A New Beginning

Chapter 12

(Erik's POV)

We held a large feast to celebrate our wedding. I sat next to her and held her hand. I still couldn't believe she was mine, but her smile reassured me every few seconds that it was true. Nadir eventually left, as well as Meg. Raoul acted shyly all day, and when Nadir and Meg left, he seemed uncomfortable; I knew why.

"Would you like to stay the night?" I asked him.

He then started acting nervously; he didn't know how to react to my sudden offer. "N-no, thank you very much, but I have to go," he said.

Then Christine spoke up, "Raoul, we know you have nowhere to go. Please stay here tonight."

He knew she was right, so he eventually nodded, his gaze fixed on his feet. "Thank you," he muttered. Christine gave him a reassuring smile and kissed his cheek. I felt sudden jealousy in me, so instinctively, I took her hand in mine.

I showed him to the guest bedroom and bade him goodnight, then I returned to my angel and held my hand out for her to take. "Excuse me, miss, may I please have this dance?" I asked her as she placed her hand on mine.

"There's no music," she told me with a smile, and I took that as my cue to start singing.

We waltzed in the garden, our bodies moving perfectly synchronized with each other. She eventually rested her head on my shoulder and I held her close to me, keeping my hand on her waist. My voice started getting softer and softer, until all the sound coming from my mouth was a whisper directly into her ear. Even when I finished the song, I kept humming for her, but my humming was suddenly interrupted by a pair of lips on mine, and I immediately started kissing back. The kiss became deeper by the second. I begged her further access as I rubbed my tongue against her lips, and it was only a few seconds later that she granted me access. I scooped her up in my arms as her fingers entangled with my hair, but neither of us ever broke the kiss. As I carried her up the stairs, I nipped at her neck and she kept her eyes shut as she bit her bottom lip.

When I finally got us to our bedroom, she had half unbuttoned my shirt, and I was in the process of untying her dress. I set her down on the bed, but she pulled me with her. I ripped my shirt off and threw it across the room, then proceeded to do the same with her dress, except I didn't rip it one bit. I kept in mind how much time she had spent thinking about the perfect wedding dress, and how when she found it, her face of happiness could not be compared to anyone else's.

She eventually pulled my trousers and undergarments off my body and I did the same thing with her corset. Only one item covered a part of each of our bodies; she was simply in a slip while I keep my mask on my face.

I slowly pulled the slip over her head, trying to be careful, but still with shaky hands. I held my breath as I did so to acknowledge my surroundings, but my eyes never left hers.

I lay beside her when she reached up and finally pulled the white porcelain piece off my face, and my gaze was still locked on hers. She kissed all over the deformed side of my face, each kiss with more love than the last one. Then she placed one of her hands on my scarred cheek and stroked it with her thumb. Then she moved her hand down slowly to my chin and tilted my head down, allowing me to see her perfect, bare body, which seemed to have been sculpted by the hands of angels; then again, she was an angel herself, I knew I would never be close to doubting it after knowing what I was in the presence of when I was with her.

"I have married an angel," I whispered with tears in my eyes and lunged forward, pressing my lips to hers.