A/N: I know it's been a month since I've updated and I feel terrible. I'm sorry guys! I will strive to do better!

I'm stirred awake by Anastasia, who snuggles in closer to me and presses a kiss to my shoulder. She must have rolled away sometime during the night.

"Good morning, baby." My voice is rough with sleep, so I clear it.

"Morning." She doesn't bother to move or even open her eyes. It makes me smile.

"How do you feel?"

A small smile forms on her lips. "Good." She presses another kiss to my shoulder. "Relaxed."

"Me, too." For the first time in two years, I feel like every muscle in my body is relaxed.

"I don't want to move, yet." Her hand slides across my abs and to my side, trying to hold me in place.

"It's Saturday, Mrs. Grey. We don't have to." I wish that we were in our nice, comfortable bed instead of a pad in the middle of the floor in the sun room, but I'm too relaxed to try to convince Ana to move to the bedroom. For now, I'm content enough here.

"When can we have sex again?"

I chuckle. "I thought you didn't want to move."

"It might be worth it for that."

I crane my neck to look at her and she gives me a bashful smile. I still don't understand how she can look so bashful when she's the one bringing up sex.

"I guess I can find the energy to make love to you again." I leap up and flip us over, pinning her under me.

Ana giggles. "I think you've plenty of energy for good morning sex."

I wiggle my eyebrows. "You going to let me in?"

She opens her legs and makes a face. "I'm sticky."

I'm not surprised. The thought of my seed dripping out of her and coating her thighs while we sleep makes me even harder. "We'll shower and grab some breakfast after." Right now, though, I want to bury myself in her tight, wet center. It's all mine. No one else has touched this intimate place and I will never forget the precious gift she's given me.

I ease myself in, not wanting to hurt her. I'm sure she's sore and she's still getting use to my intrusion. When her legs wrap around my waist and she tries to pull me closer, I pick up my speed.

"Oh, Christian…Christian, don't stop." She grips my shoulder blades and meets my thrusts and I can already feel her begin to throb around me.

I kiss her. "I feel you, baby. Let it happen." If she tries to fight it to make our lovemaking last longer, I might end up coming before her. I won't last much longer. I feel like a teenager with her. I come quickly and like a freight train.

She whimpers and her body tenses.

"Yes, baby, good girl. You feel so good. Fuck." As she clamps around me and pulls me in deeper, I burst inside of her and we finish together.

My body slumps on top of her. I'm panting; it's so intense everytime I come inside of her. It's never been like this before.

"How do people get anything done?"

I lift myself up on my elbows and look down at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, how do people manage to get out of bed when sex feels this good?"

I chuckle. "Because, believe it or not, too much sex can kill you."

"But not having it everyday, right?"

I smile. "No, not having it everyday."

"Good." She gives me a smile and her eyes light up.

Fuck. I better eat my protein this morning. I can tell that we're going to be spending a lot of time in bed this weekend.

"Are you ready to shower?"

She unwraps her legs from around me and places them in the floor. "Yes, let's get up. I need to use the restroom."

XxXxXx

"Go ahead and take your shower and then I'll take mine while you're drying your hair." She has a nasty habit of leaving her hair wet, but it's autumn...almost winter...and I don't want her to catch cold from a wet head.

"Um, Christian?"

I turn toward her and see that she's chewing her lip and looking down at her feet. "Yes, baby?"

"Do you want to, um, maybe join me?"

I grin. "You want to shower together?"

She nods, but her eyes don't leave her feet.

"Thank you, Ana. I'd like that."

A smile forms on her face and she lifts her head to look at me. "Will you wash my hair like you used to?"

"Only if you wash mine."

"That'd be lovely, let's go."

XxXxXx

I had to spend a couple hours in my office today, going over some of the paperwork and blueprints for the houses meant for the bed and breakfasts. The home on the most southern property we own only contains two bedrooms, so we're going to have to add on to it. Ana wants to add four more bedrooms to it, each one having their own in-suite bathroom with jetted tubs. We can rent these rooms at a premium, serve finer food, and have other amenities that the other locations don't have. If it does well, then we'll do construction on a few more of the buildings, built more for the guests looking for a finer experience.

When my eyes begin to go crosseyed, I stretch and make my way out of the office and down the stairs to the kitchen to find a pre-dinner snack. The house is quiet and Anastasia is nowhere to be found on the main level. Using the intercom system, I call to her.

No response.

I switch the intercom over to the Taylor's and ask them if they've seen Ana. Gail answers me.

"I saw Ana head out to the barn about an hour ago."

Feeling silly, I chuckle. I should have known.

"Of course, Gail. I should have thought of that. Sorry to bother you."

"No bother, Christian."

At the side door, I slip on my mud boots and my Carhartt coat and head towards the barn to see what she's up to.

"Ana!" I call, slipping in the door. "Ana? Where are you?" As I come around the corner, the main walkway is empty. I immediately head for Alastar's stall, patting Darling's head when she sticks it out on the way.

When I get there, his stall is empty. No Ana, no Alastar.

"Fuck."

Where are they?

I pull the barn door open that opens to the front lunging paddock, which is a small fenced in dirt area where the horses walk in a circle to learn muscle movement, different strides, verbal commands, etc. There is a gate from there that opens to the first pasture where they can run and graze at their leisure. There are two other pastures that are fenced off and I can't see Ana or Alastar anywhere. My stomach immediately turns sour.

Pulling out my cell phone, I try calling Anastasia. I hear her phone ringing and turn quickly, trying to find where it's coming from. I find her phone in the feed room, along with her gloves and mud boots. She only takes them off when she's going riding.

I run across the barn to the saddle room and find her saddle and riding boots missing.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

None of the other horses are missing, meaning that Bianca didn't go with her. I call Taylor, hoping that he'll tell me one of the CPO's went with her and just forgot to tell me. I know the chance of that is slim.

"Taylor."

"Taylor! Please tell me a CPO is with Anastasia."

"What?"

"PLEASE TELL ME RYAN IS WITH ANASTASIA!"

"Christian… Ryan is sitting at the mouth of the driveway…"

"Fuck! I can't believe it!" I run out of the barn and to one of the four-wheelers.

"What is happening? Is Ana missing?" Taylor sounds breathless, and I know he's running toward the main house.

"She and Alastar are gone, along with her saddle and riding boots. She went riding by herself." With her asshole father on the loose, she shouldn't be going out by herself. It isn't safe. Anything could happen to her! What if Alastar spooks, throws her off, and she breaks something? What if she gets hurt and can't make her way back to us. We'd have no idea. She could be dead by the time we realize!

The thought of all of this is making me so sick to my stomach, I have to swallow back the feeling of being sick. Now's not the time to lose it, Grey.

"I'm on my way."

"I'm on one of the four-wheelers now. I'm going out and to the left. You go to the right." I hang up on Taylor and I fly toward the woods at top speed, anxious to find my wife. My heart feels like it's going to beat out of my chest. I cannot believe she'd fucking do this!

"ANA!" I keep yelling her name over the sound of the four-wheeler, but I get no answer. My heart is beating so hard that I can hear it over the sound of the engine. My blood pressure is rising and I can feel the heat rise up from my neck to my face and ears. I'm sure they're red as can be.

Where are you, Ana?

I follow the trail she usually follows with Bianca, keeping a close eye out along the trees on either side, in case she happens to be laying along the brush hurt, or incase someone else is hiding somewhere with her.

I swallow back another wave of nausea at the thought. She has to be okay. I have never been so angry with her. Once I know she's okay, her and I are going to have a talk. I just hope I can keep my anger in check long enough to get through to her.

Forty minutes later, I come up empty-handed. I turn the four-wheeler around one last time and fly down the trail, to the house, hoping that Taylor has found her.

When I hit the clearing, I see Taylor by the barn, waving his hands at me. He knows something.

"Did you find her?!" I yell to him when I get halfway to the barn.

"She's back! She's in the house. I tried to call you."

Fuck. How did I not hear my phone? "Where did you find her?" I slow the four-wheeler and stop next to him.

"I didn't. Ryan called me and said she was galloping her way back to the barn ten minutes after I started looking."

"Put this away." I climb off the four-wheeler and make my way back to the house, taking long angry strides. Now that I know she's fine, my anger has skyrocketed. I just want to shake some sense into her. I don't even know how to deal with this. The only way I've ever dealt with disobedience is physical punishment, but that was with my subs. She's not my sub and I don't want to hurt her. I would never lay a finger on Anastasia. She still needs to learn that when I tell her to do something...or rather not to do something...that she needs to obey what I say. It's for her safety.

I open the door and slam it behind me, quickly kicking off my mud boots and coat. As much as I want to march right up to her, boots and all, I know Gail would wring my neck for tracking muck all through the house. I need to leave them here.

"Anastasia Rose Grey!" I yell, stomping through the living room.

"I'm here." Her voice is soft and unsure. She's standing in the living room, playing with the sleeves on her long-sleeve shirt.

"What the fuck do you think you were doing?!" She takes a step back, but I step forward. She isn't going to run away from me. "When I tell you to do something, you need to do it! I didn't say it just to waste my breath! It's for your safety! What if your father was hiding in the brush? What if you got hurt and there was no one to help? You could have been taken, you could have been hurt! Fuck, Anastasia! You could have died! What the fuck do you have to say for yourself?" When I see her begin to fold into herself, I try to take a few breaths to calm myself, but I'm too angry. If she would have just did what I asked, we wouldn't be in this predicament. This could have been avoided.

"I'm sorry." Her voice is just above a whisper and she won't take her eyes off her feet.

The fact that she isn't even fighting with me frustrates me even more. I need to yell it out. I need to know why she did it. I need to know what was running through her head.

"God damn it, Anastasia! I don't even know what to do with you!" I throw my hands up in the air in frustration, and smack my thighs.

What she does next is like a knife to the gut.

She drops to her knees, places her forearms on her thighs and bows her head low in submission. She thinks I'm going to hurt her.

I quickly drop to my knees in front of her and reach out to touch her chin, to get her to look at me. When my index finger touches her chin, she winces. The knife in my gut twists and I let out a surprising sob.

"No, Ana, no. I would never hurt you. Please, baby. Don't be afraid of me."

She sits, stone still. She doesn't move. Doesn't speak.

"Ana, look at me. I need you to look at me. Now."

When I say the last word, her head jerks up and she looks at me. Her eyes are filled with tears and her chin is trembling. "Ana's sorry, sir." Her voice is a strangled whisper and it makes me burst into tears along with her.

I pull her to me and hold her as tightly as I can. "I'm sorry for scaring you. I was just so scared when I realized you were gone by yourself. Please, Ana. Please come back to me. I'm not your sir. I'm your husband. No matter how upset I get with you...how much I might yell...I would never hit you. I would never lay a hand on you. Nothing you ever do deserves such a punishment, do you understand?" I rock her from side-to-side as I hold her and we both cry.

"You've done so well, Ana, please don't regress. I'd miss you too much. Please talk to me."

"I'm sorry, Christian."

Her voice is still strangled, but it's louder and it gives me some relief.

"Why did you go riding by yourself?"

I feel her shrug in my arms. "I wanted to ride Alastar. He needed the exercise and I missed riding him."

"Why didn't you take a CPO with you? Why did you go by yourself? It's dangerous, Ana."

"Because...well, because...it's Ryan today."

I stop rocking her. "What do you mean? What's wrong with Ryan?" If he isn't willing to do his job, then he won't have one.

"He just makes me uncomfortable."

"Uncomfortable how?"

She sits up and I release her. Sniffling, she wipes her tears off her face. "I can't explain it. He just looks at me funny and he keeps rubbing my back and my shoulders...and sometimes he touches my face when he talks to me and I just...I don't like it. It's uncomfortable."

My anger is back, but now it's for the bastard.

"He touches you?"

"Nowhere inappropriate. I'm probably just overreacting."

"Touching you at all is inappropriate. Why didn't you tell me?"

Ana shrugs. "I just figured he was a touchy person. I just try not to be alone with him anymore."

"This is unacceptable. He knows that he shouldn't be doing it, or else he'd do it in front of Taylor and me. Don't worry, Anastasia. He won't be around anymore. The fucker is going to be fired. Today." I stand and pull her up with me. "I don't want you to ever go riding by yourself again, do you understand? You must always be with someone. If Bianca and Taylor aren't available, ask me. I'll go."

She nods. "I'm sorry, Christian."

"I know you are, baby." I reach up and wipe a tear off her face. "Why don't you go upstairs and draw a bath? I have some business to tend to."

"Is he going to get into trouble?" Her eyebrows knit together, a 'V' forming on her skin above her nose.

I duck down and press a kiss to it. "Don't you worry about that. Just go relax. I'll come up and join you in a bit."

A smile forms on her face and I know where her mind has gone.

"Woman, you're going to kill me." But, man, what a way to go.

She giggles and lifts up on her tiptoes to kiss me.

I turn her toward the stairs and pat her backside a couple times to get her moving. "I won't be long."

I watch as she makes her way up the stairs and then pull out my cell phone to call Taylor.

"Taylor, call Ryan in and meet me in my office. I need to speak to both of you immediately."

"Is something wrong, Christian?"

"Yes. Ryan has been inappropriate and we need to deal with him."

"Inappropriate?" Taylor sounds surprised.

"Yes, just get him in here. I want him off my property. I'll explain later."

"Yes, sir."

I sit in my leather chair in the office, tapping my thumbs on my desk while I wait for the CPO's to enter. I don't understand why I hadn't noticed Ryan's behavior before. I hate that I missed it. Anastasia's body language with him should have tipped me off. It's important that I get more female CPO's. Now, I'm going to be suspicious of every male CPO that comes through our property, except for Taylor.

There's a knock on the door and I look up just as Taylor opens the door with Ryan behind him.

"Mr. Grey, you wanted to see us, sir?" Ryan's formality just makes me more angry. Kiss ass.

"Have a seat." I wave to the two chairs in front of my desk. "I've spoken with my wife and it seems that she went out today by herself because she felt uncomfortable asking you, Ryan. Can you tell me why that is?"

Ryan looks confused. "No, sir, I can't. I assure you, I would have had no problem escorting Mrs. Grey around the grounds."

I cock an eyebrow at him. "I'm sure you wouldn't."

"Sir?" Ryan really is lost.

"Perhaps, your incapability of keeping your hands to yourself made Anastasia too uncomfortable to ask you to chaperone."

His eyes widen. "Sir, I swear to you I have never touched Anastasia anywhere inappropriate."

"But you've touched her."

"Well, yes."

"Why do you find it appropriate to be touching my wife?"

"I…" His sentence falls off and he shrugs.

"You know it isn't appropriate. That's why you never laid a finger on her while either of us were around. Your hands only managed to make their way to the body of my wife when no one was looking."

"I didn't mean anything by it...I was just being friendly."

I snort. "Just being friendly, huh? Rubbing her back... her shoulders... touching her face. You've always been friendly with me. Never once have you pulled that shit on me."

"I...no. But...she's…"

"She's what?"

He shrugs. "A woman. It's different."

"You're right. It's different. You either find her attractive and it was your way of flirting or you were taking advantage of her and grooming her for more because she's so soft spoken. Neither option is good. Both get you fired. Both should get your teeth knocked out, but luckily, I'm feeling too drained from looking for my wife who felt so unsafe being with you that she risked riding around the woods alone. If she would have said you touched her any other place than her back and face, you wouldn't have a tooth left in that fucking skull of yours. Now, I want you to get your disrespectful ass out of my chair and get the fuck off of my property. Right Now." My voice is low and threatening, but that's exactly what I'm doing. "Taylor, escort him off the property. I'm going to join my wife in the bath."

Ryan stares at me, eyes and mouth wide, unmoving.

"Are we going to have a problem?" I lean on my desk, closer to Ryan.

Taylor grabs Ryan's arm and pulls him up. "Let's go." He pulls him toward the door and Ryan trips over the chair leg and almost falls. "For a military man, you sure are an uncoordinated fuck, aren't you?" Taylor shoves him out the door of office and I relax back in my chair, proud of myself. I didn't beat the asshole. I didn't want the violence in my home and I didn't want the touchy bastard to sue. I just want to wipe my hands clean of him and move on.

I give them a couple minutes to get out of the house and then I make my way down the hall to my girl in our bathtub. When I make it to the bathroom, I see Ana submerged to her neck in bubbles, her head back against the headrest, and her eyes closed. I'm glad to see her relaxing. We've had a bit of drama today and I just want to move past it. I'm ready to sink myself into the bathtub and then sink myself into my girl. Thank god she's insatiable. I need her.

I pull my t-shirt over my head and the movement makes her look over at me.

"Hi." She gives me a soft smile.

"Hey, baby."

"Everything go okay?"

I nod. "Went fine." I yank my jeans and underwear down my legs and kick them to the side. "I just want to concentrate on you now."

Smiling, she sits up and moves back against the tub, giving me room to sit across from her. After I get comfortable, I offer Anastasia my hand.

"Come sit in my lap."

She glides over to me and when her naked backside comes in contact with my thighs, my dick immediately grows in appreciation.

"Oh…" She bites her lip when she feels it pressing against her. "Someone is eager today."

I smile. "I want you, Ana."

"Don't have to tell me twice, husband." She maneuvers so that she's straddling my thighs and I help ease her down on top of me.

"Easy, baby. It takes a little longer in the water." Oddly, the water makes the process less slippery, the friction making it a little more difficult. Once I'm completely buried inside of her, it becomes easier. "There we go, good. God, you feel good." I grip the sides of her hips. I wish I could be buried inside of her all day.

"Slow, Ana. Let's take our time." I'm in no hurry to come. I just want to enjoy this moment with her. I enjoy listening to the sounds she makes and watching her facial expressions as the pleasure I give her shoots through her system.

"You just feel so good, Christian. Will it always feel like this?"

I smile. "I don't know. I hope so." I've never felt anything so intense before. It wasn't like this with the others. I have no control of my body when we're together. With the others, I could control when I came, but with her, I can't. It's too damn good.

I begin to nibble on her neck and make my way to her collarbone, when she whimpers. "Christian, we're going too slow. I need you to touch me."

"Why don't you do it?"

Her eyes widen. "I'd rather not."

My eyebrows knit together. Why won't she touch herself? I won't push it today, but I'm determined to show her that it's okay for her to do it herself. It's important that she becomes comfortable enough with her body and love herself enough to know that she deserves the pleasure that her fingers can give to her.

The visual of Anastasia masturbating makes my dick throb even harder and I'm suddenly even more sensitive.

Hell.

"Faster, baby. Go ahead. Get yourself there. I'll be right behind you." I grip her backside and help her move faster against me as I clench my jaw, doing the best I can to keep from coming too soon.

"Christian...Christian! I'm...I'm-I'm..oh!" Her body begins to convulse on top of me as she throws her head back and I thrust my hips up into her twice more, pushing myself over the edge.

She collapses against me, her arms wrapped around my neck. Neither one of us bother to move for a very long time. We just don't see the need. We sit in silence, just enjoying each others presence. I love marriage. I love her. I would never want to go back to how life was before her. I was alive, but I really wasn't living. She's given me such a drive...such a thirst for life and everything in it. I've learned to enjoy each moment and savor each and every day.

I need her in my life. I need her safe and sound and I'm determined to find that satanic father of hers. Elena is rotting in prison, along with twelve other people they found thanks to the book that Anastasia had mentioned. They've saved twenty-two children and young adults from sex slavery and I'm hoping they find and help more. Frank deserves to rot like the others. He doesn't deserve to live one more day without bars surrounding him. He deserves to be have the shit beat out of him each and every day until they walk him to the electric chair. Too bad they no longer tar and feather pedophiles like they used to.

He isn't going to enjoy one more season free. He will be found and thrown in a cage just like he did to Ana... I'll find the fucker myself if I have to.