I had to recently change the rating of my story from T to M all because of this chapter! This chapter is rated M for heavy sexual content. If you are uncomfortable reading such things I will place brackets to let you know when it is safe to read again.

I could not find a single day to upload this chapter this week (lots of homework and tests and region tryout studying) anyway...i hope you like this chapter and I thank everyone for constantly reviewing and reading!

Chapter 21: Before the Performance—Part 1

The next morning arrived too quickly for Christine's pleasure and she laid in Erik's bed praying that it was all just a dream and that she didn't really need to perform this play to try to have the man lying beside her killed. She closed her eyes as she felt tears stinging with the threat to fall free, but with the help of looking up at the ceiling she kept them at bay for now.

She quietly got out of the bed and went to the bedroom that was designed for exactly her in mind. Christine smiled as she saw all the little touches that Erik had added in the intent to please her fully. She smiled as she caressed the paintings of the angels that held various instruments on the wall and only then did she realize that her father must have informed Erik about the angel of music. For a minute Christine felt like the most stupid girl in the world for never seeing that Erik did everything—lie, kill, frighten people and protect herself—because he loved her with more passion than anyone thought imaginable. Christine could see how some people might have wondered why she wasn't scared of the man but the way she saw it was that he did all of this to find happiness with the only person that could help him reach that goal. Everyone else in the Opera Populaire would have found his face too horrible to even comprehend living their life stuck with him, but Christine looked past that and knew that there was more of a man in Erik than there was in all of France!

With a hard nod to herself she walked towards the wardrobe that contained all the dresses that Erik had created for her and decided upon a dress that held a white top with a dark green skirt that flowed out heavily—the cold seemed much heavier under the opera house—and she began to strip. She had reached down to her chemise when she heard something move from behind her. Hoping to find Erik she turned around and saw the largest rat she had ever seen in her life scamper near her. Using her vocal powers, Christine let loose the highest noted scream she could manage hoping that it would attract Erik's attention.

Within seconds she saw the man that she wanted to see bound into her room with only black pants on. His wig and mask were perfect so Christine knew that she had probably interrupted him as he was getting ready for the day. Without too much thinking she pointed to the vermin that managed to get into her room and with tear streaked eyes she looked back at Erik silently pleading him to rid of the beast.

Erik lifted an eyebrow and looked at where Christine's finger was pointed to and rolled his eyes as he realized that it was just a rat. Erik didn't say too much about it as he quietly picked up the rat and took it through a passageway that would lead the poor creature to the outside world. Erik sighed as he watched the rat scamper towards the strokes of daylight that touched the marble stone walls of his haven and shook his head. He knew that Christine had always feared rats ever since she came to the opera house. She had used to tell him that they had plagued her house by the sea, when she had still lived with her father, and that after one week of not brushing her hair (because she was a stubborn child) she had awoken one night to find that a rat had laid itself in her hair. Her five year old screams had woken up her father which only caused him to laugh and say that her hair really was a rat's nest. After that incident Christine had always been adamant about brushing her hair every morning and every night.

He made his way to back to his home and saw Christine busying herself in the kitchen and smiled as he thought of how much he wanted to make her his wife. He knew that he had the ring in his room, it was hidden in the wall behind a removable stone. Every second she did something kind for me, like she was now, all he wanted to do was to propose to her right then and there. But Erik knew that he had to stay to the plan, which included not speaking about it to anyone—let alone even thinking about it.

He sat down at his piano wondering how so many other men did this without fail. His real plan was to propose to her at the end of the duet, "Past the Point of No Return", because in the song Don Juan begs Aminta to stay with him for the rest of their days. To many people it may seem just part of the opera but he knew that Christine will know that his question will be completely real. He wrote the opera for the two of them in mind; Aminta was everything that Christine was: innocent, beautiful, young and slightly naïve. Christine wove herself into Erik's every thought every day and it was almost entirely impossible for him to not think of her. But for now all he knew that he could do was to play his music for her, hoping that she knew how much he desperately loved her.

He had been engrossed in composing some new wedding music when he felt the familiar hand place itself upon his shoulder. He let out a long deep breathe of relief when he saw that he had yet to title the piece of music that he was writing. He set his pen down as he heard Christine speak.

"That was beautiful Erik it was like the dawn after darkness, I hope I will be able to hear more of it once you finish writing it," Christine smiled as she caressed his exposed cheek. She didn't like how he continued to wear his leather mask even in the confines of his own home and she needed him to know that she loved him despite it. Most importantly though, Christine hated it. She hated everything about the mask—not his deformity—because it made him want to hide himself and Erik is one of the people that deserved the most love in the world. Yes, he had frightened some people who worked at the opera house but more importantly he was the one that caused its rapid success.

She placed her hand against the hard, cold, exterior as a silent act of asking to remove the piece of clothing that his mother forced upon him at such a young age. She felt him nod slightly and she gently removed it allowing the other side of his skin to breathe. When she saw Erik look up to her she couldn't help but compare him to a little child in moments like these, a little child who deserved so much love and compassion. With a warm smile she bent down and kissed the lumpy skin on the right side of his face after she told him she loved him with all her heart.

"Why do you love me Christine? I have lied to you so much; I lied about my identity because I have always been the phantom, I was never the angel that I had made you think I was for so many years and—" Erik was about to continue when he felt one of Christine's fingers place itself upon his mouth temporarily keeping him from talking.

"Erik if I had ever—even for a tiny second—hated you I would have left. But yet I am still here and I still love you. That night you had brought me to your home for the first time I had remembered the stories of the Phantom of the Opera and knew that it must have been you, your mask gave it away. But as I learned more about you and as you taught me the listen to the music of the night I had begun to understand just how talented you were. I never did quite understand how you knew about the Angel of Music until I read that journal—then I realized that my papa had had a large role in your life as well." Christine stated as she sat down in front of the man before her. She knew that this would end up being a long discussion and she preferred to sit than stand while she was talking to someone.

"But why did you not say anything if you had known my identity before I had told you? Why didn't you expose the lie that I had built upon for nine years?" Erik pleaded with Christine, he needed to know why she was different from everyone else. By god, if he done the same thing to another woman he knew that she would've ran off and the police would have already killed him by now.

"I didn't say anything because I knew that you would be ready to explain it yourself whenever you were ready. I believe you were ready when you had given me the journal, I knew that you had read it before I did because I saw some fresh teardrops on the pages as I had read them. Everyone needs some time to themselves before they express something new—so I gave you all the time that you needed my dear Erik." Christine grasped his hand and held it tightly around hers, she needed to make Erik understand that there was nothing that will stand in the way of their love. She grabbed a pillow that laid on the settee that she was sitting on and placed it on the floor before sitting upon it. When she was comfortable on the pillow she placed her head against Erik's thigh as a form of comfort for the both of them. When she felt his fingers running through her curls she sighed in contentment and allowed his ministrations to continue on as he talked.

"But I kidnapped you Christine." Erik choked out, he never said it aloud but it always was there in the back of his mind. He was afraid of how Christine would react to this revolution—that he had indeed kidnapped her in the dead of night—and he feared of how he would react to her reaction. He closed his eyes as he awaited the punishment that he knew he rightly deserved.

"And thank God that you did! I swear, if you had not taken me down to your house that night I would have found a way down there myself eventually. And, honey?" Christine waited for Erik to look up at her again. When she saw those familiar deep blue eyes look into hers she saw a deep yearning for acceptance swim madly in them and knew that she needed to make him understand. With a smile she leaned down and whispered into his ear, "It's not kidnapping if the girl wants to go with her 'captor'". She heard Erik's seductive chuckle emerge from his throat and knew that the dashing, Casanova Erik was back. She felt his arms wrap around her and found herself suddenly in his lap.

"No matter what happens tonight we will always be together Christine, I promise you that." Erik vowed to Christine as he held her closely to him. He never wanted to lose her, ever, and knew that if it had to come down to it with that boy then he would have to kill one more time. He hated the thought of killing now—probably due to Christine's influence on him—and did not want to shed any more blood. Any time he thought of DeChagny Erik remembered just how closely he was related to him. It didn't seem important to him because the aristocratic lifestyle never appealed to him and therefore he never liked to talk, or think, about his relations to the DeChagny. They had just about forced him to leave, his mother never loved him, because of his face.

Christine looked up to the clock that stood before them and saw that she had five hours before the production of 'Don Juan' started and looked up to Erik to see if he knew the same thing. But as she slowly looked up to him her eyes caught the open part of his shirt and saw the exposed flesh of his chest. From what she saw, his chest was very broad and muscular with a light film of light brown hair covering the top part of his chest. She placed her hand against it, surprised as to how warm it was, and felt Erik shudder from the contact. The sound that emitted from Erik made Christine feel a little bit bolder and she began to place kisses along the contours of his chest and neck.

As she continued to lick and gently bite at Erik's neck she heard him moan her name. Christine began to feel a warm sensation began to build inside of her below her stomach, but even though she was unsure as to what it was all she knew was that she never wanted to stop what they were doing.

She stopped kissing Erik for a minute to remove his shirt to touch all the muscles that she saw strained against his skin. His biceps bulged and his chest was flat except for the hard shaped ridges that were his ab muscles. Christine smiled as she began to trace each one, ultimately receiving a groan from Erik, and felt his desire for her grow and press against her thigh.

Erik was surprised at the wanton actions that his innocent little Christine was doing just now. He was sure that she would have never wanted to do something like this until their wedding night, but if she was willing who was he to deny her anything she wanted? As he felt her mouth go back up to his neck he lifted her face up so he could devour her mouth. He felt her moan as their lips touched and he began to feel her mouth open slightly. He grinned and let his tongue explore the interior of Christine's mouth moaning as he felt her tongue began to seductively dance with his.

[SEXUAL CONTENT BEGINS]

As they continued kissing Christine felt Erik's hands begin to remove the dress she was wearing. His deft fingers quickly removed the ribbons that held together the back of the gown and soon all Christine could feel against her skin was the thin chemise that she wore underneath the dress. Something in her mind told her to keep going and she listened to the voice and placed her hand against the strained bulge in Erik's pants. She grasped it which caused Erik to groan louder than she had ever heard him before.

Unexpectedly, Christine felt herself being lifted up in the air and she quickly wrapped her arms around Erik's neck causing her to push her breasts against his chest. She shivered at the bare skin against skin touching and began to kiss his chest again as Erik quickly rushed them to his bed once again. Once Erik had laid her down against the red satin sheets he marveled at her beauty. He could clearly see what laid beneath the chemise but he also wanted to take it off now.

He leaned down and began kissing her again, loving how her body reacted to his kissing, he knew that she loved him. He placed his hands on her breasts and began to gently caress them. He felt Christine press them against his hands and he began to rub and kneed them harder causing her to moan louder. He leaned down and kissed them through the fabric.

"Oh God Erik, please!" Christine cried out loud. She didn't know exactly what she was begging him for but whatever it was she knew that it would be amazing. Before she knew it she felt the cool breeze hit her naked body and a wave of nervousness surrounded her. As she looked up to Erik she saw that he too was naked and for the first time she saw what made a man…well a man. As she looked at Erik's private section she couldn't help but wonder how something so large could fit inside of her!

Erik saw how nervous Christine was about the act of making love and knew that he had to subdue those thoughts from her mind. He needed to show her just how beautiful it can be, even though he has never done this before either he has read many books that discuss the matter—and unfortunately, he has accidently walked in upon some ballerinas and stage hands performing the act as well. He leaned back down to Christine and began kissing her again and allowed his hands to softly travel against her pale satin smooth skin. His hands traveled from her arms, across her breasts down her hips and thighs back up to her inner thighs. As his fingers reached her heavenly womanhood he could tell that she was ready for him by how wet she was.

"Oh God, Christine you are ready." He moaned as he felt around the pink flesh. He saw how she beagn to look confused and he kissed her forehead, "trust me my dear. I promise you will fully enjoy this." Erik waited for her to nod before continuing. Once she nodded in consent he took one of his fingers and pushed it gently inside of her.

Christine never felt a pain like she did know. She felt him inside of her and the pain of the muscle never being used pained her. But after a while the pain faded away and she subconsciously pushed her hips up causing Erik's finger to push deeper inside of her. As she felt it move within her she began moaning and a feeling began to swell inside of her.

Erik watched as Christine adjusted to the feeling of his finger within her and after a while he saw the difference become apparent on her face—it began changing from one of pain to one of passion, and when she pushed his finger deeper inside of her and she moaned he knew that he needed to hurry this process up before he exploded in his pants. He saw how her body began to grow flushed and her nipples were hardening and he knew that it was almost time for her as well. So he added two more fingers to adjust Christine to his size and watched her get comfortable again.

As Christine rocked herself against Erik's finger she felt it tighten again. It still felt amazing so she waited a couple of minutes before the pain subsided before lifting her hips again. She felt his fingers begin moving again but this time she felt his mouth on her breast—she could have died and gone to heaven. The same feeling in the pit of her body swelled even more and she cried for Erik.

"Please Erik, dear god please!" As Erik heard Christine beg for him again he knew that it was time for them to become one. Erik spread Christine's legs apart and watched her grow scared of the unknown. He caressed her face before calming her down.

"Christine my dear, you are going to have to trust me on this. It will hurt a little at the beginning but afterwards it will never hurt again." Christine nodded and laid herself back down on Erik's pillow and awaited for the pain to come. She told herself mentally not to show any pain because she knew that it would hurt Erik to know that he was causing her intentional pain.

Erik positioned above Christine and leaned down to kiss her. As he distracted her with kissing he began to press himself inside of her. His instincts told him to push all of him inside of her but his conscious told him to place Christine's happiness before his satisfactions. He pulled his mouth away from her for a second and placed his weight on his elbow. He looked down at her and saw a few tears escape her eyes and kissed them away immediately. Christine laid still for a few more minutes before looking back up at Erik.

"I am ready darling, please make love to me?" Christine begged Erik after she had grown accustomed to his large size. She had heard many tales from the ballerinas from the corps de ballet of how making love was the most amazing feeling in the world, how the men would make them feel like the queen of France in their beds at night but how it was necessary for them to take baths afterwards before ballet practice the next morning to help the pain.

Erik kissed her mouth and pressed deeper and then let out, repeating the process as the two of them became one over and over again. He felt Christine wrap her legs around his waist to bring him closer and when he pressed their chests together he could feel her nails scratching against his back. He moaned and savored each sensation. Christine felt a small layer of sweat cover her body as they continued to join together as one. She could feel the swell at their joining becoming almost unbearable.

"Erik please! It's unbearable!" Erik knew exactly what she meant and quickened his pace to help them both find their release. As he sped up he felt Christine's inner walls of her womanhood tighten harder and harder as they came closer to her climax. Erik had to control himself to keep his from coming too quickly, he didn't want to finish before Christine was.

Christine felt something in her begin to pulse uncontrollably and it soon began to give in to the sensations. As she succumbed to the feelings that she felt, it felt as if her entire being exploded and she screamed in ecstasy. She held Erik tighter against her as she felt waves of heat surround her and left her sweating on the bed.

Erik felt Christine reach her climax and he finally let himself release inside of her. Afterwards he laid next to Christine and let out a sigh. He placed his arms behind his head and looked up to the ceiling with a huge grin plastered on his face. He never thought that he would be given such a gift from Christine. He looked over at a clock he had in his room and saw that it was now only two hours away from five o clock! They had been making love for three hours!

Christine looked over at Erik and kissed his cheek. "Thank you Erik, that was simply amazing," Erik nodded in return and grabbed his robe from beside his bed.

[SEXUAL CONTENT ENDS]

"I think I will prepare a bath for you Christine, the performance is in two hours' time and I would hate to have the leading lady miss the show for feeling nervous. Baths have always helped the nerves unwind." For now Christine was not concerned about the show and absently nodded and murmured in agreement before following him to the bathroom. When she had finally made her, very slow, journey to the bathroom she saw that Erik had already prepared the bath for her and was in it himself. Christine raised an eyebrow in curiosity and Erik acted like his was insulted.

"I had thought that you would enjoy a bath with me after our little adventure in the bedroom my dear. I promise I will be the upmost gentleman and I shall even help you cleanse your body of the evidence of our love making." Erik watched as a blush came across Christine's face and watched as she stepped gingerly into the very warm bath. He heard a sigh of contentment escape her lips and he was pleased with himself that he knew that the warm water would relax her tight muscles and nerves.

He began to wash her hair and body, loving how her body felt. Christine loved the way that his hands felt on her body and she spoiled herself into the attentions that Erik was giving to her. After he was done cleaning her Christine turned around to look at Erik.

"Now it's your turn," Christine said deviously as she forced him to move in front of her. She stood up on her knees and began rubbing his shampoo into his raven black hair. After she had rinsed out all the shampoo she found his soap and began rubbing it into his skin. She loved the husky, forest smell that emitted from it and covered his entire body with it before washing it off. Once she allowed him to know that she was done she watched Erik get out of and dry himself off with a black towel before wrapping it around his hips.

She watched as he grabbed another towel and picked Christine up out of the bath and placed her on the bathmat before drying her off himself. After her body was dry he began drying her hair and gave her a black ribbon to tie back her hair.

"In your closet you will find Aminta's outfit for the performance along with the accessories necessary for the character. Once you are done getting dressed I will escort you up to your dressing room so you can be ready for the show. I know that you will be amazing Christine, you are the most amazing woman I have ever known." Erik kissed her forehead before leaving her to go get dressed in his Don Juan outfit. He smoothed back his hair and placed on all the articles of clothing for the character quickly. He looked at the small set of his 'Don Juan' and smiled at it before vowing to Raoul,

"Seal my fate tonight

I hate to have to cut the fun short

But the joke's wearing thin

Let the audience in

Let my opera begin!"

When he returned to the main room he saw Christine clad in her gypsy like dress that he had designed specifically for her in the role of Aminta and was pleased to see her in such a dress. He knew that she would succeed in her role of Aminta not only because she could sing like an angel but now she knew what raw passion was. He knew that he had not made love with her to prepare her for the show tonight but to show her how much he loved her. God did he love her.

He held out his arm and was pleased when she wrapped her arm around his. They walked the journey back up to Christine's dressing room in silence—basking in the last moments they had together alone before the seriousness of the situation above flooded their minds once more. When they reached her mirror Erik stopped her from walking in her dressing room.

"When you go through into your dressing room go straight to the chapel. Wait for me there so I can see you one last time before the performance. I must check a few things before the performance begins should any part of our plan go astray. I love you Christine," Erik told her as she listening diligently before nodding at his requests.

"I love you too Erik," Christine said as she kissed him as passionately as possible. They kissed for a couple of minutes before having to leave each other for a while. It was only when Christine felt Erik's presence leave her that she allowed herself to open her door to run straight to the chapel.

Before she made it to the holy room she felt a hand place itself on her shoulder before the person began to speak to her.

"Well, it seems my dear that you need to tell me where you have been all day."

WOW! Finally Erik and Christine have done their dues! Although I am very curious to see who it is that stopped Christine from going to the chapel afterwards hmm? Do you know who it is? Please review and let me know who you think it is!

Got any questions/concerns? Want to see something else happen in the story? Review/PM me with the idea and I will make it happen!