A/N: Sorry about the delay in updates, I was on vacation for Memorial Day! School's almost out! Whoo-hoo! So I plan on writing a lot more!

Anyways, here's the next chapter! R&R purty please!

Maybe it was because I had felt condemned down here, that nothing mattered anymore because I would never return aboveground again. Maybe it was because I found it a way to pass the slow, agonizing hours in that shadowy cave. Maybe it was because I wanted Him to know, to understand why I was the way that I was, for Him to feel more comfortable, more at ease with Himself around me. Whatever the reason, I had made up my mind to tell Him, and there was to be no backing out now.

I could have stood there, analyzing my intentions for days, but Erik's impatient stance and agitated glare made me change my mind.

"When I was…sold into the bordello, Erik, I became a different person. My whole perspective on life and love changed, completely changed. I grew up my whole life surrounded by people that raved of my attractiveness…"

"Oh, pity you!" Erik snapped, His hands violently moving from His back and coming to rest at His sides. His hands wrung through the length of His sleeves that hung loosely around His wrists, clenching them as He breathed stridently through His bared teeth.

I held up my hand, gesturing for Him to stop. And with the help of a look of pure desperation from my eyes, He relaxed and motioned for me to continue.

"I grew up a naïve, little thing. From a very early age I was enthralled, fascinated with beautiful things. I marveled at the splendor and delicateness which they possessed. But, it was all for nothing," I paused to blot my eyes with the back of my hand. I hadn't meant to cry, but it was near impossible to control my emotions anymore. "When I came to Audric's estate, I learned the harsh truth. My own beauty, my own face had tricked me. It was because of this that Audric had decided to employ me, and those men to desire me. It did not matter how handsome or attractive those men were, they were all monsters. It was my curse, and it still is…"

My voice trembled and I suddenly shuddered, feeling very cold inside. This was harder than I thought it was going to be. I must have been rambling on for five minutes without ever coming to the whole point of my story. And it seemed I never would, for my feelings betrayed me, and I could no longer hold back the stinging gush of tears.

"I'm sorry, Erik. I don't mean to lose myself like this," I sobbed, frantically wiping at my soaking cheeks with my sleeves.

I did not see Him move from His position at the edge of the lake, but all at once, He was beside me. He handed me a handkerchief that seemed to appear out of nowhere, and I gladly accepted it.

He pulled out a chair for me and gently pushed on my shoulders to help me sit down. Then, much to my surprise, He had chosen to sit to the chair alongside it, ignoring the chair at the opposite end of the table where He had sat earlier.

"Perhaps it is my turn to comfort you," He whispered, and I could not stop a small smile from forming on my quivering lips.

Had I fainted?

For there was no way, no possible way, that Erik could be consoling me. Planning another punishment, another devious plot for torture unraveling in His mind were all possibilities. But, suddenly compassion? Mere moments ago, He was hurling insults at me, berating for my scandalous past. And now…

And now He sits. Beside me. His Hands folded in His lap, long fingers entwining and prodding at His knuckles. I sat and wondered, if He should try and touch me, how would I react? If it was as soft and feathery as when the warm leather was exploring my face, would I have the same response?

I feared His touch, not for the seemingly obvious reason of pain, but of pleasure. Yes, pleasure. So rarely, so infrequently has He ever touched me without ill intentions, I knew that if He was miraculously to impose a gentler contact, we would be in danger. For when He touched me, He controlled me.

He controlled my breath when His grip tightened around my throat, He controlled my body when He cornered me into a wall. And He controlled my heart when He caressed me, soothing my skin with His own.

With a final pass over my moist cheeks, I sheepishly handed the handkerchief back to Him, being careful not to actually come in contact His own hand.

"Thank you," I whispered, forcing a rather shy smile.

He nodded politely, and I waited for any sort of response to my story. There was none. Erik sat complacently, staring over the table to the edge of the inky lake. Thinking that I could regain composure and finish what I had started entered my mind. However, I quickly relinquished the notion when the thought of it was already burning at my throat with unshed tears.

Before things could take a turn for the worse, I decided to accept my defeat and withdraw to my room. Slowly, I slid the chair back and rose, smoothing my skirts out of habit rather than the actual need for it. I hesitated saying something, my mouth opened and closed silently several times before I shook my head, and turned away towards the door.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder and I swore I could almost feel my knees melting to the ground.

"Alessandra, wait."

I turned around to find Erik, now fully upright, standing next to me. I angled my head to look inquisitively at His hand that rested deftly on my shoulder, and He followed my gaze. Instantly, He dropped His hold and met my stare with abashed embarrassment.

How I wish He was not so afraid to touch me!

In an almost agitated state, I daringly seized His muscular hand with my own softer one, and replaced it back upon my shoulder, gently tracing the raised veins with my fingertips.

I did not find anger on His face, there was no fuming temper bubbling under the porcelain veneer of the mask. He did not immediately shove me away or retreat back. His eyes settled onto my swollen ones, growing large and then suddenly narrowing, as if realizing something for the very first time. And for the very first time, I realize something too.

In His eyes, I found understanding. I saw recognition, comprehension of a similarity we both shared, but never fully understood before. A parallel that binds us both not by choice, but by fate.