All I'm going to say about this chapter is that it shows how much I love my paranormal romance novels.
Isabelle turned around and saw that Erik was, indeed, behind her. His jaw was stressed in anger, rage boiling in his eyes.
"Gaston, run. Get out of here." Isabelle said, he didn't need to be told twice. The sound of him running away faded.
"Protecting your little stagehand?" Erik asked.
"You're jealous? Its over between Gaston and I, you knew that already. We were just taking about the fly master you killed."
"Ah, yes. Joseph Buquet, he was far too curious. Chasing after me, trying to catch me."
"So you killed him."
"Right where you're standing." He said and she was silent. "Do you hate and fear me now?"
"Why would I?"
"I'm a murderer."
"If I hated you because of that I would be a hypocrite."
"I do not understand."
"I'm a soldier Erik. I've killed more people than you will know in your entire life."
"Why?"
"Murder is accepted in war."
"War? You're at war?"
"I'll explain later." Isabelle said and reached up, touching his face.
Gaston stopped running, noticing that Isabelle wasn't behind him. He listened closely, tuning out the sounds of the opera, searching for her footsteps to show that she was following but he didn't hear him. Fear gripped his heart and a mental image of Isabelle hanging down onto the stage with a noose around her neck filled his mind. He turned and ran back, willing to fight the Phantom to the death to protect her.
They were still on the walkway, he saw their dim figures and moved closer. He stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening at the sight in front of him. Isabelle and the Opera Ghost were locked in a passionate embrace, kissing as though they were lovers. He had her braid wrapped around his hand, keeping her mouth to his. A breathless whimpering sound reached his trained ears and he looked away. They pulled away and Gaston could swear that he heard the Opera Ghost growl before picking Isabelle up with one arm and in a flourish of his cloak, disappearing silently into the shadows, taking her with him. He raced onto the fly but they were gone and the shadows were still.
Erik carried her down to his home while his mouth continued to ravage hers. He has never felt such animalistic desire before, his body hard and hot with need. With Christine it had been love, but with Isabelle it was pure lust with some affection thrown in.
The canal to the main cavern seemed endless and when they finally got to the shore he leaped off the gondola and pulled her out of it and against his body, making the evidence of his desire for her press against her stomach. She removed his mask and hairpiece, letting both drop to the floor.
"If we're going to do this, I want you as you really are." She said when he looked at her in alarm. Her full acceptance of him softened the urge to rip off her dress and take her on the floor. When he kissed her this time it was slow and gentle, taking the time to explore the warm silk of her mouth with his tongue. Her body relaxed against his, molding perfectly to his hard frame. It seemed as if she were his other half, the missing piece to the puzzle.
He broke the kiss and her summer lilac eyes gazed up at him, half-lidded and cloudy with desire. He kissed her gently again and she unhooked his cape, allowing it to fall to the floor in a wave of silk and velvet.
"Erik," she said between kisses and had to put her fingers to his lips to hold him back, his hands around her waist. "There's something I should tell you before we get any further."
"What?" he asked, looking at her curiously.
"It will take a bit of explaining."
"Then explain."
"In my time, there are not marriages of love anymore. In fact there are no marriages, there's pairings. The Elders choose a woman's mate based on physical, mental, and emotional compatibility, also if the woman is healthy enough to sustain multiple births."
"Again I do not understand."
"Erik, the women of my time are not only soldiers and healers, but they are what this time period would call brood-mares, we call them breeders. The women are enhanced to carry multiple infants at once and deliver them safely and in complete health."
"But why?"
"To create more soldiers. Once I am paired and give birth, my children will be taken away from me to be put in a compound where they will be trained to become soldiers. I will never know my children, just like I never knew my parents."
"How does this relate to what you had to tell me?" Erik asked, and she started to run her hands up and down his arms.
"I'm not paired."
"All right?"
"It is forbidden for a woman to have sexual relations before pairing. And since I'm not paired..."
"You're an innocent." Erik finished and she nodded.
"Yes Erik, I am a virgin." She looked down almost shamefully and he tilted her head up.
"You are not alone. I have lived down here since I was a child, I was hoping that Christine would be my first and only, but I know now, I have known, that it was not to be. Since you appeared in my hollow existence, I have not been able to stay away from you. My body aches for you, my soul screams your name. Can you not hear it? It is deafening to me." Erik said and gently kissed her lips, wrapping her in his warm embrace. Picking her up in his arms he carried her to his bed and laid her down, pulling the cord and allowing the gossamer curtain to twinkle like a star lit night in the candlelight.