A Heart Misguided (Phantom of the Opera)

Chapter 5 - Torture Chamber Problem

Christine's POV:

He responded instantly. Even though he hadn't ever kissed another woman on the lips before his body knew what to do. He pushed me against the wall and kiss me deeper. His tongue grazed my lip and I opened my mouth. His tongue glided in and I welcomed it all. What I was wondering was where he learned to kiss like this. Suddenly his lips moved from mine to my neck. I moaned and suddenly he pulled completely away. I saw the shock on his face. He covered his face with his hands and whispered,

“I never should have done that! Forgive me, Christine. I shouldn't have touched you like that.” He took several more steps back before dropping to his knees. His shoulders shook as he kept begging for my forgiveness. I knelt down before him and took both his hands in mine. I laid them on my cheeks and whispered,

“Erik, forgive you for what? There is nothing to forgive. I told you I loved you. I know you love me. This is something that people who love each other do. They kiss each other. It is perfectly normal. In fact, I really enjoyed it.” I took my hands from his and, holding his chin in place, kissed him again. The strange part was that his lips seemed perfectly normal. There was nothing about kissing him that was difficult. It was like kissing Raoul; no, it was better. Much better. Much more amazing. He didn't respond for a moment but then started to kiss me again. But he seemed to refuse to take it any further. I held as close to him as I could and only stopped kissing him when I couldn't breath. I looked into the holes where his eyes should have been but I couldn't see them. I laid my hands against his cheeks and ran one through his hair. He leaned into my hand and I saw tears slipping down his cheeks. No one had ever loved him. I folded him to my heart and held him there. I rocked him back and forth. His tears were cold but I didn't mind. It was then I realized how much larger he was than me. Raoul was just a little taller than me but Erik had me beat by at least a foot. True, he was thinner than Raoul but I was sure that was just because he needed some good food. I knew how to cook and he would fatten up soon. I was hungry right now but I didn't want to interrupt the moment. Suddenly my stomach decided that it would. It rumbled and Erik looked up at me. I blushed and he laughed. That was the first time I heard him laugh. It was a rich, warm laugh. Not the insane laugh I was used to. I smiled and whispered as I gave him a light peck on the lips,

“I like that laugh. I want to hear it more.” He smiled slightly then pulled me to my feet. He kissed my firmly and pulled away. He looked like a boy waiting to be scolded. I smiled at him and returned it gently.

“Don't worry, Erik. I like it. Now, you don't happen to have any food around here? I am kinda hungry.” He laughed and showed me to the kitchen. Let's say that it took a little while to fix dinner. He was making up for lost time in affection. Not the I minded but it made it hard to fix dinner when he was kissing me. I didn't tell him that though. He was so desperate for it. Finally I finished and we ate together. I don't think he even noticed that his mask was off. For one moment in his life he didn't think about what he looked like. I smiled at the thought. He wasn't so bad. The eye-less eye-sockets that were different in a weird way; the nose-less face that could creep someone out; and the lip-less mouth were all strange but I didn't mind. I would like for him to keep his mask off. And about the lip-less part, I was fairly sure he had lips. He had been using them a lot on mine in the past hour. Finally we had decided to cuddle on the couch. He sat as close to me as he could, one arm around my shoulders and his other hand holding my hand. He looked down at me and I smiled up at him. He laid his head on my shoulder and whispered,

“How can you love me? I hurt you so bad. I lied to you and betrayed your trust. I shouted at you and almost killed your best friend. Yet you are here telling me that you love me. I don't understand.” I tilted my head up and kissed him softly.

“Because you are you. I forgave you for what you did. If I had been in your shoes I might have done the same thing. You only wanted love and all I did was deny you that. Well, I am making up for lost time.” I kissed him more firmly and just as he slipped his tongue back into my mouth we heard footsteps. I scowled and swore that I was going to give whoever that was a good talking to. I didn't like it at all. Erik moved to pick up his mask and slip it on. Suddenly we heard screaming from the torture chamber. It was Raoul. This was going to be fun, maybe.