Paladin27
The uncomfortable silence lingered as Sophia stayed near the door while Erik stood at the end of his bed with his arms crossed. He was still studying the dog with silent determination, though Sophia didn't truly believe he hated the animal. If he hadn't wanted Dublin to survive he wouldn't have saved him.
There was only so much one could hide, and this man was more transparent than he thought.
He sighed heavily and shook his head, muttering something under his breath. He glared at her from the corner of his eye before he exhaled again, accentuating his irritation.
Sophia was mildly surprised that an iceberg hadn't sprung up between them, as his mood was foul and his treatment cold.
She glanced at the clock on the mantle and saw that only two minutes had passed since Citrine left. There was nothing to keep her in Monsieur Belmont's bedchamber. The dog was asleep at the foot of the bed, the wrapping to its paw still in place. Her employer made it quite obvious that he didn't want her in his room. He wanted nothing to do with her.
Sophia took a step back and the floor creaked with her movements. Erik glanced at her from the corner of his left eye.
"You are excused," he muttered as he walked to his desk and began sorting through sheets of paper.
They were musical scores, Sophia noticed as she stood and watched him make several piles. He was still watching her from the corner of his eye, his face twisted in a frown of detestation.
"Why did you do it?" Sophia whispered.
He didn't turn to face her, but he returned his attention to the papers in his hands. "By morning you may find employment elsewhere."
"Because you kissed me?" she blurted out angrily.
His back straightened, his fists wrinkling the sheet music. "I said you are excused."
Sophia pursed her lips. He angered her more than she had expected. He was impossible to speak to, stubborn as an ox, and a terrible enigma.
"You are as far from a gentleman as a man can be, Erik," Sophia hissed, standing with her chin up and her arms akimbo.
"Leave or you will be quite sorry."
Sophia ignored his words. She moved forward until she stood within arm's reach. "You offer me lessons but not once have I played."
Erik whipped around. "You refused to play, Sophia! I asked you to attempt, but what did you say? You preferred to hear me play."
"Because I enjoy your music."
He hesitated, his mouth opening and closing as he stared at her. Sophia thought he would grab her by the shoulders and force her from the room, but he did nothing more than search her eyes.
His expression seemed to contradict her compliment.
"You don't believe me?" Sophia asked.
Exhaling hard, he turned away and began smoothing the crumpled papers on his desk.
-o-
She enjoyed his music.
The words he wanted to hear her say were too much to bear. She enjoyed his compositions, but not his company, Erik reminded himself. He had earned Christine's trust through his voice. Now he was doing something similar to Sophia, something just as wicked that would end just as horrendously as it had with Mademoiselle Daae.
"What is there to enjoy?" he growled, keeping his back to her. "None of them are published—none are good enough to ever be played for an audience. They're infantile, obscene, an assault to the ears."
"Would you rather have me find them appalling?" Sophia asked.
Erik stood in silence, concentrating on the sheet music. He didn't know what he wanted and he was afraid to look at Sophia and discover he did want something.
"Surely you were aware that my aunt was employed by one of the Paris opera houses. Perhaps if you sent her some of your compositions she could assist you in finding a place for them."
"There is no place for them," he said quietly.
Erik gritted his teeth in anger. He didn't want Sophia's sympathy and he was tired of feeling sorry for himself. He had never been more acutely aware of his frustrations than he was in this moment. Everything he wanted was standing behind him and he knew it. Companionship, a music student, another human being…she was all of those things.
"I believe I like them better than Mozart," Sophia said.
"Only because you know nothing about music," he muttered.
He heard her skirts rustle. "I know what I like."
Erik's fingers were beginning to burn, and though he was certain the papers could not get any straighter he couldn't bear to face her. He was terrified of her rejection, of having her turn her back to him. She held more power over him than he was comfortable with and it angered him. He was losing control all over again, breath by breath, heartbeat by heartbeat.
"May I ask," Sophia said so quietly he could barely hear her. "That is, I mean to say, Monsieur Bel…Erik."
He turned his head so that he could see her from the corner of his eye. She was standing with her hands clasped before her and her head bowed.
"Was it a mistake?"
"No," he said before he considered her question. He turned to face her. "Was what a mistake?"
Sophia licked her lips. "The…the…the thing, the incident, the…occurrence."
"When I…when we…"
Sophia nodded. "The occurrence."
He nodded solemnly. "In the parlor."
"By the piano."
"This evening."
"Was it a mistake?" Sophia asked again, her patience waning.
Erik loosened his cravat. He felt as though he were being roasted alive now that Sophia had posed a most uncomfortable question.
"Monsieur?"
There was only one way to know for sure if it was a mistake.
Erik grabbed Sophia by the shoulders and pulled her within an inch of his face.
"You know nothing, absolutely nothing about who I am or what I've done in my lifetime. You are an innocent, a doe-eyed child who knows nothing of the world. You're ignorant, aren't you? Completely unaware of anything that exists beyond the orchards."
Sophia's lips parted but she said nothing. She nodded barely enough for him to notice.
"I am that world, Mademoiselle. I am everything out there that frightens children at night."
She shook her head and frowned, mouthing something he didn't understand.
"Tell me right now, this very instant that you know you made a most treacherous and foolhardy mistake, Mademoiselle Dupree. Say it and I will not harm you. I will not lay a finger on you or muss a single hair on your head from this day forward."
He felt her breathing hard, her chest moving up and down, her nostrils flared as she pursed her lips. She shook her head again, harder than before, determination growing in her eyes.
"Remain silent and you only tempt me, and I am not a beast that needs much coaxing. In the end, remember that you made your choice. You were offered everything and you refused your salvation."
He drew her closer, so close that all he could see were her green eyes staring back at him. He expected her to either faint or scream. When she did nothing he thought perhaps he had startled her into silence.
Erik could no longer tolerate silence. He wanted to know, wanted it said to his face what she thought or what she wanted. There would be no more guessing and false hope. If she wanted anything to do with him it would be made clear in this moment.
"Make your decision," he growled, shaking her slightly to jar her into speech.
Sophia closed her eyes but said nothing in return. Erik opened his mouth to protest her silence, but she wriggled from his grasp leaned into him, and with all the desire he had felt boiling inside for years, he kissed her; fiercely, with more greed and more want than he ever knew existed in himself. With more passion than he had ever felt before they were joined, her hands on his arms as she stood on her toes and willingly kissed him.
In an instant she gave him something small without a bargain, without pity. Something no one had given him freely before.
Erik took it without question, bracing her around the waist and holding her tight, fearing that if she were a dream she would disappear.
But she didn't. She was there, in his arms, her lips to his. No begging to save her true love, no fighting to escape. A living woman, who did not die when he kissed her, had taken the first step.
Sophia lingered once the kiss ended and whispered against his lips, "That is my decision regarding the occurrence."
Then she kissed him again.