A Different Type of Toast (Erik and Ophelia)

Ophelia had been in the new performance at the Opera house and she couldn't believe that it had gone as well as it had done, she was just so happy to be able to have her talents recognised, they had played the Phantom's new opera and it had gone down so well. She thought he would be over the moon right now, he was the manager of the Opera house, and, he was finally getting his creative genius recognised.

She just felt glad that she had been able to help him. Without her he would never have tried to come above the surface and live his life in front of others, although many people had questioned his mask at first, they had all come to accept it, what else would someone do if they had scars such as his? It shouldn't stop him from living his life.

Now she was swiftly walking from her dressing room to the main entrance where there was a large party going on to celebrate the first show under the new management of Erik. She had come as quickly as possible after she had finished changing, and was wearing one of the new dark green dresses that she had bought herself, she thought it showed her pale skin well and it contrasted against the flame red colour of her hair.

When she spotted Erik she approached with a soft smile on her lips, inside she was so excited, she just felt her heart lift whenever she saw him, and now she was even happier that he had consented to come up here, to spend more time with her, and to be with her, as well as saving the Opera house from the management and its bad performances. It made her feel special.

"Congratulations manager, your new opera has gone down a great success, like I said that it would do." picking up a glass of champagne from a waiter she raised it in a toast.

The Phantom, or Erik as he liked to be called now, was over the moon. In the past few months his life had gone from strength to strength. He was officially the head of the opera house, giving every aspect of it improvements seeing as he actually cared about the music that was produced here and how the audience had to engage and love the music. And Ophelia was his leading lady. She put all the others who had ever sung at this opera hall, or any others, to shame and the audiences would call out her name whenever it was announced she would be appearing in the show.

Erik still wore his mask but now people began to see him as a person, and not as some kind of mystical boogeyman of some kind. The simple fact was that right now his life was near enough perfect and seemed to only be getting better. Even though some people still didn't like him, Erik was alright with that because the regulars of the audience and every person in the company were friends.

When he spotted Ophelia coming through the crowd towards him he grinned widely, an expression he had never used before she had come into his life. This was his first after show party as the manager and she was his leading lady. And as tradition dictated, he was going to honor her first. Taking a glass of champagne as well, he smirked a little bit,

"Why thank you my dear. I can't help but feel though that it would have been an absolute failure without your amazing performance as my leading lady. In fact...." he held up his hands and the crowd seemed to dim in volume, "Your attention please! I would like to take this opportunity to toast our leading lady!"

As the crowd clapped for her, he smirked faintly,

"Without her magnificant performance tonight, and her unwavering support of me before that, we would not be here celebrating." he raised his glass, "To Ophelia Chavanne! The greatest leading lady in the history of the Opera house!"

Ophelia was just so happy to see Erik this happy, she had never thought that she would see the day that he would be as happy as he was now, but she was so glad that his life had moved from strength to strength in the past few months and she had told him that being among people would be different, that it wouldn't be such a bad idea like it had been when he was younger. If she had been wrong she would have never forgiven herself, and there were a few times it looked like it was going to go wrong...

But it hadn't.
Everything was wonderful, and were set to get better.

When Erik smiled at her like that her heart fluttered and she couldn't help but blush softly, she was sure that she wasn't the only reason why the opera was so popular, besides herself being a rather good singer, and when it called for it a good actress, it was the composition of the Opera and the storyline that had inspired her to be as good as she was.

Blushing even more when the whole room toasted her, she raised her glass too and took small sip from it;

"You flatter me Erik, but I know without your personal training I would never have been as good as I am tonight, and so, you really did all the work after all." she grinned a little bit, teasing him softly "But I wouldn't mind taking just a little of the credit, if you'd allow me."

Taking another sip from her flute she looked around the busy party;

"You're a success Erik, I am so happy for you." Ophelia whispered softly "You're getting everything you deserved, and more is to come. So I shall raise a small toast, to the wonderfully dedicated new manager of the Opera Populaire."

As she raised her flute, she gently clinked it against his own.

"Cheers."

Erik had never once thought that his life could be this good, let alone be set to be getting even better through the success of this opera and, hopefully, it's many many nights. The audience seemed to love it and all the company enjoyed playing their parts so he was sure that it would continue, this run of good fortune for the opera house and the company. He could see that she was blushing when he smiled and her and when the entire room joined in toasting her,

"Oh please Ophelia, I am but a humble helper to those with talents greater than my own." he told her, and the crowd, humbly. It got quite a bit of pleasant mumbling from the crowd. Apparently humility was not often seen in show business. He waved his hand with a smirk, "Mind? I insist my dear!"

When she whispered to him he blushed a little bit himself. Thankfully though, half of his face was covered by his mask. He smiled happily back at her,

"Only because I have you by my side." he told her before chuckling and raising his glass to touch against her glass, "Cheers my darling, my love."

A slow but deliberate clapping nearby caught Erik's attention and his eyes widened before narrowing hatefully when he noticed that it was Christine. She looked just as angry as he felt but the difference was that he was keeping his face as controlled as possible,

"Yes yes... bravo... bravisimo..." she declared sarcastically, and loudly. Almost immediately she gained the attention of the crowd, "I wonder though... Erik.... should you not have chosen a stronger leading lady?"

There were gasps and mumbles about inappropriate behavior before Erik stood between Ophelia and Christine, making the angry woman take a step back at the look in his eyes,

"Say what you will about me Christine, I can take your barbs. I can take your wit, as weak as it is." he tossed to her with a small scowl, "But do not insult Ophelia. She has twice the talent that you have ever possessed and a personality and beauty far brighter and more lovely than yours."

There were a few claps from the crowd and Christine seemed to seethe in anger before she forced herself to bow to Erik,

"Congratulations..." she muttered, "Even if I should have been the lead..."

Erik ignored her and turned to Ophelia with a small smile,

"It's getting a little crowded in here..." he muttered, "Would you like to come to the dressing room with me my dear?"

Ophelia smiled widely, unable to stop her smile from spreading across her face, she was just so happy and she thought that there was nothing that could go wrong to prevent her happiness from continuing, given time it would only grow and grow. Hopefully, if she ended up becoming engaged to Erik, her life would be perfectly complete and she looked forwards to the day that this might happen, even if it might be far away at this moment.

"We have each other." she whispered softly "And, with each other by our sides we will be sure to succeed in everything that we try to do, so long as the other is with us."

Finishing the small flute of champagne, Oliva looked down at the rest of the crowd and she smiled at Erik, who would have thought that the former Phantom of the Opera would have been so well loved by all the people that he had been observing for so long. She bet that he never would have thought it possible.

"They all love you Erik. You're going to be spending tonight dancing and entertaining with every young lady that comes your way, and I have heard rumours that many will be." she teased softly "Unless you want me to act the guard dog, in which case you shall definately be bothered by none."

Shocked, at the appearance of Christine, she felt her heart sink a little bit and her head droop, she knew that she probably wasn't the strongest leading lady just yet but it was her first opera playing the lead, her confidence would grow as would her stage presence, couldn't she give her a break?

She knew that she had taken the lead after what had happened between Christine and Erik...but, surely, she could not have her cake and eat it too? She could not slight Erik and choose Raoul and then expect to still be given the leads in the Opera's despite her not being here to actually rehearse and take them even if Erik were to give her them.

"Of course, I would like nothing better." she stated with a small happy smile, getting away from an angry Christine sounded like it would be a good idea.

Ophelia, as she made her way to the dressing room bit her lip, if Christine was back, this was not going to be a good sign for Erik, would they have to do something about her?

Erik had to agree with Ophelia on this one. When they worked together, as they had in getting him a life above ground again, they did extraordinary things. It was amazing to think that just a few months ago he was terrorising the people of the opera and now they were happy to toast him accomplishments and happily counted him as one of them,

"Yes we have each other my dear." he agreed happily, a small smile on his lips as he stood close to her, he eyes staring into hers, "I completely agree my love. With you by my side this opera house and the opera company will soon become the greatest opera house in the world. It is my vision and together we shall see it come true!"

Taking her example, Erik finished what remained in the flute of champagne he was holding. It was expensive stuff but to be honest Erik never much cared for alcohol. With it's annoying habit of dulling the senses, Erik found that he couldn' feel the music the same way when he was drunk so vowed only to ever have a little bit of alcohol,

"They do all seem to like me don't they?" he observed with a chuckle before nodding with a soft smile, "They could all hate me and I would not care... as long as you still loved me my dear."

Ignoring the now fuming Christine, Erik waved goodbye to some of the faces in the crowd that he recognised. Thankfully people had come to accept that he left parties and events fashionably early. They didn't so much as bat an eye lash at him taking Ophelia with him by the hand,

"Then come with me my love." he suggested with a small smirk, "I have a little surprise for you."

When they arrived in Ophelia's dressing room it was to find a massive collection of flowers that had been meticulously arranged in a frame to spell out her name. The entire arrangement was actually longer than she was tall. He moved so that she could see his gift to her and smiled happily,

"I hoped you would like it." he told her quietly as he moved closer to her, cupping her cheek with his hand. He gently carressed her cheek with his thumb before breathlessly moving away with a small, nervous, grin, "I want to kiss you so very badly my love. But I think it can wait until after I say something."

Taking a single step back from her, he took a deep breath and held both hands in his own,

"From the moment you spoke to me through the mirror, doing some errands for me, my life has rapidly changed for the better. From then on, my life of darkness lightened for the first time." he told her quietly, "You brought the light into my life and I love it. You've allowed me to be a person again, not just some Phantom or ghost. Nothing can make me happier and it's all because of you."

He paused her with a small, happy, smile on his face. After a few moments he smirked slightly,

"Although... it can be improved on." he told her as he slowly descended to one knee and let go of one of her hands to reach into his pocket for something, "And all you have to do is answer a question..."

Taking out a small black box, Erik revealed the white gold engagement ring, complete with glittering diamond. Holding it up to her he, half-asked and half-hoped,

"Will you marry me?"

Ophelia let her brow furrow a little bit, she wondered what surprise this could be and she hoped that he hadn't done anything foolish and spent a lot of money on her, she normally didn't have very expensive tastes and she had bought more things for herself in the past month than she had done over the last year, of course, her increase in salary helped, but she still was loathed to spend money where it wasn't needed.

When they stepped into her dressing room, she looked at the large flower arrangement and smiled happily, oh it was so romantic, she loved flowers, they smelt so wonderful and they were such large and detailed arrangements she had never been given anything like this before.

"Oh Erik, they're beautiful, I love flowers..." she whispered softly, running her delicate fingertip over the soft petals of one of the white roses "White roses...they are my favourite."

Unable to stop a small blush creeping onto her cheeks when Erik said he wanted to kiss her so very badly, she was glad that it wasn't just her who wanted to kiss the other, but, she wondered what it was he was going to say, it seemed like it was important, and she thought it might have something to do with the sudden reappearance of Christine.

Everything he said to her made her heart beat faster in her chest, he was saying such sweet romantic things to her, and she couldn't help but think that this might not have anything to do with Christine after all...

"Erik..." Ophelia gasped as he dropped down on one knee and held out that beautiful ring to he.

For a moment all words left her and she merely looked into his eyes, oh could it be? Let this be real and not some phantom dream that she had been sent to tease and torment her. But it wasn't a dream, it was real, and her love was proposing to her, exactly like she had wanted him to earlier this evening. Her happiness was complete and her heart was overfilling with joy.

Laughing happily she leapt forwards and wrapped her arms around Erik's neck in a joyful embrace;

"Yes! Yes my love I will marry you." she answered, her face was beaming with happiness as she kissed his cheek softly "Oh you have no idea how happy this has made me! I love you, Erik."

Erik could tell that she was very surprised by her flowers but, a little wicked part of him added, that wasn't even the surprise that he had been talking about. He chuckled a little bit when she sniffed at the flowers, no doubt realising that she had a collection of her favourite breeds of flowers. When she said that they were beautiful he smiled happily at her,

"Only the best flowers for you my dearest." he assured her before smirking faintly when she commented on the appearance of white roses, "I know they are my love, which is why I gave them pride of place in the collection."

When he pulled out the ring she seemed torn between happiness and disbelief, both of them perfectly acceptable to him and he was over the moon to see how happy she was when she leapt at him. Wrapping his own arms around her tightly when she gave her answer, he grinned wider than ever before and gave her a squeeze in the hug,

"You've made me the happiest man in the entire world!" he told her happily as he hugged her tightly to him, a happy little tear escaping him, "I never thought anyone could love me enough to marry me... but you do. I love you so very much Ophelia!"

Now seemed like the perfect time to him. As he slid her engagement ring onto the right fingers he reached up and cupped one of her cheeks gently in his hand. Rubbing her soft skin with his thumb, he leant in to kiss her passionately on the lips. It was his first kiss and to him in was as beautiful and as amazing as he had imagined it would be. He broke the kiss with some reluctance for breath and smiled blissfully at her,

"Wow... kissing my fiance is a lot more exciting than I'd even dreamed..." he whispered to her huskily before kissing her again, "I hope you don't mind if I want more kisses...?"

Ophelia was so very very happy, she was glad that she was going to be able to be with the man that she loved in the way that she had wished since they had begun to interate him into the topside world. She had realised just how much she loved the mysterious, yet deeply intelligent and attractive man that was Erik. She did not care about his disfigurement, she did not care about what people would say.

Her love was stronger than their wavering doubts.
Their love was stronger than all of their wavering doubts.
And it would always be so.

Noting that Erik had a lone tear rolling down his cheek she kissed it away and placed her hand on his cheek, her wonderful Phantom, her wonderful Phantom loved her. All of her dreams were coming true and Ophelia couldn't think about anything more perfect than this!

"You should never have thought such a thing Erik, you have so many wonderful things about you to love, and I love every single one of them. How could I not? I love all of you, the good, the bad and the indifferent, and I always will do." Ophelia whispered softly.

Now with her engagement ring on her finger, she felt better than she had done in a long time, even better than she had done tonight getting her ovation at the end of the opera. Closing her eyes as he leant into kiss her, she felt his soft warm lips against her own and she worked her lips softly against his, the cool hard feeling of his mask gave the kiss a thrilling element. The kiss made her breathless, and as they broke apart her eyes were sparkling with desire.

"You're telling me." she whispered back breathlessly "I don't mind at all."

Gently, she ran her fingers down his mask and asked, respectfully;

"May I?"

Erik had to admit that he had once thought that the first day he had been able to openly walk around the surface, with Ophelia's hand in his, was the happiest he'd ever feel. But he was delightfully wrong on that count. Right now he was happier than he had ever dreamed possible and his heart was threatening to burst at the seems with the joy he was feeling. She didn't care about his disfigurement, she didn't care that he had lived under ground for many years. She loved him for who he was and what he did, something that he had been waiting his whole life for.

Their love would weather any criticism it might come up against. Some people would question when she was given positions in the Operas from now on, insinuate that she was only getting them because she was married to him. But the fact was that she was just the most talented. And he'd make sure everyone knew that.

When she kissed away his lone tear of happiness his smile brightened even more. She was just so perfect for him, he truly was beyong spoilt having her as his new fiance. Just thinking the word sent happy little shivers through his body,

"You love me as deeply as I love you and it shows in the way we are together." he told her happily, "Opehlia I love you more than anything else in my life. I could live without the sun, without the moon, without the stars and even without music. But I could never live without you. I love you too much to ever let you go... so I'll always be with you from now on my love."

The kisses were amazing and he was so dazed that he almost didn't notice her touching his mask. On instinct his hands came up and gently stopped hers. Looking into her eyes for a few moments, he gently pushed her hand down. He had never shown anyone his face before,

"No... let me." he told her as he gently touched his mask, "I have shown you every side of my personality and every corner of my soul. And I will share with you that which I have never willingly shared with anyone else."

He gently took his mask from his face, setting it down on the table. Erik just stood there, feeling very vulnerable, and awaited her reaction.

Ophelia would never get tired of seeing Erik's smile, it was what she waited for each day and it brightened her mood each time she saw it, she would do anything that she could in order to get him to smile. It was a beautiful sight, and it was almost as attractive as seeing him in his brooding mood as she had done in the first few times she had seen him in the mirror in this very room. It was kind of amazing the history this room held for them and it was growing by the day.

"But you will never have to live without those things, because I will fight to make sure that you see them everyt day, and that every day from now on...you can enjoy them with me." she whispered softly peppering his cheek with soft kisses.

She felt dizzy with excitement, Erik was all hers to kiss, all hers to hold in his arms and she would be allowed to hold him in her arms without people gossiping, oh she was so glad they were going to be married, it was a dream come true and she couldn't stop thinking it. Ophelia couldn't help but think, in some moments, that this was a dream, a beautiful dream she would never want to wake from.

Feeling his hand come up to touch her hand on his mask, she wondered if she was pressing too far, but when Erik himself took off his mask, she smiled softly, he trusted her so much, and she felt so privilaged that he would show her something so personal, she would never forget how open and trusting he had been of her at this moment, and would always appreciate it.

The face that was before her eyes now, was no different to the one before, it was still beautiful, it was still attractive. The red puckered burn marks -or so they appeared to be- just made her heart strings tug softly, and his small whispy bits of blonde hair where his scar ended did nothing to stop her from adoring him.

"I love you Erik, and I will never forget you trusting me enough to show me this, it means a lot to me and it always will do. Thank you." she whispered softly, placing a soft kiss on his scarred red skin.

Taking her chance she swooped him into a kiss, one hand running through his gelled black hair as she kissed him passionately, moaning softly into the kiss as she worked her lips against his own, her other hand rested on his shoulder.

Erik never used to smile, he only ever used to smirk or occassionally grin about something that he found pleasing in the opera he was observing. No the only person who could ever make him smile like this was Ophelia. No one else had ever managed to make him feel such heights of happiness that he had to smile rather than one of his lesser expressions of happiness. He smirled happily to his fiance, once again savouring how that word tasted even in his thoughts,

"Yes, the only thing better than having you is having a whole new world to enjoy with you." he told her honestly, smiling lovingly down at her, "From now until I die, this new world is ours to share and will always be so."

He had imagined what it would be like to kiss Ophelia like this, with this much passion and urgency, before but only in dreams to himself. But this was no dream. She truly was his to have and to hold. She was his to kiss and he was hers and that was the way it should always be to him.

When he exposed his scarred face to her, Erik couldn't help but flinch a little bit. To him it was a constant reminder of all the bad things that had happened to him in his life. But it was now to be a reminder of just how understanding, how loving and how caring she was to him. All she did was kiss the scarred skin like she would normal skin and thank him for trusting her,

"You're the only person I could ever trust with this." he told her honestly, holding her hands, "I trust you more than I trust even myself."

Kissing her back just as passionately, Erik wrapped one arm around her waist to pull her close. His other hand began to thread itself in her hair. Pulled her back from the kiss for a moment, he began to kiss and nibble up her neck, a little bit uncertain. He nibbled at her earlobe gently and asked, genuinely unsure,

"Does this feel good?" he asked in a husky whisper, "I want to be able to make you feel so good Ophelia... As your fiance..."

Ophelia felt so very comforted that now she was going to be with Erik forever, she was so scared that he would find someone else while he was up here and fall for them instead of her, and then she would lose him. It was a stupid fear she understood but...it felt so good to know for certain that Erik loved her, and was expressing his love through the promise of being with her forever.

She couldn't wait to begin her new life with him, to walk down the isle and become his bride...it almost made her swoon with happiness as she thought about it.

"Oh I can't wait to begin our married life together, Erik." she whispered softly "To wake in the same bed every morning, and to go to sleep in the same bed each night....it is going to be magical."

The way that he flinched when she touched his skin made her heart throb with pain, oh the things that her love must have gone through when he was younger, it was just so horrible to think that anybody could treat him they way that they did. He was no demon, no phantom or ghost. He was a truly magnificent man, in every way that it mattered. Nobody could convince her otherwise.

"I will make sure that you know that your trust is never misplaced." she whispered softly "I will never betray your trust Erik."

As she was pulled closer to Erik, Ophelia murmured happily into the kiss that they were sharing, she loved the feeling of his lips on her own and she couldn't get enough of it, it just felt so good to her that she didn't want to stop. Eventually she knew that she had to, she knew that she needed to stop lest she go too far, but even then, Ophelia would not regret it, now they were to be married, did it matter?

Moaning lightly into Erik's ear when he nibbled on her earlobe, Ophelia let her teeth softly nip at his neck, her lips sucking softly at the place where she had gently nipped him;

"It does..." she whispered softly "You are doing an awfully good job so far Erik..."

Ophelia moved her lips back to Erik's, they fiercely moved against her own as she moved back so that her back was against one of the dressing room walls, there was something extremely arousing about being kissed so passionately against a wall. Running her hands down Erik's chest, Ophelia let her lips kiss his neck, making their way to his earlobe where she licked it softly.

"Does that feel...good?" Ophelia asked in a husky whisper.

Erik didn't ever want Ophelia to ever feel threatened by another woman in her life. He wanted her to know that she was the only one for him and that was never going to change. She might not say it out loud but he knew that she held the fear inside her. Hopefully he would be able to remove that fear not as the man who was courting her, but as the man who was her fiance.

And when they were both ready he would hold her close not as the man who was courting her, not as the man who was her fiance but as the man who was her husband,

"Me neither Ophelia, I cannot wait until I am able to happily say that I am married to the most wonderful woman on this planet." he told her happily before smiling softly, "Holding you in my arms as we sleep is going to make me so very happy..."

He wished that he hadn't flinched but it was instinctive. To be honest it was probably just because not even he touched his scarred face like that. His natural response when someone saw his real face was usually fear; fear of violence that had followed the exposing of his face for many years. But when she saw him, he never felt fear,

"I never thought you would." he assured her, kissing her softly on the lips, "I love you and part of that love is complete and total trust."

The passionate kisses were beginning to get to him now and he could feel a pressure building up inside him that demanded to be relieved. He moaned into the kissed before he began his hesitant exploration of nibbles and kisses. When she told him that it felt good he purred slightly,

"Goood..." he whispered to her as he went back to nibbling her ear, "I want to be able to please you as much as I can."

He kissed her back hard and fiercely, wanting nothing more than his tongue to dance against hers in the powerful kiss. Pressing her back against the wall as she manouvered them over to it, he could tell that she was even more aroused by how frantic her kisses were becoming. He pressed up against her and he was sure that she could feel his arousal. When she kissed his neck and licked his ear he moaned lightly and shivered happily,

"I does..." he replied, looking into her eyes hungrily, "Keep this up... and I doubt I can wait for marriage... even if we were to marry tomorrow!"

The very idea of being held by Eric as they slept was wonderful, his strong protective arms around her, taking all her worries and fears away. Ophelia thought that his arms already had that power, but to be close to someone in that manner, like she had never been before, was even more powerful...it was such an exciting thought, sharing a bed, but also, one that spoke of trust, you were with that person at a moment of complete defenselessness.

"Now stop it Erik, you are going to make me blush if you keep complimenting me like this." she whispered softly, a faint pink blush on her cheeks "Although I am glad that you think so highly of me, I will try and make sure I live up to your idea of me as much as I can, to be the most wonderful woman in the world, because you deserve that more than any man."

That soft kiss that they shared spoke differently to their passionate embraces, it spoke of the trust between them, only she knew who Erik really was, and she held that power to bring his new world down around him. Ophelia would never do that, but the levels of trust they shared between them, were already so high, it made her feel so special to be able to know these secrets about Erik, she the only person who ever would.

Ophelia returned the soft kiss to her lips and hugged Erik tightly.

Even the way that he spoke made her hairs stand up on end, oh it made her feel so good. This was even more like a dream, one she had had once or twice after they had first met, where she was with the powerful and brooding Phantom down in his realm...even the thoughts of what she had dreamed about heightened her experience, and she would be able to do all of this with him...

All of the thoughts she was thinking of...and more!

"Erik..." Ophelia moaned softly as she was pushed against the wall, feeling his power over her was something she enjoyed very much "But we must wait...mustn't we?" she asked, half hoping he would say no and whisk her away to a bedroom right now.

As she heard his moans and felt his arousal Ophelia gasped softly, and gently allowed her hands to run across his chest again, wanting so badly to see and feel his skin underneath his clothes, but she knew that it would have to wait, and so merely nibbled and licked at his earlobe, her lips were red from the intensity of the kisses, and they still had his taste lingering upon them.

Erik had spent entire nights lying awake in his bed below the Opera house dreaming about having someone to hold close as he slept and he could safely say that he couldn't have dreamed up anyone better for that than Ophelia. He smiled faintly when she said that he would make her blush from complimenting her,

"Oh come now Ophelia, you know me well enough to know that I'm not going to stop complimenting you. I've written entire operas based on and devoted to your beauty after all." he teased her lightly with a smirk before smiling softly, "I don't deserve you Ophelia but I'm grateful for every second that I have you regardless of my worthiness."

Their soft and gentle kisses to each other, complete with gentle hugs, just went to show how good they were together. They were perfect together. They complimented each other flawlessly. She was the light to his dark and together they were making each other progressively better all the time, even if he would disagree with the idea that anything about her could be improved.

He could tell that his words and his actions were getting to her by the way that she reaction. The way she shifted her body closer to his own and her breathing seemed to have gotten slightly faster for no other reason. Smiking slightly, he kissed up and down her neck as he pressed his body against hers,

"I suppose we must wait..." he mused as he nibbled at her earlobe at the same time as rubbing his arousal against her inner thighs through his trousers, "But suppose we don't want to follow that rule...?"

Very reluctantly, Erik decided that they couldn't go much further than this here. After all, even if they wanted to forget their religious ideas about sex before marriage, there was no readily available flat surface other than the cold, hard, ground. He nibbled on her earlobe one last time,

"Shall we retire to my bedroom?" he asked her in a whisper, "I want to hold you as we fall asleep..."

Ophelia had to admit that she wasn't used to having such a grand compliment given to her, she had never dreamed she would have an opera based on her beauty, let alone on her as a whole person. Biting her lip she didn't know if she would ever be able to forget the little breathless way she had rehearsed those lines for the first time, just seeing how he really felt about her, and how he saw her was amazing.

She never thought that she would be seen like this to anyone, but she was so so glad that she had done. Erik was someone she could never replace, and she loved him more than anyone she had done before.

"I wont hear you say things like that." she whispered softly "You deserve everything you have now, and you deserve more for what has happened to you...I am just glad that you have been able to return my love, and that we can be together like this."

Each time he nibbled at her earlobe, she groaned softly, feeling his arousal rubbing against her made her own excitement grow and grow, he was so eager to make love to her, and she was eager to do the same to him. Ophelia felt her hormones racing, and she was so tempted to listen to them, however, she knew there were other things they could do, that wouldn't end in them having sex before marriage.

"Suppose we follow those rules..." Ophelia moaned breathlessly "But that doesn't mean that we have to stop, does it? There are...other things we could do."

When he asked her if she wanted to retire to his bedroom Ophelia blushed softly but she nodded her head, wrapping her arms around his neck she kissed him softly; "I would love to, it will be an experience, sharing my bed with someone for the first time, but I couldn't think of anyone better."

Erik could tell that Ophelia, despite his habit of giving her compliments, was not really well equiped to deal with his biggest compliment. But the truth of the matter was that he had written two operas about her and her beauty and they would most likely be performed by her and the rest of the company very soon. And even the one they had just done had been based on said feelings so she was bound to have experienced a little rush when she read the lines.

To him, she was a shining star of all that was good and beautiful in the world and we wouldn't have it any other way,

"I too am glad that I am able to return but I could live without all this... all of the surface world, as long as I had your love." he told her as he kissed her passionately. Breaking the kiss, he smiled lovingly at her, "No mortal man could ever deserve the divine and you, my dear, are a goddess."

Erik had been hoping desperately that she didn't want to follow the rules. He was sure that she didn't but was saying that they had to simply because they were the rules that everyone followed. He moaned lightly, his arousal pressing against her as he carried her quickly towards his room,

"Yes... yes there are other routes to pleasure we can explore together..." he whispered huskily, "We'll just have to try... to not get too carried away..."

When they were inside his bedroom, a large room dominated by an even larger bed, he gently laid her down on the bed before locking the door. Slowly, he began to undress himself as he got closer and closer to her,

"So which route to pleasure shall we take my dear...?"

Ophelia smiled softly, she didn't think that she was a goddess in any way but it was sweet that Erik thought that she was, it made her feel like she was one of the most attractive women on the planet, and she could tell by the look in his eyes he had something else planned, something that she knew she was going to find mortally embarrassing when she found out what it was most likely.

That however, was not her main concern at the moment.

Her main concern was the fact that she was so very close to jumping onto Erik and not letting go until the sun had risen in the morning and they had made several questionable loud noises. Although, she did attempt to reign herself in from thinking about that quite so much. However much she hated playing by the rules, she was going to have to on this occassion.

"I can see that being a problem..." she whispered sensually "Because I am already having thoughts of getting carried away already."

As she was carried to his room, Ophelia bit her lip softly, it looked just like his rooms down there in the Opera basement, it was a beautiful room and the bed was so large, it was perfect for what they were about to do. Now laying upon the bed she looked up at Erik as he began to undress and she felt her cheeks heat up with a large blush, he looked so...so muscular.

Kneeling on the bed, Ophelia cautiously ran her hands over his arms, feeling his warm skin under her own, her eyes locked with Eriks as she kissed his lips softly;

"How should I know?" she asked with a little chuckle "I shouldn't know the routes of pleasure, I'm a proper young lady, so, you'll have to show me."

Pulling him down to lie on top of her, Ophelia ran her hands down his chest, loving the feel of his skin under her hands.

Erik could tell that she was wary of any of his plans to further push his image of her perfection onto the unsuspecting public. She was right to be concerned considering he had more operas planned to be about her. He smirked a little bit at that but otherwise put it out of his mind. He wasn't here to think about things like that, he was here thinking about much more fun thoughts that were making their way into his mind and moving his body in time with them.

He could tell that while both of them knew they should save themselves for their wedding night (which Erik was thinking should DEFINATELY be soon), the thoughts of going all the way were there and they were oh so tempting. Purring a little bit, he smirked faintly,

"Oh course I've never been good at rules..." he teased her with a smirk before licking his lips slightly, "Oh you're not the only one who's already thinking about it my darling."

When she began to touch him he purred a little bit at her touch along his bare chest and torso. Throwing his trousers away, he was only in his underwear and his arousal was already straining to be free as he wrapped his arms around her,

"Mmmmm so you're an entirely innocent young lady?" he teased her lightly, "Well don't worry... I've never done this myself but I know where to start..."

He gently began to nibble at her neck as he began to untie her dress from the back. When it was loosened he nibbled on her earlobe,

"And for it to work..." he whispered huskily, "You're wearing too much clothing..."

Ophelia felt herself shudder as she saw Erik licking his lips, it was such a sensual and sexual sight that she felt herself growing more aroused at that sight alone. Biting her own lips she knew that she would bend to his desires, she wanted to make sure that their first experiences of sex together were amazing, and even though they wouldn't be going there tonight, she wanted to be able to make him feel good with what they were going to do tonight.

Moaning softly when she saw him almost naked on top of her, and she ran her hands down his back, pulling him closer to her body as she let her eyes stay glued to his body, it was so perfect, so toned and not a blemish on his skin to be seen.

"I think tomorrow we should start trying to organise our wedding, I am certain that it should be sooner, rather than later." she purred into his ear as she gently began to kiss and nibble at Erik's neck, her hands still stroking and gliding over his skin.

Ophelia could tell that Erik liked it when she let herself play with his skin, could it be that like her he had never done anything like this before? Although she thought that it wouldn't have been anything that serious if he had had sex, nothing like what it would be now that they were engaged to each other. Feeling his strong arms wrapped around her, Ophelia sighed happily and rested her head on his chest.

"Of course!" she gasped, her tone was light and teasing though, to show she didn't take offense "I might have had my vivid imagination, but, I am of course totally innocent!"

As she felt him beginning to loosen her dress she let herself slip off the bed, and slowly, she slipped her dress down, letting it land in a pool of green taffeta on the floor. Ophelia stood there before Erik in her underwear, her corset, panties and stockings, and she felt a soft pink blush creeping onto her cheeks as she attempted to avoid his gaze in her embarrassment.

"Is this more suitable?" she asked, bashfully.

Erik was glad that his form was pleasing to her. They both knew that her body was incredibly pleasing to him and he was glad that it was at least somewhat mutual. When she ran her hands up and down his back he purred and moved closer to her, noting how her eyes seemed to stay rooted on his body. To be honest he had never felt proud of his body before but he was very proud of it right now,

"Mmmm you know I think you might be right there." he purred, moaning lightly as she began to kiss and nibble at his neck, "Mmm beginning to think that next week won't be soon enough... tomorrow probably would be just in time...."

Touching his skin was something Ophelia seemed to enjoy doing, even his scarred face. But he himself loved it when her soft little fingers ran across his skin. He wanted to touch her in the same manner, give her the same kind of pleasure. His hands went to her head, gently playing with her hair when she rested her head against his chest,

"I know you are my dear, I know." he gave her a light wink before smirking again, "In this vivid imagination... tell me what it is that we do to each other yes?"

When she removed the dress to reveal her corset, panties, and stockings, he moaned a little bit and his arousal strained more against his underwear. Sitting down on the edge of the bed with his legs hanging off of it, he pulled her in closer so that she was straddling his waist. His arousal pressed against her panties as she straddled him and he pulled her in for another passionate kiss even as one of his hands squeezed her ass and the other began to undo her corset from the back,

"Mmmm beautiful... delicious..." he purred to her as he rocked against her, their arousal rubbing against each other, "Much more suitable... but we can lose even more to feel even better..."

Ophelia couldn't wait to be married to Erik, not because she was going to be able to have sex with him alone but because she was going to be able to be with him in the most intimate way, they were going to be together forever and they would be able to learn everything about each other. Although right now, all of her thoughts were fixed on giving him pleasure in the best of ways.

"Let's not rush things Erik." she whispered softly "We have to make sure that we have enough time to arrange things properly, to make it the most magical day that we can."

Purring softly when she felt him playing with her hair, Ophelia didn't really know what she was going to do to pleasure Erik, she wanted to do something but she didnt know if what worked in her dreams and in her imagination would really be what he wanted. Gently she kissed and licked at Erik's chest, wrapping her arms around his neck to hug him closer to her, Ophelia never wanted his touch to leave her body, she loved it so much already.

"Y-you want me to tell you?" she asked, with a bright blush on her cheeks "W-well you would undress me from my corset, set me down on the bed and admire my body...and as you played with my breasts I would gently stroke and massage your arousal." Ophelia admitted, once she had gotten the courage to speak.

The moan that Erik gave out made her whimper softly in pleasure, and feeling his arousal so close to her own sent a spark of pleasure through her body as she lowered her hips onto his own and softly ground herself against him. Oh it felt so good to her, such pleasure she had never felt before! Ophelia returned the passionate kiss, her arms wrapped around his neck allowed her hands to rake through his hair as she pressed her body against him feverntly at they kissed.

"How far...should we go?" she whispered breathlessly into Erik's ear "What route have you elected to take me down tonight?"

Erik couldn't wait to be married to Ophelia and the chance to have sex with her was but one small part of his excitement at the idea of marrying her. Their love would be eternal and given the blessing of god, so that no man could ever tear them apart. He smiled happily, they were going to be spending the rest of their lives together, in each others arms,

"Indeed, we have to temper haste with patience." he agreed with a small smirk, "Of course we might have to make it sooner than most others would make it."

Hearing her purr made him smirk a little bit to himself. She was a very sensative person when it came to touch as well as emotions it would seem. To be perfectly honest that was perfectly alright with him, it meant that she would get much more pleasure from their actions together, hopefully. When she started kissing and licking his chest he purred in return. When she began to tell him what it was that she imagined them doing his arousal jumped slightly, getting even harder,

"Mmmm your imagination is a very good source of ideas..." he purred her her, "But just one change... when I'm playing with your breasts... I won't just be using my hands..."

Peeling her corset from her, he threw it away to the side. Kissing her passionately as his hands moved up to cup her breasts, he moaned into the kiss at the same time as his thumbs began to rub against her nipples. Breaking the kiss, he made her lean back slightly before latching onto one of her nipples with his mouth, licking and sucking away. One hand cupped her other breast and played with it's nipple while his last hand dipped down low to stroke her wet pussy through her panites,

"Mmmm I want to go all the way..." he moaned breathlessly, "But I think I should take it easy first... and we shall give each other our first orgasms given by another... agreed?"

Ophelia thought that the talk of the wedding was going to have to take a back seat now, she was getting more and more aroused and less interested in things that are weeks, days or even hours away. Allowing her lips to wander up and down his body her hands lightly began to massage his shoulders, she could feel how tense he was and she tried to work out some of the stiffness in his muscles as they gently stroked and kissed each other.

Gasping softly when she felt his arousal jump against her, Ophelia moaned softly when he told her that he wasn't just going to be using his hands when he was playing with her breasts, she had hoped that this wouldn't be the case, she wouldn't be able to last very long with her pleasure already so high and she hoped he wouldn't think badly of her because of this.

"It sounds like it's going to feel wonderful..." she purred softly, allowing her hand to slowly inch down and Ophelia ran a finger tip up and down Erik's arousal through his underwear "Are you ready?" she asked huskily, kissing just below his ear.

Shivering softly when she felt the cold hit her warm skin, she pressed herself closer to Erik. Enjoying the passionate kiss she couldn't help but moan into it, as he rubbed and played with her nipples, it felt so good! Each little tug and roll made her gasp lightly in pleasure and her arousal grew and grew until she couldn't help but think she was going to finish any second now! Ophelia felt her whole body tremoring with pleasure as he began to rub softly at her, she closed her eyes and tilted her head back as she broke the kiss.

"Agreed..." she whispered softly "Oh Erik..." Ophelia groaned.

Slowly she allowed her hand to pull down his underwear, wrapping her hand around his arousal she gently stroked and squeezed it, it felt so strange in her had, so warm. The very feeling of it made her own arousal grow, and Ophelia made sure that she continued to pleasure him, by continuing to move her hand up and down, even as she peppered his body with little nips and kisses.