His Fallen Angel:
Chapter Nine – Rejected?

Sakura sat at the expensive dark-wood desk, her hands in her knees nervously as she started down at the sleek black keyboard in front of her. She had refused to really look around at the desk just yet, her heart beating nervously fast.

She wore a nice rose-pink suit; the skirt reached just above her knees and the jacket stretched three-quarters of the way down her arm. She wore a nice white blouse underneath, unbuttoned down two buttons to expose only a bit of skin, yet not low enough to show anything off. Her beautiful auburn hair was put up into a small, messy bun.

"Don't worry," the woman who was training her, Haruko, smiled warmly to Sakura, catching her attention. She gently placed a pile of folders and papers onto the desk beside the keyboard. "You'll be fine, hun."

Sakura gave her a shaky smile and nodded graciously. The woman smiled again, then walked away toward the elevator to return to the first floor to finish her work.

Sakura looked up at the computer screen, then to the pile beside her and sighed, though happily. A small, more ensuring smile crept onto her face. She was honestly happy that she had been offered the job. Not only was she now working and earning clean money, she was also working near Syaoran. She had all but jumped up and down when Syaoran had told her the good news only two days before.

"A job?" Sakura's mouth fell open slightly. "At the office you work at?"

Syaoran nodded, beaming. "It'll be perfect, Sakura! The money is great and you'll be able to go to school in no time." He paused, then smiled a bit more uncomfortably. "And I'll be close by, so if anything happens to you..."

Sakura smiled and ran into his arms, pushing him back a step. She giggled and then leaned up and kissed the tip of his nose. "Thank you, Syaoran! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

He merely chuckled to himself and pulled her closer.

Sakura's smile widened as she pulled her comfortable seat closer to her desk and began sorting through the folders to put the information into the computer. She was at it for three hours before Syaoran was out of his meeting and came to visit her. He leaned over her desk, simply watching her with a dumbfound smile on his face. She was too tuned into her work to realize he was even there, her mind completely focused on the computer.

After watching her like a love-sick puppy for five whole minutes, a goofy grin broke out over his face and he finally spoke up. "Hey, beautiful."

She jumped, obviously frightened. Her hand flew up to the spot above her racing heart, earning a chuckle from Syaoran. She looked up to see him restraining himself from letting out more than a simple chuckle. Her eyes narrowed, "Syaoran Li! Don't you scare me like that!"

"Terribly sorry," he forced his chuckle into a mere smile. "I didn't mean to, but I was wondering if you cared to join me for lunch, m'lady?"

Sakura giggled at his suddenly polite, old-style talk. When she calmed herself, she simply shook her head. "We have work, Syaoran."

"We also have a right to eat," he pointed out. "You're allowed a lunch hour, Sakura."

She began chewing her bottom lip nervously. "I don't know. I have a lot of work to catch up on..."

Syaoran gave a small sigh and leaned over the desk to grab the phone. Before Sakura could question his motives, Syaoran was already speaking into the mouthpiece.

"Hello, Haruko," he said politely. "I understand that you're busy, but would you mind telling my dear Sakura that she's allowed to leave her desk to go get lunch?"

Sakura burned bright red, scowling at Syaoran as he handed her the phone with a huge grin. When she put the phone to her ear, the woman on the other hand began to scold her and all but yell at her to leave for an hour to eat.

Sakura sighed and put the phone back on the receiver, then glared at Syaoran. "That wasn't nice, Syaoran. Haruko must be busy herself. There was no need to phone her."

"Oh, calm down," he chuckled. When she mumbled something too low for him to hear, he simply smiled and walked around the desk to hold out his hand to her. "C'mon, Sakura, please? Please join me for lunch?"

Sakura stared at him for a minute longer, then with a sigh gave in and reached for his hand. He smiled warmly, almost a smirk, and led her to the elevator and out the building. He drove them to fancy Italian restaurant a few blocks away, earning a confused glance from Sakura. She knew the restaurant was top of the line, and that you needed a reservation to get in...

Syaoran walked up to the booth, his hand latched lovingly onto Sakura's, and greeted the man standing behind the entrance booth with a small nod. "Two for Li, please."

The man scanned through his book and nodded, asking them to follow him. As they began to weave through tables, Sakura felt Syaoran's hand leave hers to wrap around her shoulder instead. She didn't think much of it though, her mind too focused on how he had done all of this.

They stopped at a small, two-seated table safely tucked away at the back. The man who had led them pulled out a chair, letting Sakura sit down. Blushing, she took the seat and let him push her back in. Syaoran, smiling, took the chair across from Sakura.

As soon as the man left them, another man came up to their table. "Can I get you anything to start with, sir?"

Syaoran nodded, practically beaming. "The lady and I will start off with water, thank you."

When he left, Syaoran turned back to Sakura and had to stop a chuckle from leaving his mouth again. She was frowning, though not in an angry way. She was obviously trying to think. She seemed almost confused, which he had expected. When he had gotten out of his meeting earlier, he had called the restaurant right away to make a reservation. It was lucky that he had been able to get a table at all in such short notice.

He reached across the table and held out his hand. Sakura, still deep in her thoughts, brought her hand up to the table and settled it into his palm. With much tenderness, he wrapped his fingers around her small hand and held on tightly, lovingly, lightly tracing her knuckles with his thumb.

"We have an hour," he reminded her, "and we both deserve a nice, fancy meal. After all, we really didn't celebrate much when you first got the job. So think of this as your congrats for landing the job."

After a moment, she smiled warmly at him, pushing down the blush demanding to make it's appearance. "Thank you, Syaoran."

It didn't take long after that for their waiter to return once more with their water, and take their orders. Syaoran, having already scammed through the menu, asked for two chicken parmesans, a side order of garlic break and one small caesar salad for the both of them. Once the food came, Sakura began mowing down immediately. She closed her eyes in absolute pleasure as she placed a fork twirled with pasta into her mouth, giving a small 'mmm'.

She opened her eyes and mouth to thank Syaoran, but stopped when she realized he hadn't yet touched his food. Instead, he seemed to be glowering at something across the room, his eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.

"Syaoran...?"

"Those bastards," he growled the word, "are looking at you like some kind of meat. I don't like it."

Sakura followed his gaze to see a table of three men looked over at her. When they realized she was looking back at them, they all grinned. One man even waved her over, earning a low growl from Syaoran.

Sakura somehow found the means to smile and turned back to Syaoran. "You know, that can be fixed."

He turned back to her, frowning, his eyes still blazing with anger. "How?"

She smiled seductively, though not meaning to, and curled her finger toward him, as in a 'come hither' motion. He gave her a confused look, but scooted his chair around the table so he was sitting beside her. She stood up and pulled his plate toward him, then sat back down and leaned her head over to rest it on his shoulder. She placed her lips on his jaw in a comforting kiss, and smiled when he got what she was up to. He wrapped an arm around her, claiming her.

"That's how," she whispered, kissing him again. "Now they know I'm with you."

Syaoran gave a small chuckle, then urged her to continue eating.

b.K.d

By eleven o'clock that night, most of the employees at the office were gone home and the janitors began to come out to clean up. As one man began his routine job cleaning up the third floor, he saw a small light on at the secretary's desk. He frowned and turned off his vacuum to see what was going on.

There, sitting behind the desk, was a beautiful young woman with silky auburn hair. She had her desk lamp on and as a radio by her computer played music. Her hands gripped a book (he caught the author's name; Jane Austen). She was oblivious to him, completely memorized by her novel.

"Err," he stumbled. He was use to the lawyers being around sometimes this late, but not the secretaries. "Miss, it's getting late."

Sakura's head shot up toward the man. After a second, letting his hazy words become clear in her mind, she gave a small smile. "I'm sorry. Am I in your way?"

"No..." he shook his head. "But it's getting late."

She smiled. "Yes, I know. I'm waiting for someone."

The man looked at her for a moment, his eyebrows scrunching together, before turning away to continue vacuuming while mumbling to himself. It wasn't right that someone was making her wait.

Sakura watched him leave, then sighed and put her book down. She turned up her small radio slightly, since it was hard to hear over the vacuum; she couldn't listen to it during business hours, but music had always relaxed her, so as soon as the office was officially closed for the night, she made sure to turn it on.

She meant to continue reading at that point, but the deep female voice intrigued her. The lyrics quickly captured her attention as she clung on to each word. After each verse, her eyes grew wider and wider. And then, realization dawning on her, she smiled; it was just like her life. At the end, she caught the name of the song and artist and scribbled it down on a scrap piece of paper, then tucked it into her book.

She waited an hour longer, turning back to her book, before a small knock came from in front of her desk. She looked up to see Eriol standing there, his eyes dark with sleep, as his knuckle rested on the top of the wood.

She smiled, "Haven't seen you today."

Eriol smiled back; God, it was good to see Sakura smiling again. To see her back in her old, child-like nature. "Meetings all day." When she nodded, he continued with the message he had wanted to drop off with her. "Syaoran's been locked in his office for a bit and isn't answering. He usually finishes up in an hour or so, but I can drive you home now if you want."

Sakura shook her head, still smiling. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'll go check on him and wait for him to finish."

Eriol came around the desk and bent down to give her a quick, friendly hug, taking Sakura by surprise. "We've really missed you, Sakura."

She smiled and hugged him back. "Sorry to worry you."

He gave a small chuckle, obviously a mix of nerves and relief, and turned to leave after wishing Sakura a good-night.

When he was gone, Sakura got up from her desk and wondered down he hall to Syaoran's office. The light was still visibly on behind the frosty glass windows and door, but the door was closed. She lightly tapped her knuckles against the glass door.

"Syaoran?" She called out. When he didn't answer after a moment, she frowned and called out again. When he didn't answer again, her hand went for the doorknob. It felt wrong to open his door without permission, but she was honestly worried.

After she turned the gold doorknob, it effortlessly swung open for her. Sakura gasped at the scene, her hand flying up to her mouth to stifle her surprise.

There, behind Syaoran's desk, was a sleeping Syaoran; his body hunched over, his head resting in his arms on the desk, cheek pressed against the wood.

She giggled to herself, then mentally scolded him; she knew he wasn't getting enough sleep. Then, slowly and quietly, she tip-toed over to his desk and stood beside him. She gently shook his shoulder, cooing his name.

After a moment, he began to stir. His body jerked slightly, but not uncomfortably to her hand, and sleepily he began to sit back up. Sakura pulled away as he stretched and rubbed his eyes, then turned his head and tried to focus on her. He had to blink a few times, his eyebrows hitching together, before he seemed to realize who she was.

"Sa-Sakura?" He stumbled, sleep very obvious in his face.

She couldn't help but giggle. He just looked so silly, with the one side of his hair sticking up from sleeping on the side of his head, and his shirt all wrinkled, and his tie all over the place. He looked like a wreck. "Yes, Syaoran?"

His eyes widened as realization dawned on him. "Oh, man, Sakura! I am so, so sorry! I didn't mean to fall asleep. Crap, you have to be so tired by now and I haven't even gotten you home. Crap! I am so sorry!"

Sakura giggled, waving her hand. "It's fine, Syaoran. You're obviously tired." She placed her hand around his upper-arm and tried to pull him up. "C'mon, let's get you home and into bed."

"No!" He said frantically, standing up so quickly Sakura had to snatch back her hand. "Crap, and I had everything planned out for tonight! I rented a movie, and we were going to leave early to watch it together...Dammit!"

Sakura smiled. "You rented a movie? Which one?"

Syaoran blushed slightly. "Ti...Titanic."

Sakura felt her eyes widen and heart skip a beat. Titanic. There was a lot of meaning behind that. On their first date when they were thirteen, Syaoran had taken her to see the movie in theatres. It had been one of her favourite memories. And when Jack Dawson died, she had found herself crying. The crying turned to bawling when the older Rose fell asleep and had died. It wasn't when she had died that got to Sakura, though; it was the fact that Jack had seemed to be waiting for her, holding out his hand and taking her hand into his when she reached back out for him. It was amazingly sad, and Syaoran had held her as she, like many others in the theatre, cried their hearts out. Of course, a week after the movie, he had teased her about being such an emotional girl.

Blushing as well, she smiled. "That's...That's very sweet, Syaoran. Thank you."

He smiled back and opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly interrupted by Sakura. A motherly look suddenly appeared in her eyes. "But! You are still going to bed when we get home." When he tried to argue, she continued. "You're dead on your feet, Syaoran. We can watch it tomorrow."

Syaoran pouted and pulled her into him. "I know, but I'll be working late tomorrow though, Sakura. We won't be able to. And then I'll have to return it."

He began to leave small kissed in her hair and then, slowly working his way down, on her forehead. After a moment, Sakura found herself melt into a puddle and nodded, giving in.

Syaoran smirked and wrapped his arm around her waist to hold her as they left the building. Sakura found herself pouting now; damn, he always got his way.

b.K.d

Syaoran slid in the DVD and hopped back onto the couch, wide awake now. Sakura, who was already sitting on the couch dressed in her comfortable nightwear (grey sweatpants and a thin-strapped tank top), snuggled up to Syaoran. He was also dressed for sleep; in a cotton white tee and green-and-blue plaid flannel pajama bottoms. He wrapped an arm around Sakura, pulling her into him, then picked up the remote and pressed play.

When the part where Rose and Jack were standing at the stern of the ship and Jack was helping Rose 'fly' came on, Syaoran subconsciously tightened his hold on Sakura. And in response, also subconsciously, Sakura cuddled into his side even more.

"I've always found this part romantic," she mumbled. "Especially when he starts to sing in her ear."

Syaoran smiled and nodded in agreement. Then he smirked and leaned down to have his mouth close to her ear. As Jack began to sing, so did he; "Come Josephine in my flying machine, going up - she goes...up - she goes..."

Sakura turned bright scarlet red and shivered. Syaoran, chuckling softly, pulled away from her ear and tightened his arm on her once more before turning his attention back to the movie.

And then, when it came to the time when the two were running away from Cal's bodyguard/valet, Spicer Lovejoy, after Jack draws Rose nude, Sakura felt herself shudder once more but it went unnoticed by Syaoran this time. There was a small tickling sensation on her hip, and when she looked down, her heart began to beat faster.

Syaoran had pulled her pants down enough to expose the skin on her hip and was lightly tracing small, slow circles on her skin. When she looked back up at him, his eyes were glued to the screen with a blank look on his face. He was obviously oblivious to his actions, the movement in his hand completely unknown to him. And her reaction was definitely going unnoticed by him.

She tried to go back to the movie. It was now at the part where Jack and Rose were jumping into the car after narrowly escaping capture by running through the boiler room to the luggage area.

But when Jack asked 'Where to, miss?' and Rose whispered into his ear 'To the stars', and she pulled him into the back seat...Sakura felt her own breathing begin to become embarrassingly louder with each passing moment. It wasn't helping that Syaoran's circles were now slower and larger, slowly increasing up her side. She glanced over to him again, to make sure he wasn't trying to mess around with her, and realized, again, that he was still oblivious. He honestly wasn't aware of what he was doing.

She turned back to the movie just in time to see Rose's hand slide down the fogged-up glass in the parked car.

And Sakura finally lost all control. Her eyes and focus refused to stay glued to the movie and she turned back to Syaoran. Her hand inched up and rested on his chest. "Syaoran...?"

His eyes darted down to Sakura, and she had to stop a gasp from leaving her mouth. The look in his eyes was a look only he could give her. Lust clouded his eyes, and though she had seen it in other guys, only he could give her that particular lust-filled look. The look not only lustful, but also loving and caring. Adoring, even.

The hand not on her hip reached down for her face and cradled her cheek. His thumb began caressing her skin, and Sakura's breath hitched when, now that he was aware of it, his hand on her hip inched up enough under her shirt to caress the side of her unbounded breast. He lowered his face to hers, letting his warm sweet breath roll off onto her face. His breathing was raged and loud, as her was. It was quickly apparent neither was paying any attention to the movie by now.

Sakura pressed herself up, roughly pressing her lips to his. Quickly, both began to move their lips against the others, battling for dominance. When Syaoran gently bit on her bottom lip, then licked it over soothingly, Sakura couldn't compress the moan that left her lips. Her moan opened her mouth enough for him to thrust in his tongue, and the dance-of-the-tongues began.

Never letting their lips stray from each other, Sakura got to her knees. Syaoran's hand immediately travelled to her hips and gripped both sides of her. She moaned again and threw her leg over his legs to straddle him. As soon as she sat, she ground her hips down. His hands tightened on her hips as a low hiss of pleasure left his mouth, making Sakura smile. She could feel his hardening member beneath his thin flannel pants.

When they finally had to pull away for air, Syaoran's lips refused to stray from her. He began to leave hot, gentle kisses on her collarbone as Sakura began tugging on the hem of his shirt. Getting the hint, Syaoran pulled away only long enough to pull his shirt off and threw it away, not knowing or caring where it landed.

Sakura only let herself marvel at his perfect, toned chest for only a moment before she leaning forward and began trailing light, small kisses over his chest. As she kissed one side of his chest, her hand went up to the other side. Her thumb began to lightly flick over his small nipple, earning a small, throaty moan form Syaoran.

His hands went two separate ways; one went to her hair and began to gentle run his fingers through her silky mane, while the other hand went to her ass and began rubbing circles on the cheek.

"Syaoran..." she sighed against his warm skin.

His eyes shot open and his actions suddenly stopped as her voice rang in his ears. His hands went limply to her hips. Sakura, catching this reaction, frowned in confusion against his chest and sat back up. She quickly met his eyes; his wide, frantic, panicked amber eyes.

"Syaoran...?" She began, confused. Her hand reached up for his face, but he flinched away. Even more confused, she pulled her hand back.

"I..." he began, turning bright red. "I...I...Oh, God, Sakura...I'm..."

Suddenly, Syaoran's hands gripped her hips tightly, almost painfully. He picked her up and threw her back-first onto the couch's cushions. She landed with a small bounce, but he didn't seem to notice. He literally jumped off the couch and flew down the hall at top speed, rushing into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind him.

Sakura, dazed and confused, laid there as she heard the bathroom door slammed shut. Second later, she heard the rushing water of the shower being turned on full-blast. Her first thoughts were to run after him and see if he was alright; maybe he was sick. And yet, with her breath still heavy and ragged, she could only lay there.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, tears of rejection began to slowly sting her eyes.

He didn't want her. Not that way, anyway.

She pulled herself off the couch and went straight to her room, which was directly across the hall from the bathroom. She was vaguely aware that the movie was still on, but her thoughts were much louder than the stupid movie.

Anger and rejection, and frustration and lust, and hurt and confusion soared through her small body as she entered her room, ignoring all sounds from the bathroom, and slammed the door shut herself. She threw herself onto the bed, tears spilling over her eyes, as she grabbed her cell phone off the bedside table. She quickly scrolled through the numbers on the thin pink phone and stopped when she found the name she wanted.

Tomoyo.

b.K.d

Syaoran turned the shower on as cold as it could go and made sure it was on full blast. He quickly shed his pants, finally freeing his very hard, erected cock. He put his hand in the shower and groaned angrily when he realized it was still warm. Needing release, and quickly, his hand went to his erection. He lightly traced it once, shivering at the touch, then wrapped his entire hand around it and began to pump.

Through all the years he had been away from Sakura, not once had he dated. Not once had he found another girl. And therefore, not once had he engaged in any sexual activity; he hadn't wanted or needed it. And he had never wanked off, having never needed to feel the release or pleasure.

But at that moment, he needed it like he needed air. It wasn't a want, it was a sudden must.

As he moaned loudly and bit his lip to stop the sound from growing, having found his release, he was vaguely aware of the door slamming from out in the hall. Still needing to calm down even after finding the release he so desperately had needed, he now climbed into the freezing cold shower, shivering as the freezing pelts of ice-water hit his back.

He closed his eyes and lifted his head up, letting the water spray through his hair and run along his face.

"Sakura," he sighed, finally able to find his voice for what he had wanted to say earlier, though he knew she couldn't hear him now. "Sakura, I'm sorry."

Author's Note: Eek! I'm sorry everyone...I really haven't meant to neglect this story . When I got back to school from the holiday, it was major work overload and I was completely stuck on this chapter. I knew how it'd end, but I was stuck for the their date at the restaurant. You can thank xXShining ShadowXx for the sudden breakthrough (sorry hun, know I said it'd be up yesterday but I had to finish my essay before I was allowed to finish anything else . . .)

AND WOW!! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! That was fucking awesome! I got THE most reviews for that chapter than any other! -hugs everyone- Thank you thank you thank you!! And I wanna press my luck this time ^.^'' sooooo...let's say ten reviews and I'll update for the weekend? ^.^ Please and thank you, my friends!

I believe there will only be one more chapter plus an epilogue, but I am thinking about making a sequel, if this one goes well enough. When I post the next chapter, I'll put up a poll on my profile for your guys opinion ^.^

XoX ... Riva ... XoX

Next Time...: Syaoran has his reasons for not doing anything with Sakura, but what were they? And what does Tomoyo say Sakura tells her what happened? She won't run away again, but what does she do now that she's been rejected, again?