A/N: Yup it's me again still alive and finally updating!
Sorry for my delay especially for those who waited, I hope you like it!
Arrgg…I have to do that boring disclaimer thingy before I start so let's just get it over it,
as if you didn't know that I don't own CCS and well that this is my version of Anne Stuart's story "Prince of Swords".
So there, now I can begin!
…
"Syaoran!"
Lady Akisuki's less than genteel bellow was unmistakable echoing through the great house, and Syaoran's instant thought was murderous indeed. He didn't want to stop. He wanted her to kiss him back. He wanted to unlash that passion deep inside her.
He wanted to unlace the back of her decent, boring dress, and bare her breasts for his eyes, his hands, and his mouth.
"Syaoran!" Nakuru bellowed again, once more displaying the manners of her youth. She was getting closer.
With a sigh of regret Syaoran released Sakura's mouth, her breast, her body, stepping back, surveying her, she was leaning against the door, breathless, panting slightly, her eyes shut.
Her mouth was damp and reddened from his passionate kiss, her face was pale, and she looked as if her safe little world had just tipped over. He could only hope it had.
The sight was so delicious, he almost reached for her again, but the doorknob turned and Sakura was thrust toward him abruptly as Lady Akisuki barged into the room.
He caught her arms, careful to keep her face away from Nakuru's until she recovered some of her wonderfully disordered senses.
She glanced up at him, and there was such confusion, pain, and longing in her mysterious eyes that he felt the first pang of guilt he'd experienced in years. He reached out an involuntary hand to touch her, reassure her, but she had already swept around, away from him, brushing past Lady Akisuki with no more than a murmured farewell.
Nakuru surveyed him with grim humor.
"You've been a naughty boy again, Syaoran," she chided him, her arch tones making his skin crawl. "Don't you know better than to interfere with the bourgeoisie?"
"I thought she was a Gipsy," he drawled.
"You know perfectly well she's not. She's a decent, unimaginative English maiden whose father was Lord of the best association of archeologists in Egypt and of course a grand master from Japan."
"So I gather."
Nakuru blinked "You mean she told you?"
"Of coarse not. I have my own sources of information, Nakuru, as do you. I'm perfectly aware of Miss Kinomoto's background."
"Then you should know better than to try your wiles with her."
"I know better, Nakuru. I just don't choose to act on that knowledge. She's a bit too delectable to pass by. You know I could never resist a challenge."
"Silly boy. Experience is always preferable to awkwardness." She batted her creped eyelids in a grotesque attempt at flirtation.
Syaoran was not in the mood for this. Now that he knew who Sakura was, he no longer relied on Nakuro Akisuki for his connection, but common sense told him that she would be a dangerous enemy to make.
"Come now, Nakuru, if you had to choose between an aging rouge like Walkerfall and a young, untried buck such as Rolfe, it's more than clear which one you'd choose. You enjoy a challenge just as much as I do."
"I suppose I do," she said with a sigh. "Still and all, Shaoran, you've always managed to elude me."
It makes me far more interesting," he murmured, moving toward the door. "Forgive me if I take my leave of you, my lady."
Nakuru sank heavily into a chair "Go away, go away then," she said crankily and waved her hand toward him "But firs tell me, what do you intend to do about the girl?"
"Seduce and abandon her, of course. What else would you expect?"
"You're an evil soul, Syaoran. I've always liked that about you. You remind me of me."
Syaoran managed a faint smile that was just this side of sneer. "You flatter me, Nakuru. No one can even, approach you for sheer malice." And her laugh echoed in his ears as he made his escape.
:
A weaker, more vulnerable soul might be close to tears, Sakura thought as she hurried through the darkening streets of late afternoon. Another female, less certain of her lot in life, might feel shaken, overset, disturbed. But not Sakura.
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; Flashback ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
"You have a rare gift," Megumi told her years ago.
"You see the cards more clearly than anyone I have ever known. But there is a price to be paid.
To keep that gift you need to remain pure. Untouched, unsoiled by the hands of men.
You can never marry, never, never mate with a man. If you do, your talent will vanish and the cards will be no more than plain ordinary cards with pretty pictures.
Let a man touch you and kiss you, let him lie between your legs, and all of what I would have taught you will be for nothing.
You must choose, love, and you must choose wisely, for there will be no going back."
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; End of Flashback ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
And Sakura Kinomoto, who at the tender age of ten considered the male of the species nothing more than and annoyance, and the act of procreation utterly disgusting, agreed without hesitation.
She was doubly glad of her choice now, she told herself wrapping her shawl around her body even more tightly, and reaching up a surreptitious hand to scrub at her mouth.
Never had another person touched her in such a way.
His mouth had been hot, hard, damp, his tongue an intrusion that made her shedder in horrified memory.
His hands were hard as well, with narrow, strong fingers that had held her prisoner. She would have bruises, she was certain of it. He was a monster a depraved, cowardly villain…
She realized absently that her fingertips were stroking her mouth. She pulled her hand away with a horrified gasp, ducking her head and moving onward down the crowded streets.
In truth, now that she had time to think about it, it hadn't been that awful. She could see now why most women wouldn't mind such importunities. Why, some of them might even welcome sush a languorous assault.
But not Sakura. She had made her decision, and if she's to be alone then alone she'll be. And Lord Li would have to find himself someone else to play his cat-and-mouse games with.
The phrase rang uncomfortably in her head, and she could see his piercing auburn eyes clear in her mind.
If she had any sense at all, she would do a reading when she got home.
She tried to keep the cards away from Tomoyo and her mother, they worried too much, and Mrs. Daidouji of Kinomoto had been jealous of Megumi's influence, even after Megumi had died of old age.
She could lock herself in the bedroom and lay them out. Except that she already knew what she would discover.
The cards danced in her head quite clearly, and she shook the memory away. She didn't want answers to her unspoken question.
She didn't wand Syaoran Li in her mind, in her life, teasing her, touching her.
What dark secrets lay beyond hid indolent exterior was none of her concern. And so she would tell Clegg if he made any more demands.
Once again knowledge was coming uncomfortably close, knowledge that angered and frightened her.
She would keep her distance from Lady Akisuki. The heavy purses she offered were no match for the harsh behavior of her hulking servants.
Or the demoralizing effect of the Earl of Xian Lang when he put his mouth on hers.
:;
The wolf was back on the prowl again.
It was a cool, dark night, a few short weeks after his last wicked visitation, but Syaoran was restless, and he had no illusions as to what caused his current frustrated state.
Miss Kinomoto had proven to herself to be annoyingly reclusive.
Wein had managed to get a tremendous amount of sum for Nakuru's ugly gems, more than enough to keep Syaoran in reasonable luxury, but he was bored.
If he couldn't have Sakura of the translucent eyes and the most delicious mouth he had tasted before, then he'd simply have to distract himself with the pleasures of a burglar as the Wolf.
As it was, he was more interested in Sakura than he should have been.
A careful man would have been determined to keep his distance from those too observant eyes.
Ah, but when had he ever considered himself a careful man?
Besides, it would be a simple matter to distract her from unfortunate alliance with the constabulary.
He simply had to seduce her.
Somehow he wasn't finding the notion of such a sacrifice to be unduly arduous.
A/N: Well I hope it was of your liking this chapter, bit short i think. So that's why maybe I'll update sooner, but first i must finish my very long us history summer assigment due the 1st day of school :-(. and it really would be nice to have some reviews ;-)
Thank you very much to everyone who reviewed!
blueducky511: Hi! tHaNk yOu fOr ReViEwIng!
Oh and about Tomoyo and Sakura, in my version they're cousins, but more like sisters, and Tomoyo is older than Sakura, but in the real story Sakura is the older. But I'll explain all that in another chapter (I still have to sort out some things) because I know some things are probably confusing or going to. hehe
dragon 9: ArIgAtOu! i'LL dO mY bEsT! i hOpe yOu kEeP LikInG aNd RevIeWiNg my StOrY! ;-)
Alpha2Omega: GrAcIaS! (Thank you!) for reviewing:-)
pure-lilly: aRiGatOu! tHanK yOu fOr yOuR ReViEw I rEalLy ApPrEcIaTe iT, aNd FoR eXpLaInInG tO Me WhAt tHe STORY ALERT wAs! HoPe yoU liKed ThIs ChaPPy ;-)
black wolf chic2: MeRcI! I hOpE You eNjOieD thIs ChApTeR :-)
Snpdgg09: Grazie! tHanKs FoR rEvIewIng, i dOn'T tHiNk I'm rEaLly tHaT GoOd buT tHaNkS, aNd aBouT tHe AgEs YeAh I kNow ThEy aRe a LiTtLe bIt aWkwArd, bUt YoU kNow It wAs cOmMon bAck In tHoSe tHeyS, iN fAcT In tHe rEaL stoRy SyARon Is LiKe 40 aNd SaKuRa liKe 20. And EvEn In tHis DaYs yOu'lL fInd a LoT of pAirIngS wItH 4 oR mOre YeArs oF DifFeRenCe.
dragon-skies: ArIgAtO! thAnk yOu fOr tHe rEvIew, oH aNd yEah I dId kInd of HaD a vAcAtioN hehe ;-)
MysticSilverHawk: MeRci! i'M gLad yOu LikE tHe StORy, ThAnkS fOr yoUr rEviEw
black wolf chic 2: haha thAnKs aGaiN foR reViewIng, jUst dOn't die ok? ;-) thAt wOulDn'T bE goOd fOr mY reCoRd hehe
Well I ReLly aPprecIatE tHaT yoU rEviEwed aNd GlAd to KnoW yOu lIke the StoRy
uNtiLl nExt time
ya-ne