Rewarding Loyalty

Gabrielle's Eyes:

I awoke to find myself in an unfamiliar bed, and turning on my side tentatively, I discovered that I was lying next to Raoul. It took all my self-control to not jump from the bed in terror as I remembered the events of yesterday as if they were merely a dream. I raised my eyes hesitantly towards the vent in the corner of the room and as I strained to see through the bars, I caught a glimpse of a white mask glittering through the darkness. I let out a sigh of relief before I cautiously removed myself from the bed and snuck out of the room. Once I was out of Raoul's presence I felt as if a shadow was lifted off of me and I could once again be myself.

I found a nearby clock in the hall and found that it was still too early to begin the day and so I began walking towards our bedroom. As I walked past the children's rooms, I couldn't resist the motherly urge to check on each of my children and so as I passed each door, I opened them carefully to peer inside. Once I saw that all of my children, including Helene, were sound asleep, I continued on to my own room, feeling at ease knowing that they were all safe and sound.

Once inside my room, I sat myself on the edge of my armoire and began running a brush through my hair. I looked down for a moment and saw the rip in the edge of my gown. I sighed pitifully and ran my fingers along the tear. It took me a moment to decide I did not want to patch it up, because then it would always serve as a reminder of the past night. I would simply have to get rid of the beautiful gown. Though thankfully nothing horrible truly happened, I was still ashamed of allowing myself to be manipulated by a man once again.

Suddenly, I felt as if I was no longer alone and I raised my eyes quickly to look behind me using the mirror. My eyes met instantly with Erik's green-gold ones and I leapt from the seat and turned to him, grinning like a Cheshire cat. He laughed robustly before taking a few long strides towards me. I wasted no time, meeting him half way. He was quick to raise his hand to my head and he tilted it, before slamming his mouth onto mine. His kiss was hot and heavy as he ravished my senses using his mouth and tongue. Being together again felt like heaven and I frantically tried to keep up with his fervor. His kiss was hard and almost bruising but I was too desperate to have his mouth upon me to care much about how much force he was using.

He removed his mouth from mine and placed a few searing kisses along my collar bone before pulling back to look at me, his breathing still rugged with emotion. He looked deeply into my eyes for a moment, before his lips met mine again. His hands came up to my shoulders and grabbed hold of my upper arms. Then as if in a trance, he begin pressing me backward, and I obeyed without hesitation. He continued to walk towards me until he had me flush up against a wall, his body pressed intimately up against the length of my own. I could feel every inch of him touching my body as if there was nothing between us except skin against skin. The planes of his form fitting against mine perfectly, and I found myself thinking through every inch of flesh that I knew covered the vast plane of his body.

"Erik" I gasped, my breath shivering in the air around us.

"Gabrielle…" His whisper of my name was a hot moan against my skin. "I have dreamt all night of this moment…having you against me like this…feeling your loving gaze, hearing my name escape your delicious lips…all of it haunted my dreams as you laid beside Raoul and I watched on in darkness…as I always have. But no more! I cannot be denied my right as your husband. You are mine!"

"Am I?" I asked, intentionally taunting him.

"What?" He stepped back to look at me.

"Oh, nothing…perhaps I just need proof that I am indeed, yours and yours alone…" I sighed, dipping my voice below it's normal tone. He quickly caught on and smiled mischievously, before pressing his body up against mine once more, grinning down at me while running his hands down my arms.

" Are you intentionally tantalizing me, woman?" I simply smiled back, causing him to laugh robustly, but as he looked into my darkened eyes, his laughter quickly calmed into a grin.

"Perhaps…" I said, practically purring the word.

"I need no encouragement where you are concerned, my dear…"

"Oh no? You certain?" I raised my hand and placed it upon the right side of his face, just over the mask. He closed his eyes and took in a shaky breath through clenched teeth. I sighed as I played with the edge of the porcelain. "I hate this thing…" I muttered half to myself as my fingertips outlined it.

"Excuse me?" Erik's playful tone turned angry and cold in an instant. I stilled my hand at the sound of his fiery words, outrage quickly stinging my throat. I quelled it by reminding myself that it was his nature to be unsure of things and this was no different.

"Oh hush! You know very well that I would never mean it in the way that you automatically think."

His eyes darted quickly to the floor in shame as he took a single step away from me. "I am sorry…forgive me…I just cannot help the way I have been taught to think, ever since I was a child I was told that no one could ever truly love me, because of my monstrous face…." I took a step towards him, eliminating the space between us.

"Erik…after over 15 years of being together, you still do not know better where I am concerned?"

"No, I know you do not think of me that way…but as hard as I try to forget, my past still haunts me from time to time…and then I just begin to doubt everything…"

"Please, Erik…never doubt anything about me…simply ask if you need reassurance." I finally couldn't take it anymore and I pulled his mask off his face gently. I tossed it careless on the bed a few feet away and then stood on my toes to cover his mouth with my own. He melted underneath my mouth as I had suspected he would. After a few moments of losing myself within the kiss, I released his mouth but did not move away, keeping my lips a few inches away from his. "How much reassurance do you require today?" I purred, my breath beating against his face.

His breath sawed in and out of his clenched teeth, his eyes closed tightly. "Gabrielle…I do not deserve you…"

"Nonsense…" I smiled against his lips. "you are as good at this as I am…"

"That's not exactly what I meant" he murmured while I brushed my lips gently over his.

"I know" I whispered against his hot skin, and his eyes snapped open, a loving light dancing behind his eyes.

"If I didn't know better, I would say you were attempting to seduce me, Madame!"

"Maybe that is what I am doing."

"Well then, in that case, I must put an end to it…because that was what I was intending to do to you when I came in here."

"Erik, I need no seducing on this evening…I dreamt of this all night, ever since that stolen moment we shared through the vent…"

"As have I…" He responded, and set about removing my clothes as I worked on his. Both of us desperate to finally be together again.

I was awoken by the sun's morning rays beating down upon my face through the window next to our bed. A yawned escaped my mouth before I opened my eyes and turned onto my side to look at the man who was fast asleep beside me. I watched him sleep for a moment and found that I was quickly distracted by the thoughts that swarmed my head as I looked at his bare body before me. The only thing that stopped me from leaning over him once more, was how peaceful he looked while sleeping, his body stretched languidly, the corners of his mouth turned up in a smile. I knew all too well what he was dreaming about and I blushed at the thought before deciding to lean over him once more. He was still sound asleep when I covered his mouth with mine, gently prying his lips apart with my tongue. Unknowingly he complied and I soon felt him waking beneath me, beginning to move his mouth frantically with my own. After a few long moments I broke away and lied down beside him.

"Do you ever rest, woman?!" He laughed, stretching himself out as he did so. I found myself watching his stomach muscles as he stretched and I only looked away when he stopped moving. I glanced up at him and found him watching me with an amused smile on his face. "Even if you rest, your mind does not, does it," he teased.

"You presume a great deal, Sir…" I responded, embarrassed that he in fact knew what had been going through my head.

"Do I? I suppose I could have mistaken desire and adoration for disgust and revulsion…" The sarcasm in his voice made me laugh.

"Oh, very well, you caught me, but do not pretend like you are innocent as well…I saw that smile on your face as you dreamt…what ever were you dreaming about, my love…It must have been a large fortune indeed to have that grand of a grin plastered upon your face."

He blushed and immediately I knew I was right in assuming that his dream was about the two of us and our actions of the past night. We both burst out laughing at the same moment and I found that it felt wonderful to be laughing again. In truth, I could hardly remember the last time I laughed, given how much stress we all had been under recently.

I watched as Erik pulled the blankets up from around his hips to his chest and then propped his head up with his arm to watch me. He smiled warmly at me and I felt an excited shiver run down my spine. I could feel his eyes upon me, as if they had burned holes through the blankets that covered my bare body. I watched the light dim from his eyes as he raised a hand to my collarbone and ran his fingers over a scar there. I knew what he was thinking and I sighed, despising what both of our pasts had brought upon us. Christophe had been my horror, but there were countless times, times like this, when I knew that Erik was morning for the loss of my ignorant happiness, something I only experienced before I had met him.

In turn, I raised my own hand to his face, cradling his right side, allowing my fingers to caress the deep grooves and scars splayed across his cheek. His eyes closed immediately as my hand came into contact with his face. I felt tears sting the backs of my eyes as I realized how deep the pain from his deformity must go, if he still treasured my touch upon his face. In truth, I knew our agonizing pasts would never leave us…if I had learned nothing else through the past 15 years, it was that. Erik's piercing green-gold eyes shot open, staring straight into my own, and I unknowingly dropped my hand from his face.

"Gabrielle…please…tell me honestly…has my face ever horrified you?"

"No." I responded, feeling as if I was in a trance.

"Truly?"

"Truly."

He looked away then, releasing me from my dazed state. "Perhaps Raoul is right in one aspect…"

"Hmm? What's that?" I asked, still feeling slightly bewildered.

"I don't deserve you. You are too good for me…"

"Oh, shut up, Erik!" I laughed, "If I have stayed with you for 15 years now, you can pretty much assume that I am not too good for you!" I pulled myself up so that I could lie with my head on his chest. His bare chest grew hot underneath the flesh of my cheek and I smiled knowing that I had caused that change in him. A moment later I felt him running his fingers through my hair.

We laid in silence for a moment before I decided to add to my point. "And by the way, my love, if you are not good enough for me, who would be? Some rich, nobleman, with large amounts of land, and huge gatherings of friends? Oh, but wait! I was married to one of those men…and I know we both haven't forgotten how that turned out for me. And then, here's another nobleman this house, and he's not what you would consider my 'match made in heaven' now, is he? And we both know that I love refinement and elegance a little too much to marry a farmer… So please, Erik, tell me who would be good enough for me…I would love to know!"

"Alright, alright! I get it!" He laughed, placing his hand over my mouth. "I promise I wont say that again! Just please, don't lecture me anymore!"

I kissed the palm that was pressed against my mouth. He pulled his hand away slowly, looking down at me, waiting for my response.

I didn't keep him waiting. "Well, then don't make me have to lecture you…God knows that there are many other things I would rather do than lecture you about my failed relationships!" I murmured, turning my head to place another kiss on his bare chest beneath me, chancing a look into his eyes as I did so. I knew my teasing was over the minute I caught sight of the hunger reflecting through his gaze. Within a minute I was on my back beneath him, not even having time to wonder at how I had gotten there. He brought his mouth down upon mine and kissed me long and deep, slowly pulling the blankets out from between us as he did so. I felt the muscles within my stomach turn to stone as I heard the blanket fall to the floor and felt his bare skin come into contact with my body. He released my mouth and moved towards the foot of the bed, trailing his lips and tongue down my body as he went. Once he reached my stomach he looked up and my eyes were instantly drawn to his, as if I had no control over my actions.

"So, which is better, the dream or the reality?" I asked, hoping for one last joke at his expense.

He crawled back up so that our faces were even once more, his mouth directly against my lips. "The reality…Our reality has always been better than my fantasies, simply because this is no dream and yet you are still with me…"

"You've got to be the most insecure man I've ever met! Here you are, in bed with a woman who has been your wife for over a decade, not to mention, who has even had three children with you, and yet you still think of her running out on you! I mean, please! What woman in her right mind would leave now, with a man like you looking at her like you are looking at me right now. Like I am a goddess!" I exclaimed, giggling profusely. He smiled against my cheek in response, continuing to caress me from head to toe, though I knew he was fighting the urge to double over with laughter. I turned serious for a moment "I only hope that someday that fear will be gone from your mind."

He must have felt the change within me and he leaned his head against mine, his breath tickling my ear, "My fears are part of me, you have little to do with them…though don't make the mistake of thinking you do not help. In this past night alone, you have done wonders for my ego! Even some rich, and otherwise perfect men, only dream about having a gorgeous woman, such as yourself, be unable to keep off of them!"

"Oh, please! Don't flatter yourself too much or your head wont make it through the doorway!" I joked.

"I have you to thank for that!"

"Well, I could fix that, all too quickly!"

"How?"

"By ending our foreplay!" I purred.

"I don't think you could," he teased.

"Really?" I laughed, raising myself up and out from underneath him, sitting with my back leaning against the headboard.

"No! I didn't meant that!" He quickly pleaded, causing me to burst out giggling once more. As he realized that I was not going to give in that way, he quickly kissed me once again, purposely allowing his body to brush against mine as he crawled up closer to where I sat next to him. I felt his charm begin to take hold of me, pulling me back down into his mystical, passionate world where only he and I existed. I quickly forced myself back to logic.

"As much as I would love to spend the entire day like this, we must get up…" I said, hoping I sounded more composed than I felt.

He paused. "Why must we? I see no purpose to leaving this bed…," he chuckled.

"Erik…we have children to care for…but, if you would rather, we can spend the entire day here, and then you can explain to Jaime, Caroline and Angelique where we have been…" He froze and stared at me, convinced that I was right, but extremely disappointed none the less. I got out of the bed and he made no move to stop me, though he watched me intently all the while.

Finally he responded. "Very well…how about I go down and begin breakfast…take some extra time and draw yourself a bath…you deserve it after last night…" He also got out of the bed, keeping his eyes directly on me.

"Which actions of last night do you mean?" I asked, attempting to control my laughter.

He ginned back at me and walked up to me, pressing his body against mine and kissing me once more. "Both" he responded seriously, before chuckling to himself.

"Alright then…I could use a nice hot bath…"

"I'll meet you down in the kitchen in a little while…Until then, my love." He kissed my hand before dressing and then leaving me to leisurely prepare myself for the day.