Chapter 5: Early Morning Watch

A/N This chapter is a little more explicit than I thought it would be, please read with caution.

By the by, I don't own Cardcaptors

~*Story*~

Syaoran and Sakura arrived back at the ranch just as the moon reached its zenith. They both staggered into the bunkhouse just as everyone else was turning in. Sakura climbed into the bunk next to Tomoyo after checking on Eriol's bandages. His wound was healing nicely; she would remove the stitches the next morning. Tomoyo was surprised to see Sakura back so early.

"What are you doing back? I thought you were going to help Syaoran." After finishing this whispered statement a groan was heard at the entrance of the bunk doors. Syaoran was making his presence known.

Sakura whispered back, with her eyes never leaving Syaoran, " we were instructed by Hooku to come back and get some rest. Both Syaoran and I are on the third watch later this morning."

Tomoyo was looking back and forth between Sakura and Syaoran. "What happened? Were you guys not doing enough work?"

"No, we were eating our supper and they rode out of the blue, I guess they didn't need us there." Sakura saw the bed next to her dip as Syaoran flopped into bed with a groan.

Sakura leaned over to Syaoran, "what time does the third watch start at?"

Syaoran glared at Sakura and spat "five thirty." He promptly rolled over and began to make snoring noises.

Sakura lay back down and sighed. Tomoyo rolled back over "why is he so touchy?" Sakura blushed in the darkness; it would not have been noticeable if Tomoyo were not so close. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed as quietly as she could. "You didn't! Not again!" She made a slight screeching noise and dragged Sakura from the room.

"What happened this time?" She tapped her foot impatiently.

"Well...I dunno what to say..." Sakura hesitated. The last kiss that she and Syaoran had shared was not like the first one. She did not know what she was doing to provoke him, but it just kept happening. "I was trying to entice him into eating a sandwich by taking a few bites and the next thing I know he's licking mustard off the corner of my mouth and than we were kissing again!" This was said in a rush, Sakura was afraid that Tomoyo might interrupt again.

Tomoyo was looking thoughtful. "I think you guys will have to stay away from each other, you could come and work with me tomorrow if you want." Though the offer was tempting, Sakura knew that it could not be done. She did not want anyone to teach her ranching other than Syaoran.

"I don't think so Tomoyo" Sakura was trying to get her excuses lined up. "What would the other cowhands think? Plus I'm doing the third watch with him at five thirty." She sighed, though it was a little forced.

Tomoyo just smiled and said "alright, but no hanky panky." Sakura looked her friend in the eyes and smiled.

"I will do my best!" She saluted Tomoyo and headed back into the bunkhouse.

While the girls were outside Syaoran was tossing and turning trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in. Eriol, whose bunk was right next to Syaoran, leaned up on his elbow and poked Syaoran. "Quit moving, I can't sleep with you rolling all over the place. What's wrong?"

Syaoran knew that he could not tell Eriol that he had given into his desires yet again, so he lied. "I'm worried that I'm going to end up like you if I can't get all the work Doma has given me."

Eriol gave Syaoran a sympathetic look. "Don't worry, as far as I can tell Doma is not so evil as to make you do the work of three people." He reached over and patted Syaoran on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it tonight, you'll go on the watch with 'Saji' and then things will work out for the best."

Syaoran groaned inwardly, being reminded of the extra time he was going to have to spend with Sakura, alone. He was dreading five thirty. He finally fell asleep shortly after Sakura and Tomoyo crawled back into bed.

Five thirty came all too fast; Syaoran shook Sakura awake. "It's time to get up, sleepy head."

Sakura groaned, rolled over and shook her head. "It can't be five thirty already…" The groan persisted. Syaoran felt tempted to grab a glass of water and dump it on her to get her moving. Instead, he grabbed the blanket from the bottom corner and pulled it completely off her. Sakura shrieked, someone from another bunk "shushed" them.

Syaoran leaned in close to Sakura's face and whispered in her ear, "if you don't get up this instant I'm going to make you wish you had." The threat was one that Sakura did not want to see if he would follow through with, so she was up and out of bed in a flash.

They both headed to the kitchen to pick up some breakfast and than saddle their horses. They rode out in the rising sunlight towards the field. They relieved the two men and sat down to eat breakfast. Syaoran cleared his throat, to get Sakura's attention.

"About what happened yesterday, I want to apologize for my behavior, I liked it, but I will not let it happen again!" He tried not to make the same mistake again by trying to make the kiss disappear; he knew that was what was keeping him up at night.

Sakura blinked at him, "I know that your right, but I don't think that we can stop it from happening again. Now that we know what it's like." She blushed and looked away from Syaoran's face.

Touched by the confession; Syaoran slowly drew Sakura's face into his hand and leaned until their noses almost collided. "We are just going to have to try to keep our hands off each other, we can't risk the others finding out you're a girl. I don't want to treat you differently, but I know that you're a girl." He kissed her nose gently and pulled away.

Sakura felt the urge to pull him back to her and embrace him, she knew that she should not but...she gave into the urge. Syaoran was about to get up when he felt a tiny hand touch his elbow, grab his shirt and pull him back down to the ground. He landed with an "oof," Sakura launched herself at him and flung her arms around his neck. "Thank you Syaoran, for being honest with me."

Syaoran originally tensed, but feeling her soft body pressed against his he relaxed and retuned the embrace. First by placing his arms around her back, then slowly sliding them up to play with the tips of her hair. Sakura realized the position they were in and stiffened, "Sorry..." she whispered as she pulled away.

Syaoran did not want the embrace to end and tightened his hold; Sakura had pulled back just enough to end up face to face with Syaoran. She looked him in the eyes and moved in closer. Syaoran kept his eyes on hers, watching as her gaze flicked to his mouth and back up again. She moved in slowly and hesitantly.

Sakura was well aware that she had just agreed they should not kiss again, but they were all by themselves in the middle of a field and she could not help herself. She leaned in and let her lips brush his softly. She kissed both corners of his lips before returning to the center. She applied more pressure and slipped her tongue out to run along the seam as he had done earlier.

Syaoran was shocked and the desire that filled him after the first hesitant kiss should not have caught him off guard, but it did. He felt a fire ignite in the pit of his stomach and the tension that filled him. It was everything he could do not to crush her to him. He would let her take the lead this time.

Sakura applied more pressure and moaned when permission was granted; her tongue began its exploration of Syaoran's mouth. Syaoran, feeling the tentative exploration groaned and gave in. His hand fisted in Sakura's hair while his other moved to the small of her back, pulling her into his body as much as he could with clothing as his barrier.

Sakura felt the passion mount within her as Syaoran gave in and reciprocated. She could feel it spreading from her center outwards. She grabbed a fistful of the front of his shirt and slowly moved her hands up to the side of his neck to feel the heat of his skin against hers.

As if he could sense that she wanted to feel his skin, he had the same urge. He reached beneath her shirt and released the elastic fabric that bound her breasts. Sakura sighed when the restriction was released and than gasped as Syaoran's calloused fingers brushed the under side of her breast. She bit his lip gently as a response to the arousing touch. Having such a positive response, Syaoran grazed her nipple, which pebbled immediately. Sakura gasped again and clutched Syaoran's shirt harder.

Sakura wanted to feel more of Syaoran's skin, she reached towards his belt and grabbed the hem of his shirt and tugged upwards. She placed her hands on his stomach. The muscles beneath her fingers flexed and she giggled.

Syaoran didn't find it funny and retaliated by plucking Sakura's nipple. The sound of her gasp caused an influx of heat to shoot from his middle straight downward. He met her mouth again to catch the end of her gasp. He realized when goosebumbs made their appearance at Sakura's wandering hands that this could go farther than either of them might expect it to go.

"Sakura?" Syaoran tried to dislodge her hands.

"Hmm…" Sakura mumbled

"Sakura, maybe we should stop…"

It took Sakura a moment to come back down from the hormone high. She leaned back and looked at Syaoran. "Oh my…" she tried to remove her hands from his chest, but Syaoran kept them there.

"It's not that I want this to end, it's just this is not the time or the place for this to happen." He sighed and released her hands from beneath his shirt.

Sakura left her hands there for a few more minutes making slow circles on his chest. "Enjoying yourself are you?" Syaoran posed the question with a small smile on his face.

Sakura blushed and removed her hands completely. "Sorry, I've never had the opportunity to explore a mans chest before." She couldn't look at him while she said this, so she inspected a clump of grass that was next to them.

Syaoran was honored to hear this. He knew the implications of her confession. "Sakura, have you ever been kissed before me?"

Sakura looked up into Syaoran's eyes and nodded. "I have, but it has never been like it has with you." Syaoran knew that the innocence she was experiencing with him was a gift that should be treasured.

He took her hand in his and slowly stroked the back of it. "We'll try to take it slower next time."

"Next time?!" Sakura exclaimed.

With a smirk Syaoran said, "there is no way that I will be able to stay away from you forever. Even it means that I have to wait till we leave this place, I'll wait."

Sakura blushed, but squeezed his hand as acceptance.

"We should be almost done." Syaoran noted. As soon as the thought was completed, the sounds of hooves could be heard in the distance. Two guys had come to relieve them. There duties for the day were to plant post where Syaoran had left off the day before.

They headed back to the ranch just to grab a lunch and for Sakura to check on Eriol.

Eriol was still sleeping when Sakura entered the bunkhouse. She inspected the wounds and found the stitches ready to come out. She hated to wake Eriol but it had to be done eventually. She shook him awake and explained what she was going to do, he nodded. Syaoran entered the bunkhouse at the end of Sakura's explanation.

"I'll need to keep an eye on Eriol so that he doesn't thrash around too much." Syaoran nodded and watched as Sakura began to remove the stitches. Eriol didn't make a sound. Syaoran was impressed with his friend. Sakura dressed the wounds and left the bunkhouse.

Eriol was watching Syaoran watch Sakura. "What have you gotten yourself into Syaoran?" Eriol was afraid his friend was going to blow it for the girls.

Syaoran turned back towards his friend and tried to explain. "I don't know what's gotten into me. I mean I know that I shouldn't want her or want to kiss her so badly, but it always happens. And now I've promised her that next time we'll take it slow for her sake." Syaoran raked his fingers through his hair and sat down on his bunk.

Eriol tsked him and shook his head. "I don't know what to say, you're in way over your head. There is no way that you will be able to treat her like one of the guys in front of all the other guys. And than there's the fact that only you are spending time with her. People are going to get suspicious."

"I know, I know, but I don't want her hanging out with the other guys or letting anyone else teach her things. At least Tomoyo already knows most of this stuff." Another big sigh was expelled from Syaoran.

"All I can say is that you've got it BAD for that girl. I should be out in a day or two, according to the lovely doctor and her even lovelier assistant, and I'll be able to take some shifts with Sakura and you can take some shifts with Tomoyo" He patted Syaoran on the shoulder and turned over. "Get back to work before anyone notices you're slacking."

Syaoran left the bunkhouse and his sleeping friend to find Sakura waiting to go back out into the fields to do some hard labor. "Ready to go?" Sakura nodded. "Then were off" Syaoran turned and began marching in front of Sakura.

A/N I hoped you enjoyed chapter 5 of Wild Wild West. Please R&R and no harassments about saying the word nipple please. Until next time, à bientôt!

A/N So I hope none of my readers were too offended about the last chapter. Hope you enjoy this one.