I hate to break it to you guys, but things will get worse before they get better, especially where Marine is concerned. Things will work out for the end, especially if you know the answer to the quote down below, but this scene is really steamy, so don't say I didn't warn you. Anyway, thanks for the reviews, and enjoy.

"If two people love each other, but they just can't seem to get it together, when do you get to that point of enough is enough?"-The Mexican

Christine

Erik would eventually learn of my pregnancy whether I told him or not, but I was most afraid of how the child was conceived. "Was it on the first night when we so passionately made love, or did it happen when he so angrily violated me? Would I love the child any less if I were to figure out the circumstances of their conception? Would Erik embrace this child, or demand I rid myself of this tiny little membrane of life?" I had to tell him somehow. He was desperate to please me, to be the perfect little husband that I could ever want, and for me to be his darling innocent wife. But in my dreams at night, while he was at the other end of the hallway in his own bed, I would have haunting visions of my poor lost lover writhing in pain, bound against the portcullis, as Erik would torture him. Some nights were doubly awful, as Erik would have his way with me over and over again in scandalous, unnatural ways as Raoul looked on, horrified and helpless. I would awaken in a cold sweat, my hair damp and in painful clumps, and it was on these dreadful mornings that I would loathe seeing my husband.

I entered my personal bathroom and brushed my teeth, eager to rid myself of the filthy taste that lingered. I attempted as best I could to brush my hair, and when I felt the handle of the brush start to creak from the effort, I sought Marine to help run me a bath. She was not in any of the upstairs rooms like she should be at this time of day, so I headed downstairs and walked right into her as she exited the pantry. She looked stunned, as though she had been caught doing something wrong, but quickly recovered and as she absentmindedly wiped her mouth, asked if I needed assistance with anything.

"As a matter of fact I require some assistance bathing," I said politely.

"Right away, Madame," and I nearly had to run to catch up with her.

She helped me undress from my slightly soiled nightgown, and I gingerly set myself down in the claw-footed tub. It was quite a contrast from living in the opera house dormitories to having servants wait on you. I leaned forward as Marine gently scrubbed my back, and her voice broke me from my reverie.

"How are you feeling, Madame?"

"I am feeling better now, Marine, thank you." I hesitated before continuing. "Thank you for going along with my excuse today, I do not want my husband to know of my condition."

"And what condition is that?" She inquired boldly. I had a feeling she knew that I was pregnant, but I also knew that she was eager for some gossip.

"Surely you must have noticed that I am with child," I smiled.

Her eyes lit up and she returned the smile, although I could only guess she was happier to spread gossip around the mansion. "Madame, that is wonderful news! How does the Master feel about being a father?"

I looked away, suddenly ashamed at my selfish decision not share such news with him. "He does not know yet. I have been searching for the appropriate time in which I shall share the news with him."

"I believe he is eager for any time that you can spare to be with him. He has been very lonely in your absence, and though I have had few limited conversations with him, he appears to adore you. I would urge you to share this special news with him as soon as possible." Her blue eyes sparkled with a genuine interest, and with a refreshed vigor filling me, I hurriedly dried myself off and changed into a cheerful pink afternoon dress.

As I was about to head out the door, I saw Marine standing in the doorway of the bathroom, the damp towel folded in her hands, and a smile plastered on her face. "Thank you so much for your guidance, Marine, I hope that this will change things between Erik and I. Oh, and please do not address me so formally, you may call me Christine."

I had no idea why Marine's words filled me with springtime again, though perhaps it was good to befriend someone again. I had not seen Meg since the night Erik kidnapped me, and although I did not completely trust Marine as of yet, the little blonde maid's presence was eerily similar to that of my fellow ballet dancer. I knew that Erik loved me with all of his heart, and somewhere under the black shadow that had fallen I loved him, but maybe with the news that we were to have a child, we could proceed with our lives, starting from the very beginning.

Smiling for the third time in one day, I headed down the grand staircase that Erik had so lovingly designed himself, and searched the lower rooms for him. I found him sitting in the library, holding a flask of brandy to his lips, his hair disheveled. I carefully made my way into the room, confused at Erik's unnatural appearance, and knocked on the door softly to alert him of my presence. He waved me into the room without even glancing up at me, and said, "You may enter, Marine."

"It is I, Christine," I replied timidly. He nearly dropped the bottle on the floor as his head snapped up at the recognition of my voice.

"My love, what are you doing out of bed? You are ill, you should rest."

"Erik, I am not so ill that I could not come down here to talk to you. My behavior has been somewhat odd for the past few months, and though I am sure you understand part of it, I do not think you understand fully."

"Tell me, dearest, I am more than eager for your love."

I took a deep breath, and as I opened my mouth to form those life-altering words, a loud knock was heard on the door. Erik excused himself for a moment as I stood with my arms crossed, mildly irritated at the cause of the disturbance, and as he closed the door behind him, blowing me a kiss, I opted instead for a stroll in the garden. After all, I had another seven months to tell him of the news; a few more hours would not hurt.

Erik

After my scandalous rendezvous with Marine in the pantry, I decided that I needed a drink in the sanctity of my library. I slouched in the heavy leather chair, a decanter of brandy beside me. Although not much of an alcohol drinker myself, I felt that infidelity with a whoring maid was a suitable reason for it, and I proceeded to fill a nearby discarded flask with it. I loosened my cravat as it was entirely too hot in the room, and I threw my head back, dissolving my consciousness into thought. "How could I do something so dirty, something so cheap and low? My Christine was upstairs in bed, probably heaving her internal organs into a bedpan, and there I was, in the midst of a sordid tryst with the maid amidst canned goods and sacks of potatoes." The truth was, and I was ashamed to even be rethinking these thoughts, when Marine proposed that we enter the bedroom and delve into the bed sheets, I would have taken her up on the offer had I not been fearful of getting caught. I had no idea what the cunning little harlot was up to, but she seemed excellent at catching me in my weakest moments. The problem was, I still needed her to find out the information for me that I so inconveniently lacked, otherwise she would find herself on the street, despite my assurance that I would do no such thing. We were lucky to have not been discovered this time, but any other incident that should occur between us would infinitely increase our chances of being caught, and then all hope of reuniting with Christine would be lost forever.

I took another swig of the mind numbing nectar when I heard a soft rapping at the door and called for Marine to enter; surely no one else would speak to me in this household. I attempted as best I could to straighten my ungentlemanly appearance, andI nearly fell out of the chair when I saw Christine standing in the doorframe, pale but no less radiant, in a soft pink floral dress. Her frame seemed smaller, and I thought it unusual that her breasts seemed somehow larger, though I assumed they just appeared that way compared to the rest of her. I was overjoyed to note that she seemed in better spirits today, a faint smile present on her chapped lips.

"My love, what are you doing out of bed? You are ill, you should rest." She apologized for her strange behavior over the past few months, citing it as loneliness and depression, and mentioned that there was something else she needed to confess to me. "Tell me, dearest, I am more than eager for your love."

Her eyes fell demurely to the floor, fluttering her eyelashes and chuckling a little to herself before she raised her head and opened her mouth to speak. The words were barely formed on her lips when we heard a loud bang outside the door. Christine spun around to face the door; her hands folded over her chest as I dashed passed her and flung the door open. Before my eyes I saw that Rene and Marine were fighting each other in the parlor, Marine struggling to free herself from the kitchen boy's surprisingly strong grip.

"Help me, Master, Rene has lost control of himself!" Rene, mute and unable to explain himself, ignored my entrance into the room and managed to successfully wrestle the maid to the floor, succeeding in ripping a tear in thehem of her dress.

"Rene, what is the matter with you! Leave her be immediately and leave this house at once!" He stood up, dropping his hold on her likeher skin scalded his fingers, and stood before me. He mouthed "I'm sorry," and headed towards his room to collect his few meager belongings.

I looked back to find that Christine was no longer in the library, and assumed that she must be somewhere else in the house or on the grounds. I held out my hand to assist a sobbing Marine off the floor as she tried to maintain some modesty and hold closed her torn dress. She appeared shaky on her feet and sat her down on the couch, offering some tea.

"No thank you, but I wouldn't mind some of your brandy," she joked. I laughed and poured her a small glass, which she downed in an instant, putting most men to shame. I then asked her what had happened, and sighing, she told her version of the story.

"I had just finished drawing a bath for Madame and was tidying up the towels when Rene stormed into her bedroom unexpectedly. I ordered him out of the room as they are Madame's private quarters and only she, you and I are permitted entrance. He pushed me on her bed and started to pull my dress up with this horrific smile on his face, when I screamed and he slapped me. Having been taught by my mother how to take care of myself in these situations, I planted my foot in the very last place he would ever want it, and pushed him off me. I ran downstairs, stumbling halfway and fell into the bookcase, which is probably the noise that alerted you. I'm sorry for the mess, by the way, I will attend to it shortly." I told her not to bother, and she continued on with her story. "He caught up to me and smacked me again, calling me barely coherent names, and tore the side of my dress, which is when you came rushing out."

She began to cry, and I pulled her gently towards me and I patted her head. "It is alright, Marine, Rene has been sent away from this house forever, and if he so much as sets foot on this property again, I will make him wish he was never born."

"Master, you are so good to me. How can I repay your kindness?" she said through tear-rimmed eyes.

"It was something any decent man should have done for a woman. I will not have that kind of behavior go on in my household, I can assure you that."

She smiled and wiped away a tear streaming down the side of her nose. Then surprisingly, she gently leaned over and kissed me softly on the cheek. "You are an amazing man, Master," she whispered.

"Please, call me Erik when in private company," I whispered back.

My sanity fled as her lips violently crushed mine, her body pressed agonizingly close, and hips straddling my own. I pushed her off of me, though initially whether it was out of self-control or the urge to drag her to my bedchambers, I was unsure. But when her hand reached out to grab my hardening cock, I grabbed her hand and led her to the library, shutting the door behind us. I pushed her against the wall, ravaging her neck with wet kisses, and feeling up her leg through the convenient slit in her dress.

"Master! Erik!" She panted, just as I had fantasized her saying, and I pulled the hidden lever that opened a secret panel in the wall. "Oh my!" she gasped as a hidden winding staircase was revealed, which so happened led straight to my bedchamber.

"Many old mansions had hidden passages for the masters and their mistresses to come and go without being seen. It happens to serve its purpose well in this instance." In my bedroom there was a wall panel hidden by a tapestry, and when one flicked a hidden switch tucked into the chair rail of the wainscoting, the wall moved. Upon entering our intended destination, I rushed over to the door to lock it, and spun around to find the cunning little Delilah kneeling on the bed, her back to me, urging me to unhook the buttons of her dress. I yanked the buttons off the dress since it was ruined beyond repair anyway, and assured her that a new one would be given to her immediately.

"Could you make it a little shorter, Master, I found that the long hem prevented me from certain aspects of my job," she winked, and I hungrily took her mouth with mine. She moaned, a wonderfully sweet feminine sound, and my member hardened with the knowledge that I spurned these reactions in her. Her dress came off, leaving her only in her chemise and stockings, and urgently freeing her from those, reveled in the sight of her nakedness. Her breasts were full with large nipples, splendid in their uniqueness, and her body was slightly plump. She tugged at my shirt and waistcoat, quickly tossing them on the floor, and after tearing off my shoes and socks, her eyes lit up when it came time to remove my trousers. "Oh, Master, I eagerly look forward to pleasing you again. You are quite well endowed, and I know I shall derive pleasure from you."

"I am eager to please you, Mademoiselle," I breathed as she began to kiss my naked chest.

She lay me down upon the bed, and climbing into my lap, straddled me, my engorged member resting in her hands. I thought she was going to do to me what had happened earlier, when suddenly she lifted her hips up and impaled herself upon my swollen shaft, moaning loudly as she did so. I myself could not stifle a moan, and I drank in the sight of her, sitting there with her head thrown back, her eyes closed and her mouth open. When she came back to reality, she began to grind herself against me, her body welcoming my manhood as it pressed along the ridges of her insides.

"You feel amazing inside me," she breathed. Her lips found mine as she stretched herself across me, and grabbing my hips began to surge forward over and over. I grabbed her behind, the flesh tender and soft in my calloused hands, and I pushed her increasingly harder upon my member. She began to cry out, calling meby my titleand by my given name, and I fought the urge to roll her over and pound as hard as I could into her yielding warmth.

Suddenly she sat up, slowing her motions but still keeping a gentle rocking rhythm of her hips. "Erik, I want to try something new with you."

"Ok."

She gently slid off my cock, now bathed in a sheen of juices, and turned herself over so that she was on her hands and knees, her backside in the air. I was puzzled as to why she would want me to reduce her to something like this, taking her as if she were an animal, but hesitantly agreed to try something new. I knelt behind her, her hand gently guiding me to her entrance, and a new rush of feelings filled me as I penetrated her in this new, debauched position.

"You hit the sensitive spot that brings me to climax," she said matter-of-factly, and I did not argue.

I began to ram into her, my mind lost to the intense sensations coursing through me as I controlled her, dominated her. She grabbed the headboard, desperate to cling on to something, and her cries of passion were what ultimately brought me to my long sought release. She squeezed her feminine walls around me as I spurted my seed into her, both of us reaching our peaks at the same time before I withdrew and fell in a boneless heap upon the bed. She lay next to me, her blonde hair appearing darker as it was wet with sweat, her breasts tantalizingly rising and falling as she gasped for air. I had no idea how long we had been going at it, but the time seemed too short for what it was worth. Marine maintained her distance from me, happy to show little displays of affection, but ultimately knowing her role as a quick bedmate rather than a lover or mistress.

We lay there only long enough to catch our breath before we stood up andtugge onour clothes. She planted a chaste kiss on my cheek as she straightened her hair, and unlocking the door, exited the room without looking back.

I sat on the edge of the bed, retying my shoes, and though the splendorous sex was amazing, I could not help but wonder what the Hell I had just done.

I know that Marine and Erik…had fun in the pantry, and then they went off into the bedroom shortly after, it's not entirely realistic and sorry, I couldn't really think of a better way to work around it. I may rewrite this chapter, depending on whatyou readers/reviewersthink, so please feel free to give your input. Erik has to hook up with the maid in this story (sorry, E/C shippers, it's only for a few chapters), but if you want me to spread it out over a period of time, let me know.

PS: Possibly looking for a beta for my other story Beyond the Façade, a love story about Erik and Madame Giry. Anybody interested, let me know!