A/N: …And we come to the 'T' rating. I am completely against the trashy 'X' sort of stories. Not for Erik and Christine. But with Erik especially, the characters are very passionate and ultimately very sensual beings. With these two, I see it more as a form of music and desire blended into one chapter. Sorry, I'm getting too philosophical. Just read…please!

P.S: This is also somewhat of a cruel cliffhanger…sorry! I just enjoy those so much! -Le sigh- I know, I know…I'm such a demented human being… Believe me, I've heard it all before.

P.P.S: Sorry, one more thing…this is a pretty short chapter…just over fifteen hundred words, I believe. This is because I have decided that instead of doing five chapters as I originally planned, I would make it six sections long. So ultimately this is a good thing…if you're enjoying my story, that is. If you're not, then I suppose this would be horrible news, and I implore your forgiveness.


OUR PASSION-PLAY


I awoke to the touch of water to my cheek. Upon opening my eyes, I saw Erik's face swim above me, shrouded in a darkness broken only by the faint glimmering of candlelight.

He was crying.

Glancing at the journal that still lay flaccidly in his hands, I realized he was on the last page. I looked over the words I had written, suddenly feeling as though this book was not mine… no, certainly not! The thoughts that flowed from those pages…I read them with growing shame of my own pitiful fear. I had forgotten…forgotten that feeling of insufficiency when judging myself against the woman to whom Erik had bestowed all the love in the world.

That woman, of course, was my inner mind…the woman who would have gladly accepted his proposal the moment he asked, no second thoughts. But I had been tainted by the void of my own fears, marked by a child's insecurities. I had to grow up in order to realize the insincerity of my decision; I had to face that woman face to face and become her.

The kiss had solved everything, and secured nothing. But here I was…lying next to him in utter tranquility.

"Fairy tales can have tragic endings…" he said quietly to himself, unaware that I was no longer asleep. He ran a long, pale finger over the words, his eyes flickering in the darkness.

"I don't think any of us are destined to live happily ever after," I murmured in harmony with his voice. He turned his gaze to me, showing no surprise that I was awake. "Is it true?" I whispered into the gentle darkness of his velvet coat. "Is there no hope for us?"

Erik was silent for a moment, lacing his fingers with mine. I saw conflicting emotions pass across those haunting eyes. "That is what Allah had the nightingale believe," he replied softly. He raised my hand to his lips, placing a light, captivating kiss on my fingertips, and I felt the smallest sensation of his tongue against my skin. With his other hand he pulled a scarlet rose from seemingly nowhere, trailing its petals across my cheek.

I stared at the flower, speechless at its inference…the red rose, the offspring of a forbidden love. I looked up at him, an unreadable expression lining his face. He turned away from me, eyes closed. I traced his cheek delicately with my fingers, and he looked back at me, mouth set into a firm line on his shadowy face. Reaching up to him, I touched my lips softly to the corner of his jaw, pressing my palm against his broad shoulders. After a moment, I pulled back and, upon looking into his eyes, saw only beauty…and love.

The conception of the red rose had been inevitable.

Looking back on it, I suppose this was, too.


I was lost in the golden glow of Erik's eyes. My fingers tucked a loose strand of black hair behind his ear, sliding down his neck and resting on his firm chest. He knew as well as I that there was no turning back after this moment… We had reached a point of no return.

My heart pounded in anticipation, my body trembling in his arms. His hand passed slowly down my arm, meeting my hip hesitantly. I placed my fingers over his, guiding him, pushing him forwards. Our eyes met, and the connection sent a jolt down my spine. There was a fire in that gaze that awoke something deep within me…a presence that my innocence had denied me for twenty years. I worked my way to the depths beneath him and, reaching my hand to the nape of his neck, pulled him down, claiming his lips as my own.

There was glorious music in the very essence of his touch, a chorus of angels at every sweet connection of our bodies. I felt his fingers through my silk blouse, a delicate and sensual coldness melting from his every caress. The faint cry that escaped my lips could not be silenced as his hand passed beneath the lace of my gown and met my bare, shivering skin.

If he felt any hesitation at all in these moments, he did not make it known. Every movement was as smooth and sinuous as the flowing of water, his dexterous fingers dipping and sliding across my quivering body, reminding me vaguely of the fierce passion he used while stroking the keys of the organ that now lay in ruins on the cold floor…

His lips met the swell of my breast, and I gasped aloud. My hands slid down to the tautness of his back, pulling at the jacket which now seemed so useless and futile. He flung it off, seemingly without thinking of the action, and fell back upon me, catching himself on his hands just a few inches from my face. For a moment we stared at each other with ravenous fervor; then he led a stream of soft, luscious kisses from my lower lip to the corner of my cheek, working his way down my neck and meeting the slender curve of my now bare shoulder.

I met his neck with my mouth, my fingers hurrying to unfasten the small buttons that ran down the length of his elegant white shirt. His bare chest glistened in the flickering candlelight, throwing smooth, dancing black shadows across his body. In the kingdom of the night, Erik was sovereign…he ruled this domain, and I was his student. He would teach me well…

Then, in the same instant, we paused. The silence was deliciously torturing as we took in the sight of each other… myself, lying upon the satin sheets with my long brunette mane serving as my only cover, chest rising and falling heavily; he, floating in my vision high above me, looking down at me with breathless wonder. My breath was caught in my throat as I stared at him in all his dark glory. There was no one else in the world at that moment.

Slowly, dramatically, he leaned down upon me and covered me with his body. His mouth was at the base of my ear, and I listened to the staggered, uneven breaths that escaped his lips, tickling my skin. He held my hips against himself, and when we joined, there was an utter, beautiful silence that engulfed us in its veil. I bit down on his shoulder, unable to decide if the pain was excruciating in spite or because of the unspoken pleasure shared between us.

You could almost write a song to the pulsing cadence of our beautifully entrancing tenderness…

It was not the heated ardor I had craved; instead, he was exquisitely serene and beautiful, taking the time to pass his hands over my waist and legs. There was no amount of fiery passion that could ever come close to surpassing the wonderful sensation of being desired as he desired me.

There was a gentle caring in every touch, a delicate reverence in every caress. I wrapped myself around him, clutching him to me…I would not let him go. Not this time…

"Christine…"

His voice was still hauntingly beautiful…the sound of an angel floating on the wings of Heaven…

"Christine, I love you…"

There was a desperate urgency to the words, and he held me tightly in his arms. Please, God, let me stay here.

"You are my world, Erik…my Angel…" I murmured into his ear. "I am lost without you…don't leave me…please…"

He released me, and we fell back onto the bed together. His breath was labored, and still he found the strength to leave one last trail of kisses up the center of my chest to my awaiting lips. We stopped, our mouths mere inches from each other. The only sound was his jagged breathing above me. "Thank you, Christine…" he whispered. Erik leaned back against the head board of the bed, and I laid my cheek against his chest, eyes closed.

In the shadows of my approaching slumber, I did not notice the steady slowing of his heartbeat…