fifty-shades-of-grey

“Impatient as ever, Miss Steele.”“Well, I could ask you what you thought of the weather today?”He smiles, and his long fingers reach down to collect an olive. He pops it in his mouth,and my eyes linger on his mouth, that mouth, that’s been on me… all parts of me. I flush.“I thought the weather was particularly unexceptional today,” he smirks.“Are you smirking at me, Mr. Grey?”“I am, Miss Steele.”“You know this contract is legally unenforceable.”“I am fully aware of that, Miss Steele.”“Were you going to tell me that at any point?”He frowns at me.“You’d think I’d coerce you into something you don’t want to do, and then pretend thatI have a legal hold over you?”“Well… yes.”“You don’t think very highly of me at all, do you?”“You haven’t answered my question.”“Anastasia, it doesn’t matter if it’s legal or not. It represents an arrangement that Iwould like to make with you – what I would like from you and what you can expect fromme. If you don’t like it, then don’t sign. If you do sign, and then decide you don’t like it,there are enough get-out clauses so you can walk away. Even if it were legally binding, doyou think I’d drag you through the courts if you did decide to run?”I take a long draft of my wine. My subconscious taps me hard on the shoulder. Youmust keep your wits about you. Don’t drink too much.“Relationships like this are built on honesty and trust,” he continues. “If you don’ttrust me – trust me to know how I’m affecting you, how far I can go with you, how far Ican take you – if you can’t be honest with me, then we really can’t do this.”Oh my, we’ve cut to the chase quickly. How far he can take me. Holy shit. What doesthat mean?“So it’s quite simple, Anastasia. Do you trust me or not?” His eyes are burning, fervent.“Did you have similar discussions with um… the fifteen?”“No.”“Why not?”“Because they were all established submissives. They knew what they wanted out ofa relationship with me and generally what I expected. With them, it was just a question offine-tuning the soft limits, details like that.”“Is there a store you go to? Submissives R Us?”He laughs.“Not exactly.”“Then how?”“Is that what you want to discuss? Or shall we get down to the nitty-gritty? Your issues,as you say.”I swallow. Do I trust him? Is that what this all comes down to – trust? Surely thatshould be a two-way thing. I remember his snit when I phoned José.