I Love you people!

DARK SIDE OF THE GLASS

CHAPTER 27

It had only taken a few hours in Erik's presence for Lavanya to know that he was a man with whom she could be herself – a man she could respect and honor - but around whom she could speak her mind.

He didn't coddle her or speak condescendingly toward her – he asked her opinion on matters pertaining to the wedding and what she wanted – and he even listened to her when she spoke.

She ran her eyes over his tall, stately form as he stood before her looking anything but thrilled to be alone with her; but she knew his reasons – better than he thought she did.

The idea of love terrified him – she had talked for hours with Annette, Tarrah and Christine, discussing what they knew of his past and his own demented opinion of himself. Many things had happened that made him the way he was.

Unrequited love was a belittling and humiliating thing, and he had known it – intimately. He feared loving again, only to have it thrown back at him – his heart left bleeding and his body left untouched.

She had not felt pity for him – just intense sadness that he could not realize that one experience with love did not set the course for all others. He felt himself unworthy and undeserving because of the ugliness he claimed he possessed – both physically and characteristically.

She would not have his body tonight, although she quickly discovered that she wanted to – but she would start to build on the love she knew he felt for her and the love she had for him. She did not want him thinking that the only way she could express her feelings for him or his desirability, was through the act of love making; there were other ways.

She was a virgin of body, but her knowledge of the intimate arts made her eager to taste him in every way – to know him in every way – and to love him in every way.

It was amazing how things had changed in a matter of days; she had dreaded this marriage – certain he was some demanding European who only wanted a pretty bride to boost his gigantic ego, his waning status, and to satiate his animal needs.

Erik was not any of these things; he was a complete surprise in every way.

"Do come and relax, husband, what is it that you wish to discuss?"

The way she spoke to him made him feel worthy of her in some small way. She was soft spoken and her eyes were pools of molten velvet, pulling him in with their invisible, sensual ropes

He did not move at first, he was frozen in one place as he weighed the choices he had to make. Erik finally released the pensive hold on his shoulders and walked over to her. She arose as he approached and put her back to him.

"Could you please undo the clasp on my necklace – it needs to come off so that I can get more comfortable – then, I promise we will talk."

Erik's trembling hands tenderly unclasped the fragile chain and his fingers accidentally whispered across the flesh of her back. He heard the hitch of her breath and saw her eyes drift shut at the contact – further confusing him.

He dropped his hands back down to his sides and watched her pull the necklace off. Of course, that was nothing compared to what she did next.

She unwound the material of her Sari and Erik watched in fascinated wonder as her body was slowly revealed to him. Beneath the folds of material, she wore a pair of pants that loosely outlined the shape of her legs. Her stomach and upper abdomen were bare – causing Erik immediately to avert his eyes. Over her breasts, she wore a rather tight and revealing top with short sleeves and a semi-plunging neckline.

His body had already betrayed him, and he hoped she had not noticed – but notice, she did – and she carefully hid her knowledge of his reaction to her; but she was thankful he liked what he saw.

She sauntered up to him and he backed up with each step that she took – he finally brushed the bed with the back of his knees and sat, rather unceremoniously, on the edge.

Lavanya smiled warmly, trying to relax him. She stood in front of him, just a breath away, but careful not to touch him. He was wound tightly and she feared he would bolt from the room if given an opportunity.

"Would you like a drink?" He finally asked; wondering if the breathy, low voice he heard was really his.

"No, thank you…I do not care for alcohol." She replied, never taking her eyes off him.

Erik swallowed deeply, trying to come up with some other excuse to get up and escape the velvety tentacles she seemed to have attached to him.

"Water, would you like some water or perhaps…."

"Erik…" She whispered, having sat down next to him, "…relax. What do you wish to discuss?"

His senses were overwhelmed with her. He had hoped himself immune to feminine wiles after all the pain he had experienced in the past – but he had no control over the wild, untamed beating of his heart and his body's taut reaction to her.

He dropped his eyes and turned away from her, eager to put distance between them, but not wanting to appear nervous or rude.

He closed his eyes and then smiled to himself. When he opened them again, she was still beside him, awaiting his response.

"Forgive me…." He murmured, "…it seems I can face my gypsy tormentors, brave the horrid treatment I received while in India, and face the humiliation I have encountered here in Paris at the hands of numerous people..." he still had not looked at her until now; he lifted troubled, stormy eyes, "…but I cannot face you."

He smiled again, this time running his eyes over her features with a disguised hunger she had never seen before. They wandered down to her mouth, pausing only briefly, before moving down to her exposed curves. He immediately regretted letting them drift downward and yanked them back up to look her in the eye.

"Perhaps you should change into something less….provocative…" He murmured again, his voice full of unrelenting desire, "…or put on a robe before I continue; I cannot think with you looking the way you do."

Lavanya was rather surprised at his admission, for it revealed a weakness in him that she was sure he wanted to keep hidden; but he had admitted that she held power over him.

"And how do I look, Erik?"

He studied her, not withholding any of the desire from his eyes, "Wanton."

She inched closer to him, tentatively placing her hand upon his chest. She felt him; hard, warm, and firm beneath her hand – and she marveled in how powerfully built he was.

His eyes drifted shut at the contact and Lavanya realized just how foreign the act of touching was to him.

"You really are an innocent…so unaware of your own beauty." She whispered; with those words, she watched a tremor pass through him.

His eyes lifted languidly and he stared at her in disbelief. The echo of her words haunted him for he knew them to be untrue.

"Do not mock me…there is no beauty in me."

Although spoken softly, Lavanya heard the warning in his smoky voice.

"Why do you push so hard, Erik?" She asked, in a cool, even tone.

She moved from him and disappeared behind a dressing screen. He had not spoken, so she assumed he was either contemplating his answer or seething.

"I am not sure that I understand what you mean." He finally responded, "What am I pushing?"

She emerged, clad in simple but elegant pants, a knee-length shirt, and bare feet. The exposed skin of her midriff was tantalizing, but off limits; and Erik averted his eyes as she sauntered over to him and sat down on the bed beside him.

"People, Erik…you push people away."

She smelled so wonderfully sensual and wholly woman; and Erik found it difficult to stay focused. He had no experience when it came to conversing – especially with a beautiful woman. Most of his communications in the past had been by letter - or violence.

"I suppose I do…it is something that I have always done." He admitted, not looking at her. "They have not always been…" he searched for the right word, "…receiving of me."

She touched her hand over his and felt him immediately stiffen, as though she had pricked him with a needle.

"I am not one of those people, Erik…I want to get to know you."

He regarded her with the perfect curve of his dimpled cheek and his lips slanted in a mocking smile. He removed his hand from hers and stood; leaning into the dark crevice against the wall – as the dying light in the room cast sinister shadows beneath his long, dusty lashes.

"There is no need, my lady; I may be unschooled when it comes to women, but I am very much aware of the fact that a woman like you would want nothing to do with a creature like me..."

He was not finished, and he had locked his hands at the small of his back was pacing with a primal rhythm across the floor in front of the bed.

"…I even prayed that you would be unattractive in the eyes of the world so that it would be easier for you to accept me with all of my ugliness – inside and out."

He stopped pacing and lifted heavy-lidded eyes to her – eyes that held sadness and want – what she saw in them made her stomach tie in knots.

"Erik…you assume too much…." Lavanya muttered, "…please come and sit down so that we may get some things out in the open."

He scoffed and sat down beside her.

"The only thing you need to know is that I will not touch you…I make you this vow." He assured her, "You will be my wife in name only."

"Erik…."

He stood again, moving from her as though burned; he was a bundle of nervous energy, mixed with humiliation and self-anger.

"That is not what I had in mind…" Lavanya sighed, "…I am your wife, and…."

He spun toward her with rage in his eyes, "Do not presume to tell me that you are my wife and that it is my right to take from you what I want..."

His eyes were blazing pools of liquid jade and Lavanya responded to him. He was magnificently male – bold and brawny – and she felt her heart skip a beat.

"…I am and have been many things: a murderer, a thief, an extortionist – but I will never be a rapist."

He began to remove the wedding attire she had made for him…undeterred by his unwillingness to be exposed in front of her. He was certain she could not care less whether he was bare-chested, or not.

"What are you doing?" She asked with an inquiring tone.

She was trying to keep her eyes from the vast expanse of his muscular chest with its dark whorls of chest hair. He was definitely lean, but it did nothing to take away from the powerfulness of his build.

He kept the pants on and proceeded over to the long chaise lounger after grabbing a pillow from the bed.

"What does it look like I am doing?" he spat – more at the air than at her. "I am going to bed."

He stretched his long frame over the plush softness of the chair and turned his back to her.

She laughed mockingly and marched up to his reclining form.

"No you are not…not in here….not n…" She had pulled the pillow from beneath him and thrown it back on the bed.

He sprang up with such feral prowess that she almost feared he would hurt her; but his eyes held such a pained look that she knew he would never touch her…just as he promised.

She had been about to say, "not now", before he had bolted to a standing position. Instead, the words froze in her throat as she saw the searing pain in his eyes and then his defeated back as he retrieved his suit top and opened the door.

"Rest assured, my lady, I shall not bother you again."

His murmured words were barely audible, but he knew she had heard him. He gave her one last passing look and left the room.

TBC

I know, not quite the wedding night that many of you were looking for...sorry. I see this happening with Erik's stubborn insistence battling his body's call and Lavanya's headstrong independence battling her womanly desires.

Patience, my little chickadee's!!