"I love you."

Those three words. Those three horrifying and beautiful words. He wasn't sure he had heard them. Maybe his mind made it up in place of the silence that had filled between them as they laid bundled up under the sheets of her bed, watching a movie from her laptop. But as he looked to her, he knew they were real. Even if she had not said them, her eyes said them, and it tugged his heart right along.

He could not stay away from her. Friday had been dedicated to composing, working on a piece for her voice. He was hoping to present it to her at their next lesson, but the longer he waited, the more antsy he became. His mind played over and over just what she might sound like singing it and it had made his stomach flip in need for her touch, her voice, her love.

He broke the embrace of their hands, pressing his palm to her cheek. She leaned into it, closing her eyes in a manner that sent a sudden surge of warmth through his chest.

"My god," he whispered, "How can you be so perfect?"

Christine's eyes opened with a flutter of lashes, a meek smile splaying itself across her lips. "Did you bring what I had asked you to?"

His heart stopped. He had forgotten. Oh, how could he have forgotten? He couldn't believe himself. The only woman to have ever asked him for his body, and he forgot!

Erik removed his hand with a small twitch of reluctant fingers. "I'm sorry, Christine. If I had remembered-"

"Let's go out and get some then!" she laughed, sitting up.

"I… are you sure you want to sneak out?" Erik was already afraid to sneak back through the hallways just to leave. He even thought of using her window again, but she had insisted upon the front door and he wasn't going to reject such a simple request.

Christine stood stretching and laughed. "I'm an adult, Erik. I'll be fine."

"But if-"

"Mamma is a heavy sleeper. Besides, she's never come in to check on me at night. I know because I'm practically always awake."

Erik eyed Christine anxiously but settled at the reassurance of her smile.

"Come on!" she said. "Help me pick out what to wear."

Christine rummaged through her closet, pulling several different dresses for Erik's opinion. He settled upon one of daisy print that ended just above her knees; something youthful, lovely, easy for him to take off when he got around to it.

She dug in her drawers in search of a nice underwear ensemble to change into as well. He knew she'd found something special when she turned to smile at him mischievously.

She closed the dresser without revealing to him what she'd discovered and turned, hiding whatever she'd pulled out behind her back. "I'm going to change in the bathroom real quick. You can wait here," she spoke commandingly.

When she finally returned, she entered giving a little twirl as she walked through the doorway. Erik smiled in amusement and stood, ready for her hand.

Christine pulled him along down the hall and out the front door. Erik had parked far down the street to diminish the possibility of giving himself away. He had started to hate having to hide. He hid the things he loved all his life, but now what he loved was real. A real human being, blood and flesh and bone and beauty. He wanted to lift her in the air and shout, proclaim his love for all the world to hear.

But he was her violin teacher; a man meant to only be there Thursday afternoons, a man being paid to teach her everything he knew of the violin and music. Yet here she was—long, golden hair, sparkling eyes and a bounce in her step—ready to give him lessons he never thought he'd be able to afford; loving him without pushing him too far from his comfort zone.

He told himself constantly that it must be a dream, but every second longer he spent by her he knew it was real. They were real.

"Want anything while I'm in here?" Erik asked, parking his vehicle in front of the convenience store.

"I'm fine," Christine answered with a small shrug.

Erik hesitated, questioning himself for a moment before leaning over the center console and pressing his lips to hers. She pressed back in an instant, drinking him whole, adding kindling to the fire that had only been a small manifestation of its most heady form. Erik pulled away as soon as he felt something within him tighten and beg for more.

"I'll be back."

She watched him cross the lot and enter the store, occupying her mind with different fantasies of how the events of the night would further play out. They weren't going back to her place, she decided. She grew tired of having to keep quiet all the time, muffle her small cries with the palm of her hand or bite her tongue to elicit some sort of pain to refrain from yelling out her pleasure. They needed to be somewhere that they were free to pant and cry. Somewhere safe.

He came back with a single bag, the Trojan logo showing through the semi-translucent plastic. Christine smiled as he entered the car tossing the box to the back.

"Seventeen dollars for a pack of ten," he griped, inserting his key into the ignition.

Christine giggled as the car came roaring back to life. "Now to your place, right?"

Erik turned to her before he could shift his car into drive. The long look in his eyes made her think she'd said something wrong, and she sank slowly back into her seat.

"You'll have to excuse the mess," he warned, turning his gaze back. "I've been busy and haven't yet made the time to clean up."

Christine laughed half in relief and half in an attempt to calm any of his nerves. "But you've made time for me?" she teased, raising a brow in his direction.

"Always."

Christine blushed and sat back in her seat, turning to watch the buildings pass by, fantasizing just what his home may look like

It was his fingertips that she felt first, cool and callused. They slid down, cupping her left knee and placing his palm flat on her thigh. She turned to him and found his eyes glued to the road. His mind, however, was not.

Christine turned her attention then to his hand possessively holding her knee, wanting to touch and feel that she was there. Slowly, she pulled up the edge of her skirt up with one hand and brought his hand up her thigh with the other. She rotated his hand so that his fingers curled on the inside of her thigh, his pinky close enough to feel the warmth radiating off her body.

She turned to him once more, spotting the small bob of his Adam's apple. Lifting her skirt a little higher, she placed his hand on her mound, pushing his fingers ever so gently to encourage him.

At the twitch of his fingertip, she lifted away, bucking her hips forward into the sweet little swirl of his middle finger at the edge of her sex. She cried as he slipped his hand under the band of her underwear, his fingers gliding down and spreading themselves over her folds. She lied back, tensing every muscle and curling every toe as he introduced one delicious digit to her core, slipping in and out more easily with every pull and push.

She didn't have the time to look at the front of his house, having kept her lovely eyes shut off from the world as she focused on the beautiful wave of pleasure that overcame her with the magic of his touch. Even as he shut off the car and pulled himself from her, she kept her eyes closed and clenched her thighs to feel the slick that had built between them.

She tried exiting the car on wobbly legs, using the passenger side door as an anchor. Lithe arms flew up beneath her, lifting her against the solid figure she was very much looking forward to feeling bent over against her back in a few moments. He shut her door and locked his car, carrying her off into his home, walking quickly past the piano overloaded by music and into his room where he set her upon the bed.

Her dress was off in a snap, her nearly-bare form exposed for his viewing. His eyes burned as they gazed at her, finally understanding the mischievous smile she had planted across her face when she chose her little ensemble for the night: a matching white mesh bralette and panties adorned with embroidered stars that left little to the imagination. She was adorable.

In an instant, he successfully removed her bralette and tossed it to the side, his mouth desperate to taste and worship her breasts. She curled into him as he claimed her left nipple between tooth and tongue, teasing her gently. Her fingers bunched in his hair and her hips rolled forward as she begged for more touch, her leg meeting the aching pressure of his manhood.

"Please," Christine begged, her hand finding his in a frantic search. She pulled it back down to where it had been previously, slipping his fingers beneath the waistband of her panties.

He released her nipple with a plop, chuckling darkly at the bunching of her brows as he again curled his fingers over her.

"Tell me what you want," he demanded, his heated breath tickling her neck as he moved to get closer to her lovely eyes.

"I want…" her words trailed off as the pad of his forefinger brushed across her sweet little pearl. She drew in her bottom lip, biting down to withhold a cry.

Erik cocked his head, his mouth merely a hair away from hers. "Tell me, Christine."

Her stomach danced at the sound of her name upon his lips, and her eyes fluttered open. "I want you."

He growled, removing his hand from her sex and pulling back to bunch the sides of her panties and slip them down over her legs. She lifted them in assistance, dropping and parting them for him once more. He stared at her a moment, swallowing before he lowered himself once more. He slipped his arms through her legs and watched her lust-drunken eyes as his mouth met with her warmed center. He held the top of her thighs still as he danced his tongue over her nub, teasing the little bundle of nerves there as she writhed before him, moaning out the most delicious melody he'd ever heard. Before she could reach her peak, he was off of her once more, standing back on the ground.

She watched him start away at his clothes, practically tearing off his jacket and throwing it to the floor. He was halfway done with his shirt by the time she gathered the courage to help him, sitting up to unbutton and unzip his now-too-tight trousers. Before she could even pull down his briefs, his hands swatted at hers and he backed away to retrieve the bag he'd thrown on the floor. Christine removed her shoes and tossed them off with a thunk, settling back onto the pile of pillows by the headboard.

Erik removed the rest of his clothes as well, rolling the condom down his length before joining her back on the bed. He gazed down at her acceptingly parting her legs once more, and moved between her, leaning down to pull her up and into his lap. He held her tight, splaying his hands across the small of her back. It took a moment, but eventually her arms wrapped around him as well, pulling him closer. She rested her head against his shoulder and planted a small kiss into the skin there.

"Did you say you loved me earlier?" Erik asked, needing to know if what he heard was true.

He felt her grin. "I did and I do."

His grip grew tighter and he sighed heavily into her hair. When he finally pulled back, it was to see her face. He pushed a lock of hair to the side and gently kissed the cheek it had covered.

"It's going to be hard for me to believe," he whispered towards her ear. "But I'm willing to try."

Christine's thigh moved to expose the thing that was probing her, still rock solid from all her squealing and squirming.

"Let me show you," she begged, watching his eyes widen and his breath catch with lust as her hand met his aching member, lifting it into her palm. "Please."

He laid himself back against the mattress, allowing her to crawl over top of him and plant one hand against his chest to steady herself as her other worked to settle his tip between her folds. With a fall of her hips and a shared grunt, he was in.

Watching her rock against him was dizzying. Up and down, she found her rhythm and stuck to it, planting her other hand on his chest and drawing in her lower lip, not even aware of her accelerating heart rate.

He moved his hands up the length of her thighs, then her hips, pausing at her breasts where he flicked the pad of his thumbs across the peaks of her tightened nipples, causing her to elicit a pleasurable sound.

In one swift motion, he sat up, pushing her down against the pillows and burying himself back into her. She moaned delightfully, encouraging his deep, languid thrusts. Her hands searched for his, finding them perched at her sides. She grabbed his wrists, tugging on them slightly.

"I need you to touch me," she begged. "Please."

He allowed her to guide his hands, placing hers on the back of his and skating his open palms down from her shoulders, over her breasts, her abdomen, to her thighs and back. His thrusts grew harder, faster, and she was no longer able to guide his hands, too overwhelmed by the sweet pleasure coursing through her.

Erik paused to remove himself and before she could open her eyes and question what he was doing, his hands were guiding her to flip over. He settled back into her easily, resuming his quick pace. Christine's hands rummaged through the pile of pillows to find solid mattress beneath, and she fisted her hands into the sheets, chanting "Yes, yes, yes," repeatedly into the pillow in front of her.

He remembered how she needed his touch and so he leaned over her, wrapping his arms around her and pressing his chest to her back, thrusting wildly in and out, faster and faster. His panting grew louder with the pounding of his heart and her cries built in a crescendo until she lost it all and shrieked, exploding beneath him. He felt himself tighten, and plunged deep into her one last time, grunting at his release. He waited for the throbbing to cease before he slipped out of her and fell to her side.

He chuckled, running his hands across the face of his mask. Christine laughed as well, turning so that she faced him. He felt his heart lift with every final note of her sweet voice laughing in tandem with his.

He turned to her and sighed deeply, gazing at her through heavy eyelids. "I'll be right back," he said, turning himself over and standing.

She closed her eyes for a moment, smiling at the fact that they'd just shared something truly special and it had felt amazing. She wanted to do it again, request another round from him when he came back, but she already was so exhausted and knew it was probably already late into the night and she needed to rest.

When he came back, he'd changed into a pair of navy sweatpants and brought a cool towel for her to wipe herself down. She took it gratefully, wiping between her thighs then folding it to place on his nightstand.

Erik groaned as he slipped beneath the covers behind her, tugging them down from beneath her so that he could cover her up.

She scoffed in offense. "You think I'm going to sleep when you're the only one clothed?"

He watched her leave the bed and walk a short distance before leaning over to pull his now-wrinkled dress shirt from the floor. She turned, pulling it on over her shoulders, and joined him back in the bed.

"There," she said settling down, "We're even now."

Erik chuckled and pulled her closer by the hip, tossing the coverlet over her shoulder. She nuzzled her cheek into his chest and wrapped her arm around his waist. She felt his lips press against the crown of her head for a brief moment. He sighed into her curls, dragging his hand up her back. They said nothing more, letting their slowing hearts speak for them as they drifted out into sleep, both of them completely exhausted from the events of the night.