CHAPTER TWO

I woke up in Erik's strong arms, neither of our bodies clothed. I had no way to tell the time of day down in his lair. My head rested on his chest. He was running his fingertips lightly along the length of my back. It gave me goose bumps.

"Good morning, my love." I said, looking up at him. He looked at me and kissed my forehead.

"Good morning, Christine." he replied in his deep voice. "Last night was…perfect." he whispered.

I sat up and looked at him.

"It was magical. I've never felt that way before." I said.

He reached out and pulled me down on top of him, crashing my lips to his. After the kiss, he spoke.

"I should go above ground to observe the opera house…that is, if there still is one." he said gently, running his hands up and down my thighs.

"If you must." I said, rolling off of him. "Just be careful, my love."

"I will return to you in no more than one hour." He said before kissing me and getting out of bed to redress himself.

"'Til then, my love." he promised, walking out into the lake, and up to the Populaire.

ERIK POV

When I made my way out of the rubble that I had caused, the sunlight that seeped through the opened walls hurt my eyes. I guess it had been a while since I came up to the surface… It smelled of smoke and burnt hair. I wandered around the destroyed opera house with Christine on my mind. She was a goddess, no less than that. I had had many dreams about us doing what we did last night, but I never imagined it would become a reality. I walked around fallen columns and broken statues. Suddenly, I heard Raoul's voice, to my surprise. I quickly ducked behind a marble slab.

"Herman, Christine doesn't know what she's doing. He's got her… The damned Phantom has hypnotized my darling Christine once more." he said.

"Raoul, you should not hold a heavy grudge. Do NOT underestimate him either. You will end up getting killed in the end." the other man replied. The next thing I heard was the shuffling of feet and a gurgling noise. I peeked slowly around the chuck of marble to see what was happening.

Raoul had his hand tightly wrapped around Herman's throat. Raoul spoke to him through gritted teeth;

"He has the one woman I love down there! Do not tell me to stop trying to get Christine back! I will kill the Phantom before he can even get his hands on me!" Then he let go and Herman gasped and coughed, desperately trying to get air back into his lungs.

"He's probably down there…molesting her without a thought." muttered Raoul, turning away.

Once Herman retained enough air to stop coughing, he spoke to Raoul;

"Well, if you're so concerned, get a hunting party together to look for them."

Anger consumed me, and soon, I was planning on killing both of them right on the spot with my bare hands. After a few moments of silence, Raoul made up his mind.

"I think I will, Herman. Gather all the men up at the tavern tonight. We will find the Phantom and kill him slowly, and I will rescue Christine…I will have what is rightfully mine."

My anger soon turned to amusement; Raoul de Chagney trying to outsmart me? Again? Something heavy must have fallen onto his arrogant head last night.

As soon as they left, I headed back down under the surface. I walked through the lake once more and saw Christine putting her clothes back on and singing "Think of Me" quietly. Once she saw me, a huge smile spread across her porcelain face. She walked towards me and wrapped her arms around me.

"Oh Erik," she sighed. I twirled my fingers in her luscious brown hair.

"Everything is perfect, as it should be. Could we just hide away down here forever?" she asked me as she laid her head on my chest.

"Christine, I hope you know that my every intention is to give you what you desire, but that request is one of the few I shall have to deny." I said carefully, being cautious of her reaction, whatever it may be.

She looked up at me with her deep brown eyes, full of confusion.

"What do you mean, my love?" she asked. I took a deep breath in.

"When I went to the surface, I saw Raoul talking to another man named Herman. They're planning on gathering a group of men to find us. Raoul wants to take you back and then…kill me, which means we must leave at once." I told her, kissing her head and moving towards the bedroom.

"They think I've hypnotized you." I added, packing up clothes into a suitcase.

"Well…where should we go?" she asked as she followed me and offered her help. "We could stay at Madame Giry's house!" she suggested.

"No." I replied quietly, "Once they come here and find that this place is completely empty, that is the very next place they will go, my darling. Madame Giry hid me once. They'll believe she would do it again." I finished stuffing the bags full of clothes and two canteens full of water and sat them next to the bed, while Christine with her gorgeous body stood in front of me.

"We shall go tonight before dark." I said as she caressed my face.

"Where will we stay?" she asked, her expression full of worry.

"My old friend Viktor has a cottage in the woods where we can stay a while until we figure out another plan." I answered.

She blinked and leaned in slowly to kiss me. I gripped her waist and pulled her close to me, kissing her in the process. I pulled back.

"Christine, please do not worry about this. I will protect you. No one will come between us, I promise you." I said, looking down into her eyes.

"I love you." I whispered.

"I love you too." she said in reply, without hesitation. Her hands were still holding my face.

"Erik?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"May I…remove your mask?"

I exhaled deeply.

"It will only scare you away." I answered. "I finally have you, I don't want to lose you."

She laughed quietly.

"Erik, it does not bother me in the slightest. I love all of you. You could never change that."

She gently removed the mask and set it on the bed. I swallowed and blinked, waiting for her to leave me. Then, she leaned up and kissed my deformed half ever so slightly. When she came back down, she smiled at me. I surprised myself by smiling back at her.

"Tonight?" she asked.

"Tonight."

Author's Note: Thanks for reading. Please review! PLEASE!

Ashlack