"I wish," Erik whispered.

The words floated through the air, and rested gently on my ears. So much tenderness filled those two words; yet it was a feeling that I refused to recline to.

However, I let him hold me within such a short distance of one another, for I was afraid of what his reaction would be if I pulled away. Our faces were so very close. So close, that I even felt my breath, that escaped through my parted lips, bounce off of his mask and onto my skin.

"Christine," He whispered. I felt his thumb, which stayed anchored beneath my jaw, lightly put pressure on my skin. "You must never see my face."

Those words were slowly spoken, with a hint of some kind of emotion that I could not place. I looked deeply into his eyes, confused as to why he would say such a thing, and what the reasons were behind it. He gazed back with both of his orbs glistening from the firelight.

"W-why," I stuttered quietly. My hands that were suspended in air came down to clasp the ends of my dress. I needed to feel something in my hands, to calm me, in any way possible. So to aid my fright and uncertainty, I violently squeezed the fabric, yet it did little to help. Nonetheless, I did not halt in my actions.

Erik's eyes left my own, as he ever so slightly tilted his head to the side. His gaze shifted around every inch of my face. My own eyes looked down. The was he was intently studying my entire appearance made me feel so uncomfortable. No one ever looked at me that way before.

Suddenly, I felt his gloved fingers, which were placed just placed my hairline, moved back; involuntarily making my eyes lift to look quizzically at him. He slowly pushed his fingers through the strands of my hair, down and around my ear, and finally to my neck. All the while Erik watched his traveling hand in fascination.

The action was so prolonged, that I sensed and felt every movement distinctly. The shift of my hair, the way the leather from his glove grazed my ear, and the tingling sensation created by his fingertips gently skimming over my neck.

The tips of his fingers barely touched the skin on my neck, but they were indeed making contact; a fact, both Erik and I clearly understood .

Erik looked intensely at my neck as he lightly stroked it. I was confused and even intrigued when I realized that the strange emotion held in his eyes, appeared to be amazement. What could that mean?

His fingers began to touch my skin deeper. No longer was he just grazing the surface of my skin; slowly his touches became more intense.

Stronger, and almost with an urgency, he moved his long hand back and forth, becoming more daring each time. My throat closed in fear as to what he was doing, and I could feel the fabric of the dress harshly rub into my palms, caused by my own persistent tugging.

I had no idea what he was doing, and it felt strange and frightening.

"Stop!" I exclaimed. My command was answered. Erik halted his pressing fingers and flicked his eyes away from my neck to met my own orbs.

"Don't..." I gulped unconsciously. "Don't do that."

His penetrating eyes darted into mine, and I swear I could hear the unspoken scream coming from my heart. No matter how hard I tried, I just could not read what he was thinking.

With his eyes perusing my own, I once again felt his hand move. This time his fingers slipped beneath my hair and wrapped around the back of my neck. His thumb was perpendicular from his other long fingers, and laid before my ear. Erik's other hand quickly raised and placed itself in the same position on the other side of my face. That sensation of his gloved thumb distinctly pushing down made a stone of fear drop into my stomach.

My eyes filled with tears. I tried desperately to hold them back, but my eyelids would not blink. They too were frozen in fear and shock. Watching his meeting gaze, I could feel his grip on my face and neck tighten even more.

"Christine," he said again. This time when he spoke my name, it was filled with a full malice tone. My hands squeezed my dress like never before.

"You," his voice was low and rumbling. His anger and threatening tone dominated the room, and ultimately myself as well.

"Must never..." Suddenly Erik shook my head in a single, sharp movement as he spoke the word, never.

"Ever..." Once again he repeated the action, and like a rag doll my head moved unwillingly in his forceful hands.

Erik paused for a moment.

My skin felt cold and clammy as waves of nervousness rippled up and down my body. The tears that clouded my vision did not fall down my face, instead they too remained still. It seemed that Erik not only owned me as his wife, but he also had the power to control my very being. For at that moment I was paralyzed, and fully held underneath Erik's invisible, yet evermore increasingly apparent power.

He held my face so tightly that the skin felt as if it was beginning to bruise. It did not appear that Erik realized how forcefully he was holding me. He appeared to be lost in his deep thoughts, as he gazed into my eyes.

Suddenly he once again spoke, and his words and voice held a finality that stopped any notion in my mind to question him.

"...See my face."