his finger in and out as he gazes down at me, gauging my reaction, his eyes burning.

“Yes, yours,” I breathe as my desire, hot and heavy, surges through my bloodstream,

affecting… everything. My nerve endings, my breathing, my heart is pounding, trying to

leave my chest, the blood thrumming in my ears.

Abruptly, he moves, doing several things at once. Withdrawing his fingers, leaving me

wanting, unzipping his fly, and pushing me down onto the couch so he’s lying on top of me.

“Hands on your head,” he commands through gritted teeth as he kneels up, forcing my

legs wider, and reaching into the inside pocket of his jacket. He takes out a foil packet,

gazing down at me, his expression dark, before shrugging off his jacket so it falls to the

floor. He rolls the condom down over his impressive length.

I place my hands on my head, and I know it’s so I won’t touch him. I’m so turned on.

I feel my hips moving already up to meet him – wanting him inside me, like this – rough

and hard. Oh… the anticipation.

“We don’t have long. This will be quick, and it’s for me, not you. Do you understand?

Don’t come, or I will spank you,” he says through clenched teeth.

Holy crap… how do I stop?

With one swift thrust, he’s fully inside me. I groan loudly, gutturally, and revel in the

fullness of his possession. He puts his hands on mine on top of my head, his elbows hold

my arms out and down, and his legs pinion me. I am trapped. He’s everywhere, over-

whelming me, almost suffocating. But it’s heavenly too, this is my power, this is what I do

to him, and it’s a hedonistic, triumphant feeling. He moves quickly and furiously inside

me, his breathing harsh at my ear, and my body responds, melting around him. I mustn’t

come.No. But I’m meeting him thrust for thrust, a perfect counterpoint. Abruptly, and

all too soon, he rams into me and stills as he finds his release, air hissing through his teeth.

He relaxes momentarily, so I feel his entire, delicious weight on me. I’m not ready to let

him go, my body craving relief, but he’s so heavy, and in that moment, I can’t push against

him. All of a sudden, he withdraws, leaving me aching and hungry for more. He glares

down at me.

“Don’t touch yourself. I want you frustrated. That’s what you do to me by not talking

to me, by denying me what’s mine.” His eyes blaze anew, angry again.

I nod, panting. He stands and removes the condom, knotting it at the end, and puts it

in his pants pocket. I gaze at him, my breathing still erratic, and involuntarily I squeeze

my thighs together, trying to find some relief. Christian does up his fly and runs his hand

through his hair as he reaches down to collect his jacket. He turns back to gaze down at

me, his expression softer.

“We’d better get back to the house.”

I sit up, a little unsteadily, dazed.

“Here. You may put these on.”

From his inside pocket, he produces my panties. I don’t grin as I take them from him,

but inside I know – I’ve taken a punishment fuck but gained a small victory over the pant-

ies. My inner goddess nods in agreement, a satisfied grin over her face – You didn’t have

to ask for them.

“CHRISTIAN!” Mia shouts from the floor below.

He turns and raises his eyebrows at me.

“Just in time. Christ, she can be really irritating.”

I scowl back at him, hastily restore my panties to their rightful place, and stand with

as much dignity as I can muster in my just-fucked state. Quickly, I attempt to smooth my

just-fucked hair.

“Up here, Mia,” he calls down. “Well, Miss Steele, I feel better for that – but I still

want to spank you,” he says softly.

“I don’t believe I deserve it Mr. Grey, especially after tolerating your unprovoked at-

tack.”

“Unprovoked? You kissed me.” He tries his best to look wounded.

I purse my lips.

“It was attack as the best form of defense.”

“Defense against what?”

“You and your twitchy palm.”

He cocks his head to one side and smiles at me as Mia comes clattering up the stairs.

“But it was tolerable?” he asks softly.

I flush.

“Barely,” I whisper, but I can’t help my smirk.

“Oh, there you are.” She beams at us.

“I was showing Anastasia around.” Christian holds his hand out to me, his gray eyes

intense.

I put my hand into his, and he gives it a soft squeeze.

“Kate and Elliot are about to leave. Can you believe those two? They can’t keep their

hands off each other.” Mia feigns disgust and looks from Christian to me. “What have you

been doing in here?”

Jeez, she’s forward. I blush scarlet.

“Showing Anastasia my rowing trophies,” Christian says without missing a beat, com-

pletely poker-faced. “Let’s go say goodbye to Kate and Elliot.”

Rowing trophies?He pulls me gently in front of him, and as Mia turns to go, he swats

my behind. I gasp in surprise.

“I will do it again, Anastasia, and soon,” he threatens quietly close to my ear, then he

pulls me into an embrace, my back to his front, and kisses my hair.

Back in the house, Kate and Elliot are making their farewells to Grace and Mr. Grey. Kate

hugs me hard.

“I need to speak to you about antagonizing Christian,” I hiss quietly in her ear as she

embraces me.

“He needs antagonizing, then you can see what he’s really like. Be careful, Ana – he’s

so controlling,” she whispers. “See you later.”

I KNOW WHAT HE’S REALLY LIKE – YOU DON’T!– I scream at her in my head.

I’m fully aware that her actions come from a good place, but sometimes she just oversteps

the mark, and right now so far that she’s into the neighboring state. I scowl at her, and she

pokes her tongue out at me, making me smile unwillingly. Playful Kate is novel, must be

Elliot’s influence. We wave them off at the doorway, and Christian turns to me.

“We should go too – you have interviews tomorrow.”

Mia embraces me warmly as we say our goodbyes.

“We never thought he’d find anyone!” she gushes.

I flush, and Christian rolls his eyes again. I purse my lips. Why can he do that when

I can’t? I want to roll my eyes back at him, but I do not dare, not after his threat in the

boathouse.

“Take care of yourself, Ana, dear,” Grace says kindly.

Christian, embarrassed or frustrated by the lavish attention I’m receiving from the re-

maining Greys, grabs my hand and pulls me to his side.

“Let’s not frighten her away or spoil her with too much affection,” he grumbles.

“Christian, stop teasing.” Grace scolds him indulgently, her eyes glowing with love

and affection for him.

Somehow, I don’t think he’s teasing. I surreptitiously watch their interaction. It’s

obvious Grace adores him with a mother’s unconditional love. He bends and kisses her

stiffly.

“Mom,” he says, and there’s an undercurrent in his voice – reverence maybe?

“Mr. Grey – goodbye and thank you.” I hold out my hand to him, and he hugs me too!

“Please, call me Carrick. I do hope we see you again, very soon, Ana.”

Our farewells said, Christian leads me to the car where Taylor is waiting. Has he been

waiting here the whole time?Taylor opens my door, and I slide into the back of the Audi.

I feel some of the tension leaving my shoulders. Jeez, what a day. I am exhausted,

physically and emotionally. After a brief conversation with Taylor, Christian clambers into

the car beside me. He turns to face me.

“Well, it seems my family likes you, too,” he murmurs.

Too?The depressing thought about how I came to be invited pops unbidden and very