Fifty Shades Freed (Christian & Ana)(194)

"Nothing forgettable about either of those." He grins, and when he does, he looks so young and carefree and happy. He cups my behind. "You have a fantastic ass, Mrs. Grey."

"So do you." I arch a brow at him. "Though yours is still under cover."

"And what are you going to do about that, Mrs. Grey?"

"Why, I'm going to undress you, Mr. Grey. All of you."

He grins.

"And I think there's a lot that's sweet about you," I murmur, referring to the song still playing on repeat. His smile fades.

Oh no.

"You are," I whisper. I lean down and kiss the corner of his mouth. He closes his eyes and tightens his arms around me.

"Christian, you are. You made this weekend so special—in spite of what happened to Ray. Thank you."

He opens his large, serious gray eyes, and his expression tugs at my heart.

"Because I love you," he murmurs.

"I know. I love you, too." I caress his face. "And you're precious to me, too.

You do know that, don't you?"

His stills, looking lost.

Oh, Christian . . . my sweet Fifty.

"Believe me," I whisper.

"It's not easy." His voice is almost inaudible.

"Try. Try hard, because it's true." I stroke his face once more, my fingers brushing against his sideburns. His eyes are gray oceans of loss and hurt and pain.

I want to climb into his body and hold him. Anything to stop that look. When will he realize that he means the world to me? That he's more than worthy of my love, the love of his parents—his siblings? I have told him over and over, and yet here we are as Christian gives me his lost, abandoned look. Time. It will just take time.

"You'll get cold. Come." He rises gracefully to his feet and pulls me up to stand beside him. I slip my arm around his waist as we wander back into the bedroom. I won't push him, but since Ray's accident, it's become more important to me that he knows how much I love him.

As we enter the bedroom, I frown, desperate to recover the very welcome lighthearted mood of only a few moments ago.

"Shall we watch TV?" I ask.

Christian snorts. "I was hoping for round two." And my mercurial Fifty is back. I arch my brow and stop by the bed.

"Well, in that case, I think I'll be in charge."

He gapes at me, and I push him onto the bed and quickly straddle him, pinning his hands down beside his head.

He grins up at me. "Well, Mrs. Grey, now that you've got me, what are you going to do with me?"

I lean down and whisper in his ear, "I am going to f*ck you with my mouth."

He closes his eyes, inhaling sharply, and I run my teeth gently along his jaw.

Christian is working at the computer. It's a bright early morning, and he's tapping out an e-mail, I think.

"Good morning," I murmur shyly from the doorway. He turns and smiles at me.

"Mrs. Grey. You're up early." He holds open his arms.

I bolt across the suite and curl into his lap. "As are you."

"I was just working." He shifts as he kisses my hair.

"What?" I ask, sensing something wrong.

He sighs. "I got an e-mail from Detective Clark. He wants to talk to you about that f*cker Hyde."

"Really?" I sit back to gaze at Christian.

"Yes. I told him you're in Portland for the time being, so he'll have to wait.

But he says he'd like to interview you here."