Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades #1)(97)
Author: E.L. James

Obedience:

The Submissive will obey any instructions given by The Dominant immediately without hesitation or reservation and in an expeditious manner. The Submissive will agree to any sexual activity deemed fit and pleasurable by the Dominant excepting those activities which are outlined in hard limits (Appendix A). She will do so eagerly and without hesitation.

Sleep:

The Submissive will ensure she achieves a minimum of eight seven hours sleep a night when she is not with The Dominant.

Food:

The Submissive will eat regularly to maintain her health and wellbeing from a prescribed list of foods (Appendix 4). The Submissive will not snack between meals, with the exception of fruit.

Clothes:

While with The Dominant, The Submissive will wear clothing only approved by The Dominant. The Dominant will provide a clothing budget for The Submissive, which The Submissive shall utilize. The Dominant shall accompany The Submissive to purchase clothing on an ad hoc basis.

Exercise:

The Dominant shall provide The Submissive with a personal trainer four three times a week in hour-long sessions at times to be mutually agreed between the personal trainer and The Submissive. The personal trainer will report to The Dominant on The Submissive’s progress.

Personal Hygiene/Beauty:

The Submissive will keep herself clean and shaved and/or waxed at all times. The Submissive will visit a beauty salon of The Dominant’s choosing at times to be decided by The Dominant, and undergo whatever treatments The Dominant sees fit.

Personal Safety:

The Submissive will not drink to excess, smoke, take recreational drugs or put herself in any unnecessary danger.

Personal Qualities:

The Submissive will not enter into any sexual relations with anyone other than The Dominant. The Submissive will conduct herself in a respectful and modest manner at all times. She must recognize that her behavior is a direct reflection on The Dominant. She shall be held accountable for any misdeeds, wrongdoings and misbehavior committed when not in the presence of the Dominant.

Failure to comply with any of the above will result in immediate punishment, the nature of which shall be determined by The Dominant.

"So the obedience thing still stands?"

"Oh, yes." He grins.

I shake my head amused, and before I realize it, I roll my eyes at him.

"Did you just roll your eyes at me, Anastasia?" He breathes.

Oh f**k.

"Possibly, depends what your reaction is."

"Same as always," he says, shaking his head slightly, his eyes alight with excitement.

I swallow instinctively and a frisson of exhilaration runs through me.

"So… " Holy shit. What am I going to do?

"Yes?" He licks his lower lip.

"You want to spank me now."

"Yes. And I will."

"Oh, really, Mr. Grey?" I challenge, grinning back at him. Two can play this game.

"Are you going to stop me?"

"You’re going to have to catch me first."

His eyes widen a fraction, and he grins, slowly getting to his feet.

"Oh, really, Miss Steele?"

The breakfast bar is between us. I have never been so grateful for its existence than in this moment.

"And you’re biting your lip," he breathes, moving slowly to his left as I move to mine.

"You wouldn’t," I tease. "After all, you roll your eyes." I try reasoning with him. He continues to move toward his left, as do I.

"Yes, but you’ve just raised the bar on the excitement stakes with this game." His eyes blaze, and wild anticipation emanates from him.

"I’m quite fast you know." I try for nonchalance.

"So am I."

He’s stalking me, in his own kitchen.

"Are you going to come quietly?" he asks.

"Do I ever?"

"Miss Steele, what do you mean?" he smirks. "It’ll be worse for you if I have to come and get you."

"That’s only if you catch me, Christian. And right now, I have no intention of letting you catch me."

"Anastasia, you may fall and hurt yourself. Which will put you in direct contravention of rule number seven."

"I have been in danger since I met you, Mr. Grey, rules or no rules."

"Yes you have." He pauses, and his brow furrows slightly.

Suddenly, he lunges for me, making me squeal and run for the dining room table. I manage to escape, putting the table between us. My heart is pounding and adrenaline has spiked through my body… boy… this is so thrilling. I’m a child again, though that’s not right. I watch him carefully as he paces deliberately toward me. I inch away.

"You certainly know how to distract a man, Anastasia."

"We aim to please, Mr. Grey. Distract you from what?"

"Life. The universe." He waves one of his hands vaguely.

"You did seem very pre-occupied as you were playing."

He stops and folds his arms, his expression amused.

"We can do this all day, baby, but I will get you, and it will just be worse for you when I do.""No, you won’t." I must not be over-confident. I repeat this as a mantra. My subconscious has found her Nikes, and she’s on the starting blocks.

"Anyone would think you didn’t want me to catch you."

"I don’t. That’s the point. I feel about punishment the way you feel about me touching you."His entire demeanor changes in a nanosecond. Gone is playful Christian, and he stands staring at me as if I’d slapped him. He’s ashen.

"That’s how you feel?" he whispers.

Those four words, and the way he utters them, speaks volumes. Oh no. They tell me so much more about him and how he feels. They tell me about his fear and loathing. I frown.

No, I don’t feel that bad. No way. Do I?

"No. It doesn’t affect me quite as much as that, but it gives you an idea," I murmur, staring anxiously at him.

"Oh," he says.

Crap. He looks completely and utterly lost, like I’ve pulled the rug from under his feet.

Taking a deep breath, I move round the table until I am standing in front of him, gazing into his apprehensive eyes.

"You hate it that much?" he breathes, his eyes filled with horror.

"Well… no," I reassure him. Jeez – that’s how he feels about people touching him?

"No. I feel ambivalent about it. I don’t like it, but I don’t hate it."

"But last night, in the playroom, you… " he trails off.

"I do it for you, Christian, because you need it. I don’t. You didn’t hurt me last night.

That was in a different context, and I can rationalize that internally, and I trust you. But when you want to punish me, I worry that you’ll hurt me."

His gray eyes blaze like a turbulent storm. Time moves, and expands and slips away before he answers softly.

"I want to hurt you. But not beyond anything that you couldn’t take."

Fuck!

"Why?"

He runs his hand through his hair, and he shrugs.

"I just need it." He pauses, gazing at me with anguish, and he closes his eyes and shakes his head. "I can’t tell you," he whispers.

"Can’t or won’t?"

"Won’t."

"So you know why."

"Yes."

"But you won’t tell me."

"If I do, you will run screaming from this room, and you’ll never want to return." He stares at me warily. "I can’t risk that, Anastasia."

"You want me to stay."

"More than you know. I couldn’t bear to lose you."

Oh my.

He gazes down at me, and suddenly, he pulls me into his arms and he’s kissing me, kissing me passionately. It takes me completely by surprise, and I sense his panic and desperate need in his kiss.

"Don’t leave me. You said you wouldn’t leave me, and you begged me not to leave you, in your sleep," he murmurs against my lips.

Oh… my nocturnal confessions.

"I don’t want to go." And my heart clenches, turning itself inside out.

This is a man in need. His fear is naked and obvious, but he’s lost… somewhere in his darkness. His eyes wide and bleak and tortured. I can soothe him. Join him briefly in the darkness and bring him into the light.

"Show me," I whisper.

"Show you?"

"Show me how much it can hurt."

"What?"

"Punish me. I want to know how bad it can get."

Christian steps back away from me, completely confused.

"You would try?"

"Yes. I said I would." But I have an ulterior motive. If I do this for him, maybe he will let me touch him.