So you liked the last chapter did you? This one gets an M rating. Thanks for the reviews. I must say, I'm impressed, giant chocolate Godiva Easter bunnies for all!

-Leesainthesky

Ch 73 Love is a Battlefield

If Erik was truly here and not a vivid apparition, he would sense any change in my pulse. I controlled my breathing, willing my thumping heart to slow down and my head to clear.

His arm moved. Oh yeah, there's a real live man in my bed and by the scent and sound of him, he's Erik.

How in the hell did he…never mind, I told my self. How or when he arrived and crawled in next to me was a moot point now. I needed to concentrate on a strategy.

Eyes still closed, I feigned sleep. I sighed again, placed my hand on top of Erik's and kissed his chest.

"Oh Erik, please do not ever leave me alone in the manor house again," I whispered in English. "I'm so lonely when you're not near."

My feeble plan was to make him believe I was talking in my sleep and dreaming of him—soften him up so that when I did actually 'wake,' his admonitions of me might not be as fierce as I imagined.

Erik's hand resting on my stomach warmed me. The heat spread downward and I felt the familiar tingle of desire.

Damn Gabrielle, how inappropriate for you to get the hornies, now.

I smiled and shifted nonchalantly in my 'sleep.' Now on my back with one arm outstretched, my hand settled against his crotch—a placement of its own accord.

"Erik," I breathed, affecting my best resting-pretty pose.

He ran his palm lightly across the swell of my pregnant belly, brushing his fingers over the curve and down to caress the soft skin of my lower abdomen.

"Mine," he said. His voice was not angry, but soft and filled with wonder.

I felt him growing hard beneath my fingers. The lovely sensation of Erik's arousal did little to abate my own growing lust.

I stretched and bent my knees, letting them fall open, causing my thin gown ride up my legs.

Erik touched my thigh hesitantly, as though he'd never done so before.

I purred at the contact, aching for more.

He gingerly raised the hem of my gown and cupped his palm over the familiar territory of my sex.

Damn.

The heat radiating from his hand was eletricifying. Unprompted by my conscious mind, I moved against him and moaned.

Beneath my hand, his cock begged for freedom from the constraints of his woolen trousers.

"Touch me, please," I whispered.

How can a person be so angry with someone one moment then ready to bed him in the next? We are a curious race, aren't we?

I laughed out loud at the thought.

"So, the princess awakens, eh?" Erik growled.

My eyes flicked opened like a dime store baby doll's.

"Mon Dieu, Erik, you're here! How—"

"You have taken me this far, Gabrielle; I will no longer be denied the joys of your wet silky sheath." He sprang upon me like a tiger, planting his knees between my already parted legs and pushing my gown out of his way.

"Erik!" I squawked at the suddenness of his move.

He grinned and eased his trousers open, freeing a colossal hard on. In one swoop, Erik lifted my hips and glanced down at his just desserts before moving in for the kill. He was so hard, penetration proved an easy task.

I gasped and, taking my action as a complaint, Erik pinned my arms to my side. His sharp gaze penetrated my soul as easily as his sex had breached my body.

Not usually one to enjoy such barbarian antics, I surprised myself when I shivered with pleasure and whimpered as Erik filled me.

He must have thought that he had hurt me, because he paused. A look of panic spread across his face.

"Gabrielle, the baby! Forgive my horrid lusts—"

"I'm fine, really," I managed to gasp. "Continue, before I come to my senses."

Erik questioned me with his eyes, then sensing permission, narrowed his gaze and seized the opportunity for satiation. He thrust into me with enthusiasm, being careful to keep undue pressure off of my abdomen.

God, the man was intense.

My sensibilities raged against me, but my body obeyed its lusts, reasoning that it would be an offense for me to deny myself the pleasures of Erik's body.

We fell into the familiar rhythm of our lovemaking, both of us panting and moaning, pushing and wriggling in a frenzied effort to reach our glorious goal.

I encouraged him shamelessly. "I want to feel the rush of your release inside of me; make me come like a wanton," I hissed.

My words did the trick. Erik's chin crinkled with concentration, he clenched his teeth and his eyes blazed as he drew his swollen sex out to the tip, then shoved it back into me with exquisite acceleration. I locked my legs behind his hips and matched his thrusts.

"Kiss me if you still love me, Erik." In an instant his lips melted onto mine; he kissed me tenderly, as only one's lover can.

Our orgasms united into one searing crescendo. A mixture of tension, anger, longing and frustration was unloosed with our vehement release. We fell back into the crumbled, damp sheet, spent from the exhaustion of this unlikely reunion.

After some time, Erik rose up on his haunches, strands of dark brown hair falling into his eyes. His face glistening with sweat, he cocked his head and grinned. It was a smile of smug satisfaction.

"Have you missed me, darling Gabrielle?" His voice dripped with arrogance.

I sat up and, with all of the strength I could muster, shoved at his shoulder. "Get off of me you ass-hole!"

Surprised, Erik toppled over and landed on his butt by my feet.

I nabbed the opportunity to jump from the bed. I quickly wrapped my robe around me.

Erik recovered, sprang to his feet and advanced on me. Your game is at an end, Gabrielle. The time has come for me to take you home.

Oh, my. Good-bye lovely-dovey Erik, hello vengeful Erik.

I remembered the violate tone of his letter and of how viperous he could be when riled; I pulled out the petite lady's dagger I kept hidden beneath the edge of my desk blotter.

I needed him to comprehend that I would not go quietly.

"Stay away," I cautioned, the dagger's edge shining as I jabbed it in his direction.

Then he laughed at me. "This from the woman who just begged me to take her like a whore?"

"I did not say whore, I said wanton. This isn't about sex anyway, Erik. It's about honesty and freedom." I backed farther away from him.

Erik tucked himself away and buttoned his trousers while he continued his predatory advance. "I must say darling, you've changed considerably since last fall, your are, shall I say, even lustier than I remember."

"Never mind your flippant drivel, Erik," I snarled. "Tell me, whatever happened to your dear Christine? Did she dump you and so now you want me back? Is that why you're so eager to reclaim me?"

"I want you to come home with me, Gabrielle. We've a lot to sort out. I think it is best—."

"I don't give a damn what you think or want. You didn't think of me when you postponed our marriage and rushed off to Paris."

"I didn't comprehend what was happening. I was a fool Gabrielle."

"You got that right. Tell me, Erik, did you go to Christine?"

"I paid her a visit, yes."

"And somehow, things did not go as planned and here you are. I'll not be your consolation prize, monsieur," I spat.

"Damn it all, Gabrielle, I've had it with your inane ideas. Get your things. We're leaving for the train station. I'll have your other personal effects packed up and sent to the manor directly." Erik no longer walked toward me, but stood still and held out one hand as if to draw me in by an unseen power.

"I don't want to leave Hastings. I like it here. I have friends. My work is here."

"Well my work and our life waits for us in France. You can't have thought you'd stay here forever."

"I can do what I wish, I belong to no one."

"You're engaged to me and you carry my seed."

I waved the dagger at him. "Oh, but we are no longer engaged, monsieur. I trust you discovered that charming appendage by your bedside, wearing my engagement ring."

He scowled. "Indeed, what a wonderfully macabre piece of work, dear, a remnant from my personal apartment. Tell me, how did you discover it? I thought it rather well hidden."

"Rummaging around for a barn tool. Does it matter? Nice little shrine you built for your angel of music. Tell me, Erik, did you relieve yourself on Christine's wax body often?"

"You bitch." Erik clenched his hands into tight fists, flashing his teeth in a frightening grimace. "That was my private space, you had no right—"

"A future husband should not hide things from his future wife, especially when those things pertain to another love."

"If you'd cared to notice, it was all hidden behind heavy velvet draperies. I'd not looked at Christine's likeness in nearly two years."

"That crap should not have been there at all! If you loved me you would have destroyed them when you proposed to me, if not before!" I waved the dagger with each angry word.

The man actually lunged at me. In a reactionary move of defense, I struck out at him. The sharp dagger sliced through his heavy brocade waistcoat. When he sprang back, the garment gapped open slightly and I saw a spot of blood on his linen shirt. I'd not intended to harm him, only make him wary.

"Christ, woman, have you gone mad?"

"Not mad, just not afraid of you anymore, Erik, even after reading that threatening letter you sent via Mary Ann. Now, if you like, we can sit down and discuss our predicament like civilized people." I felt remorse for having cut him with my dagger.

"No, I've little time for pleasantries. Dress and grab your essentials, Gabrielle. The train leaves for the English coast in two hours. We shall have ample opportunity to talk on the journey home."

"Home? Ha! I have no home in this life, Erik." I leaned against my dressing table, the dagger still in my hand.
His face was red with anger; his body rigid with frustration.

"I do not wish to harm you; this is for your own well being."

"My well being, Erik? Oh, bull-shit. You think that I am too stupid or helpless to make it on my own, don't you. What's your plan—drug me with chloroform and carry my unconscious body onto the train? Then what, lock me in my bedchambers at the manor until I promise to obey your every command?"

Erik shrugged. "Should I find those measures necessary, yes. At least until you regain your sanity."

Why, oh why did he have to mock my sanity?

My anger boiled over and I unleashed a stream of poisonous venom on him. "I am not the crazy one, Erik. What I am is angry and hurt. I trusted you!"

"Trust? I trusted you to stay put while I closed the final chapter on my days as the Phantom of the Opera Garnier."

"Well, I trusted you not to waffle on your affections."

"I did no such thing!"

"Then what on earth do you call your reaction to Christine and that note to me detailing your wedding trip to Venice?"

"A fraud!"

"Prove it!"

Frustrated, Erik threw his hands up in the air and shook his head. "Really woman, I've no time for verbal sparring!"

Catching me off guard, he pounced and caught my wrist that held the dagger. Forcing me to drop it, he twirled me around and secured my arms behind my back. I attempted to use his weight to throw him down, but my bodily proportions, now changed, rendered my martial arts skills useless.

"I'll scream for Bastion," I threatened.

"He cannot hear you, the man has gone off to the market," he sneered, breathing heavily against my neck.

"Erik, please don't hurt me. Think of the baby." I had no idea what erratic emotions might run through the man's mind.

"Mon Dieu, Gabrielle, I am angry, not murderous.

"The letter you sent stated your intent to punish me." I spoke with dead calm. I didn't want him to know how fearful of his volatile temper I truly was.

"Oh, yes, that," Erik's voice softened. "You hid from me, you hid my unborn child from me—I was livid with you. I even questioned that you ever really loved me."

"Don't insult me, you pompous egomaniac. Do you realize how many of your psychotic temper tantrums I've patiently endured? How dare you say that I never loved you!"

"Enough!" he roared. "If I must, then I shall drag you out of here."

"Drag the mother of your child into the hallway and down a flight of stairs? A splendidly stupid idea, Erik." I said.

We both scowled at one another and I yanked, to no avail, at the grip Erik had on my arms. Finally, I slid to the floor, allowing my every muscle to relax and sink onto the rug beneath me.

Erik had no choice but to follow my descent. With his hands now uncomfortably twisted, he released me and sat down next to me. He looked like a boy with his chin on his knees, his arms wrapped around them.

"Gabrielle, Gabrielle, what am I to do? I simply cannot leave you here alone, now can I?"

I refused to answer."I've been through a great deal to find you, dear. I must say, you're quite the match for me. But ah, you left a trail of breadcrumbs the night Christine saw you at the Magic Flute."

"Christine? How in the hell did she have any idea I was there?"

"Having spied a man with one green and one brown eye, she recalled seeing the same features elsewhere. Then it came to her, she remembered you had the same unusual eyes and deduced that she must have seen your brother. Well, being that she knew you had left the manor, she sent me a note to telling me that if I could locate your male relative in London, then perhaps I could find you."

"Christine wanted you to find me? Oh, that's rich, Erik."

"After my rejection of her advances, she was most upset. She and I corresponded once after the meeting. I told her of your hasty departure and of how distraught I was without you. Christine, being a lady of considerable compassion, agonized for my loss. In her letter to me, she stated that she wished me no ill will, only happiness for the remainder of my days. Of course, I knew there was no brother, and from your previous escapade en tant qu'homme, knew it must be you dans le costume. You are clever, Madame, but not as clever as I."

"Stuff it, Erik," I glowered at him.

Swiftly he dropped to one knee and loomed over me."Get your things now, Gabrielle. I'll not tell you again!""What 'cha gonna do, Erik, take me against my will and lock me away, I recall the last time you tried that tactic, it failed miserably."Erik glared down at me, his eyes phosphorous green, his face as red as I'd ever seen it. He was not amused. I struggled against my fear and sat up to face him with defiance.

It was then that I felt a small but mighty appendage jab me from within, I flinched, wrapped my arms around my stomach and cried out in surprise at the unusual sensation.

"Gabrielle, what is wrong!" Erik, now hovering over me, his anger replaced with concern, studied my face for signs of peril. "It is the babe, isn't it?"

I gazed downward to where my hands rested, hoping for more movement from within my womb. Looking up into Erik's worried eyes, I grinned, "The little fellow is making his presence known."

Erik could not decided what to do, he was utterly befuddled, an unusual state for a man used to controlling his sphere of influence. "Pardonnez-moi, is this a normal occurrence?"

"I suppose it is, here, give me your hand, Erik."

He reached toward me with hesitancy and I took his hand in mine and laid it over the spot where I had felt the baby move."

"He may do it again, so stay alert." I said.

He nodded solemnly, and after less than a minute, received his reward when a tiny foot or fist issued another gentle jab to my lower belly.

I could not help but laugh when Erik jumped. He gazed at the spot where our hands lay. "Amazing," he whispered.

"Indeed, it is."

Our tiny unborn child was the silent mediator in our war of wills, urging us to put aside months of misconceptions to ponder the miracle of creation.

"Gabrielle," Erik moved his hand up to touch my face. "I have no desire to cause you pain, I simply do not understand why you left me and why you resist returning to me—I fear our plight is burdened with gross misunderstanding."

The visible side of Erik's face bore lines of regret. He was thinner that usual and his completion uncommonly sallow, even for winter.

Leaning in toward him, I sighed and touched his hand lightly. "Look here, Erik. When you take a misstep, you become confused at the unexpected results and reactions—yours, plus everyone else's."

Erik turned away from me.

Continuing, I tried to sound logical and compassionate. "Because you are accustomed to refusal or reprimand, you've learned to take what you want or go without it. I may understand your motives, but I do not agree with your method. Don't take me against my will. It didn't work with Christine and you know it won't work with the likes of me."

"Yes, you are quite right, Gabrielle," he sighed, and turned back to face me. "But you must return. You need me to help you with our...our child."

"Let's say that I agree to your terms, but only if you give me a few weeks to finish up what I've begun here, my writing. You can stay here if you like, I'm sure Barbara will let me do as I please.

Even if she does think I've gone absolutely crackers.

- 0 -

Surprised, happy, confused? Please review and thanks for reading. Props to Barb and Amy once more for their excellent beta skills too.

-Leesa

Translations:
dans le costume: In costume

en tant qu'homme: As a man
Pardonnez-mo: Pardon me

Mon Dieu: My God