Christine was indignant! Furious actually!
Carlotta had been after her all week. Though the diva had gotten the lead in their next production, she had been upset that Christine had been appointed as her understudy. The Italian woman insisted that La Carlotta needed no understudy! M. Reyer had disagreed after Carlotta the last time walked out of a performance and the managers - who had to refund every ticket bought that night - had chosen to listen to M. Reyer.
Somehow all of this became Christine's fault in spiste of the fact that she hadn't been involved in any decision-making. Neither had the Opera Ghost. He had assured her that if he would meddle (which he had promised not to do), he would make sure that Christine was made lead soprano and not simply an understudy. She believed him.
But Christine was exhausted after Carlotta and her entourage had made her life miserable since the managers' decision. She had been tripped several times, had found her costume ripped and someone had even written "coquette" on her mirror with lipstick. Erik had been busy cleaning the lipstick off when she had walked into her dressing room and seen it. He had wanted to hide it from her, spare her of the slander.
She had kept her calm. The theater business was rough and she had to learn how to deal with spiteful rivals. Carlotta was simply exactly that and Christine wouldn't let the older woman bother her.
However this was the final straw. When Christine had gone into her dressing room during a break, she found that her silver brush was missing. This wasn't just any ordinary brush. The silver was probably mixed with other metals and the spokes of the brush were too yielding. But it was engraved with the initials C.D. which stood for Christine Daaé. Her mother had gifted her with it at her baptism and it was all she had left of the mother she never truly knew.
She screamed at her vanity mirror and wasn't surprised when Erik knocked on her mirror a moment later. His knock wasn't confident as it usually was which meant that he was probably anxious about her mood. But he didn't stay away, despite this, and she appreciated that.
"Come in, Erik." Instantly the mirror slid open and Erik's tall, black frame filled the small space. He always made her dressing room look so tiny when it was actually a perfect size for Christine. She didn't need a huge room with en suite bathroom like Carlotta and would never demand it, even if she was one day made Prima Donna.
"What is bothering you, mon ange?" His voice was as deep and soothing as ever, but the tapping fingers at his sides revealed that he was anything but calm.
"Carlotta..." Christine sighed, sitting down by her vanity. "She has taken my silver brush." Erik knew how much the brush meant to her and she saw his hands now fist, but he said nothing. "She's been after me all week and I have tried to not let it get to me, but this is too much. I need to get it back!"
"Of course. I'll get it tonight." He seemed relieved that he could do this for her, but it wasn't enough.
"No, I'm afraid what she'll do with it. We have to get it now!" There was no reason for her to be at the stage anyway. The choir wasn't needed at the moment, but they had asked that she was there to watch Carlotta's performance to learn what she needed to do as an understudy. But Erik had already made sure that she knew the heart.
She rose and started to take off her bustle. She moved much easier without it and it would make too much noise anyway. Erik quickly turned around when he saw her unfasten it, but it wasn't exactly indecent. She almost never wore a bustle when she stayed at his house.
"What... ah... we?" His words were hard to hear over the noisy and frankly heavy bustle and she breathed in relief when she threw it over the divan.
"I need your help. Carlotta's going to be on stage in a moment. I'm going to find my brush in her dressing room, but I need you to keep watch." She walked up to him to plea her case with doe eyes. It might've helped if she still had tears in her eyes, but her sadness had moved over to anger and that rarely made her eyes wet. "Will you do that for me, Erik?"
"I will." He replied without hesitation. Once again the mirror slid open and he took her hand in his own gloved one and pulled her through. It always excited her when he did this, reminding her of the first time she had visited his house and how magical it had all seemed. Things were so different now, but in many ways much the same.
He led her through the narrow passages behind the walls of the opera. There was never any cobweb and she wondered if it was because he moved through them every day, so a spider never would have a chance to form a web. She knew there was a lot of spiders at the opera, but she had never seen any in his passages.
Soon he opened a panel and led her out. They were now in the costume room which was in the same hall as Carlotta's dressing room. She sneaked out of the costume room and into the hall. When she turned a corner, she found Carlotta's dressing room. It was perfect for their mission. Erik just had to keep watch for Carlotta who would come down the long hall leading up to the stage, giving them enough time to slip out and turn the corner again to get to the door of the costume room. From there they could quickly move behind the walls to her own dressing room on the other side of the stage without anyone seeing them.
Erik, true to his word, kept watch while Christine began rummaging through Carlotta's vanity drawers, the drawers in the bathroom and the many jewelry boxes everywhere. There were so many things to go through and while many of them were beautiful, Christine wasted no time to linger. She became obsessed with finding the brush she knew Carlotta had taken.
She was so engulfed in her search that she didn't hear Erik until he touched her shoulder, making her jump in surprise.
"She is coming from the other side. I fear we will be caught before we reach the end of the long hall and even then we will nearly on the stage." Erik's eyes glowed manically yellow in the soft light from the gas lamps and the eerie sight at least played some part in making Christine panic.
"Merde! If she finds me here, she'll make my life even more of a living hell. If she doesn't talk the managers into firing me." Not to think what would happen if Erik was discovered.
The words seemed to have an effect on Erik, his half face suddenly resolved.
"Come with me." Erik pulled her backwards to the wall opposite Carlotta's vanity. He pressed hard on a panel that looked exactly like all of the others. But this panel moved. He gracefully stepped through the small opening, turning around to face the room. He pulled Christine in side, which definitely didn't look graceful, turning her with her back against his front and slid the panel in front of them, just as Carlotta walked into the room with her 'Mother' as she called the old woman and her two assistants.
The wood of the panel was slightly cracked which allowed Christine to see most of the dressing room if she stood on her toes. Luckily she was used to that as a ballerina, though not in normal shoes.
When Erik had pulled her inside, she had expected to be led through a passageway like the all the others he used, but it quickly became apparent that this was nothing more than a hidden closet. They would have to wait until Carlotta left the room before they could leave their hideout.
The encourage gushed about Carlotta's magnificence and how she was right to leave the stage when a stagehand had touched her arm. "Clearly not an accident!" the bulkier assistent proclaimed. Carlotta sounded like she had been molested by the poor young boy who had been near her. By the description Christine knew who he was and was saddened to know that he was probably being fired this very second.
"No, no, no, no, I need a bath after that!" Carlotta exclaimed in response to someone and in a rush the bathtub in the bathroom was filled and Carlotta was rushed out there, the assistents following her while 'Mother' stayed behind and settled on the divan. The door to the bathroom was closed, but they could still hear every harsh word from the Prima Donna. Christine wondered why anyone bothered with a diva like that, even with a beautiful voice. The ugliness overshine the beauty in her opinion.
Christine tried to see if her brush was anywhere after Carlotta had gone through her vanity, but it was difficult to see through the small cracks in the panel. She moved around on her toes to get a better view. Behind her she felt Erik stiffen.
"Can you perhaps stand still?" He whispered as he leaned down to her level, so he wouldn't be heard by others. His cold lips momentarily brushed the outer shell of her ear while his warm breath tickled her. The sensation made her shiver and he quickly tried to pull himself even further backwards into the wall as if he wanted to be absorbed by it. Was her presence really so repulsive? She certainly didn't mind his company, even here where they invaded each other's personal space.
She lost balance on her toes for a moment and fell the few centimeters back against Erik's chest. He gripped her hips tightly to steady her, his breath hitching as she allowed herself to lean up against him. He was thin, but very solid and his clothes were soft. She wondered how he wasn't sweating when wearing all those layers.
Then she felt a hard sensation against her lower back and it took her longer than she would ever admit to realize what it was. It wasn't until she pushed herself further against it and heard Erik groan in her ear as he gripped her hips tighter that she comprehended. He wasn't repulsed by her proximity at all!
"I implore you to stand still." His whisper was strangled, but deep and sensual as she had grown accustomed to. However its effect on her was enhanced in this tiny space. That voice in her ear and the hardness against her back made heat pool in her lower stomach.
It wasn't often that she felt desired. Raoul's kisses had always been chaste and at times she felt that she might as well be kissing her brother. She'd never kissed Erik, though she had often wondered how his lips would feel. They were misshaped like much of his face; one side of them normal while the other side was swollen and looked rough. They would be much different to kiss, that's for sure.
Raoul had barely touched more than her hands or her face, but Erik would sometimes correct her posture with a hand on her back, her shoulders or her ribs. It always gave her goosebumps. And now she was standing with her body flush up against Erik's with his hands on her hips and his straining manhood touching her lower back, no matter how much he tried to pull away from her in this little closet. She felt so much more than goosebumps.
She wondered for a moment if it was just a bodily reaction to being close to a female body that made Erik aroused. Perhaps it had nothing to do with her, but simply because he hadn't been this close to anyone in a long time. He had told her that he loved her, but he'd never said in what way. Christine had suspected a few times that he wanted her to be his wife some day, but he would often shy away from her embrace. It confused her to no end.
She had never dared to ask. It was too embarrassing and she was afraid to see him amused by her silly ideas of him, a genius, being interested in a little ballet rat with big dreams. But in here she suddenly felt like she had the upper hand.
She just didn't know how to go about it. Her body was telling her things, but they were all very shameful and she was worried that he would actually think her to be a coquette like Carlotta had written on her mirror. She couldn't handle him thinking her as such.
She reached for his hands on her hips to push them away, but stopped when she noticed that he wasn't wearing gloves. When had he removed them? She hadn't even noticed. His skin was papery, a little rough and dry, and normally they were very cold, but right now they were very warm. It was actually quite nice to touch his hands. She traced his long, spindly fingers with her own and imagined them playing the keys of his impressive organ. She'd always found his hands very fascinating and here in the dark the feeling of them on her hips was enticing, making her wonder how they felt on the rest of her body.
She entwined her fingers with his on top of his left hand. Slowly she guided his hand up over her hips and the side of her waist, enjoying the way he inhaled deeply. Afraid to go too far, she stopped before they reached her breast, instead leading him down over her stomach and over her hip to her upper thigh. She let go of his fingers in hope that he would get the hint.
For a moment nothing happened and she was sure it meant that he wasn't interested. At least now she knew and she could move on from daydreaming about Erik anymore. Then she felt his hand press against her again. He splayed his hand over her abdomen and pushed her further into him. A small gasp left her as she felt his manhood push back against her and he hummed into the skin under her ear, so it vibrated through her body. She enjoyed that very much.
His hand then continued its slow journey up the side of her waist like she had showed him, but instead of stopping by her breast, it continued. His other hand followed and together his hands kneaded the sides of her bosom. Christine noticed that she was suddenly breathing heavily. Their small hideout was filled with desire.
She wasn't sure what she was doing, but his arousal intrigued her and her hand seemed to have a mind of its own as it moved behind her back. Unlacing her corset so many times had luckily made her arms very limber and she could easily reach him without struggle. He shuddered when her fingers traced the length of him through his trousers.
"Christine," he breathed against her ear. It sounded like a threat and a lustful plea all in one, but he acknowledged his desire for her and it was all she needed. His misshaped lips began to brush over her throat and her neck, kissing tenderly. The bloated part of his lower lip rubbed perfectly on her sensitive skin. She tilted her head to make room for his lips and felt her blood inflame when he began to suck at her pulsepoint. It went straight to her core.
Her fingers continued their curious touch while his hands kneaded her breasts. She cursed the layers of her costume and the hand that wasn't touching Erik, began working on the buttons on her gown. He immediately noticed and finished the job for her until the top af the gown was loose.
Cautiously his hands slid over her bare skin from her clavicle and down, giving her plenty of time to stop him which she wasn't planning on doing. His fingers slipped under her corset and chemise, the roughness of his palms intoxicating on the flesh that no one ever touched beside herself.
A calloused finger grazed her nipple and a soft moan escaped her as she felt it harden at his touch. He hummed in response into the thin skin under her ear and let a finger graze the other nipple. This time she kept quiet, but her fingers around his arousal tightened and he pushed himself further into her eager hand.
She was soaking in her bloomers where a pulsating heat had gathered. She had tried to extinguish that heat herself several times, but had never succeeded. Erik's long talented fingers could definitely help. She grabbed one of his hands and didn't hesitate to bring it down to her thigh. She bunched up her skirts until there was room to reach the apex of her legs which is where she led Erik's hand. This time he was extremely tense behind her.
She entwined her fingers with his like she had done before. There wasn't room for their hands in the little slit in her bloomers, so she moved them beneath her waistband and down to where she was aching. He groaned deep in his throat when he touched her wet core and she could feel his Adam's apple bob where he was leaning his head on her shoulder.
She took his index finger that was now slick with her liquid desire and moved it up her inner lips until it reached the tight swollen bud on top. The moment he touched her, she let his hand go to cover her mouth. The pleasure was indescribable and she shuddered against him. He hummed while biting her earlobe.
Erik began exploring her womanhood with one hand while he kneaded her breasts with the other, along with kissing her neck and thrusting against her hand. He played her body like any other instrument and Christine had never known such pleasure. She was quickly approaching the rapture. Her fingers gripped at his manhood while he moved against her, but she wanted him to feel as good as she did.
Using both her hands, she managed to part his tailcoat enough to reach his belt. Christine had never undone a man's belt before and doing it literally with her hands behind her back made it damn near impossible. When Erik realized her purpose, he let go of her, much to her dismay, and swiftly undid his belt and unzipped his trousers.
"Please," She whispered in a haze and ached her hips to let him know that she needed him to touch her again and soon his hands were back, making her sigh in relief as the pressure inside her started to built instantly once more.
Her hand moved into his trousers and then his drawers where warm, hard flesh was waiting for her. She let her fingers do the walking and explored what she could not see. She could feel a large vein throbbing along his shaft, almost in the same beat as her own, and there was moisture on his tip. He let out a hard breath in her ear when her thumb slid over the wet drip and flicked her nipple.
Finally she wrapped her fingers around his length. Before she could wonder what to do, he pushed himself further into her hand and then back again. After continuing this a few times she began pulling back and forth on her own, earning her a growl vibrating into the skin at her neck.
She was so enthralled by the feeling of his hard flesh in her hand and his finger brushing over her blooming bud that it took her completely by surprise when a very long finger slowly entered her. She gasped and pushed against it to enhance the incredible feeling. The sensation multiplied when the finger started to move in and out of her in the same pace as she stroked his shaft. His low hum at her reaction slid through her body. She was so close now and she tightened her grip on his arousal as he thrust his pelvis against her.
She was going to explode and when his finger curled inside her, the throbbing spiked through her veins, then expanded throughout her whole body as a wild strike of pleasure. Her knees buckled and she felt Erik's strong arm around her waist to keep her standing. She cried out his name, thankfully muffled by her own hand and she felt his pulsating manhood swell in her other hand until he let go as well, coating her hand with his warm desire.
"Oh Christine, my Christine!" The passion in the way his honey-coned voice pronounced her name was enough to prolong her pleasure.
They were both panting and slowly returning to the real world where they were very much trapped in a closet-sized hideout in Carlotta's dressing room and had done something extremely immoral. Yet somehow the only thing Christine could care about was what that would mean for her relationship with Erik. Would she ever be able to look at his hands again without remembering their touch? Did she want to?
She still had her hand in his trousers! His hands had at some point moved back to her hips again, but her skirt was still bunched up and her corset exposed. She wasn't sure where to go from there. Would it be awkward if she removed her hand from him now? Never mind, her hand was after all coated in his spent desire. It wasn't very easy to get rid of in here.
All of a sudden her hand was led out of his trousers, his half swollen manhood replaced with a handkerchief. She should say thank you, but she wasn't sure if she dared to speak and if it was because of the awkwardness or the fear of getting caught by Carlotta.
Suddenly she realized that Carlotta and her entourage had left the dressing room. For a moment she feared that they had heard lust-filled noises from the walls, but then she vaguely heard Carlotta's voice from the stage. Rehearsals had started again and she hadn't noticed. Had Erik?
It turned out that he hadn't until just now. Without warning he pushed the panel open and squeezed past her to get out. She heard him buckle his belt and for a moment she was afraid that he would leave her there - alone and exposed - but instead he turned around and quickly straightened her skirts and buttoned her gown. All the while avoiding eye contact. His movements were swift and methodical, his lips set in an impassive position, but she noticed that his ears were a deep red. She couldn't take her eyes off his ears now that she had noticed that. He took the sticky handkerchief from her hand and put it in the pocket of his trousers.
Then he shut the panel and took her hand to lead her out of the room. She stopped him, finally catching his eyes, and pointed. There on the vanity was her silver hair brush. She grabbed it and then followed Erik out of the dressing room, around the corner, into the costume room and once again behind the walls. None of them said anything because they could easily be heard. She told herself that was the only reason why they didn't speak.
When they reached her mirror, he pressed the jab that made it glide to the side. He waited for her to enter with the obvious intent of not following her. Nervously she walked into her dressing room and looked down at her hair brush, a bit annoyed by the straight hairs in it that clearly wasn't hers.
"Thank you," She muttered to Erik before he closed the mirror completely. He stopped when she spoke. "For helping me finding the brush. How can I repay you?"
"Christine." He said her name in such a wonderful way, she thought, then blushed as she remembered how he had said it in their hideout. Did she imagine it or was his voice a little hoarse? "You don't owe me anything. I will always help you."
"But I want to repay you. Perhaps," dare she say it? "just a kiss?" She was too scared to look at him, but she heard his breath hitch and peeked up to see him. He actually gaped, his whole expression was one of incredulity.
She fought to stay brave and moved up to slide the mirror open again. He followed each of her movements with wary. Carefully she pulled him down to her and he let her until she could reach his lips. She gently kissed his uneven, chilled lips, then leaned back to gauge his reaction. He stared down at her in wonderment and she found that she really enjoyed the feeling that arose in her.
"Maybe I could stay with you tonight?" She whispered. He held out his hand which she eagerly took and followed him through the mirror again, now as magical as the first time.