---

Christine

---

Erik decided to quickly wash the dust out of his hair under his shower before getting into our bath so I watched the cold water pour from the ceiling over him as he swept the hair back from his face with his eyes closed. I decided that his chest and arms were my favorite part of his body but he turned around to grab his soap and I was staring at his unscarred bum. Warmth flooded not only my face but my stomach and groin as I remembered gripping his tight backside while he thrust his body into mine. My skin tingled as I stared at my aroused knight. I thought about helping him slide that soap over his hard chest and down his flat stomach, sliding my own body against the slipperiness, taking his engorged manhood into my hand...

He looked up at me, probably because I was almost breathing heavily at my train of thoughts. He smiled.

"Staring is rude, Christine," he was trying to keep from laughing and I walked the two steps and pulled the chain. Water sluiced over him as he laughed and rinsed himself.

I led my lover to the bath, though I'm sure he wished to forgo it now and take me straight to bed. I stepped in and he followed, his eyes never leaving me until we settled against each other as we'd done before. It was a little uncomfortable with his arousal poking me in the back but after a few minutes he relaxed. I made sure to fully wet my hair, inwardly laughing at his displeasure with the straightened locks. He mentioned that it still looked much straighter then it ever had before while wet and I assured him it would dry and curl right back up. He grumbled incoherently and I had to fight with my laughter again.

I sighed and settled my body into his like he was my favorite chair. I could barely believe that I so easily suggested this but once the words unthinkingly left my mouth I wouldn't take them back. I enjoyed our watery moments of intimacy very much and I wondered if Erik would still be craving me once we finished the bath. We were both quiet tonight as our hands slid over each other, holding, cherishing and loving with small gentle touches. Not at all like the fiery passion from a moment ago. I wondered if it would always be like that between us, one moment intense and the next calm and beautiful.

"Did you speak to the managers today?" he broke through my reverie.

"Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you. I signed a six month contract," my hands slid over his knees and thighs, tickling my palms with the coarse hairs.

"Hmm..." he tilted my head to one side, gliding wet fingers up before placing a few kisses upon my neck. "Would you say six months is a long time?"

"Long? I don't know," my eyes were blissfully closed as he nuzzled my ear and my hands memorized the feel of his thighs. "I suppose it would be a long time to wait for something but not a very long time to live," I reasoned.

"Hmm..." his hands slipped from around my waist and I gasped as they cupped my breasts. "Is it a long time to wait for a wedding?"

"A wedding?" my brain turned to mush as he toyed with my nipples.

"Yes, a wedding, my love. When a man asks a woman to marry him they generally do get married at some point..."

"Oh..." I squirmed against him as one hand slid down my stomach. "Erik..." His long elegant fingers found their mark and I arched back with a moan as his hand moved over me.

"I love you, my golden songbird, my goddess, my angel," he whispered as he parted my flesh to seek my pleasure. "I spread my hands upon you, for my soul thirsts for you like a parched land..." He flexed his fingers, rubbing me gently. "I commit myself to you, body, mind and soul until we pledge our love before the eyes of God..."

"Yes, Erik," my body undulated for him, even the mention of God couldn't dampen the feeling his touch arose in me. I was blooming for him again.

"Your voice belongs to me, your body belongs to me," my hands gripped his legs tightly as he gently explored my yearning flesh. "Even your thoughts are mine angel," he breathed in my ear.

My eyes closed as he teased my entrance and my hips moved to help him but he moved his hands to cup me solidly, his arms tensing around me to hold me close as his voice lowered. "No other man will ever touch you as I have touched you. No other man will ever know your body's secrets for they are mine to hold, mine to explore, mine to savor..."

"Yes, Erik," I was panting for him. I wanted him to explore and savor me. I wanted him to penetrate my body with his. I wanted everything we'd done last night and more.

"Are we done with the bath?" he asked softly, his arms loosening and my head nodded from its weak perch on his shoulder. I wanted to take him to bed and make love to him but knew my lack of experience would leave me at his mercy. "Good." He stood and lifted me from the bath and wrapped a towel around me, gently helping me dry myself on my wobbly legs as he stood dripping wet and probably cold. He took the second towel and started squeezing the water from my hair. It was going to take awhile to dry it and my mind conjured images of what we could pass the time doing.

"The fire is lit if you would like to sit by it for awhile," he was always thinking of me, always making my life easier and better. My eyes fastened on him as he used one of my wet towels to dry himself off and I wanted so badly to be the one to take care of him and make his life easier and better. I neatly hung my second towel up to dry and watched him move. His grace oozed from him even while doing something simple like drying his legs and he was such a formidable sight to behold. All the toned muscle and scarred skin made him look like a warrior and he was my warrior. He'd lived through horrific feats to be at my side and I wanted to wrap my body around his to revel in the victory of our love. I wanted to revel and cherish and love every inch of him forever.

---

Erik

---

I dried myself thinking that bathing was much more fun and far less of a chore then I previously thought. Did others find enjoyment in sharing such a moment? I suppose as long as the two of us enjoyed it, it did not really matter what others did or enjoyed.

I kept covertly glancing at Christine as she stared at me. Was it fear or longing in her gaze? Perhaps a little of both, but I mostly was paying attention to her hair. She turned when I finished drying and began to leave the washroom and I scrutinized the long wet mass down her back. It hadn't started curling yet and if it was changed at all from the pressing I would track down whoever had done it and...

"Erik?" she was at the door, looking back over her shoulder. Her smooth rounded bottom seemed to be framed by the ends of her damp hair and I could feel myself swelling. Her eyes flicked down and then she nervously gathered her wet hair, "Are you coming?"

A predatory smile curled my lips and I could almost see her heart rate accelerating in the curve of her neck. I followed her out with my eyes glued to her fine rear end and I wanted to spend all night in bed with her.

Not sleeping.

Patience, you sex fiend!

Is it even possible to be a fiend when you only have one night of experience?

I took a deep breath and turned back to grab my robe. We did have many things to discuss and I didn't want her to feel like I was not involving her in decisions and only interested in her body. I settled my robe around her and she seemed a little surprised but tied it on. It was a short robe and if I wore it without pants it would look rather ridiculous on me. On her it hung above her knees and covered what needed to be covered to keep my attention on conversation. I fetched my pants and pulled them on and it was as if the offender knew he would not be satisfied at this time and he went back to his usual state of apathy.

Christine was already kneeling on the rug, her legs folded, her back to the fire, tousling her hair with her fingers, her golden eyes watching me, always watching me.

"Do you require your comb or perhaps one of the hair tonics from your room?" I offered.

"The one in the green bottle," she responded and I was off to fetch my lady what she needed. I thought about grabbing us some wine but recalled Christine's first experience and thought better of that. I wanted her to be aware later when I pleasured her and myself. I did bring us some oranges.

I helped her comb out a few knots and run the tonic through her hair, the rose scent tickling my nose with perfection, and then I washed my hands and returned to her. We lounged on the floor where we had our first extended experience together and I smiled at my fiancée.

"What?" she smiled back with a curious twinkle as she kept up the displacement of her hair to dry it faster.

"Just remembering our first night..."

"What about it?" she asked playfully.

"Everything..." I said vaguely as I started peeling one of the oranges. "The way you looked at me, the warmth of your body next to mine, your lips on my temple, the way you said my name. So many heightened moments...it will be hard to ever forget it."

"I'm sorry it took me so long to realize I loved you."

"You?" I laughed gently, "What about me pet? I still did not realize it until Nadir spelled it out for me." My jovial attitude darkened at the thought of Nadir. I'd left him so upset today...

"What is it love?" Christine leaned towards me worriedly, attune to my mood.

"Oh, it's just...Nadir..." I rolled the orange in my hand not feeling like eating it anymore. "He...he loves me Christine. As if I were his son, to him I am his son...it's all very strange and I...feel like I didn't handle it well today. I left him so upset..." I scowled at the orange wanting to squeeze it into pulp. "He forged my name on his son's birth certificate."

"Because he does love you, Erik," she gently laid her hand on my leg. "He has known you longer than he knew his own son, he has watched you grow where his own son died as a child. He has you in his life, and only a memory of his boy. Why wouldn't he do all he can to help you?"

"You are most likely right about the clothing he gave me."

"They were his son's?" I nodded thinking of Nadir bringing me to his house that day, not because he felt pity but because he felt love.

"He said I even look like him..." my throat tightened and she slid off her heels to sit with her legs curled to one side and reached to run her fingers through my damp hair and then grabbed the orange from my hand.

"Well then, you have a father, who truly loves you, a fiancée, who truly loves you, real documents that pertain to your birth and nothing to worry about," she parted the orange and slid a segment into her mouth. I gazed at her lovingly from my prone position on the multicolored cushions.

"Is it easy to always be so positive?" she glanced at me with fluttering lashes and laughed lightly as she pulled another piece from the orange.

"It's easy when you yourself are happy," she leaned closer and offered the piece to my lips. I accepted it, and a quick kiss from her, and chewed the segment thinking it was the sweetest orange I'd ever tasted.

"Will you marry me, Christine?" I asked just to hear her say yes again. She smiled.

"Yes Erik darling, I will marry you. Whenever you want, where ever you want."

I folded my arms under my head and leaned on the pillows with a sigh, so content and happy that nothing could break this bubble of complacency that surrounded us. I knew at the start of tomorrow I would resume my worries of these dinners and my acceptance and Nadir and the houses but for now I was entirely relaxed and just talking with my future wife, enjoying the warmth of the fire as it helped to re curl her glorious hair.

"The curl is coming back," I noted, extremely glad to see it.

"I told you so," she joked.

"So, back to our wedding..." I rolled to my side and lazily trailed my fingers along her bare leg. "I thought we could get married at the end of your contract, in the summer, if that suits you. Then we can decide if we will stay here or leave Paris for awhile."

"Where did you want to go?" she looked curious as a mouse, nibbling a piece of the orange with the fire light sparkling through her hair.

"I thought you might want to go home and settle things there." I didn't like the idea of leaving Nadir, my business, and the opera to all fend for themselves but if she needed to go...

"I don't know if I want to." Her voice was so tiny that I curled my hand around one ankle and gripped it tightly.

"I am with you always, Christine. Anything that you must bear, I bear with you."

"I know Erik. I...there's really nothing there. There is no point in traveling so far..." her soft words dried up and her eyes closed.

"Do not make your decision now, I want you to think about it, and you can let me know if it is something you would like to do once we get married." She nodded and took a few deep breaths and then resumed her careful destruction of the orange.

"As much as I like the idea of a summer wedding, six months seems a long time to wait for our wedding," she mentioned as she offered another piece. I chewed it slowly.

"It is longer than I'd hoped for but we do have a lot of things to do in that time. I am determined that you will become the greatest diva to ever grace the stage and I want to build you a house, and those don't go up over night and are there plans that need to be made for the wedding day and don't you have to get a spectacular dress? I can make you an appointment at my tailor if you like?"

"Oh, and I want Meg to stand with me, she will need a new dress as well."

"I will make an appointment for both of you then, and concerning Meg..." I wanted to tell Christine of my agreement with Meg because I felt like keeping it from her would be wrong. "I met with her this morning before rehearsal." Christine looked surprised for a moment but then understanding bloomed on her face.

"She was all flustered when she picked me up this morning. I knew something was wrong with her. What did you say to her?"

"She asked to be my friend and I accepted. Is that alright with you?" I suddenly worried that telling Christine was the wrong thing to do but she laughed.

"Of course Erik, don't be silly, I'm so glad that you will let her get to know you. I do love her so, she is like the sister I never had. Oh, this is wonderful!" her arms were tossed around me and her weight pushed me down into the cushions. "I love you," she murmured as her lips pressed to mine. My hands slid under the robe to cup her round bottom as my body rose to attention.

"Christine..." I groaned lightly, as my hips pushed up against hers.

"Erik..." she crooned softly as she ran kisses down one cheek to my neck.

"I'm...I'm not done...talking..." what was wrong with me? I wanted to talk when my beautiful goddess was pressing her soft lips to my neck and collarbone?

"Oh," she backed off of me with a grin, "Sorry," she offered, smiling cheekily. I lay there for a second, feeling the loss of her warm body, and then rolled over and buried my face in the pillows.

Idiot. When a woman lays on you and presses kisses on your body maybe you should just forget everything you had to talk about and bring it up another time instead of wasting a perfectly good opportunity to peel your robe off her body and take her in front of the fire as you wanted to do that first night...

"Erik?" her dainty hand rested on my shoulder blade, "Are you alright?"

"No I am not. I just realized I am the stupidest man in the world," I said into the pillow and she laughed as I rolled back over. Her golden eyes were happy and full of passion and love for me. "Now what I have to ask you seems very insignificant..." I said drily.

"We can always pick up later where we just left off," she tossed her drying curls around avoiding my eye as she blushed.

"If you so desire..." I couldn't help the dark desire in my voice and tried to regain my train of thought. "So, as unimportant as this is compared to what we could be doing right now...I wanted to ask you about your relationship with your father."

Her eyes changed, the happiness and embarrasment in them died and those sorrowful windows to her deepest pain reflected back at me. "What did you want to know?"

"How did you show him your love?"

"Is this about Nadir?" I nodded solemnly. I had to make sure I gave him everything he deserved.

"I'm not sure it will help you but I would hug and kiss him every day and cook his meals and keep house and read and sing to him when he wanted me to and listen to his stories even when I'd heard them many times before."

My brow furrowed, "That is not very helpful. I can't go bustling into his kitchen or dusting his office and I certainly won't be kissing him any time soon..." she shoved me playfully.

"Well, you already play piano for him whenever you can and you go there every Sunday for dinner, both of those show you care for him, Erik."

"But I want him to know how grateful I am for all he's done for me. He gave me not only his name but his son's education, his clothing, his birthday...he adopted me as his own. I want to make certain he knows I care..."

"I think he knows, but you could always just tell him? That is the surest way to let someone know you care."

"Seems too easy..."

"Sometimes the easiest things are the hardest to do. Look at us for instance. The Lord gives us each other and it take us months to figure it out," her hand trailed down my arm, "Even though we both felt the pull to one another."

"Here I just thought I was weak but all along the Lord intended you to be mine," I cupped her jaw and glided my thumb over the apple of her cheek as our eyes locked.

"I never imagined you thought very much of God," she was slightly hesitant, like she was curious about my religious views but did not want to delve to deep.

"I may not like Him very much but I know all about Him. It was made clear to me at a very young age that the glory and love of God spreads over all people, except for deformed little monsters."

She gasped, "Erik, don't..."

"Hush," I commanded, not wanting to ruin my mood and hers with talk of religion, which would lead to my mother and her religious views and what I remembered of her explanation for my existence. "Let us talk of something else..." Christine was frowning at me, not in anger but sort of in disappointment. She crossed her arms but instead of the pose conveying annoyance and anger my body suddenly flared to life. The loose robe gaped somewhat in the front and I had a wonderful view of her high breasts, framed by my robe and pushed in by her crossed arms. My eyes wandered up her slender neck. I was done talking. I was pretty sure I had more to speak to her about but I couldn't remember it as I looked up into my angel's sad eyes. "Let us go to bed."

"Oh, are you sure you are done now?" she quirked her lips in annoyance.

"No, but I am done for now," I helped her stand and deviously pulled the loose robe from her body.

"Erik!" she gasped as I scooped her into my arms.

"Were you planning to sleep in it?" I joked as I took her to my bed and laid her upon it.

"Well...no...but..." I stood over her prone figure and couldn't help gazing down at her beautiful form. She threw her arm over her face and I knew I was embarassing her but I couldn't stop myself. I stared at the golden lightly freckled skin that covered her slender limbs and slim figure. Her hips flared generously enough, the small patch of tight curls that rested between her legs and her small round breasts that would fill my palm if I took it in my hand. Her nipples were a pretty pink and hardened into little peaks, probably from the cold air, and a pink flush was deepening on her chest and neck and probably her face too. She peeked under her arm at me and I quickly bent and pulled off my pants and then crawled over her.

I wanted to take her quickly and roughly, satisfy the burning desire that had roared within me and then hold her warm body and luscious hair next to me as she drifted to sleep. I doubted I would sleep after my recouperative rest last night. Maybe she would stay up with me and I could have her as many times as she would allow. I took her in my arms and our bodies tangled effortlessly, legs, arms, hands and tongues explored. I wanted to drive my already swollen shaft within her but I drew on my control to keep my touch somewhat light and gentle. Just as earlier, she could push me to the edge by barely trying and as her fingers raked through my hair and her tongue darted against mine I growled and spread her legs open to settle my hips between them.

I hovered at the warm threshold to her body and questioned myself. I still doubted that she could want me, at all or at this moment, but her hips pushed up and it felt like an invitation. Lust was clouding my judgement, she could probably be pushing me away and saying no and I would see it as invitation. I broke away from her sweet mouth and she continued to press kisses across my sunken cheek, her tongue flicking over my ear as one of my hands trailed over her hip to grip it tightly.

"Christine..." her name was questioning and breathy with wanting and her arms tightened around me.

"Yes, Erik," she whispered like she knew what I was asking. I hoped she did because I couldn't wait any longer for her. I started to push my way inside her and at the tight wet sensation of her womanly flesh I realized that I hadn't prepared her properly at all for this level of assault but it felt so good that I couldn't stop my body from wanting the rest of it. I tried to be gentle but the word assault was floating in my head as I penetrated her. She was squirming beneath me, her neck arching and her hands scrambling like she would crawl away if she could and I grabbed her hips to hold her in place as I finally buried myself to the hilt.

"Oh God Yes Erik," she breathed into my neck and my arousal doubled, tripled, hardened to an unbelievable pressure as our bodies trembled and she hooked her legs around mine. Her inner core held me as tightly as we held each other and now that I knew she was enjoying this I let my doubts go and made love to my angel how ever I wanted to.

"I love you," I whispered as I moved within her, scattering kisses on her neck and ear, filling my hands with her curly hair as I filled her body with mine. Her nails dug into my back, her head thrown back and I increased my vigor. The intensity that I felt inside me for her was almost too much. It made concentration difficult, all I could feel was the silky grasp of her body around my shaft and the fire that burned through me, whispering to take her. All I wanted was more and more and faster and harder...

I hitched her legs up higher around my hips and she cried out as I thrust into her. She bit me on the neck and my body jerked out of rhythym but the motion made her moan enticingly and I was a quick learner. This time when I thrust inside her I added a small hip jerk and she loudly groaned my name.

I was not going to last much longer if she groaned my name so erotically but I wanted to make sure she was fully pleasured, but I also didn't have the control or the inclination to stop now and see to it so I kept driving myself into her, rubbing our intimate places together and pulling arousing noises from my songbird's throat.

"Angel..." I whispered in her ear as I felt my body losing control. Her nails were suddenly raking my back as her hips jerked and her body danced beneath me. The pain she inflicted on me somehow intensified my pleasure and her core was also gripping me so tightly that it was my turn to cry out for her as my body finally released itself deep inside her.

I sagged into her, panting heavily, my back burning, my body sated. For now. Coherent thoughts eluded me and I floated in the ecstasy of our love making. Her legs were still tight around me and I realized she had hooked her ankles together and the heel of one foot rested on my backside. I liked how this felt, to be joined so closely to my angel. I felt lifted to heavenly heights when our bodies were so joined. My body cooled and my breathing returned to normal while I gently ran one hand down her side over her rump and up her thigh where it wound over my hip. She mewled softly as my fingers brushed her sensitive flesh and the word assault drifted through my head. I pulled back enough to look in her face worriedly.

She looked to be peacefully sleeping, her lashes resting on her flushed cheeks, her lips curled in a tiny smile, satisfaction evident on her face. Her arms and legs tightened as I kept distancing myself.

"Where are you going?" she asked huskily not bothering to open her eyes. Many comments floated through my mind but only one was the honest truth.

"No where," I answered softly.

"Good," she sighed and pulled me back down to rest my head in the crook of her neck as her legs and arms tightened around me. "I love you Erik..."

---

Nadir

---

The silence in the house was oppressive. I lay in my bed, sleepless, thinking of my dead wife and dead child. How long did I wish I could just die with them? How many nights did I contemplate doing it myself? But Allah had other plans for me and has used me as he would.

I rolled restlessly, trying not to bring the ever ready images of Rooheeky on our wedding night or swollen with child to my mind. It was useless of course. My body stirred for her even though we were separated by years, miles and death.

I rose from bed to change my lustful thoughts. I had very few mementos of my previous life. After spending those eight years in prison with nothing but my thoughts, I found material things held no power over me. The only things I'd brought with me on my journey from Tehran was the portrait of Rooheeky, which I rarely looked at, and Reza's birth certificate. As much as changing the slip of paper had hurt, a great calm had also filled me. I had a son again. A real live son who cared for me, even if he didn't fully realize he did. Some strange twist of fate had given Erik Rooheeky's wild stormy eyes and I morbidly sometimes thought of him as Reza risen from the dead with his memory and part of his face taken as payment to come back to me...

I looked out over my gardens, trying to see as far as I could in the moonlight to the stream where Erik asked to build a house. I would not be able to see it but I would know it was right there, just out of sight. Perhaps some days the wind would carry the smoke from their chimney into my line of vision. I liked, no, I loved the thought of Erik and Christine living right there, just out of my sight, happy and in love and maybe they would have children of their own and I would get to see a little Erik running around or a little Christine playing with dolls before I myself passed into the afterlife. I was not sad at the thought of dying. Everyone met with their end at some point. Some candles burned until they were nothing but a little puddle of wax and some were snuffed out far too early.

Suddenly I was thinking of my own parents and how my choices had pained them. They had convinced me that I would be disowned if I married Rooheeky but when they died all of the family fortune had come to me and my small family. There was even a box full of hundreds of letters my mother had written to me saying come back home, we want to know our grandchild, please forgive us but my father never sent them. He was a stubborn man, who had sired an equally stubborn son, but he could have destroyed the letters. The fact that he didn't made me realize that I was still loved and still accepted no matter what words had been said in anger.

How had Erik managed to survive with no one's acceptance and love for so long? Erik...Erek...Erek Karan.

I knew no one would dispute my claim. Even Berou and Molly thought he was my true son because I never revealed to them that he was not. I never told anyone anything and now it was time to let go of Reza and truly embrace Erik. It was not very hard for me to do and I was slightly ashamed by that. But in the beginning I imagined Erik was him and soon enough loved Erik all on his own merit and all of that emotion jumbled in my head and heart together and what came out the other side was a solid reassurance that the man with half a face was my son.

No one would dispute it because even I had no dispute for it.

---

Raoul

---

"Please Julie?" I was ridiculously on my knees but woman enjoyed such gestures. After half an hour of pleading my case and apologizing for my stupid behaviour I was so close to having her back. "It is you that I love, I was so drunk and so stupid. If you ever forgive me it will be because you are an angel of mercy and goodness..." I prattled on about her virtues until tears glimmered in her eyes and I knew I had her.

"But...but you said you loved her...and the paper..." still with that? I almost grumbled but explained yet again.

"I did love her, at one point, but I now know you and you are so much more and the paper will print anything to make people buy them. I am not engaged to her."

"The ring on her finger is huge, Raoul, who else could have given it to her?" her arms crossed defiantly making her breasts rise up higher.

"I don't know but it is not mine!" though I fully intended to find out who it belonged to. Was it that ugly Karan fellow's ring? How could Christine look at him? How could she so blatantly choose him over me? "Please Julie, for all we know Christine wrote up that garbage about herself for the paper. She probably thinks it will help her career."

"She's a great singer, Raoul, she doesn't need any help with her career." Julie was looking angry again and I realized she was jealous of Christine. Mightily jealous.

"Well, maybe I should talk with her to figure out where this rumor of our engagement started."

"SEE!" she pointed at me dramatically, "You want to meet with her, you still love her!"

"For God's sakes woman! How am I to dismiss her lies if I do not understand them?" I was getting angry. Julie could really be stupid but she was beautiful and very talented in other ways. She covered her face.

"You don't love me anymore!" she sobbed and I stood to take her in my arms.

"That is impossible," I vowed as I began kissing her cheek. "How could any man resist loving you? You, the most beautiful dancer on that stage, my eyes never stray from your figure as you dance. You are a siren to me, I am helplessly drawn to your beauty. I could no more resist you than stop breathing. I love you so much Julie..."

"Truly?" she sniffed as her hands hesitantly inched around me.

"Truly." I leaned in for a kiss and was rewarded with a passionate press of her body and mouth. I groaned lustfully and drew away. "Will you help me, please my love, we must find out what this strumpet is planning?" I had to make sure she would help, it was the whole point in this exchange.

"Yes, Raoul, I'll get her alone," her warm mouth moved over my neck and her hands trailed to the tops of my pants and I smiled against the silky feel of her hair.

I am so close to you, fairy...