AUTHOR'S NOTE Wow, such great responses! I don't think I've ever had a story that went over this well! thank you everyone who read the first chapter, and I hope that you all like this one just as much. I have a beta reader now, so thank you Ophelia V. Santori! I watched Love Never Dies for the first time and fell in love with a few of the songs, so I may just use some of them in here. I'm still not quite as besotted with it as I am with PTO, but Til I Hear You Sing and Beauty Underneath are both amazing songs :) Now to reply to my wonderful reviews!
rainbowsunset2011: Thank you so much! I'm sorry if I didn't update as soon as you would have wished, I am rather bad at updating :P Glad to see I'm not the only one out there who is irritated at the phics on here.
Eponnia: It's true, there are some good phics out there, I have favourited a few of them :P And of course it's Raoul. I know how to spell his name, Things sometimes slip through the cracks when you don't have a beta. But I have one now so stupid mistakes like that should happen less frequently :P But please, if you ever catch anything please let me know.
Celtic Authoress: Thank you for pointing out my error, It was a silly typo, which will hopefully decrease in frequency now that I have a beta reader. But please, so continue to tell me if I make more silly mistakes like this, It's not mean at all, it is actually really appreciated and helpful.
GracefulWolvesInTheNight: Thank you for the lovely compliments! I hope you like this chapter as well!
Anonymous: Thank you for the praise, and for agreeing with me :P
PhantomFan01: I couldn't resist throwing in that bit about Raoul at the end. Ive never been a big fan of Raoul, so i couldn't help making him have no idea what was going on. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
Alana Fox: Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
loonynerdxd9: Thanks for the praise! Your wait is now over, here is the requested chapter!
emily (): Thanks a lot, and I hope this was the more you were looking for :P
Wow, so many reviews! Thank you to every one of you! I hope to hear from you again, you make writing worth my while :) Also IF anyone happens to want to draw something for this silly image thing for this story, please feel free to! Now let's go on with the show! (oops, wrong musical, sorry :P )
Christine was not entirely sure where He was taking her.
All she felt was the chill of the cold night air as it whipped past her face, trailing her skirts out behind her forcibly enough to be audible. All she felt was the heat of his skin beneath the thin layer of his black shirt that was clenched between her hands at his waist, in an attempt to keep from falling off. All she felt was the firmness of his back as she pressed her face against it, sheltering herself from the bite in the air, taking in his scent.
All she saw was a flurry of white as it drifted past her as they sped through the night, twisting every which way as if trying to lose someone, but whenever she glanced back, there was no one there. All she could see were the houses around them, transforming into one multi-colored blur as they rode faster and faster towards the what she assumed was the opera house, but if she was honest with herself she didn't quite know where they were headed and she wasn't certain she cared. All she saw were the frequent, fervent glances back at her that he tried to hide. He was clearly trying to seem stoic and unfeeling, but she saw through the facade immediately when their eyes briefly met in one of his glances back her way. The look in his eyes was tentative, searching for any fear or regret in hers, but there was also a look of triumph. He was clearly overjoyed that she had finally chosen him. A grin flashed across his face as he snapped the reigns, sending the horse off even faster into the night.
When they finally stopped, they were indeed by the opera house, in front of one of the back entrances barely anyone ever used, next to the stables. The Phantom easily dismounted the ebony horse with a swirl of his cape and turned back to her, offering her his black gloved hand. She readily took it, her gaze never leaving his. She dismounted as well, with his help. Though the glove stopped her from feeling the heat of his skin, her hand still tingled when he let go of it. He made his way to the heavy wooden gate that led into the stables, pulling the horse gently by the reins. He pushed open the gate and looked back at her, gesturing for her to follow. She gingerly took a step forward, and, after seeing him nod in approval, followed him into the stables.
The frost covering the ground managed to get rid of most of the unpleasant smell, leaving behind simply a pleasant, earthy smell in the air. Most of the horses appeared to be asleep, but the few that were awake snorted at them as they walked past, causing Christine to jump in fright.
The Phantom looked back at her to ensure she was alright, then continued to lead her to the very back of the stables. He led the horse into the last stall in the back corner of the stable, then held out his hand for her to take, which she did. He lifted one of the torches off the stable wall and, after examining the bricks of the wall closely, pressed the small tip of the torch into a nearly invisible indentation in the brick, and turned it until there was a faint click and half the wall slid away, revealing a large passageway leading down, presumably into the depths of the opera house. After looking back at her only once more, he led her into the passageway. Christine barely even noticed when the wall slid shut behind her.
The passageway was dark and slightly gloomy. It was much like the passageway behind the mirror in her dressing room that he had first led her down, so long ago. A few rats squeaked from obscured and unseen corners, but much like that first time, Christine felt no fear as long as her hand was safe in his. Though he was still slightly ahead of her, she was almost walking beside him rather than following him, this time. His eyes darted between her and the path ahead of them, but her eyes never left him. If someone were watching, they may have said she was trying to memorize every tiny detail about his features. They wouldn't know, of course, that she already had.
Eventually they reached the edge of the lake, where the boat was waiting. Steadying herself on his arm, she entered the boat, and then steadied him as he stepped in, as well. Without ever letting go of her hand, he picked up the waiting pole and began to propel them towards the glowing in the distance, at the opposite edge of the lake. It took them barely any time at all to reach it, and soon enough, they had docked on the familiar shore of his home, and he was helping her out of the boat onto the stone ground, into the mess of velvet and candles.
Once they were both out of the boat, they just stood there for a second, staring into each other's eyes. both of them unsure of what to do next.
After what seemed like an eternity, the Phantom cleared his throat and made to move away from her, perhaps to take off his cloak, but she stopped him by clutching at his hand.
He slowly turned back around to face her, and before he knew what was happening, her lips were on his. And she was kissing him, kissing him hard, kissing him passionately. Frozen by his shock, the Phantom simply stood there, hands trembling at his sides.
Christine, confused at his lack of response, began to pull away. But as the sweet pressure of her lips on his began to subside he panicked, not ready for the incomparable sensation to end. He buried his hands almost roughly in her hair, pulling her back to him, kissing her fiercely. Christine smiled briefly into the kiss, kissing him back with matched passion, as much as she could muster.
She knew now that she would never be able to get enough of this-the feeling of his lips against hers, the feeling of her hands running through his hair, stiff though it was; of the sweet taste of him on her lips and the feeling of his tongue, suddenly bold, dipping into her mouth.
Even his scent was intoxicating, a heady mixture of musk, candle wax and something she couldn't quite place, something clean and bright. It made her want him as she had never wanted anyone in all her life. Had she been able to form any conscious thoughts at all, she perhaps would have thought of how little the kisses she shared with Raoul affected her in comparison. But Christine was far beyond the point of formulating such complicated thoughts-the passion in this kiss left her effectively unable to think of anything else.
His hands left her hair and trailed slowly down her back, causing a deep shiver to ripple through her body. His hand, returning upwards, briefly stopped at her neck. He fingered the cool metal of a chain, not remembering a necklace. He quickly trailed his fingers down the chain until he reached the weight hanging at the end, and the cool, smooth feeling of Raoul's ring shattered the passion and replaced it with reality.
He abruptly pulled away from her, his eyes fixed on the ring around her neck.
His eyes darkened, but not in the way she suddenly wanted them to.
Christine was confused. Why had he stopped? Was she not satisfactory to him? She followed his gaze down to the ring, now dangling very visibly over her bodice. Her chest was heaving, making her curves all the more prominent. She locked eyes with him and couldn't ignore the hurt there, and without a second thought she reached up to the ring and yanked it off of her neck, breaking the chain and tossing the ring into some corner of the room. His eyes widened in surprise.
"Christine..." He breathed, and didn't protest when she closed the distance between them. Her arms wrapped around his neck and his hands slide to her waist, pulling her even closer to him.
Their tongues meet and their passions at last alive, their moans create an entirely new type of music that entwine together in an odd sort of harmony. A shiver ran down Christine's body, but this one was different, not of desire, and she trembles as she pulls away from him. The Phantom looked at her, realizing for the first time that as they had warmed up the snow covering her had caused Christine to be soaked.
"I'm sorry," Christine apologized with a faint smile. "I'm just a bit cold." The Phantom shook his head, smiling.
"No, please, do not apologize. We should go to rest, at any rate. It should be quite late soon. I believe I have a nightgown in the closet in the bedroom for you, you may change into that." He decided, gesturing towards the bedroom. She gave him a strange look. "I will wait here, of course." He clarified and the look melted away.
She nodded and walked towards the bedroom. She found the nightgown quickly and changed, glad to be free of her corset and drenched clothes. She walked out of the bedroom to find the phantom sitting at the organ with his eyes closed, not playing anything, just sitting. She cleared her throat to get his attention and he looked up at her, an a small smile spread over his lips. He stood up and came towards her. She took his hand and they walked into the bedroom.
Suddenly he stopped, looking into the room. She looked to, confused, and then realised what he was looking at. There was only one bed. Albeit a large bed, but one none the less, she looked back at him so see a mad blush spreading across the phantom's face. She shook her head, and continued to walk into the room, pulling him after her.
"I could sleep in the boat..." The phantom protested, attempting to free his hand from her grasp. She shook her head.
"Don't be silly, the bed is perfectly large enough for two." She protested. "The boat would be far too uncomfortable."
"But Christine, I..." He protested, but she put a finger to his lips, stopping his protests. He fell silent at her boldness, and she blushed but did not stop.
"No, no buts." She shook her head and sat down on the bed. She patted the spot beside her ,and after a moment's hesitation he sat down beside her, his gaze never leaving her face, her lips, which were slightly swollen from their previous... activities.
He blushed again, and she lay down, pulling her down with him. He lay as stiff as a board, unable to move for fear of trembling. She shook her head and laughed, leaning into him and gently pulling one of his arms around her, moving herself closer to him. His blush deepened, but he slowly began to relax. She adjusted her position to blow out the candles closest to the bed and then lay back down in the darkness.
A smile played over her lips, and the Phantom couldn't help but let himself smile as well. It was going to be uncomfortable to sleep in his mask like this, but he couldn't take it off while she was here, willingly sharing a bed with him.
So he braved the discomfort for her.
He had just about fallen asleep when a soft voice drifted from beside him.
"I can't just call you Angel or Phantom forever. Tell me, what is your name?" Christine asked him sleepily. He had to think for a moment before he remembered the name that people had used to call him, before all of this had started, long even before he had been called the devil's child.
"Erik." He whispered. "My name is Erik." Christine smiled, snuggling closer into his arms.
"Erik..." She mused. "I like it." and not long after they were both asleep, and for the first time in years Erik didn't have a single nightmare.
So what did you think? Please read, review and subscribe! I Hope to hear from you soon! Remember, Reviews mean faster updates!