Erik's POV
I knew once I was situated on the horse that this was going to be anything but a comfortable ride. I had Christine's blanket wrapped around my body as she was seated behind me, her arms wrapped protectively around my front. She coaxed me into laying against her chest to get comfortable, but as the horse began galloping away at high speed, that comfort instantly faded. Over and over again my body bounced up and down, the movements disturbing my stitches. I groaned and placed my hand over my chest, leaning forward as Christine's hands gripped my shirt.
"Erik, lean back." she warned.
But I couldn't. We needed to stop! I couldn't continue like this.
"Christine, please," I begged. "Stop. I need to stop."
"Erik, lean back."
She pulled me back against her body, only causing my body to ache even more.
"We have to get out of the mob's path. Once we are, I promise to stop."
But that couldn't come fast enough. For what seemed like hours, I laid there against Christine's body, feeling the agony of my stitches burning. The pain was so bad that I wanted to throw up, but I was glad I didn't. By the time my angel brought our ride to a halt, I was in so much pain, that when Christine hopped down, I, myself fell off the back of the horse. I heard Christine gasp, and came rushing to see if I were all right. I could feel grass beneath my body, tall, wispy grass.
"Erik, are you all right?"
My injuries were burning, and the only thing I could muster was a simple "hmm hmm" before closing my eyes. My angel placed something soft beneath my head, and promised to be back as soon as she was finished setting up shelter for the night. I lay there listening to her rummaging around, doing god knows what while I lay there completely helpless. Next thing I knew, I was being dragged towards something. I would have argued about being dragged, but I was too exhausted. What ever I was placed down on, it was soft, almost as soft as a bed. There was a pillow placed beneath my head and it was so soft that I sighed into it.
"Erik, are you comfortable?"
Once again I sighed, causing Christine to begin feeling around my injuries. My entire body was burning, my injuries pounding with agony. The moment her bare hand made contact with the wound on my chest, I arched my body in and upright position, screaming and whimpering.
"Your wounds are infected." she gasped. "You're freezing."
Indeed, I was. My body was burning hot, and yet, I was so cold.
"I'll get a fire going, Erik."
How did Christine know how to make a fire? I always imagined my angel to be more of a house wife than a mountain woman. I, myself could live off the land quite easily, but Christine-well, she was surprising me. Perhaps I didn't know my angel very well at all. When I felt heat, I realized that the fire must have been lit. Seconds later, Christine was at my side, rubbing my body and leaning her own against mine.
"Are you getting warm?" she asked.
"Yes," I murmured. "Thank you."
"We'll stay here until you're feeling better."
I was too weak to say another word, and therefore, fell asleep. When I woke, I heard birds chirping, and felt the warmth of the sun hitting my body. Was it daytime already? If it was, then why were we still here?
"Erik, are you up?" I heard Christine's voice a short distance away.
I sat up, only to feel my head pounding. Oh, when was I going to feel like my old self again?
"Why didn't you wake me?" I firmly asked. "We should have been gone hours ago."
"We're safe." she assured.
I heard her sitting down beside me and felt something smooth being placed into my hands.
"That's your breakfast."
How annoying it was to sit there fumbling around to find the fork she had placed on the plate for me. It was even more embarrassing to have to eat. I probably looked like an animal.
"Here," she took the fork from my fingers, slightly giggling. I should be mad over her giggles, but they warmed my heart. "Let me help you."
I opened my mouth each time I felt the fork at my lips. The food she had made wasn't eggs or French toast, but this oatmeal would do.
"How did you become such a woman of the land, Christine?" I asked in between bites.
Once more she giggled. "My papa took me camping once. He taught me how to start a fire and how to sleep beneath the stars." she paused. "It was one of the best nights of my life. We sat there for hours telling stories and gazing at the sky."
Her hand placed itself over my forehead, checking to see if my fever had passed. It had, and I felt a little better than I did last night.
"Erik, you need a permanent home." she began. "That way you'll be able to know where everything is and be able to live easier."
Oh, where was Christine going with this?
"We can't keep running from home to home. It just won't do, Erik."
"I don't need to keep burdening you with my blindness, Christine. I'm a dead man if I stay in Paris, and I'm dead if I'm abandoned by you. We both know what needs to happen."
Her hand placed itself over my own, a gesture I had been waiting for my entire life. This woman had spent the past several days rubbing my feet, soothing my pain, even holding my hand. But, I knew it was all out of pity.
"There is a way, Erik. I have a plan for you, but I need you to promise me that you'll listen to me and won't give up."
"I can promise you nothing, Christine." I paused, thinking about how to not disappoint her. "But…But I will try."
"I know if I leave Paris, Raoul will have every man searching for me all over the world. You wouldn't be safe. You need to leave Paris, Erik, but I cannot join you- not now anyway."
Was she being serious? She expected me to leave Paris-without her? What good would that do me? I'd be stumbling around the world blind and without a single idea about where I was! No, just kill me now!
"Erik, are you listening to me?"
"How can you leave me, Christine? What do you expect? To put me on a ship alone? If that's your plan then you should just give me my overdose of morphine now and be done with it."
"Erik, I will rejoin you." her hand was on my cheek now. "I promise. I just need time to tell Raoul. He is my fiancée, but you're my angel of music. You need me now more than anything."
She was right, Raoul had a right to see her again, and sadly, I had no right to deny her what she wanted. I had let her go! Damn me, I had let her and that fop go!
"A few nights ago, I was talking to Madame Giry. Her and Meg are leaving tomorrow to go to this place called "Coney Island." It's in New York city. She said that it's the land of opportunity for people like you. She even offered to look after you until I could return to your side."
"Madame Giry? Look after me?"
"Erik, please don't argue with me. I'm trying to get you out safely. In America, you could learn to live, and you would have a home where you could learn to walk about on your own."
If anything hurt, it was the fact that Christine was leaving me. Yes, she said she would return, but I knew that day would most likely never come. I had to face the facts that tomorrow I was being left to do things all on my own. Killing myself would do me no good, and so, I had to grow up. If I were going to spend the remainder of my life blind, I had to learn how to live blind.
"We'll travel the rest of the way to Calais, and then, tomorrow I'll see that you meet up with Madame Giry."
My body was still in pain, but Christine helped me stand up and onto the back of the horse. The ride today wasn't as uncomfortable as the one I experienced just yesterday. As long as her hands were placed around me, I was comfortable-in heaven actually. We rode all day, only stopping when I heard people talking and ship's horns blowing. In my mind, I pictured Calais, pictured it with every detail. In my mind I could see the ships leaving port, the people scurrying by the get to their destinations, even see the carriages passing us. If only I could really see it.
"Stay there, Erik." Christine told me as she hopped down off the horse. "I'm going to see about us getting a room for the night."
I stayed on top of our horse like Christine asked me to do, listening to the crowds of people passing by. When she retuned, she helped me down, and placed the staff into my hand.
"I'll carry the bags, Erik." she assured. "You just walk beside me."
I swayed the staff in front of me, scanning the ground as Christine's voice coached me.
"Step up."
I did, and heard a door opening.
"Okay, now, it's only three steps to the bed."
To see if she were telling the truth, I stepped three steps and felt to the right side. She was right, right there in front of me was a bed.
"Four more steps to the bathroom." I heard her say.
I was satisfied with the bed, and took a seat to rest for a few moments. The long ride on that horse had made my body sore. Moments later, Ayesha was at my side, curling her body around my legs.
"You've had a long day, Erik." Christine was right in front of me now, I could sense her. "Why don't you undress and relax?"
"What time is it?"
"Um….six."
I just nodded, and began fumbling with the buttons on my shirt.
"I'll get you a basin of water to wash up, if you'd like?"
That did sound nice. I might have looked like a corpse, but I didn't want to smell like one. I turned my back to her, awaiting the hot, soapy water to wash up with.
"Here, you wash up, and I'll get us something to eat."
It took a while to wash up on my own, but I did it without any help. I knew standing in the shower would be harder and it was a task I was not yet ready to complete on my own. I knew sitting down was the only way I would be washing myself for sometime to come. I would miss Christine when the time came for her to leave me in the morning. She had been so gentle with me, so gentle and loving. If only he had truly loved me….like a lover. But I knew better than to wish for anything like that. There must have been a spare bed next to my own, because a few hours later, I heard her crawling into it.
"Are you comfortable, Erik?" she asked.
"Yes." I snuggled my head into my pillow.
"Erik, since it's our last night together, could I ask you something?"
What could Christine want to ask me? And on our final night together.
"All right…."
"I know I should be grateful, but I can't be content with just being grateful. I wanted to know why you let me go?"
Why? Why? How could she ask me something like that? How could she question why I did what I did?
"Must you truly ask that?"
"But you could have held me as your captor, as your living wife."
"I loved you so much, Christine. I loved you so much that I couldn't do that to you. To look at you everyday and see sorrow would only break my heart."
"You truly mean it?"
"Would I lie? You think my love for you is nothing more than an obsession, but it's not. I have never loved anyone and will never love anyone as much as I love you, Christine Daae."
There was an awkward silence, and then nothing. Had I offended her? I waited for a few moments, waiting for her to say something, but there was nothing.
"Right." I murmured. "I wouldn't expect you to understand my feelings towards you. A monster like me wouldn't know how to love, right?"
But there was still silence. Instead of wasting my breath, I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. I laid there awake, tossing and turning, thinking about what Christine had asked me. I wasn't sure what hour it happened, but I felt the covers being opened and someone crawling in beside me. I rolled over, feeling bare skin against my own….wait-bare skin! I gasped, moving away, almost falling out of bed.
"Christine?"
She pulled my bare chest against her own, my breath caught within my throat.
"Shhhh…" she placed her hand against my mouth to silence me.
"You have no clothes on." I gasped.
But before I could say another word, she kissed me. Our chests were pressed against one another's, her nipples hardening beneath my flesh. I sighed, oh how I sighed. This wasn't happening, Christine Daae was not kissing me. I was sure to wake any moment and be alone, but this bliss continued. Our tongues touched, our saliva meshed, our breaths mingled….bliss! Sweet bliss! My first kiss!
"Christine, wait…wait." I pulled away from her kiss, so many questions running through my mind. "Why? Why are you doing this? It isn't right."
"I've been tormented, Erik." she breathlessly confessed. "Tormented by my choice."
I wanted to make it stop, but it felt so wonderful. My hands were shaking as they wrapped around her bare back. I couldn't see her flesh, but it was so smooth, so milky….pure heaven! Her lips trailed down the side of my neck, sucking and biting my flesh.
"Oh, Christine…." I orgasmically called her name, blood rushing to my groin area.
I squeezed the sheets into my fists, my body lifting itself from the mattress as her lips trailed along my neck.
"Yes, oh….yes."
Her fingers then slipped themselves into my undergarments. The moment her hands made contact with my member, I cried her name into her soft curls. At last I was burying my face into the softness of Christine's curls. Never had I ever felt this before! It must have been dark, it just had to be! Why else would she be touching my scars? Touching my body?
"Touch me!" she begged. "Touch me!"
My hands fumbled blindly as they skimmed around for her breasts. I was becoming frustrated, but she was there to calm me down.
"I…I can't." I cried. "I'm…I can't see you. Oh, I'm terrible."
"Shhh…" her hand grabbed my own, placing it between her legs. Oh, I had never felt a woman like this before. I was so inexperienced that I didn't even know what to do.
"Touch me." she begged, kissing my ear. "Yes, Erik, touch me."
I did, hoping to satisfy her. She was stroking me with her hand, causing me to groan. No one had ever touched me like this before…no, only me.
"Yes, harder." I begged, pressing a kiss to the first bit of flesh I found, not particularly knowing which part of her it was on.
How embarrassing this was to be blind and inexperienced. My hands were fumbling around her body, hoping to find pleasurable spots to touch her in. She didn't seem to mind, because she was sighing just as much as I was.
"Christine…" I reached for her hand to stop touching me. I was on the brink of exploding, but she didn't heed my warning. Her soft hands continued to work on me, her legs wrapping around my waist. Then, I felt something I never thought I'd ever get to feel. She gently laid me back against the mattress and took me by surprise. Her body lowered onto my manhood, allowing it to sink deep into her body. She whimpered in discomfort, and I attempted to pull away, but she wouldn't let me.
"No, Erik, don't." she pleaded. "Just give me a moment."
Oh, my Christine, she was everything I ever imagined a woman to feel like. This new, warm sensation was driving me wild. In my mind I pleaded for her to move, to start writhing against me. When she did, my body reached heaven. I was so nervous, that I laid there letting her move on top of me. Oh, why was she doing this? Why was she allowing this monster to do this to her?
"Erik…"
She called my name as her pace quickened. I never wanted this to end, I never wanted this wonderful, pleasurable feeling to go away. I squeezed the blankets within my fists, holding off as long as I could. My body arched off the mattress, causing my member to sink even deeper into her body.
"Christine…"
We were kissing again, kissing and rolling around in the sheets as our bodies continued to move against one another. I thrust into her with a need to urgent to deny. I was so close, so close and yet, I didn't want to ruin her. Who was I to pour my hideous seed into her?
"Christine." I stopped moving, attempting to pull away from her, but Christine kissed me again.
"Don't, Erik." she begged. "Let us finish this."
Her words sounded like sweet honey, her mouth even tasted ten times better. I lay there, as still as could be as I drowned us both within our kisses. And then she began to writher again, hard this time, so hard and so fast that my climax happened with an exploding bliss. I gritted my teeth and held the bed sheets tight as my seed poured into her body. The heat from it all had caused her to finish as well, our bodies breathless and sweaty. I could not see my angel, but just feeling her heart racing against my own was enough to know that I was in heaven.
For a while after that, we just laid there in silence, kissing and running our hands gently over each other's bodies. I loved this woman with all my heart, more than anything in the world! She had given me her virginity, and I had given her my own in return. Not even a whore would take me, but Christine allowed me to make love to her as if I were a normal man! And that night, as we fell asleep, I nestled my head into her curls, inhaling the wonderful scent, and allowing my deformity to rest against them.
"I love you, Christine..."
And she happily sighed in return. Tonight, in Calais, I had gone from being in the darkness of hell, to the bliss of heaven. Then again, as long as Christine was with me, anywhere was heaven.
Fluff! Well, sort of? LOL. Please review, and if you haven't already, check out my newest story that just began yesterday. Love Lives On. I usually don't have two stories going at once, but the idea came to me the other day and I couldnt let it go. Enjoy these two stories everyone! I don't know where it's going to leave my recent updating, but I might be getting a second job soon...Which means most of my spare time will be down the tubes. But, what can I say? I need the mulah! I'll always try to find time to update though...it might not be every other day, but I'll work something out...this is my passion. Which reminds me, I'll be posting it when the time gets closer, but my first book is getting published and will be available on amazon . It's a children's book titled "The Escapades of Augie Atwell." Not Phantom, but very interesting all the same. Should be out at the end of July...it's in the company's hands as we speak. I'll post more info as the time gets closer...Ok, enough ranting for now...