Death Awakens

A/N: Thank you again for understanding... time and computer issues are not on my side. I know this chapter's short but given the new rearrangements of my schedule I'll have more time to update. Yay! Please R & R, and any suggestions you'd like to see will be taken into consideration. I'm kind of writing this as I go... anything helps

Erik made his way to the edge of the water, eyes glowering into its dark surface. The muscles of his strong jaw twitched as he solemnly wrestled with the powerful rush of anger that swept through him.

“Erik?”

Gripping the side of his head, Erik slipped into the shadows against the walls and watched through slitted eyes as Lila’s shadow stretched into the room. His fists clenched into to the walls and his vision glowed red as the pain of stone grating against nails only further kindled his surprising anger.

My singer, my opera, my work... he growled under his breath. It wouldn't be taken from him again. Everything he lived for, everything he thought he had lost had managed to start to rebuild itself with this new girl, this new opera, he would not let it be taken away from him, not again.

Tentative footsteps turned the corner into his direction, and as Lila passed by, Erik's arms shot out from the darkness to pull her towards him. His hands muffled the shriek from her lips, her eyes widening with fright as green embers glared through her soul.

"This is my opera, this is my house, you are my singer," was all that was spoken as Erik's lips came crashing down on hers. Lila gasped at the fury behind the kiss but her eyes closed and knees trembled at the molten heat that was building up furiously inside of her. His hands were clenched in her hair and she felt tears sting the edges of her closed eyes through the pain but there was heat and passion in the kiss that was bruising her lips, and she shuddered at the surprising ecstasy of it all.
Erik kept his eyes open, studying her reaction. She had not recoiled in terror, but seemed to submit, willingly to him. And then his eyes widened as Lila extended her arms around his broad shoulders and deepened the kiss, the small whisper of a sigh muffled in the back of her throat as her lips parted slightly. The tentative caress of her tongue against his teeth opened his own mouth and his eyes closed as he plunged into the soft warmth of her mouth.
Their lips finally separated and Erik took several paces back, his breath coming shorter as he stared at the wild-eyed woman in front of him. Her hair was mussed and lips swollen, and her eyes sparkled at him in the low light.
"You are my singer. I will not have you being distracted, there is too much at stake. This opera is too much for that to happen," Erik said gruffly, and he quickly turned away, disappearing into the darkness.

She was confused. More so than she had ever been. Lila found herself sitting at the edge of her bed. She had chosen to sleep with the other chorus girls, her emotions much too tumultuous to sleep by herself, and she knew what lurked in the shadows of the opera house. There was an uncertainty and fear which she felt for the first time. Curling her legs up underneath her chin, Lila traced a finger against the deep scar that ran along her leg. So much had changed for her, nothing seemed real. She expected at any moment to wake up and be sitting on the floor with her friends sharing popcorn, or getting ready for another rehearsal for the play, but she never did wake up, and now?
There was a knot that lay in the pit of her stomach that seemed to quiver and warm in Erik's presence. His kiss lit a fire in her, but she had been terrified too, the cold metallic strength of his eyes that burned into her was malicious. But his lips, those were real, that was warmth and passion, and dare she think it? perhaps even love?

Lila scolded herself for being so childish, a hopeless romantic is the first candidate for a broken heart and broken dreams. Crawling under the covers of her bed, she tried to banish the thought of Erik's kiss, humming the newest lines from the opera, but his music only reminded her of his lips, his voice, his touch, and Lila's hand slid down the length of her body to the heat that formed at the thought of him.
She slipped one tentative finger into the soft wetness between her legs, turning her head to peer at the sleeping forms of the other girls who were already deep in sleep. Her fingers gently caressed the tip of clitoris in slow circles, delicious waves washing over her body. One free hand cupping her breast, back slowing arching upward, Lila dipped a finger deeper, using her wetness to caress herself deeper.
Images of his eyes flashed across her mind, the hard line of his chin, the sensual fullness of his mouth, the sweetness of his kiss against hers. She whimpered softly in the darkness, teeth biting down on lips that were still swollen from his kiss. Closing her eyes, Lila swallowed back the moans that threatened to break free, as she imaged his arms encircling hers, the hardness of his body and what it would feel like to be taken completely. Her nipples pulled taut against her nightgown and she felt the breath catch in her throat as she felt her body reach furiously high. As she came crashing down, the muscles of her thighs tingling and her breath came in shuddering muffled gasps as she tried desperately to quiet the tremors of pleasure that was riding through her still.
As her breath quieted and the lulling heat of her climax slowly ebbed away, Lila allowed her thoughts to be tossed into the soft darkness of slumber, her eyelids slowly closing to dreamless sleep.
"Erik..." Lila whispered, before falling silently still.
His eyes glittered in the dark shadow of the room. The maddening burn of lust thrummed through his muscled body as he continued to stare at her sleeping form. She had said his name, his name in the wake of her ecstasy.
Feeling inspired with the heat of her pleasure, Erik disappeared behind a panel in the wall, the next scene of his opera playing out behind the cool, hardness of his mask.