fifty-shades-of-grey

she’d look so calm and collected if she’d seen his Red Room of Pain. I flush as we passits closed door and head back downstairs to the art gallery that is Christian’s living room.Christian is reading, seated on his couch. A breathtaking aria is playing on the musicsystem, swirling round him, cocooning him, filling the room with a sweet, soulful song.For a moment, he looks serene. He turns and glances at us when we enter and smileswarmly at me.“Are you done?” he asks as if he’s genuinely interested. He points the remote at a sleekwhite box beneath the fireplace that houses his iPod, and the exquisite melody fades butcontinues in the background. Standing, he strolls towards us.“Yes, Mr. Grey. Look after her; she’s a beautiful, bright young woman.”Christian is taken aback – as am I. What an inappropriate thing for a doctor to say. Isshe giving him some kind of not so subtle warning? Christian recovers himself.“I fully intend to,” he mutters, bemused.Gazing at him, I shrug, embarrassed.“I’ll send you my bill,” she says crisply as she shakes his hand.“Good day, and good luck to you, Ana.” She smiles, her eyes crinkling as she doeswhen we shake hands.Taylor appears from nowhere to escort her through the double doors and out to theelevator. How does he do that? Where does he lurk?“How was that?” Christian asks.“Fine, thank you. She said that I had to abstain from all sexual activity for the nextfour weeks.”Christian’s mouth drops open in shock, and I cannot keep a straight face any longer andgrin at him like an idiot.“Gotcha!”He narrows his eyes, and I immediately stop laughing. In fact, he looks rather forbidding.Oh shit. My subconscious quails in the corner as all the blood drains from my face,and I imagine him putting me across his knee again.“Gotcha!” he says and smirks. He grabs me around my waist and pulls me up againsthim. “You are incorrigible, Miss Steele,” he murmurs, staring down into my eyes as heweaves his fingers into my hair, holding me firmly in place. He kisses me, hard, and I clingon to his muscular arms for support.“As much as I’d like to take you here, now, you need to eat and so do I. I don’t wantyou passing out on me later,” he murmurs against my lips.“Is that all you want me for – my body?” I whisper.“That and your smart mouth,” he breathes.He kisses me again passionately, and then abruptly releases me, taking my hand andleading me to the kitchen. I am reeling. One minute we’re joking and the next… I fanmy heated face. He’s just sex on legs, and now I have to recover my equilibrium and eatsomething. The aria is still playing in the background.“What’s the music?”“Villa Lobos, an aria from Bachianas Brasileiras. Good, isn’t it?”“Yes,” I murmur in total agreement.The breakfast bar is laid for two; Christian takes a salad bowl from the fridge.