I can't believe this story is up to 77 chapters. I owe all of you a big chocolate covered thanks for reading, lurking and reviewing my little fanfic, and extra big thanks to Barb and Amy for their beta talents. I couldn't do it without you. Eventually I'll have to go back to the beginning and proof those too. Welcome new readers and reviewers!
-Leesainthesky
Chapter 77 Paybacks
Far too many thoughts hovered in the air around us. Erik and I had lapsed into a silence which neither one of us seemed in a hurry to break. I caressed my stomach with my right hand, a recently adopted habit since the movements from my tiny body mate had increased in frequency.
Eventually Erik's gaze dropped from my face to my midsection. Curiosity shone in his mismatched eyes.
Silence, along with the intensity of his scrutiny, made me uncomfortable. I decided to break the ice.
"So, what do you plan to do about Christine's shenanigans?"
Erik's eyes remained glued to my belly, but his soft look of wonder faded into one of malice. "Retribution for the trouble she has caused my family." Bitterness dripped from his words.
His family.
I'd never thought of us that way before. I suppose we were a family, the three of us. Surprisingly the thought of it pleased me.
Noticing that my dressing gown was bunched up, I straightened and pulled the hem back over my bare knees. "Oh, I don't think you should do anything rash, Erik. You promised Nadir not to kill anymore, didn't you?"
He gaped at me open-mouthed, looking like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Did I divulge that to you? Well I must have if you know of it. Blasted pledge."
Perhaps I'd gleaned that particular bit of information from the Leroux book.
"Tell me, my darling, what should I do—sneak up on Christine in the night, scare the wits out of her and force her to apologize to your face?" He laughed with grim humor.
"Hmm …that could be humiliating for a Comtess. Mental anguish. It's what's called a win, win situation. You get your revenge, she gets her life."
I hoped my stab at levity might lighten his mood. While small, I was aware that within Erik remained a speck of the blackness that had sustained him during his former years as the Devil's Child and the Phantom.
"I cannot allow Christine to believe she's gotten away with her deception scot free. The more I contemplate her words and deeds, the more furious I become with her dead husband, the Comte for abandoning his fragile wife. She's always possessed an unstable vulnerability which requires a loving hand to guide her. Loneliness breeds insanity."
Erik's face expressed what he did not need to say, that he knew all too well the ravages of loneliness. My heart longed to save him from an entire lifetime of such a bleak fate.
"So, write her a letter. In it tell her that the gig is up and you know about her sneaky little letter swap. Brag about our reunion and your upcoming fatherhood. That should be enough to send her slinking off to a well-appointed refuge."
"Dear me, you've a wicked imagination, darling," Erik chuckled, but then lapsed back into a cheerless mood.
"People have always run from me because of my face, but you, Gabrielle, you stayed in spite of it. The reason for your flight was, quite ironically, not my horrific face, but my horrific actions. Having achieved expertise in both physical and emotional spheres, I am now a fully-rounded man!" Erik spat out his words and laughed sardonically.
"Erik, we all do the wrong things for the right reason."
"I. Am. An. Arrogant. fool."
"Be that as it may, on occasion, it is your cool veneer and insatiable will to learn that attracts me to you all the more. I've watched you struggle to comprehend not only the ways of a woman, but the actions of one from a completely different time and place. We struggle in tandem to understand one another."
"I shall never understand women," he grumbled.
"If you ever do, write a book; you'll be come a hero to the masses," I smiled.
"Erik, dear, beneath that heavily shellacked outer shell of yours, lies a warm and hopeful heart. You obliged Christine's invitation because you are a gentleman, not because you wanted her. You came after me with a vengeance because you hate to lose, especially in love. These things I can't hold that against you. Even with your formidable growl, I know that you would never harm a hair on my head."
"I would sooner cut off my own head that touch you in anger, Gabrielle," he said softly. "As for your astute observations of my intentions, well, it's a pity you've taken you so very long to reach them."
"Come on now, Erik. A lot of stuff went down that I was completely unaware of before now. Look, we have only two choices; rise to the challenge of our unique love affair, or decide that it's not worth the trouble and chuck it all. What will it be for you?"
"I don't care a whit about our differences; in truth, we are very much alike, my dear." The conviction of his words took me aback some. I'd never entertained the notion that Erik really paid much attention to my habits.
"Alike? How so?" I asked.
"We're both curiously open to one another's inexplicable differences. You lack the ignorance to fear me for my disfigurement and I lack the sheer stupidity to treat you as inferior because of your gender. We're both keen on the idea of monogamy, adore the arts and do not suffer fools lightly... well, perhaps you're more gracious that I in that arena."
My lip switched with the beginning of a smile. "In my previous line of work, suffering fools was a prerequisite. General Managers and television anchormen notwithstanding."
"Spar as we may, we manage to come through it all the wiser. Of course, there is the delight we find in each other's bodies. While I have always craved a woman's touch, I never dreamt of the pleasures your goddess hands bestow upon me. And now, my dear, we await our child."
Erik smiled down at me and placed a gentle hand on the side of my swollen belly.
He wanted me to understand that he would always be there for me to the best of his ability, if only I would re-open my heart.
"Erik, a wife, a child, they're a lot of work in the best of times. I am headstrong and independent, not a nineteenth century gentleman's dream bride."
"Gabrielle, to me, you've never been anything but those things. My dear, what else could I possibly hope for?"
"Someone a tad more...malleable?"
"Another Christine? Absolutely not. I require someone who can match me, else I'd become dreadfully bored."
"You say that, but do you honestly mean what you say?"
Erik frowned, but before he could debate what I had said, I continued.
"You say you want a mate who does not readily agree with your every thought and wish, yet whenever I challenge you, let's just say you become irritated, even irrational and that mighty temper of yours, well, it has the force of a strong northern wind behind it for sure."
He considered me closely. Behind those jade eyes, I thought I saw the formation of an idea.
"Gabrielle, do you—do you fear me? Do you imagine returning to DuPuis Manor only to have me lock you away and forbid you your freedoms?" he questioned, his voice laced with concern.
"Honestly, I do wonder how you'll change once I'm back within your influence. I'd like to continue my writing and my social life, Erik. But you must trust me." I eyed him ruefully.
"But I do trust you."
"You have a jealous bent, Erik. Every time you see me speaking or laughing with another man, you must not react the way you did the day I went for my fitting at the dressmaker's. Remember your not so subtle fit of angst over seeing me laughing with the assistant?"
Erik shifted uncomfortably on the chaise; beads of perspiration appearing on his naked brow. "I thought that if you made the acquaintance of other men, you would find them more— interesting than me."
I couldn't help but snort out a laugh, "That's doubtful. You forget, monsieur, I have one hundred and fifty years on you, and until recently, I've met not one more interesting that you."
He pouted. "I do not trust other men."
"Erik, you'll just have to get over it."
"Get over it, Gabrielle? Erik pursed his lips and frowned.
"Look here, I am not a frail wisp of a girl who can be easily swayed, you forget I come from a place when men and women work side by side equally."
"You forget that in this century, an overly familiar woman is often branded by as loose. I'll not have others accusing you of improprieties."
"Screw them. Since when did you care about the opinions of others, Erik?"
"I don't, I worry only about your reputation."
"Obviously I don't," I pointed at my girth to indicate my current condition.
"Yes, right," he said and cleared his throat. "I do see your point on that one, dear; except for, perhaps, the opinions of music reviewers." He flipped his hand through the air in an elegantly dismissive fashion.
"Well, many of them are daft, "I said. "But you really do see my point? Erik, what we have here is progress, my dear!"
He gave me a slight, humorous shrug. "Since meeting? You, I've learnt that anything is possible."
Erik lifted his hand to my hair. His long fingers slid through the fringe around my face, catching a lock to twirl around his forefinger.
"Ma jolie femme, I am constantly amazed by your heart and your intellect."
When I began to speak, he put two fingers over my lips.
I tilted my chin upward. I needed to peer into his green depths and see into his soul.
"Gabrielle, my love, will you consent to be my wife?" Love glowed in his eyes.
I tried to think sensibly, but his provocative voice ensnared my mind.
"Erik—"
"These words are not spoken lightly, Gabrielle. I will not bother you again with my request, nor will I force you into matrimony if you do not wish it."
"—give me a few days to catch my breath, please. So much has happened lately."
"My terms are simple. Be my wife. Be my friend and confidante. Help me to raise our child, love me and in return I will love, honor and protect you for the remainder of our days."
All the pain and outrage that I'd hoarded dissolved beneath the sincerity of Erik's promise. I loved him. I wanted him. Trust would take time.
"God, you drive me crazy," I whispered.
During the entire discussion of the letter and his proposal, I'd remained propped against the back of the chaise. When I sat up straight to stretch my fatigued muscles, Erik slipped one arm behind me and drew me close. The bodily contact filled me with welcoming warmth.
"Answer me when you are sure and not a moment before," he said.
"Yes," I nodded.
"You'll not make me wait long, will you?"
"No, course not."
I grinned, winked at him, then kissed him on the nose. When I bent down to pick up the carpet bag, I noticed the balled up letter next to the chaise.
"You may keep that ball of lies; I have no use for it." I dipped my head toward the crumpled parchment on the floor.
"Indeed, I shall need it for proof." Keeping his hold on me, he reached down with his other hand to retrieve the letter, which he then unfolded, smoothed out best he could and tucked away into his coat pocket.
"I nearly set fire to that you know."
"Yes, well, I am extraordinarily pleased that you did not, else we'd have no proof of Christine's deception. I'm still at a loss as to why you believed I could have authored the ghastly thing." Erik appeared slightly agitated.
He shook his head. "Have you no faith in me, Gabrielle?"
"Lots of faith, but this entire Christine debacle had left me raw and wounded—But all of that aside, I am of the opinion that she needs to be taught a lesson. Nothing violent you understand, Erik." I wanted no maiming or bloodshed.
"A serious lesson, I daresay. Have you a fitting suggestion?" He asked.
"Maybe. Are you up to spending an afternoon on planning a well deserved payback?"
"Absolutely, my darling." Erik became alert. He smiled down at me with a devious gleaming his eyes.
Ah yes, this is just his sort of fun isn't it. I thought.
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I know you have lots and lots of suggestions yourself on how to payback Christine. Lol! Please review for me; I am trying to get to 1,000 reviews.
-Leesa