A/N: You guys are so loving me right now. I should just have written a big-old fluffy story all the way through! Well, enjoy…

Ch. 15 – Our Passion Play Has Now At Last Begun

Christine was able to get up and move about his cabin the next day. It was difficult as the flesh on her back felt tight. She was afraid to reach too far and cause one of her wounds to reopen, which would infuriate Erik to no end. She sent Charles up on deck with Stone, worried that the boy would suffer from a relapse of cabin fever. Alone, she was able to think of him undistracted. She pictured him here in his room, sitting at the desk or sleeping in the bed. She opened his wardrobe and stroked her fingers over the material of his clothing, inhaling his scent. She was no longer under the delusion that she could hide her love from him. She wanted him to be hers, fully and truly in every sense and she was confident now that he felt the same.

That evening, after they had eaten, they put Charles to bed and Erik led her out of the cabin. He had told her earlier that he had intended to share something with her tonight. Stone would watch over the boy while they were out of the cabin. As they emerged from the companionway onto the deck, Christine found herself bathed in moonlight. She stared up at the night sky blanketed in pin-point diamonds. The sea breeze was warm and flowed around her. She felt as though she had just stepped into another world.

He steered her to a secluded spot on the quarterdeck and embraced her from behind as she gazed at the reflection of the full moon on the water's surface. "I have stood, looking at this a hundred times and every time I longed for you to be here with me." His voice was filled with emotion. He lifted a hand to her hair, brushing the wind tossed strands from her forehead. "I can't believe that you are truly here," he said, laying his face against the back of her head.

Her eyes had filled with tears at the beauty of what she was seeing and what she was hearing. "I can't believe I'm here with you either."

"Things are different, Christine. I am different. I can be whatever you need me to be."

"I only want you, Erik."

When he did not speak, she softly sang,

In sleep he sang to me
In dreams he came
That voice which calls to me
And speaks my name

In her ear, he breathed, "Christine."

She turned her face to meet his and their lips met. She spun in his arms, facing him, reaching up to tangle her hands in his hair. His mouth devoured hers, his lips parted and he caressed her with his tongue. She responded with eagerness, lusciously taking his bottom lip between her own. His hands ran up her rib cage on either side of her body stopping next to her breasts. He was afraid to make more intimate contact, knowing that once he had touched her more personally, he would not stop until they were both sated. He was aware that there were still crewmen milling about and he had to control himself for the sake of her modesty.

Christine was already lost to him, heat flushing through her body. She wanted more. She wanted him to move his hands over her. She pressed her body to his more urgently, silently conveying her desire. She felt his arousal against her, exciting her passion. She nipped at his mouth with her teeth then releasing him from the kiss, she ran her tongue down his neck to his collar, settling there to suckle his flesh.

His control hung on by a thread, and before it could snap, he took a step back from her breaking contact. She looked at him in surprise, her eyes heavy with passion. "What is it?" she asked in a deep voice that didn't sound like her own.

"We should be in private. There are prying eyes here," he said gesturing to the men working onboard. He took her hand and led her back down the stairs to the passageway. When they neared the empty cabin that he had taken temporarily as his own, she stopped and reached for the door handle. He placed his hand over hers to stop her from touching it and pulled her fingers up to his mouth. Kissing the each one individually, he held her gaze for a moment before he said, "I do not wish to rush this, Christine. I have waited so long for you to be mine. It must be right before we are truly one." He saw the disappointment on her face and, still holding her hand in his left, brought his right up to cup her chin and stroke her cheek lovingly with his thumb. "This will happen, love. We are destined for one another and it has always been so."

She managed a smile and moved to place a chaste kiss on his lips but found that he was not yet completely willing to let the sensation go as he parted his lips to hers again. Their mouths slanted against one another, devouring and possessing. His mind was becoming intoxicated with her again, and he had to fight to regain control. He pulled back once again and regarded her with the look of a man in torment. He found that she looked much the same, if not worse. Her lips were swollen from his kisses, her cheeks red from her excitement. Finding her voice, she warned, "Kiss me again, Erik and you shall lose this battle to maintain a chaste relationship."

He threw his head back and laughed heartily. She did not enjoy his mocking her, and poked him in the ribs to let him know of her displeasure. Noticing her frown he said, "Forgive me, Christine. But the thought of you ravaging me after all of these years of my near celibate existence is quite laughable."

"Near celibate?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. The notion of him with another woman caused her to fill with jealousy. She knew that it was unfair of her to be jealous when she herself had been married and had a child. She couldn't help it, she was irrationally upset at the thought of his touching a faceless woman or kissing her. She couldn't bear the thought of him kissing some paramour like he had just kissed her. As she felt her temper rising, she realized what a wicked and shameful woman she was. I would have condemned him to a life of chastity rather than think of him with someone other than myself!

"I don't think it would be proper for either of us to discuss our past liaisons. Nor would it be wise. All you need know is that my heart belongs to you as it always has. That will never change." He melted her foul mood with his loving words and she moved into his embrace.

"Oh Erik, there is so much I need to say to you. So much we need to discuss."

"Shh, another time. Let's not remember this night for anything other than the beauty that we have found together." He placed a kiss on the bridge of her nose and began to lead her back to the Captain's quarters. "Do you need any help getting settled in? Can you manage with your clothing?"

"Erik, please do not tease me now!" She reached a hand up to his cheek, settling it there. Heaving a sigh she said, "Good night my Angel."

"No longer an angel my love, but a man enslaved by your beauty and grace."

Her heart warmed, she untangled her fingers from his grip and ruefully entered the cabin. Once inside, she leaned back against the wood of the door, catching her breath. She was undeniably in love with him so deeply that her heart was aching from having to leave him. She was frightened by her feelings and at the same time, she was comforted. He had been right when he said that they were destined for one another. It seemed now that nothing could have stopped their joining. His crimes and arrogance, her betrayal followed by her marriage, these could not stop their love. She was determined not to stand in the way of her own fate anymore.

Thinking to their future, she wondered if Erik would marry her when they were able. He had told her of his home in Carolina, was there room for a wife and a son there? A son. Would Erik accept Raoul's child as his own? It was obvious that he was fond of the boy, even seemed to care deeply for him. But would he want the responsibility for raising his enemy's son? She honestly didn't know. He was never rational when it came to Raoul, he quite possible would not be able to stomach the idea. If that were true, she would not be able to stay with him. She would choose Charles and would have to leave him once again. No, she thought, I will not consider this possibility. I will speak to him before I get myself tied in knots over it. Slowly she began to undress, careful not to aggravate her wounds. She lay down in his bed and wrapped her arms around the pillow willing it to be him. As she fell asleep, she dreamed of an angel that changed into a man the minute she caressed his face.

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His dreams were of pain, unbearable suffering as he watched Christine leave him again. He had pledged his love to her and she had laughed at him - calling him a monster, a beast, a pitiful creature. She had ground his heart under her heel and then had taken her son's hand to lead him away from Erik. "Don't look at him Charles. He is an abomination, barely human." He could feel his heart shattering into a million pieces, knowing that she was right, that he was so unworthy of her love. He screamed her name, but she did not turn back to look at him.

He woke in a cold sweat, his breathing rapid and his heart aching. "No," he said into the darkness around him. It will not happen again, he thought. She will not betray m. She will choose me this time. He ran a hand through his hair and looked up to catch his reflection in the mirror that sat across from the bed. He had not had a mirror in his cabin, and had never allowed one to be uncovered in his chambers. Now he sat staring at himself, his mask cast aside onto the bedside table. Doubt crept in to weaken his confidence. He saw the monster, the one that he had always hated and feared. He was right there, looking back at him with hatred. "Not this time," he said to his own image. "You will not destroy us this time." But his words were unconvincing; the monster had always won the battle. He saw in his mind's eye, the reflection smirk at him, mocking his efforts. You will never have your happily ever after, Erik. The monster cannot win the day! Stop fighting against what you already know.

"No!" He shouted at the mirror, and he sprung from the bed intending to smash it to bits. From the corner of his eye he caught sight of the paper rose that he had given Charles to present to her on the night of her birthday, the night of her attack. He remembered what those men had done to his beloved. Not men, monsters. He was not like them, he realized. They had been born without deformity, yet inside they were as twisted and evil as his face. His rage cooled, he crossed the room and retrieved his chemise that he had left on a nearby chair and covered the mirror with it. Exhausted, he collapsed back upon the mattress and succumbed to dreamless sleep.