Fifty Shades Trilogy 01 - Fifty Shades of Grey

subconscious sneers at me. Yes, I want to be in Christian Grey’s bed.
    “Here.” He hands me a glass of wine. Even the glasses are rich… heavy, contemporary, crystal. I take a sip, and the wine is light, crisp, and delicious.
    “You’re very quiet, and you’re not even blushing. In fact, I think this is the palest I’ve ever seen you, Anastasia,” he murmurs. “Are you hungry?”
    I shake my head. Not for food.
    “It’s a very big place you have here.”
    “Big?”
    “Big.”
    “It’s big,” he agrees, and his eyes glow with amusement. I take another sip of wine.
    “Do you play?” I point my chin at the piano.
    “Yes.”
    “Well?”
    “Yes.”
    “Of course you do. Is there anything you can’t do well?”
    “Yes… a few things.” He takes a sip of his wine. He doesn’t take his eyes off me. I feel them following me as I turn and glance around this vast room. Room is the wrong word. It’s not a room – it’s a mission statement.
    “Do you want to sit?”
    I nod, and he takes my hand and leads me to the large off-white couch. As I sit, I’m struck by the fact that I feel like Tess Durbeyfield looking at the new house that belongs to the notorious Alec D’Urberville. The thought makes me smile.
    “What’s so amusing?” He sits down beside me, turning to face me. He rests his head on his right hand, his elbow propped on the back of the couch.
    “Why did you give me Tess of the D’Urbervilles specifically?” I ask. Christian stares at me for a moment. I think he’s surprised by my question.
    “Well, you said you liked Thomas Hardy.”
    “Is that the only reason?” Even I can hear the disappointment in my voice. His mouth presses into a hard line.
    “It seemed appropriate. I could hold you to some impossibly high ideal like Angel Clare or debase you completely like Alec D’Urberville,” he murmurs, and his gray eyes flash dark and dangerous.
    “If there are only two choices, I’ll take the debasement.” I whisper, gazing at him. My subconscious is staring at me in awe. He gasps.
    “Anastasia, stop biting your lip, please. It’s very distracting. You don’t know what you’re saying.”
    “That’s why I’m here.”
    He frowns.
    “Yes. Would you excuse me for a moment?” He disappears through a wide doorway on the far side of the room. He’s gone for a couple of minutes and returns with a document.
    “This is a nondisclosure agreement.” He shrugs and has the grace to look a little embarrassed. “My lawyer insists on it.” He hands it to me. I’m completely bemused. “If you’re going for option two, debasement, you’ll need to sign this.”
    “And if I don’t want to sign anything?”
    “Then it’s Angel Clare high ideals, well, for most of the book anyway.”
    “What does this agreement mean?”
    “It means you cannot disclose anything about us. Anything, to anyone.”
    I stare at him in disbelief. Holy shit. It’s bad, really bad, and now I’m very curious to know.
    “Okay. I’ll sign.”
    He hands me a pen.
    “Aren’t you even going to read it?”
    “No.”
    He frowns.
    “Anastasia, you should always read anything you sign,” he admonishes me.
    “Christian, what you fail to understand is that I wouldn’t talk about us to anyone, anyway. Even Kate. So it’s immaterial whether I sign an agreement or not. If it means so much to you, or your lawyer… whom you obviously talk to, then fine. I’ll sign.”
    He gazes down at me, and he nods gravely.
    “Fair point well made, Miss Steele.”
    I lavishly sign on the dotted line of both copies and hand one back to him. Folding the other, I place it my purse and take a large swig of my wine. I’m sounding so much braver than I’m actually feeling.
    “Does this mean you’re going to make love to me tonight, Christian?” Holy shit. Did I just say that? His mouth drops open slightly, but he recovers quickly.
    “No, Anastasia it doesn’t. Firstly, I don’t make love. I fuck… hard. Secondly, there’s a lot more paperwork to do, and thirdly, you don’t yet know what you’re in for. You could still run for the hills. Come, I want to show you my playroom.”
    My mouth drops open. Fuck hard! Holy shit, that sounds so… hot. But why are we looking at a playroom? I am mystified.
    “You want to play on your Xbox?” I ask. He laughs, loudly.
    “No, Anastasia, no Xbox, no Playstation. Come.” He stands, holding out his hand. I let him lead me back out to the corridor. On the right of the