Chapter 11: Let Your Fantasies Unwind

"Erik….Oh, gods Erik!" Christine grasped the lapels of his waistcoat as his body hovered over hers, his face buried in the crook of her neck, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin.

One hand was pressed into the bed beside her head while another traced a gentle tantalizing pattern down the side of her body, slowly creeping lower and lower.

Christine's hips bucked up as his hand slipped underneath her drawers and brushed against her curls. Her hands flew to the sides of his face and she pulled him up to kiss him with a deeper urgency.

One hand rested on the back of his head while another explored the plains of his back, drifting low to grasp the belt loop of his trousers.

She could feel his hardened member pressing against her lower stomach and one of his knees urged her legs to part widely.

And then his hand was cupping her womanhood, his thumb moving to circle that sensitive bud while another teased at her entrance.

"You're already ready for me, Christine", Erik purred against her lips.

Christine squirmed against him, and she mewled pleadingly as she gyrated her hips against him.

A finger slipped inside her and expertly curled up, creating friction she couldn't believe was possible. He clucked his tongue as her body pushed against him to meet his thrusts.

"Erik, please!" She begged him, her nails raking through his hair. Her other hand moved from his trousers to the bulge in his pants.

Erik hissed sharply at the contact. "Christine…"

Christine's head flew back as another finger easily slipped into her heat. His thumb applied more pressure on her nub and Christine could feel herself coming to a precipice.

She clutched Erik tighter to her and her breaths became rapid, her heart beating wildly against her chest.

Just as she felt herself about to be completed, his hand withdrew from her completely.

Christine looked up to Erik dazedly. "Erik?"

"Shhh, my dear", he brought his lips to hers before pulling away and bringing a glistening finger into his mouth. His eyes darkened with a primal urge. "Let me have this, my dear".

All Christine could do was nod until she felt his head slither down her body, leaving a trail of wet kisses from the crook of her neck to the valley between her breasts and even lower.

He paused at her drawers, hooking his fingers around the waistband before gliding them off her legs. Rough hands forced her legs up and parted away, revealing the most intimate part of herself to him.

"Erik…" She spoke, dizzy with need.

His mouth was suddenly upon her and Christine screamed, her back arching upwards.

Erik's hands held her hips down roughly as he feasted upon her, his tongue delving into her. His thumb continued its ministrations upon her most sensitive spot, and Christine could feel herself coming to her pinnacle.

Her hands buried themselves in Erik's hair, careful not to grasp the wire of his face, which felt cool on the inside of her thigh. She pulled him closer to her center and Erik hummed against her, making her shudder.

And then she was climaxing against him, and she felt his appendage lap up the juices that spilled from her.

Still dazed in the aftershocks of pleasure, she called out to him.

"Erik….Erik…"

"Erik!"

Christine's eye flew open and she shot up in bed, feeling damp in her center. Her forehead was dotted with perspiration and her shift clung to her body. She grasped the sheets of the guest bed in her hands and was shocked when she felt her finger brush against herself.

She had been touching herself in her sleep….

Slowly, she pulled her shaky hand from her drawers, revealing a glistening, sticky substance against her fingers. She eyed it foreignly.

She had never engaged in an act on her own that resulted in such pleasure, or such a result.

Her dream had felt so real. It was as if she was living an out-of-body experience. Such a wanton act that would make any sensible woman blush.

Christine was dragged from her thoughts as quick footsteps were heard coming up the stairs and her door slammed open, revealing Erik, whose chest rose and fell in rapid breaths.

A white tunic hung loosely on him and he donned a loose pair of black trousers. His hair was disheveled, but his mask remained firmly in place.

Seeing her awake, he was at her side within seconds, coming to sit on the bed beside her. His hands flew to her shoulders to steady both her and himself.

"Christine, are you alright? I heard you call for me". Erik's eyes roamed over her worriedly, looking for any visible injuries.

He moved to light a candle on the nightstand and her disheveled appearance became more visible.

"You are drenched, my dear! Has your fever returned?" His cool hand met his forehead and his head tilted in confusion, concern crossing his features. "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head quickly, her wet fingers flying to hide behind her back.

Perceptive as he was, he stared her down, his hand reaching out to grasp the one behind her. "Is it your hand, did you cut it?"

"No! No, I'm fine, don't worry", she attempted to reassure him.

Erik was not deterred by her words and with a firm yank, her damp fingers were presented before him.

Christine looked away in shame, a blush as crimson as her bed sheets coating her face. She could feel tears pricking at her eyes.

"It was just a dream", she admitted quietly in humiliation.

It took mere moments for realization to settle in. "Oh, Christine". He quickly released her hand and she wiped the remaining liquids off on her shift before bringing her knees to her chest, one wrapping around her knees while the other tucked itself beneath the blankets.

Erik's head turned away from her in embarrassment. "I deeply apologize, my dear. I invaded your privacy", he tore himself from her bedside. "There are still a few hours until it is time to rise. I shall leave you to sleep".

He padded across the room and turned back to shoot a fleeting glance at her one last time before shutting the door behind him, leaving her to sleep.

Christine threw herself back into the now cold sheets, tugging the covers over her and burying her head into the nearest pillow.

And then she cried, the sounds muffled by the pillow. How embarrassing for him to have known she had partaken in such an act! She felt utterly mortified.

He had held her wrist and stared down at the evidence of shame on her fingers.

For so many years, Christine had been told how it was shameful for a woman to pleasure herself without a man, that it was completely wrong and reprehensible.

After hearing it so many times, Christine began to believe them.

And of all people, it was her angel who discovered it. She never imagined her humiliation could be any worse.

Christine tossed and turned in bed following the embarrassing encounter, unable to succumb back to sleep. Her eyelids weighed heavily upon her, but the urge to sleep did not return, leaving her with endless and shameful thoughts.

She had lost all sense of time up until Erik's footsteps could be heard outside her door, and she could see the shadow of his feet just under the door in the light of the hallway.

She turned over in bed, unable to even face him.

He rapped lightly on the door. "Christine, my dear it is time to awaken", he called to her.

Christine simply pulled a pillow to cover her face and curled herself against it.

Several minutes passed, and Erik's voice sounded again. "I am coming in, Christine".

He waited exactly ten seconds before turning the handle and walking in, and Christine could feel something sink beside her on the bed.

"Your clothes, my dear. I did not wish for your illness to stay on them, so I had them washed for you", she heard him say just above a whisper.

Several seconds passed and she heard him sigh, and she heard his footsteps begin to fade.

"Erik?" She called him tentatively, pulling her head out of the pillow. He halted in his steps.

She rolled over on her right side to face him where he stood, his back facing her. She could only imagine that he felt equally embarrassed.

"Would you sit with me? Just for a few minutes?"

He stiffened from where he stood with hesitation. "I do not believe that to be an appropriate idea, my dear". He crossed his hands in front of him, his head lowering to avoid her gaze.

An intimate smile crossed Christine's lips and she blushed fiercely. "Would sitting beside me be any less appropriate than yesterday?"

She knew she had made a valid point, as Erik heaved a sigh and he placed a hand against his face, ensuring his mask was in place before spinning on his heel and moving to sit beside her on the bed.

Christine found herself instinctively moving to rest her head against his chest, her ear falling to listen to his rhythmic heartbeat.

His arms swiftly surrounded her and a hand massaged her shoulder with just enough pressure to release kinks she didn't realize she had.

The scent of mint and cinnamon had a relaxing effect on her, and she hoped it could always be like this between them.

"Erik, I-"

"My dear-"

Their faces turned to look at each other and a smile helplessly crossed Christine's face, and Erik's features softened. He nudged her with his elbow gently, coaxing her to go first.

A blush crept up to her cheeks again, but she did not hold back her inhibitions. "How are you not ashamed of me?"

His arms tightened around her. "How could I ever? You did nothing wrong", he told her honestly.

Christine wished to shrivel away at his words. "But it is inappropriate to act upon feelings in such a manner…"

"It most certainly is not. Everyone has… urges. Needs and wants, Christine. It is what makes us human".

She shifted in his embrace to face him. She dearly hoped her face was not as red as she believed it to be. "But the other girls have told me-"

"What the other girls have told you are lies. That is why they are still girls. You are a woman, Christine", he affirmed, a hand raising to rake through her hair.

Silence filled the room and Christine felt the shame from before ebb away into nothing. She found herself plucking little fabric lint balls from his crisp tunic.

Erik's head bowed, and she could see regret in his eyes. "I apologize for intruding on your space. I should have knocked before entering and I most definitely should not have laid a hand on you after you told me no", he told her solemnly.

Christine shook her head, placing her hand upon the one that rested on her shoulder. "There is nothing to forgive. I likely would have done the same thing if it were you…" she murmured the last part.

An awkward silence filled the room.

But then his hazel eyes met hers. "Do you regret yesterday?"

A flurry of emotions rose within her. Did he believe it to be a mistake?

"Do you regret yesterday?" She posed the question back at him, and the expression on his face told her he was taken aback.

His lips thinned. "No".

"Good. Neither do I", Christine told him as she turned to wind herself around him, her legs wrapping around his waist and her hands cupping his cheeks.

In her newly boldened state, she could feel the stirrings of arousal pull at her again, and she bowed her head, forcing back any lingering feelings of embarrassment.

She felt his hands settle on the junction where her waist met her hips, pulling her further atop of him. She could practically see embers burning in his eyes as they raked over her.

"Little minx. Allow me to show you just how wrong they all are".

Tentatively, she followed his lead, allowing herself to take in the sight of him resting against the headboard of the bed, his legs straightened out in front of him, and his trousers becoming increasingly tight against him.

Wait. Did he mean….

Her gaze lifted to meet his and then Erik's lips were instantly against her neck, trailing upwards towards her ear.

Christine's hands searched to intertwine with his, and they slipped together like silk, and her eyes fluttered shut as his tongue grazed the shell of her ear. She shivered with need.

"Do you feel that Christine? That is desire. Everyone has desires. Even me. Even you".

She nodded wordlessly as his kisses trailed to her cheeks, before capturing her lips in his. The way their lips moved against each other was like a duet. Perfectly in sync and fit together as if they were made for each other.

Erik released her hands from his and he tucked a hand behind her waist and one of his legs wedged between them and he flipped her underneath him.

Christine nearly jerked at the action, but internally praised him for the ease of it.

She pulled him back down to press her lips to his, and she darted her tongue out gingerly and was rewarded with a graze of his teeth. Christine sighed against him contently.

His hips purposely pressed against hers, and she could feel his hardness against her. Christine moaned quietly beside his ear.

"And that, my dear, is temptation. It is always a choice to surrender to temptation. No one has a right to judge you for giving in to your primal urges. Urges are as innocent as they can be intentional". His hands glided down the sides of her body, and Christine writhed underneath his towering form.

His wandering hands raked down her legs and he hitched one up to caress the length of its smooth skin, and it slowly slipped under her shift and upwards to brush the underside of her breast.

Christine all but arched into his touch as his hand continued to skim the side of her globe before his thumb finally drifted across her hardened nipple. He softly pinched it between his fingers and pulled at it lightly.

She could feel every place his servile touch met her, and it felt like pleasurable electric shocks jolting through her.

She never believed it to be possible to feel such pleasure from the most intimate of touches. Gods, how could she ever not want to feel this way? Was it humanly possible to ever remain in such a seductive, yet frenzied state of mind? Of feeling?

Erik applied more pressure to the nipple he held between his fingers and Christine cried out.

"Anywhere you touch yourself can be pleasurable, and all it takes to start is the most innocent, yet deviating of thoughts".

Christine licked her lips as they began to dry, and Erik's forehead met hers, carefully angling it so the edge of his mask did not dig into her skin.

Unknowing that she had closed her eyes, she opened them to find Erik's eyes a mere inch from hers.

She could lose herself in the depths of those beautiful mixes of colors. They were like windows into his soul, baring all of his emotions before her.

"Do you trust me, Christine?" He paused above her.

Christine nodded. "With all that I have".

She could see Erik bite back a groan as his hips met hers again, his eyes focusing on her reaction to his stimulations.

Erik gently placed his hands atop of hers, intertwining their fingers so that only their middle and index fingers were stretched out.

And slowly, he guided her hand down her side, across her hips, and underneath the waistband of her drawers.

Christine trembled as she anticipated his, or rather their next movements. It was a mix of nervousness and excitement all bundled together.

His hand guided hers over her womanly curls, and she lost herself in his heated gaze. And then their fingers were gliding over her most sensitive flesh.

"And this, my Angel, is the heart of it all. All feelings of desires, urges, wants, and needs meet here, at this small bundle of electrifying nerves…"

She gasped as he slowly brought her two fingers over an extremely sensitive part of her, beginning to move in a circular motion with gentle pressure.

Amid her desire, wanton thoughts filled her head. Thoughts so detailed she would never dare to say aloud.

And yet her desire for him could not be quenched, even as his fingers skillfully guided hers into reckless abandon in languid strokes.

"Erik…" she clutched at his shoulder with sheer desperation, and she felt her coil begin to tighten. "Please…" she whimpered, her lower half beginning to gyrate under the pressure his legs had over hers.

"Do you feel it? A not so fleeting feeling as if you could reach out and touch the stars?"

Christine's lips pressed against his fervently. "Gods, yes…" she trembled under his guided touch.

"What do you want, Christine? Where do you want me?" he tempted her with his seductive words.

It almost felt unexplainable to tell him where she wanted him. It felt almost too coquettish to tell him what she wanted.

He wanted her to show him.

Her hand became shaky as she forcibly halted his movements above her hand and adjusted to have her atop of his. Deftly, she led his fingers to her entrance and there was an unveiled look of surprise on his features. "Here", she told him boldly. "Touch me".

Her hand moved away from his as she placed tentative fingers back on the sensitive bundle of nerves. His eyes became half-lidded and darkened as a finger plunged into her.

Christine gasped loudly, her nails raking against his tunic.

"Gods, my Angel, you are drenched", he hissed through his teeth.

Christine looked at him confusedly, desire still coursing through her. "Is that… good?"

Erik pressed his lips roughly against hers and his finger retracted before delving in again. "It is perfect. You are perfect, my Angel".

His fingers pumped in and out, and just as she thought she couldn't feel any more pleasure than that, he added a second finger into her heat. Christine panted as her ministrations became faster, more frantic, as did his movements.

She could feel his long fingers curling within her, stroking her in the most sensitive of places that made her moan into his mouth as he continued to kiss her.

Her hips began rising to meet the thrust of his fingers, allowing him to access her at a deeper angle. One of her legs lifted to hitch around his hip.

"Erik….Erik", she cried into him, bringing him even closer.

"Let your fantasies unwind, Christine…"

Empowered by his words, she grabbed him around the shoulder and flipped them over with a strength she didn't even know she possessed so that she now sat atop of him.

Erik adjusted his hand within her before she continued undulating on him. Her head was thrown back and supported by the palm of his other hand that rested against her scalp, her hair tangled in his fingers.

She imagined him everywhere on the outside and the inside, and her fingers moved quicker against her core, his fingers sinking deeper into her.

"Erik!" She moaned softly.

And then she was riding out her pinnacle, followed by gracefully falling to lay on top of Erik's chest with harsh, ragged breaths emitting from the both of them.

Her eyes blinked rapidly and she willed her heartbeat to slow, her body trembling violently with aftershocks of pleasure.

Erik brushed strands of curly tendrils from her face. "You are not one to be tamed, my Angel".

A smile pulled at the corner of Christine's lips. "Erik I..", she lost her words, the realization of what they had done settling in.

Christine's hands slapped over her face to cover herself from him and she began to roll off of his chest when his strong arms encircled her, holding her close.

"You have no reason for shame, Christine. You never need to hide from me", he told her earnestly.

She parted the fingers covering her face to peek up at his eyes only to find his staring down at her with a softness.

His eyes were unjudging, yet speculative. Her father once told her a person can see the whole other just by their eyes, that they could tell a whole story by one glance.

Christine let her hands fall from her face and she gently propped herself onto her elbows to gaze at him, laughing softly as more of her hair moved to cover her face.

Being this close to him, she could see the porcelain mask in its entirety. It was a stark contrast to his skin tone, yet made his hazel out stand out. She delicately traced the edge of his mask and his hand came up to grip her wrist softly.

"You are a beautiful angel, Erik. Why do you cover yourself before me?" Curiosity chewed away at her as the white porcelain of his mask flickered in the candlelight.

He shook his head. "Do not try to pry, Christine", he warned her, his baritone voice taking a deeper tone.

Christine's eyes narrowed in confusion. "You have no reason for shame, Erik", she repeated his words from only minutes ago.

And suddenly their moment was over, and he was coaxing her off him and pushing off the bed, facing away from her. "I have many reasons for shame, Christine. But this one.." his hand dragged slowly down his masked face, "This is the reason for it all".

"Erik, please", she swung her legs over the side and her arms reached out to grab his. Christine could see a pleading in his eyes as she moved to stand before him, and she latched onto them with her own. "Erik!"

"Let me go, Christine", his rough voice prodded.

Her grip only tightened on him. "Please don't push me away, Erik, you matter to me!"

His voice became bitter as she blocked his way out. "Even so, my dear, I cannot grant you that request. Do not ask that of me again".

Christine felt him stiffen following his words, and his other hand removed her from him silently. She watched him shudder as he gripped the doorknob in front of him, pulling it open and allowing candlelight to flood the dark room.

Erik stepped out of the room and was about to close the door when Christine lowered her head. "Am I one of your reasons for shame?"

His gaze was fierce, and his fingers tucked under her chin to raise her eyes to his. "Never you, Christine. Never you".

How could she even begin to respond to him? What could she say to make him understand?

It was the exact reason she had fled from the graveyard that winter night and wound up being swept away by him. She had realized her error for not realizing the extent of his insecurities.

She longed to plant her lips upon his and kiss away all thoughts of self-doubt and uncertainty.

"I'll leave you to dress. Then you must return".

Christine looked to him pleadingly, and his hands left her fleetingly. The room suddenly felt cold around her, and she wrapped her arms around herself.

Words were lost to Erik as he straightened his composure and quietly shut the door behind him, leaving Christine in the dark, empty space of the bedroom.

Christine choked back a sob as she spun to dress. Even though he told her otherwise, Christine was filled with shame and embarrassment.

Two and a half years and the walls that separated them were gone, and yet it felt like their trust was slowly diminishing in front of her eyes.

The journey back to the surface was eerily silent, and Christine found herself curled up at the edge of the gondola staring at the water that rippled around them.

No matter how much Christine willed herself to feel, regret was not one of them. Erik had proven to her his deft artisan skills. She all but spent an entire day in his handmade realm. Every curve and surface had been meticulously carved to his tastes.

She would surely never want to leave if she had a home like his.

But then she remembered the empty home that waited for her back in Calais. The house on the cliff that bordered on the outskirts of town, away from the prying, judgemental, and skeptical eyes of society.

Her father had made the conscientious decision to settle in a fairly large home. If someone looked from s distance one might say it resembled a manor. He had once told her how they never wanted Christine to be alone without a sibling, and their house would be filled with all music imaginable.

That hope diminished when her mother passed, and her father was solely left to care for her.

Her father, her home had been her origination for her passion for music. And Erik's musical realm led her on a path that deviated away from the light she had been raised in.

Her Dark Angel was assiduously diligent as he lifted her from the boat when they docked, and she was led up the rail of the winding staircase and through the long winding corridor that took them to the sliding mirror of the Prima Donna's dressing room.

Christine watched as Erik's hand hovered over the lever on the stone wall, seemingly undecided.

She moved behind him and placed a hand on his forearm and the other moving atop of his to push the lever down.

The mirror door opened silently and Christine stepped into the room with her hand still on Erik's. "When will I see you again?"

She could feel his eyes on her as she faced away from him. "Do you truly wish to continue this, Christine?" he asked her arcanely.

She pondered on whether he was speaking about her lessons with him or their… entanglement.

It didn't take long for Christine to deliberate his words.

In the blink of an eye, she found herself throwing her arms around the waist of his dark imposing figure. As childish as the gesture was, she had never felt more safe and secure in her life.

Christine found comfort in being able to confide in him regarding her inhibitions.

She felt a warmth begin to slowly settle over her, and it took her precious seconds to realize he had wrapped her in his cloak, his thumb moving to brush against her cheek.

"Don't let me go", she whispered, burying her head into his waistcoat.

His arms pulled her closer, and Christine could feel him tremoring beneath his mysterious facade.

Erik's lips met the shell of her ear, and his breath tickled at her senses, making her shudder. "I am your Angel of Music, Christine. You are mine", he purred seductively against her.

His warmth left her as quickly as it came, and Christine found herself standing alone in the darkness of the dressing room.

She turned around to see that the mirror door was already securely shut, but his voice echoed in the room around her. "I will be watching you from box five, my dear. We shall continue our lessons concluding the final performance of Carmen".

But that was weeks away.

As if reading her mind, he was quick to add, "I need time, Christine".

Time... He needed time?

Where was her time when she had just surrendered herself to him?

She had let him... Oh, God.

Christine felt as if her blood was being set aflame, and there was little she could do to mask her growing frustration, her anger.

She planted her hands against the mirror, knowing he still stood behind the glass.

"Open this mirror now, Erik", she raised her voice warningly. How could he do this?

But the mirror did not move on its tracks and she banged a fist against it with retaliation, watching it shudder in its place.

"Damn you, Erik! What about me? Did you give any thought to how much time I needed?" She pounded her fist against it again with more force, hoping it would give way before her.

And she pounded on it, again and again until it slid to the side, and Christine raised her fist to repeat the movement but instead fell into him.

With all the courage she could muster, she gripped his cravat and pulled him down to her eye level.

"You do not get to tell me you need time and abandon me for two weeks", she seethed menacingly. "So this is my choice. My counter request".

"Christine..." He warned.

"I followed where you led. I opened myself up to you". It pained her for what she was about to say, and she swallowed dryly. "And if you truly care for me, you will make the same effort. So I will oblige you until the last performance of Carmen. If you show yourself, You will reveal yourself to me as I have to you".

"And if I do not?"

"Then I will have truly played myself the fool for believing my Angel of Music actually cared. That you even cared", she choked out.

"Please, Christine-"

Christine relinquished her grip on his cravat and pushed herself away, turning her back to him. "Two weeks, Erik. Two weeks to make your choice. The mask or me".

Commotion from outside the dressing room had her shuffling out the room, away from Erik.

Once she was in the clear, she let the tears fall.

What had she done?

Hello, Lovelies! So it seems things are beginning to heat up for our favorite couple... so I hope this bit of borderline lemon was satisfying to read. I know it was just as satisfying to write. At first, I felt like I was rushing things between them, but I write and imagine them as having this irresistible attraction to one another. But even as they explore the phenomenon they have together, they still face challenges. Until next time!

Your Obedient Servant

-Emma51020