“I want him to live,” he says.I watch, helpless, as the pain slips out.Tears fallwhen he whispers, “But damn it, I want to live, too.”

“I don't want him to live forever, and I know that he's not going to live forever whether I want him to or not.”

“He wanted pain, I saw that in him, and what a man wants he will often manage to find.”

“[Ana] “You’re a sadist?”“I’m a Dominant.” His eyes are a scorching gray, intense.“What does that mean?” I whisper.“It means I want you to willingly surrender yourself to me, in all things.”I frown at him as I try to assimilate this idea.“Why would I do that?”“To please me,” he whispers as he cocks his head to one side, and I see a ghost of a smile.Please him! He wants me to please him! I think my mouth drops open. Please Christian Grey. And I realize, in that moment, that yes, that’s exactly what I want to do. I want him to be damned delighted with me. It’s a revelation.”

“I'd accepted a while ago that there were too many reasons for me to even think about him romantically anymore. Every once in a while, I slipped a little and kind of wished he would too. It'd have been nice to know that he still wanted me, that I still drove him crazy. Studying him now, I realized he might not ever slip because I didn't drive him crazy anymore. It was a depressing thought.”

“I wouldn't want to live that life. I choose the pain. I chose the pain.”