No intros. Just read. And take a second to look around...see anything different?

Vivienne

I began the morning the same as I'd begun the last…three? Four? I couldn't be certain. They'd been filled with endless music, endless feeling, one long stretch of wishing and wanting broken only for a little sleep and what simple meals I could prepare for myself. I'd done my best to do as he'd asked me and open myself to everything imaginable, but it was so hard. The hunger was there, but I still couldn't make it fly on its own, let alone fly with it. I played every song Erik had taught me, but none of them felt right. None of them felt like they were meant to carry me.

I got out of bed and changed my clothes, then picked up my violin again. This at least felt right. She felt perfect in my hands, like she and I had known each other from long ago and had only just found each other again. I stroked the wood and the ebony keys, then set her on my shoulder and put the bow to her strings. Sing for me this time, I pleaded. Wherever you go, take me with you.

The first notes rang from the instrument like rain, one bleeding into the next in a downpour that spoke to me, but left me stranded on the ground. I closed my eyes and let it come as it would, paying no mind to the direction of the piece. Maybe if I hit upon the right combination of notes, I would finally understand what Erik had been talking about…

A gentle knock on the door made me stop playing. I lowered the violin and said, "Come in."

The door opened and Erik entered the room. I hadn't forgotten what he'd said to me in the sitting room that day; indeed, it was all I could think about. It filled my mind again as I looked at him, emanating an aura that seemed the very essence of music itself. There was a radiance about him I'd never seen before, a new dimension to the power and elegance he possessed in such abundance. I only had to look once into his golden eyes before I felt my soul burn. God, he was beautiful.

"Hello," I said breathlessly. "I've been practicing."

"I can see that," he replied with a smile. "How is it coming along?"

I sighed. "It's not. I'm trying so hard, Erik, but I just…I can't do it. It won't let me in."

He came to me and cupped my face in his hands. "It will come in time, Vivienne. You'll fly when you're meant to. The important thing was for you to take the first step. Do you still feel it inside you?"

I nodded. "I can't let it out, Erik. I can't."

He caressed my cheek, then said, "Never mind, my phoenix. If I know you, you'll find a way." He took my hand and went on, "I came to tell you something. The music is finished."

"The new music?" I asked.

He nodded. His hand trembled in mine but he tightened his grip and said, "If I were to play it for you, would you…would you listen?"

"Of course, Erik."

"I mean, really listen. I feel like such a sentimental idiot for saying it, but listen with that magnificent heart of yours, so you can really hear it."

He was so earnest and sounded almost desperate. I nodded again. "Yes, Erik. Whatever you want."

He sighed and kissed me. "Thank you." He made to lead me from the room but I stopped him and said, "What you said to me that day, I just wanted to know—"

He pressed a finger to my lips to silence me and whispered, "Don't speak, Vivienne. Not yet. Not until you know." He turned again and guided me down the hall to his bedroom.

The place was even more of a mess than usual. The bed was unmade as though he'd only just climbed out of it, but he looked like he hadn't slept for days. Paper was scattered everywhere, folded, crumpled, torn, and all covered with red ink. It spread into every corner of the room, thrown there carelessly when he had no further use for it. A very thin layer of dust was gathering on his violin and a pen lay discarded next to the organ. Beside the pen was one stack of paper. It wasn't much, maybe not more than five or six sheets, but the instant my eyes found it I couldn't look away again.

He made me sit down on the edge of the bed, then he took a seat on the organ bench. "Listen with all that you are, Vivienne," he urged. "Please, just listen." He looked at me as if there was more he wanted to say, but then he turned back to the keyboard and began to play.

It began softly and shyly, like the first touch of a lover's hand, and then it grew. It flourished and blossomed all around me, wrapping me in an embrace I could almost tangibly feel. It was a living and breathing thing, like all he'd ever played for me, and yet it was so much more. It took my heart in careful fingers and cradled it in warmth. It caught up in my soul and intertwined with the very fiber of my being. It unfurled within my spirit and lifted me in arms I knew somehow would never let me fall again.

I closed my eyes as I drank in the sound, rising ever higher and coming down in a torrent of sheer adoration. It was foreign and familiar, like something in a dream—

A smile stole across my face. It was familiar; it had filled my own dreams for weeks. I'd been hearing it all along. I had written accompaniments to it, thinking it was nothing more than a mere will-o'-the-wisp born in my imagination and that nothing like it could exist outside imagination. Only now could I see that there was nothing imaginary about it. Only now could I open my eyes to what I'd known all along. Erik loved me with a fierce, gentle, fiery, tender passion that called me and spoke to the love I felt for him in my soul, asking me to follow him to the paradise we had long dreamed of…no, not to follow, but to go there together.

I felt as though there was a creature of flame and air surrounding me, caressing my skin and breathing into me. I shivered and sighed, my mind drifting away from the earth and borne up to the sky on that hymn he played. My hands convulsed and I felt something wooden in my grasp. I opened my eyes again and my smile widened. I still held my violin.

This was it, I knew it was. This was the music that would let me fly.

The song faded away as he finished playing, then he turned to me. He didn't speak, so I asked, "Please, Erik, play it again."

He nodded and set his hands to the keys once more. As for me, I positioned my violin on my shoulder, raised the bow, and began my harmony.


Erik

I nearly froze up in my amazement when I heard it. The sound of a single violin, ringing clear and true over the echo of the organ, as though the part had been written specifically. Without ceasing in my playing, I glanced at her and saw her there, sitting on my bed, playing along like she'd rehearsed. There was a raw, naïve quality to her melody that was so simple and so natural, but fitted so well with what I'd written for her. How was that even possible? She smiled as she caught my eye and kept playing.

I continued on, still watching her. She'd closed her eyes again, beaming beatifically, and she'd begun to sway along to the music. My amazement grew as I saw the smile fade from her face to be replaced by an expression of wonder, her playing taking on an uncanny, ethereal richness. The violin came to life in her hands, becoming an elemental spirit with which she'd taken flight. I knew what she was feeling as I watched. She'd found that freedom in the music. For one fleeting moment, she was wreathed in light and I could almost see the fire surrounding her, the manifestation of her soul.

Just when I thought I couldn't possibly love her any more than I already did…

The song came to the end again and she lowered the violin, but otherwise she sat frozen. She was still so high it would take time for her to come back down to me. I stayed there staring at her, watching, waiting…

She opened her eyes and sprang forward, throwing herself into my lap and wrapping her arms around my neck. "I did it, Erik!" she exclaimed. "I felt it, and it was just like you said! I only needed the right song and I could feel something deep inside me go free. I couldn't stop playing even if I wanted to, and I just knew it wasn't me playing anymore! It was coming on its own, and I was just the vessel, but it took hold of me, and—" She broke off and kissed me and the next moment I was kissing her back, feeling her ecstasy and triumph as if it were my own. "I love you," I told her between more kisses that grew ever more desperate. "I just wanted you to know."

"I know, Erik," she replied, caressing my face in her hands. "I know. I could feel it in your music."

"I had to write it. It was the only way I could truly make you understand it."

"I know."

Her soft, warm body pressed so close to mine…her silken hair falling onto her shoulders and glistening in the light…her smiling lips still meeting my own at every turning… "Thank you so much," she said, "for giving me all that you have."

"How did you do that?" I asked. "How could you just start playing along? It fit in so perfectly."

"I heard everything you were writing in my sleep," she told me, "and during the day I would piece together harmonies to amuse myself. I didn't know it was your music. I thought I was only dreaming it."

God, no, she wasn't dreaming it; neither was I. This wasn't a dream anymore. I kept waiting for it to come to an end, for her to stop everything and disappear, but she didn't. She remained.

As one, we stood and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer until I could almost feel her heart beating. She was so small she had to stand on her toes to kiss me. I leaned down to her and my hands found the clasps of her gown. Did I dare? Would she stop me? I slowly unfastened the first of the hooks, giving her time to see what I was doing and to say no.

She didn't. She sighed and leaned back into my hands. "Don't stop."

My fingers began to shake as I complied, watching with bated breath as she pushed the dress off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor, standing there in only her undergarments. She never once took her eyes away from mine, and her gaze burned astonishingly bright. I reached out to touch her, brushing her bare skin and putting my hands on her waist. "There's something else I want to tell you," I said.

"What's that?"

I took a deep breath. "I am so goddamned nervous I can barely see straight."

She laughed a little and replied, "Then just look at me."

"I'm already looking at you. That's what's making me nervous."

She raised her hand and stroked my face with her fingertips. "Don't you want me?" she asked.

I closed my eyes at her touch and shivered. "You have no idea how much I want you."

She let her hand fall down the length of my torso to stop at my belt. "Show me."


Vivienne

He stood still for one moment, then he took off his jacket and began loosening his tie. I worked to unbutton his shirt as fast as I could, my body suddenly screaming for his. He kissed the top of my head and I tilted my face up again for him to kiss me on the lips, my hands slipping inside his shirt and my palms flat against his chest. He raised his hands to remove the shirt and it joined my dress on the floor. Then he unbuckled his belt and lowered his trousers.

I admit, I started to feel nervous myself. It just felt so indecent to have him standing naked in front of me that for almost a whole minute, I couldn't make myself look anywhere at him. Finally, I worked up my courage and met his eyes. He was watching me closely, as if he was waiting for my approval. My gaze wandered down to take in the angular planes of his chest. He was lean and trim, but the muscle was still clearly visible, wrought into being from years of climbing in the shadows above our heads in the Opera. I could feel myself start to tremble as I looked even further down…I had never in my life seen a man unclothed before…my eyes widened. I didn't know what to expect, but…I hadn't anticipated the size of him. And before the night was over, we were going to…

I looked back up into his eyes, seeing their golden light soften in understanding. "I won't hurt you, Vivienne," he said. "I promise."

I nodded quietly, then looked back down. I slowly extended my hand to him, touching the length of him with quivering fingers. He was surprisingly warm, and hard, and throbbing slightly. I grasped him a bit more firmly and he let out a groan I felt deep in his chest. He took my face in his hands and kissed me fiercely, his tongue invading my mouth and already I enjoyed it more than it felt right that I should. My fears passed away and I put my arms around his neck again. He got to work unlacing my corset and I had to laugh as I heard his growls of frustration. He took his lips away again and cursed, "This damn thing."

With one final tug it came free and he threw it aside, running his hands across my back and hips before lifting my chemise up over my head. He caressed my bare skin and my heart nearly stopped beating as the rest of my body came alive, stirred into restless fever by his cool touch which was already growing warmer the longer we stayed in contact. We could set each other on fire. We could make each other burn.

In one swift motion he drew down my petticoat and pantaloons so I was as nude as he was. He pulled me into his arms and we stood there skin against skin for what at once felt like eternity and a split second before he lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He carried me over to the bed and gently laid me down in the sheets, then stood back to look at me. I heard his intake of breath as he whispered, "My God…" His eyes roved over me from head to toe, his stare so fervent and so worshipful I couldn't find it in myself to feel embarrassed. "My beautiful little phoenix…"

My heart started racing when he climbed in next to me and lay down over me, resting his weight on one elbow and leaving one hand free to touch me. He moved slower now, with more tenderness as he kissed my forehead, my lips, my neck, my shoulders. He worked his way down lower, kissing my collarbone and then my breasts. His movements felt shy and tentative, tracing circles around my hardening nipple with his tongue, but I threaded my fingers through his sparse hair and held him there, granting him permission to continue. I felt dizzy with raw need to have him like this, his mouth tasting one breast while his hand stroked and manipulated the other. I struggled to breathe, panting and arching into him. He nipped me gently with his teeth and I gasped loudly. "Erik!"

He took my cry for encouragement, pressing kisses to my navel and caressing my hips. I sensed where he was going and parted my legs for him, but he surprised me and stroked my calf, kissing every inch of bare skin and traveling up my thigh with his hands and lips. "Vivienne," he sighed, "never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this could be real."

"And what did you dream, mon amour?" I asked in little more than a whisper.

He didn't answer, but his fingers slipped inside me and we both moaned in unison as I felt myself grow wet and warm at his touch. He teased me with his fingertips and I shuddered violently, then he took his hand away and before I could make a sound of protest he was there again, ravishing me with his tongue.

The cry that burst from me was wanton and unbridled, turning agonized as he drew away once more. "Do you want me to stop?" he asked.

"God, no!" I cried. "Please, Erik, don't ever stop!"

He began again and I dug my fingernails into my palms at the ecstasy building inside me. He grew rougher and relentless in his attentions, making my entire body shake and inciting more cries from me. I cursed fluently in my thoughts though I couldn't utter a single word, the sensations were so strong and so amazing, and the more I moaned my delight the more he gave. I could sense it…it was coming…

I had never been to the sea, but in an instant I learned what the shore must feel like, lost beneath wave after wave and rising with the tide as I drowned in wave after wave of sheer pleasure. I tried to hold still, but I couldn't keep from writhing beneath him in my abandon—oh, God, it felt so damned good—and begging him, "Erik, please, just take me!"

I heard his rough murmur of assent and felt him move above me, his eyes blazing with an intense, animal light. He lowered his body atop mine and crushed my lips beneath his in a shameless kiss even as I felt his hardened manhood press against me. I needed him so badly…I felt empty without him.

I spread my legs further and he slowly started to enter me. The pain wasn't nearly what it was the last time, but it was just enough to make me cringe and my body to tense up and I couldn't contain a tiny whimper.

Just like that, he pulled away from me. "I'm sorry," he kept repeating, horrified. "I'm so sorry." He made to rise from the bed.

"No!" I cried out, catching hold of his arm and drawing him back to me. He knelt in the middle of the bed and I climbed into his lap, cupping his cheek in my palm. "You won't hurt me," I told him, and never once breaking my gaze, I took him into my body.

I felt rather than heard his soft groan and yet he was frozen and unmoving. I kissed him and raised my other hand to his face, keeping his eyes on me. "Put your arms around me, Erik."

He obeyed without saying a word, holding me close to him. I paused to drink it in, this feeling of merging my body with his and letting him fill me so completely. I could sense the tension in him and knew he was craving his own satisfaction, but now that we were here, twined together like this, I had no idea what should happen next. Was he supposed to take the initiative, or was I? I rocked my hips experimentally, feeling him move in and out, and we both gave a shiver of elation at the rush that flooded through us. I moved again and this time I felt him move with me, and together we formed a rhythm, keeping time and adding a counterpoint of ragged breaths and pounding hearts.

He tightened his hold on me and I could feel the euphoria rising again, more powerful than ever. It came in a flash of white light and a symphony of sound. My vision clouded over and my ears began to ring, and I threw my head back and clutched him to me, feeling as though my spirit had flown away into him. He kissed my neck and shoulders as he moved his hands to my hips, guiding me and changing our pace, deeper, harder, faster, then he gave a violent convulsion and I felt liquid heat deep in my belly. He released his own harsh cry into the curve of my shoulder then went still, not moving for a moment before disentangling our bodies and lowering me back onto the bed.

Never had I felt such pure contentment as he lay next to me and drew me close to him, granting light, sweet kisses to my nose and lips and slowly running his fingers through my hair. "Just let me look at you," he entreated, his gaze like molten glass. "Do you know how beautiful you are?"

"When I look through your eyes, I do," I replied, stroking the line of his jaw. "What about you? Do you know how beautiful you are?"

He kissed me one more time and rested his head against my shoulder, whispering softly, "Je t'aime, mon petit."

I closed my eyes and smiled, listening to the sound of his heart beating in the silence.

I admit to writing this stuff occasionally, but I've never actually let anyone read it before, so for all I know I suck at it. Let me know what you think, and if you've got some constructive criticism, I'd be glad to hear it.