This book had SO much tickling potential but it went largely unfulfilled.... as did most of my tickling fantasies about Christian Grey. Every time he pinned or tied her down, the 'lee inside my head went nuts. And then when nothing happened (well... no ticking anyway), the 'lee got depressed and ate a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.
It wasn't that Grey (the male dom in the book) didn't do anything that would potentially cause a ticklish reaction - if someone traced light circles up my legs, nibbled on my inner thighs, or ran his tongue and teeth over my toes/soles I would definitely be giggling (at the very least).
But Anastasia (the female sub) NEVER laughed when he did any of that. There were many mentions of Grey's facial or chest hair "tickling" her, but again, no ticklish reaction from her. Once in book two (page 390) Grey strapped Ana's ankles down to a spreader bar and VERY briefly (and lightly) tickled her soles. Her reaction was thinking, "it tickles but the bar holds me in place, though I try to writhe away from his fingers." No laughing. Then while she is still strapped down, he "runs the fingers of both hands up the inside of both legs, slowly, surely, making small circular patterns....." her reaction, "I wriggle on the bed and moan. His fingers continue their slow assault up my legs, past the back of my knees. Instinctively, I want to close my legs, but I can't."
Now, I don't know about you girls, but the back of my legs is one of the most ticklish spots on me - I would have been laughing and begging him to stop within seconds. But Ana just wriggles and moans. I guess she lives up to her last name - Steele
😉
There are a dozen scenes like the one I described above, but each time I was left dangling in ticklee frustration. The 'lee inside my head really HATED these books
🙂 But then... FINALLY.... in book three (page 71) he purposefully subjects her to a few minutes of tickle torture. BEST scene - my inner 'lee was doing orgasmic cartwheels when I read it... even after the tenth time of rereading it
😉 Here's how it went....
She bought him a camera on their honeymoon because she wanted him to take pictures of her like he did all his other subs in the past. Quote:
"So, you want me to take pictures of you, Mrs. Grey? Well for a start, I think you should be laughing," he says, and he tickles me ruthlessly under my ribs, making me squeal and giggle, and squirm beneath him until I grasp his wrist in a vain attempt to make him stop. His grin widens and he renews his efforts while snapping pictures."
"No! Stop!" I scream.
"Are you kidding?" he growls and puts the camera down beside us so that he can torture me with both hands.
"Christian!" I sputter and gasp my laughing protest.
He has never ever tickled me before. Fuck - stop! I thrash my head from side to side, trying to wiggle out from under him, giggling and pushing both his hands away, but he's unrelenting - grinning down at me, enjoying my torment.
"Christian, stop!" I plead and he stops suddenly....
Then there is a sex scene and at the end of it (on page 76) there is an attempt at retribution. Quote:
"Well, you know how hard it is for me to keep my hands off you, Mrs. Grey - especially when you're giggling like a school girl."
Unspoken thought in Anastasia's head: Oh yes - the tickling. Gah! The tickling. I move quickly so I'm straddling him, but immediately understanding my evil intent, he grabs both my wrists.
"No," he says and he means it.
I pout at him but decide he's not ready for this.
"Please don't," he whispers. "I couldn't bear it. I was never tickled as a child. He pauses and I relax my wrists so he doesn't have to restrain me. "I used to watch Carrick (his adoptive father) with Elliot (brother) and Mia (sister), tickling them, and it looked like such fun, but I.... I...."
Then she feels bad for him and the tickling scene goes nowhere. But it planted a seed in my one-track mind. I thought that it would be a great display of how far Christian had come (from his abusive past) and how close and trusting he is of Ana if he allowed her to finally tickle him at some point before the end of the book. I waited.... and waited.... but it never happened. Another major 'lee let down. It did sort of come full circle when Christian and Ana have their first baby (spoiler alert), and there is a cute tickle scene with the baby - which I won't quote because of the TMF minor rules on tickling.
So, strictly from a 'lee perspective, I'd say you can skip the trilogy, or at the very least if you do read it, don't expect more than what I outlined here. I guess I kind of knew it would be this way since it is primarily a BDSM book. And a lot of people on this forum that have spoken about the BDSM community have said that tickling is a "hard limit" for a lot of people who are into that stuff.
Sigh.....
