The night had been warm for a spring evening, and the ride had been most pleasant. Erphan had ridden on slightly ahead of Erik and Christine, giving them both privacy, and the privilege of not feeling followed. It was nearly dark outside by the time they arrived at the winter house. Erphan had gone in and lit several lamps in the parlor when Erik brought his horse to a halt inside the fence.
"Christine? We are home my darling." He heard a soft mumble under his cape as he opened it just slightly to reveal her blinking eyes. She'd fallen asleep, and was embarrassedly wiping a bit of drool from his lapel. Erik laughed, "it is alright my dear, no harm has been done." Christine scowled, it was very unladylike to do such things. She had been so comfortable, so warm, that it had taken no time at all to fall off to sleep.
Erphan reappeared from the house assisting Christine in dismounting the horse. "Sir, I can put the horse away for you." Erik looked down at him and thought for a moment. "No, I shall do it myself. I've a feeling this horse would like to run a bit before it's put away for the night." Erik had a sudden need to feel the wind in his hair, the firm body of a beast running beneath him. He'd spent so many days and nights lying as an invalid, that for just a few brief moments, he wanted to run free.
"Do you mind at all Christine?" She smiled. She understood the pleading in his eyes. "Do not go far my dear. The night is dark, and the woods are full." Erik smiled at her. "I'll promise you I shan't even leave the safety of the fence…will that allay your fears?" He smiled at her. Considering the circumstances, he understood.
Christine returned his smile, "I shan't mind having a few moments to myself with that book." Her eyes twinkled at Erik. He decided his ride would be a rather short one now. He pivoted his horse, and with a sharp command the horse bolted toward the back pasture. Though the fenced yard was not large in comparison to some, it was still enough space for a horse to feel the freedom to run full out. Christine smiled as she turned to go into the house. Erphan was just coming back out, a gun strapped over his shoulder. Christine's casual look turned to instant disconcertment.
"Whatever is that for?" She gasped. "If Erik is out in the pasture, alone, after all that has happened in this place, do you not think I'd be inclined to stand guard?" Christine reached out touching Erphan on the shoulder. Yes, he was a bit rough around the edges, but the one quality that no one could teach him was what he possessed naturally, loyalty.
Erik marveled at the freedom he felt as he heard the horse pant, felt its muscles flexing, and the rush of the cool air as they ran at full gallop. Erik even enjoyed the simple pleasure of his cape fluttering behind him in the wind.
He'd spent so many nights on lone horseback in his life. Traveling mostly by night to avoid prying eyes. The sensation was liberating. He looked at the glowing moon against the dark night sky. He'd beheld it hundreds, nay thousands of times before, but tonight, the glow seemed different. He was looking at the world with new eyes now. What once beckoned him was changing now… Though he enjoyed this with such unbridled enthusiasm, it took minutes only before Christine's smiling face floated across his mind.
He turned his horse back towards the house, leaning in and galloping as fast as the horse would take him. He was headed back to Christine's arms, not to a distant city with cold occupants as he had so many times on a midnight ride. He had enjoyed this brief bit of freedom, and took pleasure in the fact that Christine understood him. She understood his needs, and loved him enough to let him be who he was.
Erik came into the house after he had put the horse in the stable. Erphan waited at the door expectantly as Erik came in. "I've put the steed away, you shan't be troubled again tonight." Erik said removing his cloak, putting it on the hook by the door. He looked at Erphan, "you did take care of the things we discussed before leaving the village?" Erphan nodded.
"The clock maker was difficult, but in the end he relented." Erik smiled. "Thank you Erphan. Do sleep well. The morning should bring the carriage from Paris and we shall return home before nightfall." Erik nodded to the young man. "I shall expect a full report on 'Oliver Twist' once we've returned. If you found that enjoyable, perhaps I shall borrow you another!" Erphan bowed to Erik, expressing his gratitude and then departed for the familiar comfort of the stables.
Erik slowly walked up the stairs. He'd only been out on the horse a half hour, but it had felt like a lifetime of freedom to him. His wounds had healed much better than expected, and he felt almost as well as he had several months before they even arrived at Courtland Manor. The proper meal, the ability to roam about in public, and Christine's obvious pride in being his mate, made Erik swell with a feeling that was entirely foreign to him. He'd felt powerful in the past, but this was a different type of power he felt at his disposal.
He so longed to be with his wife, to care for his wife. But tonight was about his love, his attraction and passion for a woman who had been a forbidden fruit to him. Tonight he wanted to love this woman in the way she deserved and needed to be loved.
He walked the stairs to the master suite. They were entirely alone in THEIR house. No one to disturb them, to interrupt them, to judge them. As he pushed open the doors to the master bedroom, Erik could hear a splashing sound coming from the water closet. Christine had just finished taking a sponge bath and was coming out in the white lace nightgown that Erik had procured for her at the mercantile that very night.
Erik said nothing. He had entered the room entirely unnoticed, and watched as Christine moved to the vanity. She sat brushing her hair, occasionally reaching down and placing her hand on her stomach. She smiled as she began to hum the song that Erik had sung earlier that day. She was entirely caught up in being the mother to his child, and that made him love and want her all the more.
Walking over to her, he reached out and took the brush from her hand. He laid it down on the vanity. Before Christine could respond Erik swept her up into his arms, kissing her passionately as he carried her over to the bed.
He began to sing to her in a low tone, "Nighttime sharpens, heightens each sensation, darkness stirs and wakes imagination, silently the senses abandon their defenses." She closed her eyes and in one flash, Christine was back in the Opera House in the Phantom's lair. His powerful words invading her every pore. Her spirit and his voice in one combined. His voice entrancing her, "slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendor, grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender, turn your face away from the garish light of day, turn your thoughts away from cold unfeeling light, and listen to the music of the night."
Christine was floating. She stared at him with such different emotions than the first time he'd sung that to her. Erik, this powerful, wonderful man was her husband, and though she still blushed at his advances, she did not have to deny the inner stirrings of want. Erik looked down at her with such intensity that if his face were the sun her skin would surely have begun to melt.
"Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams, purge your thoughts of the life you knew before, close your eyes let your spirit start to soar, and you'll live as you've never lived before."
Though they were husband and wife now, memories of that first realization of attraction were immortalized in her soul by that song…..that voice. "Softly, deftly, music shall caress you, hear it, feel it, secretly possess you, open up your mind let your fantasies unwind, in this darkness that you know you cannot fight, the darkness of the music of the night."
Christine shuddered as Erik leaned down and kissed her exposed neck. "Let your mind start to journey to a strange new world, leave all thoughts of the life you knew before, let your soul take you where you long to be…" Erik's powerful voice reaching the crescendo enthralled Christine…she could not breathe. It had been so long…so very long since she'd heard him sing like this, seen him in all his glory, captivating her mind, body, and soul, with his very presence.
"Only then can you belong to me…" She gasped, for indeed his very words had come true. "Floating, folding, sweet intoxication, touch me, trust me, savor each sensation, let the dream begin, let your darker side give in, to the power of the music that I write, the power of the music of the night." Christine trembled as he laid hands on her, caressing her tenderly before taking her flesh against his. Tonight he loved her deeply, soulfully, completely.
The two had been parted too long. In these moments, Christine simply needed to know that her husband, the father to her child, had returned to her. He would faithfully stay at their side, guiding them, protecting them with all that he was. As he came to rest next to her in the wee hours of the morning, both were trembling in unison. The sweat of her body had blended with that from his, creating a sheen on their skin.
They held each other's hands, as they caught their breath. Erik reached over pulling Christine to him. "Are you alright my dear?" In all of the passion of the moment he'd only thought about pleasing her, and little else. Christine rolled her head over onto his shoulder, pulling her upper torso atop Erik's chest.
As she looked down into the vast sea of color and churning emotion of his eyes, she realized that though he worried for her well being, he was entirely grateful that she'd not declined his advances. "My dear sweet husband, you reconfirmed your love for me through your touch. I cannot imagine anything that I'd have wanted more from this night than to find myself surrendered in your arms!" Erick so loved to hear those words from Christine. How he'd longed to be loved, and now he truly was.
XXXX
Meg wandered fitfully, lost in her dreams. She was back in the winter house. A storm was brewing. The sky was a sickly yellow, rimmed in a threatening shade of charcoal. Billows of angry clouds hung like a dog over its meat. The air was an unsettling calm, and every animal had scurried for cover. The earth looked devoid of life.
Meg imagined herself standing in the sunroom peering out at the foreboding sky. She saw a strange dark image appearing in the center of the clouds. Its shape was barely distinguishable, though it appeared to be a human form. It was moving slowly toward her, growing larger and larger, and larger still. Suddenly there was a deafening clap of thunder. The winds began whipping around, violently thrashing everything that was not anchored by root or God. Meg could hear shattering glass, and looking down she saw her clothing torn once more as the figure now loomed large in her view.
She heard a low rumble as a voice came from the center of the being though she could not see from where. A pair of eyes, the deepest red with fiery black pupils stared out at her from the churning mass. "Blood for blood" she heard the searing words come out in a shrill cry as the image rushed toward her covering her in a thick black cloud.
Meg jerked awake. She was trying to scream but nothing came. She was completely covered in sweat and thrashed about tearing herself from the arms that clung about her waist. She wriggled free and stood, her head jerking to the left and the right, scanning the room until she had woken enough to reassure herself of her surroundings.
Her breathing was so labored she thought she might faint. She leaned heavily against the arm of the couch where she now realized Raoul was reclining and it was from his arms that she had escaped. She covered her mouth, and began wiping the sweat from her face. This was the night terror the doctor had told her might come. She'd had a completely wonderful day. Nothing had disturbed her, and even now in the company of a man who would do anything to protect her, she was not safe from the workings of her own mind.
Meg walked to the window. The night was calm. Once her breathing had returned to a normal rate, she began to hear the crickets outside. She opened the window a sliver, a cool breeze wafted into the room. It felt good on her flushed skin. She inhaled sharply, exhaling a staggered breath. She was wide-awake now, exceedingly glad to be free from that dreadful dream.
She paced about the room for a long while, circling Raoul, trying to take him in from every angle. At some point, she decided to gently glide his shoulders to the cushions, helping him recline fully. She removed his shoes and covered him with a blanket.
When all the rest of the world was asleep, the hours between dusk and dawn were far too quiet. She'd been up over an hour now, and there was no hope in going back to sleep on her own. The very thought of it terrified her for what if the dream returned?
Meg walked slowly, reticently, toward the small drawer at the side of her bed. She opened and closed the drawer over and over again, listening to the small bottle rattle back and forth. Meg glanced over at Raoul, and then back at the bottle that was now revealed in the open drawer. She wanted it desperately, but feared it equally as she knew the power of the drug was strong enough that the doctor had issued such a stern warning to her. "This is what they give soldiers returning home for their first nights after the war," he had told her.
She lifted the bottle out of the drawer, the chill of the glass was rather soothing in her palm. She raised it to eye-level and peered at the contents as if it were a black widow spider that would jump out and claim her consciousness. The glass of water that Madeline had placed on her bed table sat full. It would be quick, it would be painless, and she would be able to rest. She was chastising herself for not having taken the other medicine as she'd been instructed, for certainly she would be asleep in Raoul's comfortable arms even now!
Hesitantly she opened the bottle, bringing it up to her nostrils. It was a putrid smell, like nothing she'd ever known before. The pills were gray, and very tiny. She shook the bottle slightly and it deposited several into the palm of her hand. Quickly, she sat down the bottle and put the superfluous pills back in it. Held between her thumb and index finger, was the power of a dreamless sleep. She stared at it as she rolled it between her fingers. She closed her eyes and dropped the pill onto her tongue, quickly hoisting the glass of water to her lips. The pill slid into her throat and on its way to a place it could do her the most good.
Meg sighed. Somehow just knowing that it had entered her body, she felt more relaxed. Within a few minutes she would be sleepy, if what the doctor had told her was true, and she'd no reason to believe otherwise.
Meg walked over to the bowl of water that had long since grown cold. Retrieving the cloth from the bottom of the water, she rung it out and began washing her face and arms. The cool felt good on her skin.
Soon she turned and looked at Raoul who was so peacefully resting on the coach. It was deep, and provided ample room for her to recline if she wanted to. She vacillated back and forth deciding what to do. He had held her, told her he'd hold her until she slept. She had felt quite safe there. Perhaps it would not be entirely untrue that he would wake again and find her in his arms as he had when she had first discovered him.
She moved quietly over to his side, sitting down. He didn't even flinch. His breathing was shallow and even, and his face contained neither worry nor malice. Carefully she lifted his arm, and slipped beneath it, bringing her head to rest in the crook of his arm. She pulled the blanket over her legs and shut her eyes. She lay a few minutes hoping the drug would soon reveal its affects.
Her thoughts had just begun to float when she felt a warm breath on her neck. Her eyes flew open, was the dream returning? Her heart calmed as she realized it was Raoul. He was waking up. She listened as he inhaled, then stiffened just slightly, then relaxed. She felt his head move towards hers. He reached out his hand brushing her hair from her cheek. He slid his other arm tightly around her waist, and leaned his head over slightly kissing her temple. She then felt as he nestled his face into the side of her hair. His breathing began to slow until it was as rhythmic as it was before. A tear escaped Meg's eye. He'd woken, thought her to be asleep in his arms, and decided to stay. Maybe he was truly ready to move on.
Author's notes:
Glad to hear everyone won't shoot me or abandon the story during the five-day hiatus! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, it was with such sweet tenderness that I wrote it. I can only imagine being that in love!
Captain Oblivious: I was beginning to worry about you! Glad you're back, and no doubt you've been spending some quality time with the "MAN" in your life! YES, YES, YES, you got your Dracula 2000 DVD, and it sounds like you've been enjoying yourself! It just so happens I watched mine last night…probably not too smart a maneuver on my part since I'll be climbing aboard an airplane in a few short hours! I am glad you agree, that Gerard, in any movie, as long as he's wearing a cape, is rather worth watching. There is definitely a "gore factor" to this movie, and parts I have to fast-forward through, but overall, I liked it. I especially liked how the story ended, (not that I wanted to see anything happen to our dear Gerard mind you!) a little bit of redemption made the movie a bit easier to swallow. But back to Gerry in a cape…ooh, la, la. Yes, he's all English, but with a Scottish flair…it darned near makes you want to pick up roots, slap on a kilt and move doesn't it? Oh well, these days he's trotting the globe, so unless one was independently wealthy, he'd be hard to track down! Perhaps your Pauly Shore gun, has a travel laser that can just beam you to wherever he is!
Elizabeth Town, yes I've seen the trailer….I've a friend who I am going to see this with when it arrives in our theater…don't know if I'll like it thought. Is that the trailer on your DVD, or did you go to see Willy Wonka? I've this idea that a perfect movie would be the Three Muskateers, Gerard, Christian Bale, and Johnny Depp….can you imagine? O.k., I have to admit, there is a caffeine thing going on for me this morning, and a bit of fear, as I do not really like to fly, so pardon my crazy rambling thoughts!
Happy Birthday early by the way….I'll celebrate for you in Las Vegas….one moment shall be spent in your honor! "Here's to Captain O, long live Captain O!" Can you just hear it? Oh, here's hoping you get your birthday wish……Gerry in a box….sounds pretty tempting to me!
Darn, I'm still waiting for my "Jury" DVD set to arrive. Ordered it from Amazon, who in turn ordered it from some place in the Cayman Islands! I hope it doesn't arrive wrapped in alligator skin!
Stellalorelai: Yes, dear Nadir, he just opened opportunity's door, and De Chagny waltzed right through I! I have a feeling that Nadir is very suave, which likely contributed to Erik's acquaintance with him…sounds like another chapter doesn't it! Yes, the side stories…it is rather like life don't you think? If life were just a singular set of circumstances or events that made up our life, it wouldn't be nearly as interesting. What I find fascinating is how things in this world overlap, one set of circumstances or events, or people, affect another, and that in turn affects another. Life has many facets, like a kaleidoscope, each adding a beautiful layer of color to the next, and only when one mixes it up by turning the wheel, can you see the true beauty it possesses. That is why all the side stories I guess, it just makes it feel more real to me!
I hope you have a great weekend, and enjoy this chapter. A little fluff, a little suspense, hopefully a little something for everyone!
Liriel-eris: Welcome to the family! I often have a comment to our newest family members about their name, but quite frankly, yours has me puzzled…perhaps a character from another book? Just a guess. Thank you for your wonderful compliment. I like the word "glued" it insinuates that you're likely to "stick" with it to the end, (pardon the pun). I was a bit nervous about the DeChagny, Nadir, encounter. Both men have an air of arrogance about them. Having watched a number of men in my life go through the dance of sizing one another up, it seemed fitting that the two would be content to be friendly until they knew a bit more about one another. Neither would concede fully, but they wanted to convey a spirit of camaraderie. Nadir is in a much more advantageous position knowing a bit more than DeChagny…but that could change…. As for the relationship between Erik and Christine…thank you. I do feel very attached to that pair…I just wish everyone could experience that kind of maturity, that level of deep understanding, and of course the love that they share…the world would be a much better place if we could all be loved that unconditionally! Again, welcome to the family!
Phantomfan13: Thank you for the heads-up. I rather wondered if everyone was disappointed because I'd not included Erik in the chapter previous, and there was a boycott going on that I didn't know about! So, thank you, that explains the lack of reviews perfectly! Yes, darned e-mail. I hope it is resolved by the time I come home!
Five days…no doubt all the craziness in LasVegas, and a very romantic wedding with give me something to add to the story…life often does! Yes, I think we should have a special club for those that have watched the Phantom of the Opera five-hundred times or more….I think I could be a charter member! I play it over and over again, looking at the expressions on their faces, trying to imagine what they were feeling, the sounds, the smells, the sites….I guess that explains why I'm so obsessed with the story now doesn't it! Hope you have a great weekend, and don't wear out that DVD player!
stellalorelai
2005-08-05
ch
95, signed
Yes! Nadir did it! Oh, please keep the details of this side-story coming! I'm dying to see the outcome. Actually, I'm dying to see the outcome of every side-story. :)
I know what it's like to wish you could write as fast as you type. Have fun in Vegas. I'm sure we'll all be eagerly awaiting your return.
Liriel-eris
2005-08-05
ch
95, signed
You
have an amazing ability to have the reader just glued to your
story, waiting to see waht happens next! chpter 95, was delightful
as usual. It was interesting to see how Nadir and De Chagny would
interact, but you've pulled it off wonderfully. And the
relationshp between Christine and Erik is very mature, very real.
lol. you've got me hooked to see what happens next, so i
cannot wait for the next chapter!
Enjoy Vegas,
Liriel
Captain
Oblivious
2005-08-05
ch
95, signed
shriek What the. . . well, there are twins, but what the heck did they find? WAH!
Oh good, Erik was born from love, not from pure adultery. Thank God.
I got Dracula Two Thousand.
OH. MY. GERRY.
Gerard Butler is beyond hot. The man is bloody Adonis himself. If he ever goes American, however, I'll kill him. Any attraction I held for Orlando Bloom COMPLETELY disappeared with the trailer for Elizabethtown. PFFT.
But anyway. . . WOW. What a movie. I want a Gerry-in-a-Box for my birthday (August 11th, YEY!).
Have fun in Vegas!
Mise a jour bientot! (It's funny to see 'Vegas' next to French. . . pfft)
PhantomFan13
2005-08-04
ch
95, signed
5
whole days?
Oh well i suppose i can manage - i'll just watch
phantom over and over agian
if your wondering why i did not
post a review for the last chapter it is cuz i wrote this big long
review and when i clicket sunmit it said server overload!
i
hope you get your e-mail working soon so that wat i can send you
my whole review