Lisa
Well...I had to get advice from some one! Sheesh! It's a very odd situation! I mean, they didn't have prophylactics of ANY sort in his time...anyhow, now I'm sure you're all waiting with baited breath, so pour yourself a glass of cold water, make sure no one else is in the room (unless you go for that sort of thing AT the computer...kinky) and let the smut ensue! (in case you were wondering, the cold water is for your lap--most people don't have cold showers next to their computers)
I stood outside Erik's door and took a deep breath…I wanted to take several deep breaths, I wanted to hyperventilate, I wanted to pass out…I wanted to chicken out. Yes, I knew Erik desired me…that much was apparent even to my self-hating senses, but the only things he had ever seen me wear were all enveloping t-shirts and even more voluminous pants (and one heavy artillery shirt). What would he think once those barriers were gone? If my own self-doubt weren’t bad enough there was still the infamous condom discussion to worry about! At that thought I almost turned around…how nerve wracking! Instead I allowed myself one more deep breath and I knocked at the door.
"Come in!" I heard Erik's voice call from somewhere within.
I stepped into the apartment, noting that dinner had become a picnic in front of the fireplace. I tried not to think how reminiscent of a chapter in my story Sanctuary this was getting. He had it down to the mounds of food and the copy of the Complete Works of Shakespeare. I sighed, what was I getting myself into?
I walked into the kitchen and had to laugh at the sight of the Phantom of the Opera in my apron. (A cool apron, but not exactly regal)
He looked up and froze. This gave me a moment to stop laughing and meet his eyes. However, I couldn't meet his eyes, because they wouldn't focus on mine…they had no problem focusing on any other part of me. (So Marie had convinced me to wear the heavy artillery shirt and the Levis that actually fit…baggy shirts and Jncos aren’t exactly conductive to seduction, though Erik had never seemed to mind before.) I crossed my arms over my chest and cleared my throat, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. "Erik, my eyes are up here." I gestured to my face.
He blushed furiously and it took him a moment regain his composure. Then he smiled. "You look lovely this evening."
Now it was my turn to blush.
"Dinner will be ready soon. Would you mind putting a few CD's in?"
"Not a problem." I replied, hurrying off to the living room. I looked at the CD case, he had to have over 300! In the back of my mind I thought, "Gee, what's good seduction music?" In the end I chose a few classical pieces, the only ones I can remember now are Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. I sat down on the blanket Erik had set on the floor and started paging through the Complete Works. I was engrossed in Richard III when Erik came in.
I looked up, getting my first real opportunity to see what he was wearing. Marie and I had finally convinced him that he didn't need to wear a tie with everything, and that jeans were perfectly acceptable. I was speechless for a moment. He was wearing the deep purple silk shirt with sleeves that billowed out a bit. Marie had picked it out for him. That and a pair of black boot-cut Levis…which fit him very well by the way.
He set down the serving dish with the chicken in it and sat beside me. "What were you reading cherie?
"Richard III…the opening has to be my favorite soliloquy." I replied, putting the book aside.
"Perhaps we should do a 'reading' later." He suggested as he began serving.
I now feel the need to add to the list of Erik's skills…. let's see, architect, inventor, musician, artist, skilled eater and superb cook…I tell you, anything he puts his mind to is a success. At any rate, dinner was of course wonderful…I didn't have to tell Erik that he sucked as a cook, much to my relief. (You don't want to tell that man he sucks at anything!) As promised, he did a reading of the opening of Richard III. At least it wasn't the 'Phoenix and the Turtle'. I did tease him however, for recreating one of my scenes.
"It seemed liked a good idea." He defended.
"It was a good idea, just a little weird…as a writer, I never expect to recreate one of my own scenes. Not that this is an exact replica…besides it's fun to tease you." I smiled up at him.
"Is it?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Yup." I asserted. "Teasing my friends is one of my chief joys in life."
"Friends." He repeated softly. His demeanor went from playful to serious in about three seconds. "We need to talk Lisa."
Warning bells went off in the back of my mind but I was still in playful mode. "We are talking dear, that's what we call this whole verbal exchange thing we're engaged in."
He sighed. "Lisa, do you think you could be serious for about two minutes?"
"I could try it…but if I'm serious, who will you be?" I quipped. (I think they call this avoidance behavior…ok, who let the Psychology teacher in?)
"Impatient."
"Oh…ok, you're impatient and I'm serious…so what's up?"
He fingered the pendant that hung around his neck…I noticed that he always wore it, though sometimes under his shirt. (A dragon pendant doesn't exactly go with a suit.) He cleared his throat and looked down at his lap. "You never told me why you asked me to stay…I have to know, why Lisa?"
It was my turn to look into my lap. From that vantage all I saw of Erik was his hand, fingers tapping restlessly on the blanket. I reached out and took his hand in mine. "Spam, but you do ask the difficult questions…I asked you to stay because of how I feel about you…I couldn't admit it to myself then, wouldn't admit it to myself, that I was in love with you." I still held his hand in mine, rubbing lightly at the back, admiring the graceful taper of his fingers. (Have I mentioned what beautiful hands he has?)
He spoke slowly. "You did not want to fall in love with me then?"
I sighed. "No, no, that's not what I meant. Let me explain. When I first met you I was already in love with your character. I didn't admit that to myself either, but I certainly had some romantic designs on you. Later, as I got to know you as a person and not some idealized character I felt my earlier infatuation was unfair to you. After all, you're a person, not just an opera ghost and you deserve someone who loves you for who you are, not for some fantasy you embody." I paused, this had to be one of the more difficult conversations I had ever engaged in. "But then I found I was in love with Erik, the man, not the ghost. Even after I finally realized that I couldn't admit it. I could only think that even if you did reciprocate my feelings for you, you deserved better than me. The night I asked you to stay I knew I was in love with you, I knew I could never forgive myself if you left…but I still couldn't say the words. I'm not really sure why…and now for the past week and a half I've trying to find the right time to tell you, but the situation never seemed right. I mean ‘I love you’ is not something you just burst out with while you're watching Austin Powers. I guess now is as good a time as any…I love you Erik." I whispered as I brought his hand to my lips.
I felt him move closer to me and then his other hand reached out and tilted my chin so that I looked into his eyes. He brought his face close to me as he spoke. "And I love you." He whispered, bringing his mouth to close over mine. It was one of those moments in life where the world could have ended and neither of us would have noticed. He pulled me into his arms so that I rested in his lap. No kiss I had shared with him, no kiss I had ever imagined, compared with this one. That kiss lasted either minutes or hours, his velvet tongue exploring my mouth, his hands running up and down my spine. When the kiss ended I laid my head against his chest so that I could hear his heart beat. We were silent for a long while, content to merely hold each other.
Erik was the first to break the silence. "Where do we go from here my love?"
It took a moment for his question to register but then I realized that I was suddenly in the position that I had been so nervous about all night. I took a deep breath. "I'm fairly certain we both know the answer to that question Erik. Which brings us to another rather awkward conversation." I paused, how do you talk to a 19th century guy about condoms and birth control?
"Birth control?"
I looked up at him with very wide eyes.
"Didn't think I would have thought of that? I've been in this century for almost three months…I've learned all sorts of interesting things." He grinned.
I smiled. "I guess so."
"And I understand if you don't wish to have a child at this point in your life."
I nodded. "I'm glad you do…I have no desire to follow that closely in mother's footsteps."
"Indeed…which brings us to the question…eh…what form of birth control?"
"Well, since we're only worried about kids and not any of that other fun stuff…I suppose pills would be the best way to go…however, I'll have to go see a doctor for those and that will take a few days at least. Somehow I don't think we could hold out that long."
He nodded in agreement. After a moment he cleared his throat. "Condoms then?"
I nodded, both surprised and relieved that he brought it up.
He looked down for a moment. "I…well, I don't have any on hand."
I took a deep breath. "I can't believe I'm saying this…but…I do."
He looked at me quizzically. "You have them with you now? Were you planning to seduce me mademoiselle?"
I blushed furiously. "Not exactly…look, we've been getting more and more…um…"
"Intimate." He supplied.
"Yes, intimate…over the past few weeks and well…it seemed a logical conclusion that eventually we'd need them. That and you know…they always taught us to be prepared in Girl Scouts." I quipped, giving the Girl Scout salute.
He gave a small laugh. "Somehow I doubt the Girl Scout handbook covered this situation."
I laughed too. "Actually you'd be surprised…where do you think I got my first sex ed. lecture?"
He looked at me, incredulous. "You mean they actually hold classes to teach people how to perform sex?"
I burst out laughing. "No, not exactly. They just make sure that the kids know…well, what all the parts are for, so to speak. Actually most classes deal a lot with STD's like AIDS and how to prevent them."
"Ah, I see."
"I wonder if it's this awkward for everyone." I said, a blush beginning to creep back over my face.
"Probably."
"Well…if we're going for embarrassing and awkward I'm might as well just ask."
"Ask what?"
"What color?"
"Color?"
"Condom. When the Condom Bunny came by the last month of school she gave me a green one, a blue one and a purple one." I stated matter-of-factly.
His eyes went wide. "The Condom Bunny?!"
"Yeah well…you know, breeding like a rabbit? A few folks dress up as rabbits and distribute condoms at school…we call them the Condom Bunnies. It's kinda funny and that way if you take one you don't have to be embarrassed by knowing who you got it from." I explained.
"Ah…your school is a very odd place, even for this century."
"Hey, with a name like Beaver, we're bound to be special…anyway, what color? We could go blue to match your eyes…although I've always been fond of purple myself." I batted my eyes, determined to use humor to keep my own nervousness at bay.
He raised an eyebrow at me. "Purple then."
"Purple it is then…of course we will have to get you undressed first." I said after fishing the purple condom out of my purse.
"Of course." He agreed as I approached him.
I kissed him and his arms slid around my waist as my hands worked at the buttons of his shirt. With half the buttons undone I became inpatient and slid my hands into the shirt. I pressed myself closer to him, my hands sliding across his back. He held me still tighter…and then we fell over.
I had him pinned to the floor, the both of us laughing. "So I'm a little repressed."
He smiled. "I did not say that I found this position to be a problem."
"Oh, really?" I said, bending down to kiss him again.
"Actually, I rather enjoy it." His hands began exploring the skin under the heavy artillery shirt as I finished unbuttoning his shirt. In a moment of lust induced bravery I pulled my shirt off and helped him with the puzzles that are bra hooks. (Yet another thing you have to wonder about explaining to a 19th century guy…after all, the girls in his time were wearing corsets…ouch!) Lust induced bravery can get you to do some things you never thought you'd do…like my hands, for example, which were working their way down to the waist of his jeans. My fingers fumbled a bit at the buttons but it didn't take long for me to undo them. (Gotta love a guy in button-fly jeans) He was still as I slid the jeans off and noted the appreciative bulge in his burgundy silk boxers (Hadn't you always wondered if the Phantom was a boxer man or a briefs man? Well…now you know, definitely boxers!)
"Now," I said, as I pressed my chest to his and kissed him. "Let's see if I did learn anything useful in Sex Ed." One of my hands slid down to caress him through the thin silk.
He groaned. "I congratulate whatever teacher taught you that."
"Well…I'm sure Mr. Pachenco would be thrilled to know I learned something in his class…but actually he gets the credit for showing several generations of high school sophomores how to put on a condom…I came up with the other move myself."
"Kudos to you then." He gasped as I slid his boxers off.
I smiled. "Time to make my old Bio teacher proud." I said, sliding the purple condom on. I had the strangest mental image of my old biology teacher doing the same thing to a test tube four years earlier. "See," I whispered leaning against him again, "I knew purple was your color."
"Let us find your color then." He kissed me before I had a chance to reply and, sliding his arms around me, rolled us both over. Erik smiled wickedly as his hands searched for the waistband of my jeans. His hands didn't fumble with the buttons or the zipper and it was not long before he had flung the pants across the room with a flourish.
I giggled as I watched my pants sail across the room. "Was that really necessary?"
"Absolutely." He affirmed, sliding a warm hand up my now bare leg.
"As long as you're sure." It was my turn to gasp as his hand slid up to my inner thigh.
"Positive." He whispered as he slid off the final garment and threw it across the room with equal flourish.
"I may need those later you know." I laughed.
"Not for a long while." He said, pressing the full length of his body against me.
I was going to reply, but at the feeling of his body, his skin, pressed against my own I lost my powers of speech. (Not to be regained for quite some time.) He should have been heavy but he wasn't, and when his mouth slid lower, pulling in a sensitive nipple…I thought I had died. This was the exhilaration of skydiving fifty times over. (which is pretty damn exhilarating!) My hands combed through his short hair as one of his hands slid lower.
Now, raise your hand if you remember the smut scene from the revised Black Velvet…jeez, I was just kidding, now stop being silly and put your hand down…really folks, I can't see you! Anyway, …do you remember the scene in Cassie, when Brooklyn wonders if he could do the same with his talons? Take a wild guess folks, it was that lovely 'let's gratify the girl first' move (chapter 16 to be exact). Well, it turns out my dear Erik had been doing his homework. I don't think I screamed quite like a wildcat, but hey, at that point I wasn't hearing anything.
When I was breathing at a relatively normal pace again I slid a hand between us and caressed Erik, who I knew had to be beyond ready. "Now." I whispered, stealing a move of my own from Black Velvet and pulling him against me with the assistance of my hands on his rear. (And what a lovely rear it is…anyway, I digress, cuz it's fun.) He lowered his head to my breast and took a nipple in his mouth as he slid into me. I was bracing myself for the pain I had always read about and heard described, but it never came. Instead a flood of sensation overtook me as he thrust again and again. He was balancing on his hands, not wanting to crush me with his weight but I pulled him down, wanting to feel the full length of his body against me. I felt my body convulse again as his went rigid. The only sound in my ear was his cry of release as he collapsed atop me.
We were slow in returning from our pleasure-induced stupor. Stealing dialogue again, this time form one of my own stories, I whispered, "Extraordinary." Unable to think of any other word more fitting.
Erik laughed, recognizing my quote and disengaged himself, laying on his side next me. "I suppose this means I pleased you?" He asked brushing my hair from my eyes.
"You know you did. You seem to be a master at anything you put your mind to…you certainly did the right research…did you read Black Velvet and Sanctuary before I came over? And you accused me of trying to seduce you!"
He laughed again, cuddling next to me. "I admit to reading them, but not recently…after all I do have…what do they call it? A…photographic memory."
"Then I thank all the deities for photographic memories!"
I will not regale you with the rest of my carnal exploits for the evening…let's just say we acted out quite a few scenes that night…and that morning….