano, Washington. Anastasia attended the local high school and became close friends with classmate Jose Rodrigues. The two of them later attended Washington State University and moved to Seattle after graduation. If you've been keeping up with Seattle social news, you'll recognize the name of photographer Jose Rodrigues, husband of BB Bennington, of Bennington Investments. Christian Grey is often seen dining at the Mile High Club with BB and Beatrice Bennington. It's clear that BB and Jose were the ones to introduce Christian and Anastasia. This is not a "beauty for hire,"as some have rumored. This is friends setting up friends with other compatible friends. And why not? Why shouldn't Christian Grey find happiness, too? Did we really believe he was above it, just because he's a billionaire who lives in a mansion in the sky, in the Escala penthouse? And why shouldn't his happiness be with Anastasia Steele, a beautiful and intelligent fellow Seattle business leader? No folks, let's wish them happiness as we watch their love story unfold.

"Wow, this last one has a lot of detail about my life," Anastasia commented as she read the posts that Christian had allowed her to. There were others that painted her more negatively that he hadn't permitted her to see. "How did they find out all of this information in such a short time?"

Christian shrugged. "They probably know a lot more than that. This information isn't that hard to find."

"My single father?" she questioned. "If my mother reads any of this stuff, she's probably going to want an interview just because she'll feel jealous. Anyway… this one knows stuff about you, too, like the fact that you live here."

"It's not a secret that I live in the Escala penthouse," Christian told her. "That's been mentioned in social news before, too."

"Do you really have a gay fan club?" Anastasia asked him amusedly.

"Apparently I do," he replied with a smirk. "I've never done anything to make people think I'm gay, but I never denied the rumors either because I didn't really give a fuck if they thought I was gay. I obviously don't have anything against gay people."

Anastasia revealed, "BB told me the story of how you became friends because you protected him when he came out and got bullied."

"Did he now?" he asked amusedly. "Did he also tell you about all the times he hit on me?"

"He admitted he had a huge crush on you, but that he got over it," she replied.

"He didn't have a choice," Christian told her. "He realized he couldn't turn me, so he gave up. Anyway… this is only the beginning, Princess. We knew this was coming. You're going to be followed anywhere you go now. Paparazzi are going to contact you at work. They're going to keep pushing until you give them what they want. They're going to offer you money to tell your story."

"I'll never tell them shit," she vowed. "Anything that gets told about us will come from you. We talked about this already. I haven't changed my mind, now that everything we expected to happen has happened."

"So, you're fine with the press statement as it stands?" he confirmed.

"I'm fine with anything you choose to say to the press, Christian," she answered. "Because you're my Dominant, and your job is to protect me, and I trust you to do that."

He just stared at her in awe. He'd never really known what he wanted in a submissive until now. And now he knew… it was her. He wanted Anastasia. She was the only one who would do.

When they had arrived back at his penthouse after the fundraiser, Christian had taken her into his bedroom once again. For some reason, he really liked having her in here. And he had insisted on continuing in "the friend zone," which meant simply that she would call him Christian and talk freely. He was still her Dominant, even in this zone, so she continued to obey him.

Christian had spent several more hours exploring Anastasia's body, finding out which parts of her body were most sensitive and which sex toys she liked most. She had been tied to the bed posts the majority of that time, which she didn't mind at all. Being restrained was one of her kinks.

He'd given her half a dozen more orgasms in his bed, and each time, he'd insisted that she look in his eyes and call out his name. The first time he heard her calling out, "Yes, Christian! Oh, God, yes, Christian!" he almost came prematurely. She was so damn hot, and hearing his name on her lips made him feel things he couldn't understand.

It was during these very intense emotional moments that he began calling her "Ana." He chanted her name like a prayer as he pounded into her, reaching his own climax. And then, finally, when he was completely spent and she couldn't keep her eyes open, he released her arms and spooned her.

They slept like that for the entire night, with her nestled in his arms. They were both naked. Christian had never had sex with a submissive in his own bed before Anastasia. He had never had sex while completely naked before Anastasia. He had never slept in a bed with a woman before Anastasia. Now, he was doing all of those things, and it partly scared the hell out of him and partly felt more amazing than he'd ever known it could. He pushed away his fears and went with it.

Then, the next morning, Christian was the first to wake up. He'd remembered the night before to close the black-out shades since they'd gone to sleep so late, and he wanted Anastasia to be able to sleep in Saturday morning. He hadn't expected that he himself would sleep in again, like yesterday, when he'd overslept and been late to work.

When he opened his eyes, he realized a few things that shocked the hell out of him. One, he felt rested. Two, he hadn't had a nightmare. Three, it was 11:03 a.m. Four, Anastasia's face and hand were both touching his chest. Five, the only painful sensation he felt anywhere in his body was in his dick because he'd slept the entire night without emptying his bladder. Six, he LIKED the feeling of Anastasia slumbering on his chest. Seven, he liked the experience of waking up with Anastasia in his bed. Eight, he wanted Anastasia to move in with him and live here permanently.

Holy shit, he thought to himself, what was happening to him? Whatever it was, he liked it and didn't want it to stop. Of course, he knew he couldn't ask her to move in. That was just wishful thinking. It was much too soon to think about that. Six months too soon.

Carefully, he got out of bed, trying hard not to disturb his sleeping beauty. He went into the bathroom and emptied his bladder, washed his hands, and brushed his teeth. Back in the bedroom, he checked to make sure Anastasia was still sleeping. She was, so he checked his text messages.

Shit, he had about two dozen messages from Taylor, Welch, and Felicity Winters, who led his publicity team. He'd been expecting this, but he still didn't like it. The statement about him and Ana would need to go out today, but it could wait. He would talk things over with her after she woke up before he gave any directives about it.

Ana still hadn't budged, so he decided to make her breakfast in bed. Well, he wasn't actually going to cook. That's what he had a housekeeper for. It was Gail's day off, but that wasn't a problem. She always left plenty of food in his refrigerator for him to reheat over the weekend. Sure enough, he found a quiche loraine, some already cut up fruit, and some blueberry muffins. He heated the quiche while boiling water to make Anastasia's tea. He brewed a cup of coffee for himself, and arranged everything on a tray. Twenty minutes after leaving the bedroom, he returned with breakfast for both of them.

Anastasia had rolled over, and the duvet no longer covered the upper half of her naked body. Those pretty pink nipples called out for Christian's attention, and he didn't ignore them. Setting the tray down on the table in the sitting area, Christian got on the bed and wasted no time licking and sucking Anastasia's nipples.

"Mmm… What a way to wake up," Anastasia mumbled.

Christian kissed up her body, from her breasts to her neck, and then to her lips. Anastasia turned her head just as he almost kissed her mouth.

"What are you doing?" Christian asked her angrily. His submissive wasn't allowing him to kiss her? What the fuck?

"Morning breath," she explained. "I need to brush my teeth first."

Christian pushed himself up and pinned her arms down with both of his strong hands. "Anastasia. I have licked every inch of your delectable body. I have had my tongue in your asshole. And you're denying me your mouth? I don't think so, little girl. You will not deny me anything I want anytime I want it. Is that clear?"

Completely subdued, and turned on by his Dominant tone, Anastasia replied apologetically, "I'm sorry, Sir. You're right. I wasn't thinking clearly."

Christian continued pinning her arms down as he leaned towards her face and kissed her lips, forcing his tongue inside her mouth and halfway down her throat, then easing off to make love to her mouth. He marveled at how good it felt to kiss her like this, morning breath or not.

Then, the thought occurred to him… she'd been touching his chest when he woke up that morning. Was it safe to move his hands from her arms, so she would be unrestrained? Was it safe to NOT tie her up when he fucked her? Was it safe for her to touch him when they were fucking?

There was no time like the present to test his theory. Holding onto her, Christian rolled over in the bed, pulling her on top of him. Now, she was the one straddling him, and he had a fantastic view of her tits. Without explaining anything to Anastasia, Christian took one of her hands, which he was still holding tightly, and placed it directly onto his naked chest. He waited for the burn, bracing himself so he wouldn't hurt her by reacting to it. Sure enough, it never came! Anastasia could touch him! And he liked the feel of her soft hands on his body!

"Wha…?" Anastasia wanted to ask him what was going on.

"Shhh," he stopped her. "Don't speak, Princess, unless it's crying out my name when you come. Ride me. Ride me hard. You have permission to touch me, to use my name, to come. You can touch my chest, Princess. I want you to."

Anastasia wasn't sure she was hearing him correctly. He'd made such a big deal over the fact that she couldn't touch his chest or back, where those little red scars were. But now, he wanted her to. He was asking her to.

She didn't hold back. Lowering herself so his very hard dick slipped inside her wet channel, she began to push herself up and down. He wanted her to ride him hard, so that's exactly what she did, using his chest for leverage. He let go of her hands and let her touch him freely while he played with her nipples.

"Oh my God, Christian!" she cried as her orgasm hit her hard.

"Keep riding, and play with my nipples the way I'm playing with yours," he ordered her.

Christian had never had anyone touch his nipples before, so he hadn't known just how sensual that would be. It was as if they had a direct connection to his dick, so when Anastasia rubbed them, his dick got impossibly harder, and he had the most explosive orgasm of his entire life.

"Holy shit!" he cried, panting hard to catch his breath.

And then… he'd had enough. He felt overwhelmed with emotions he couldn't understand. She could touch him! Could she lick his nipples the way he liked licking hers? That was another theory to test another day. For now… his brain was on overdrive.

"Our breakfast is getting cold," he told Anastasia, which only confused her more. She was waiting for him to explain what had come over him this morning, but no explanation came.

Instead, they got up. She went into the bathroom to use the toilet and brush her teeth. He went over to the seating area and waited for her, still processing this new sensation he could still feel in his nipples and dick.

Anastasia came and sat down beside him. She continued to wait for him to explain, and they ate their breakfast mostly in silence. Finally, she couldn't stand it any longer.

"Christian… this is still friend time, right? I mean, you haven't stopped me from calling you 'Christian.' So… I think it's OK for me to ask you what's going on. I thought I wasn't supposed to ever touch your chest. What's happening?"

Christian sighed. How did he begin to explain things to her?

"I'll tell you, Ana, but give me time, OK? Later. I'll tell you later. Right now, we have something else we need to talk about. I need to send out the publicity statement about us. And I thought, before I do that, you might want to read what's being printed about us."

Christian proceeded to show her a few of the idiotic things people were saying about them online. They both groaned when they read their new name: Christiastasia. Complete lunacy. Anastasia didn't think she'd ever read anything so ridiculous.

They went over the press statement again, making sure it was worded the way they both wanted. Then, Christian gave the green light to Felicity Winters, who sent it out a few minutes later. They kept it short and sweet, very simply acknowledging that they were in a relationship, nothing more.