Chapter Fifty-Four: His Everything
A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry I am getting this to you all late, right now it is 11:00 in the evening, I sadly do not know when my next update is because school has been crazy, and with the upcoming holiday it seems I have no time, it should not be to long before I get another update out there, I just do not want to promise a date! Please read and review! DJT
"Raoul? May I speak with you?"
Raoul turned from window where he had been silently observing Meg in the garden. He found himself entranced with the blonde haired beauty, with her perfect curves and charming attitude. That first night, when he had talked to her in the foyer, he had found that he had quite a bit in common with the woman, as far as thoughts and beliefs went. She was as curious as a mouse and could make him laugh quite easily, something he enjoyed, it was a lot better than the heartache he felt whenever he thought about the fact that he had lost Christine. But the voice that had spoken from behind him was filled with great worry. Christine stood not far from him, her hands fidgeting with her skirts and a troubled look in her eyes. Raoul could not help the frown that crossed his features. What had happened? When he'd seen Christine with her husband she always had a sparkle in her eyes and a smile on her lips, the woman standing in front of him was the complete opposite.
"Of course, Christine," he murmured, offering her a chair. Christine shook her head, biting her lips and glancing at the door nervously. What was going on with her?
"Can we speak in private? Would you go for a walk with me?" she asked, her voice nearly pleading with him not to say no. Raoul nodded and grabbed his coat. When they went into the late evening sun Raoul offered her his arm and she took it, steering him away from the cottage. Meg saw them and frowned, knowing by the look on Christine's face that she should not interrupt. Christine said nothing until they were a fair distance away from the house. She repeatedly looked behind her, as if praying that there was no one behind them. Finally, with a long sigh, she spoke.
"I am worried about Erik."
Raoul was taken completely by surprise by her statement. He would have never believed that she would come to him and say such a thing. He would have thought is was some sort of hoax but the tone of her voice left little doubt that she was completely serious.
"Christine, I-"
"I know he is going to do something foolish!"
"Did he tell you what he had planned?" he wondered. She shook her head and bit her lip, tears beginning to well in her eyes.
"No...but I know him, he will not rest until he sees Michael dead!" Christine whispered. Raoul stopped and wiped the tears from her eyes. He still had feelings for this woman, he knew he always would, but he knew now that her love for Erik could never be replaced. But he would always be there for her.
"He knows that you would never be able to bear it without him, he will not rush blind into something like this!" Raoul assured her, although he was not altogether sure. Erik was the type of man that would do anything for those he loved. Raoul knew how much Erik loved Christine. He would have never admitted it before, or even now, but he knew. If protecting her meant acting rash Raoul knew the masked man would do it.
"I know nothing I tell him will make a difference," she whispered, looking down at her stomach and caressing it lightly. Raoul sighed. He could not begin to say that he knew what Erik was feeling about when it came to Delauney, but he wanted the man to realize that he needed to think everything through. For the sake of his baby, and Christine's.
"Do you wish for me to speak to him?" Raoul wondered. Christine was suddenly at a loss for words. In truth she did not know why she had come to Raoul for this. Surely she could have gone to Nadir? But she knew the Persian and her husband had been talking many nights and she knew Nadir had to have told him to think about what he wanted to do. She was sure Erik still had something planned, so obviously Nadir was not getting through to him. She was not sure that Raoul would be able to help either. Her husband still held a certain amount of jealousy towards the handsome man for the feelings he held for Christine. But Christine was beyond desperate. She knew Erik would do something, that was who he was, but she could not help but worry. She had lost him once; she would not do so again.
"I do not know..."
The rumbling of the clouds overhead stopped Raoul from saying anything. Dark clouds had slowly moved over the sun and both knew it would rain soon. Saying nothing, he offered Christine his arm and slowly led her back to the house. No words would make her feel better and he was not going to lie to her. He did not know what to say to Erik that would not make the masked man enraged.
"Where have you two been?" Nadir asked when they went inside. Christine said nothing other than asking the two men to excuse her. Slowly she made her way upstairs with a heavy heart. She could hear the soft patter of the rain as it began and she knew that could not be a good sign that it had been sunny and had quickly changed to such a gloomy atmosphere. She had made Erik believe that everything was alright with her, that she was not worried, when in fact she was having trouble sleeping at night thanks to her worry. Now she had no idea what she was going to do. They should not have to worry about this, she and Erik should be building a nursery in their home in Paris, deciding on suitable names for their baby enjoying life together. All Christine thought about was a way to stop Erik from getting himself killed foolishly, and if she could not, at least help him in what he had planned in some way.
"What were you talking about with Chagny?"
Christine gasped in surprise when Erik spoke as she walked into their room. She had not seen him all day and did not know he was in the room. She put a hand to her heart in the hopes of slowing down its erratic pace. Christine felt like she had been caught doing something she shouldn't and knew it was ridiculous. She had known when she first asked to talk to Raoul that Erik would never approve. She was her own woman, she would do what she had to to protect her husband, even if he did not like whom she talked to!
"He was telling me about Meg," Christine said, removing the shawl she had on her shoulders and dropping it on the bed.
"You are not a good liar, Christine," Erik murmured. She shrugged, trying to look indifferent. She did not want to tell Erik about her fears, he would not listen to her anyways. When he believed he had to do something he would do it, and he would not let anyone tell him otherwise.
"I am not lying."
Erik growled and went to her, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at him. Christine's fierce gaze founds his before she angrily pulled away.
"I saw him wipe the tears from your eyes, what were you talking about?" he growled, his voice low and dangerous. This was the Erik she had known when she had first married him, the one with the short temper. She could handle this Erik just like she could handle the other sides of him.
"It is none of your business!" she replied, walking towards the door. She could not deal with this at the moment. She had enough to worry about without having to deal with his jealousy. Erik however, grabbed her wrist before she even made it to the door. His grip hurt and she hid her wince, not wanting him to know he was hurting her.
"You will answer my question and you will answer it now, or so help me I will-"
"You'll what?" she challenged, causing Erik's eyes to grow darker in anger.
"What your tongue with me, cherie, it has gotten you into trouble before," Erik warned.
"I have every right to talk to Raoul, Erik, and I do not need to have this conversation with you," she said. Christine did not want to argue with him, she wanted him to hold her in his arms and promise her that he would not allow any harm to come to himself. Erik said nothing, he simply pulled her to him and kissed her with all of the emotion he had. Christine knew what he was doing, he wanted to feel like a man, the man that she loved and the man that could make her moan in pleasure. He wanted to erase the false thoughts he thought she had for Raoul. But Christine could not stand to be here him at the moment, knowing that he was finding a way to get to Michael and knowing that he would not listen to her or accept her help. He was risking himself for her and she did not want him to.
Erik felt his heart clench when Christine pushed away from him. She had never, never, pulled away from him when he wanted to touch her since they had both found their feelings. Silent tears were cascading down her cheeks as she shook her head and swallowed.
"No-don't touch me!"
Erik watched in stunned disbelief as she rushed to the door and left the room as quickly as she could, before he could even think of going after her. His shock quickly faded and he rushed from the room, unbelieving what she had just done. What was wrong with her? He had thought that everything was going so wonderful with them since they had come to the Giry's. Every night he made love to her, trying new things to enhance both of their pleasure. Every night she whispered that she loved him and now she was running from him and his touch? What was going through her mind.
Christine threw open the door of the cottage and ran outside, sheets of rain falling on her and drenching her within moments. She did not know where she was going but she began to run towards the open field she saw ahead of her, both hoping and dreading that Erik was following behind her. She could not handle all of the emotion she had inside of her, and his touch whispered how much she would lose if he were to die. Christine heard him call her name but she continued to run, heading towards a thicket of trees she saw not far ahead of her.
"Christine, please stop, my love!"
Christine felt herself slowly coming to a stop. It was not the fact that he had said stop, it was the way in which he had said 'my love'. It was so tender and loving, and filled with pain from the fact that she was running from him. She did not want to hurt him, that was the last thing she wanted. Slowly she turned around, the rain now coming down in heavy sheets. Erik stopped not far from her, his chest rising and falling from his labored breaths. Christine simply looked at him for a moment, feeling her love well in her heart for this man that would never have been her match if not for fate. His coat, trousers, all of him was just as wet as she was. His black, thick hair was hanging in front of his eyes and over the white of his mask, and she knew no other man would ever make her feel the way he did.
Now that Christine was actually there waiting for him to say something, he found he could not speak. She looked breathtakingly beautiful, the white of her dress clinging to her body and leaving little to the imagination. Her hair hung limply past her shoulders and her eyes were huge in her small, pale face. Her eyes were far to sad and all he wanted was to see her smile for him. He needed to see that.
"Why are you running?"
"Because I know I cannot make you stay."
The simple sentence answered every single question Erik had as to why his wife was acting the way she was. She was worried about what he planned on doing with Delauney. God, he should have known she would worry. He had been foolish to believe that she would allow him to go.
"Can't my love be enough, Erik?" she whispered, her voice strained and small.
"It will always be more than enough, love," he murmured, taking a step toward her, she, however, shook her head.
"No, it is not enough...it will always come second until you extract your revenge."
"Don't you dare imply that my love for you is not the most important thing to me, Christine. I will not be told such a thing from you. I am doing this for you! I am doing it to make sure you and my son are protected, you two are the only things that matter to me!" Erik's voice was fierce as he spoke those words.
"Then let me help you!" she cried. Erik shook his head.
"I will not lead you into danger."
"Then let me help you come up with some sort of plan that will assure me that you will come back alive!"
Erik felt guilty. All she wanted to do was help him. In fact he could use the help. He really did not have any sort of plan that would not get him killed. Christine was a smart woman, he was sure she could figure something out if they worked together.
"I would appreciate your help," he said, knowing it was the truth and what she wanted to hear. Christine gave a shuddering sob and began to cry in loud shuddering gasps. She just wanted to be the wife any man would want with him and he was allowing her to help him, and she felt bad for pushing away from him in the cottage. Erik frowned and went to her, cupping her face in his large hands.
"Why the tears, my love?"
"T-thank y-you..."
Erik realized how important this had been for her. He wanted her happy, and if allowing her to formulate a plan meant giving her happiness, he would allow that. But he would not allow her to come with him whenever they did make a plan. He pressed his mouth to hers, his tongue slowly exploring her mouth and causing his whole body to light with fire. Christine found a kiss in the rain rather romantic and her hands unbuttoned his coat and shirt, landing on his warm skin. She wanted to make up for pulling away from him and to thank him for understanding what she needed. She kissed his neck and pulled his shirt and coat off, leaving him bare-chested in the rain.
"Christine, we are outside, my love," Erik murmured. She sucked on his nipple, causing him to groan.
"I do not care," she whispered, feeling very naughty and wanting to experience something like this with him. They were far enough away that no one would be able to see them from the house, and the rain was thick enough to shield them from view. Erik found it incredibly arousing that she wanted to make love in the rain. He helped her remove her clothes and his trousers. He laid them out on the grass, even though everything was wet, but he knew their clothes were much more comfortable than the mushy grass. He laid her down and spread her legs, looking at her for a moment in all her glory. She looked like a goddess, the water dripping off her skin in tiny wet rails. Erik tried to follow some of them with his mouth but it proved impossible, but it did cause her breathing to excel.
"You are everything to me, my love, everything," he whispered. Christine reached for his face and removed his mask. Surprisingly he did not flinch, even with the fact that he was out in the open. At the moment there was only him and his wife.
"Erik..." his name was a breathless gasp on her lips as he slowly lowered his mouth to her aching arousal. This man, from the very beginning, had produced feelings in her that she had never imagined before. If she were to have married another man she would have never even considered allowing him to do this. There was a lot of things she had tried with Erik in the past week that she would never think about doing with any else. It would never be this nice. His tongue slowly lapped at her source of pleasure, causing her to moan and cry out for more. The things she did with this man made her ache for more in the still of the night, but still caused her to blush at times when she was in the light of day. Christine's frantic hands found his hair and she pulled him away from her, not wanting the tingling in her body to diminish yet, wishing to prolong it and torture them both.
Erik felt himself swell to incredible proportions when Christine suddenly pushed him onto his back, straddling his legs and taking him into her hand. For the next few minutes he was in complete paradise as her mouth worshiped him and drew forth his passion with her lips and tongue. No one could satisfy him the way she could. She was the only woman that had him in a state of semi-arousal all day and then allowed him to sate himself with her body as many times as he wanted. She never said enough. Perhaps it was because neither of them could ever get enough. Anything he wanted she gave him and he always returned the favor. He knew that the child growing in her stomach at that moment would not be the only one, not if he had anything to do with it. His seed was strong and he wanted a family with her. That thought was the only one that helped him make it through each day as he got closer and closer to the time fate would decide which of two men would live and which would die.
"Make love to me, Erik," Christine pleaded, looking up at him with eyes filled with love. All of his life he had waited for a woman to look at him like that, tell him to make love to her. Christine was the answer to every prayer and every joy he had ever wished for. He took her by the waist and pulled her beneath him, positioning himself and entering her in one powerful stroke. Christine would never tire of the feeling of him filling her. It was the most incredible feeling in the world, and she never wanted it to end. Her hands went to his back, deliberately scratching his back, knowing it would drive him wild. His lean hips drove him harder and faster inside of her.
Erik looked down at Christine's face as he made love to her. She was the embodiment of a woman, he was sure of it. Her head was thrown back, lips full and trembling as she breathed deeply, eyes glazed with passion until they rolled back in her head. Her face began to flush as she began to reach her orgasm. Erik angled his hips slightly and she shattered beneath him, Erik following not far behind. He held her close against his shuddering body and he swore he would do everything to see that she was happy.