Been super busy and having crazy writers block. This chapter was all I managed to eek out but I hope you enjoy! As always thanks for reading!
He'd was gone before the morning light had a chance to creep over the windowsill. The cold left in his wake seeped into her bones and chilled her soul. Why did she allow this the happen time and time again? The pillow where he lay was no longer concave from a head upon it; he must have been gone for hours.
She rolled onto her back and stretched an arm out in front of her. She watched in fascination as the light played on her narrow fingers. It had felt so nice to touch him. His skin was soft and always so hot like there was a fire inside him ready to ignite her.
Her hand fell to her side and she left out a shuttering sigh – it was becoming harder and harder to keep the tears at bay. Since he had confessed his strange "beliefs" about their life, or as he put it "lives" together, a rift had formed between them. With each day the gap became harder and harder to cross. It hardly seemed to matter that they were engaged; a fact her father was rather pleased with as he was marrying his daughter off to one of the wealthiest men in England.
But what good did marriage do when they had practically divorced their souls from one another? At this point their relationship had devolved into passions of the flesh where it once had been of the body, mind and soul. Oh, how her father would be livid if he knew she had known a man in any way. Yet, here she was, no stranger to a bed shared. But was it shared if her company never stayed to wake with her and bask in the daybreak?
Her face was wet with tears but she made no move to brush them from her cheeks; no one was there to see her. The maid would not be in for at least another hour and by then she would compose herself and go about her day. She would see her fiancé that afternoon for a luncheon with her parents and act as if his presence was not a thousand needles in her heart.
His words still haunted her. His deep voice had been so hypnotic while he said such blasphemy. She had almost fallen prey to it. How would he dare to say that they had known and loved each other for hundreds of years? She was barely a woman, not an ancient thing! When she countered by saying there was no way she could have lived that long and not remembered it he had the gall to say that she had been reborn again and again! As if there was another place to be reborn but in the Kingdom of Heaven! She was a good Christian woman. Her Protestant beliefs were her guide and moral compass of life. He had known that about her – they had met on a Sunday as she had left Church.
Since the initial conversation, the subject had not be broached, but the wedge it had left was deafening in its silence. If it was a joke on his part then it was poorly played. If he was serious… well, she wasn't sure she could accept that. If he was serious she might have to find a way to call of the wedding. The very thought of leaving him was a vice around her heart but she could not let her love of a man outweigh her love of her faith.
With heavy limbs she rose from her bed and walked over to the blinds. Pulling them back, Rhiannon looked out at the garden below her window; it was one of her secret pleasures to help the gardeners tend to it. The sight of it brought a wave of relief over her – she was strong enough to weather this storm. She would survive the tumultuous love of the foreign dignitary, Lord Sesshomaru Tashio.
Rin awoke to a bed not unlike that in the dream she had just had. The space beside her was empty and when she placed a hand on the sheets they were cold to the touch. Kenta had left a long time ago.
Rin bit her lip and rolled out of bed in search of her boyfriend. She hadn't meant for things to happen as they did, but she had wanted to forget about her confusion.
Maybe Kenta had known and was ashamed of her. Maybe he had left and this was the end of their relationship. The thought gave Rin pause as she slipped on her robe. If Kenta and her were through was that really such a bad thing? Rin tied the belt around her waist and went into the kitchen to grab a banana.
Her musings about the demise of her relationship were short-lived when she entered the living room and found Kenta sitting at the kitchen counter. He looked up at her over his coffee mug with a sheepish expression that bordered on melancholy.
"Sorry, I couldn't sleep," he murmured.
"It's no problem," Rin managed a weak smile back, no longer feeling hungry. "Sorry to do this but I remembered that I need to get to work early today." It was a lie but he didn't need to know that.
"Rin," he looked down at his mug, his eyebrows knit together. "I think we need to talk."
"Like I said Ken, I need to-"
"Rin, please, just this once can we talk without you running away?"
The words struck her as if he had physically hit her. She wasn't running away… she just… she… Rin looked at Kenta flabbergasted. She had never considered herself a coward but maybe the reason they had never had any meaningful conversations wasn't because of them but because of her.
"Rin, I'd never say it was a mistake. No, it wasn't. I'm glad to have been able to show you how much I care but, I think this needs to stop here."
"I'm not sure I understand." Rin stood rooted to her spot in the living room as she stared at her boyfriend with wide-eyes. It was one thing to imagine breaking up but another to actually experience it.
"I don't think I am what you need right now. I don't think we are right for each other, Rin." He finally looked up at her with glistening eyes. "But you looked so peaceful and god," he shook his head in disbelief, "I thought maybe we could make it work. But you said another man's name in your sleep. Damn," he laughed humorlessly and ran his thumb over the rim of the mug. "I thought that was the kind of thing that only happened in movies." Kenta pushed a hand through his hair and scrubbed his face with his palm.
She wanted to make it stop. While he was talking, her arms wound themselves around her stomach as if to keep her from bursting at the seams. Another person's name? That couldn't be real, could it?
"I couldn't just leave - we needed to talk first. I wasn't going to be the guy who broke up via post-it note or text." Kenta sighed and closed his eyes. "Rin, say something."
"Thank you for waiting," Rin's voice was shaking but with every word she grew more confident. "I'm glad we are both feeling the same way." She straightened up and forced her arms to her sides where her hands curled into fists. "Thanks for being so understanding. I hope your flight back to Chicago is safe and uneventful." Rin turned away and breathed in deeply. "I'm going to get dressed now. We can leave together, okay?"
She didn't wait for a response as she rushed back into her room and slammed the door behind her.
Their good-byes had been short; a quick hug and a promise to keep in touch. Rin knew she'd have to eventually break the news to her parents but that seemed like far too daunting a prospect to handle now.
The office was empty when she arrived - granted she was 2 hours early. A quick look at Mr. Tashio's calendar told her that he would be back within the next three hours. There were plenty of emails for her to go through and a ton of thank you cards to send out of his behalf. It was becoming increasingly clearer with every passing day that being a secretary was more or less the same as a personal assistant to Mr. Tashio. Too bad she wasn't paid like one.
The time flew by as she listened to The Cardigans and sealed a plethora of envelopes. The –ding- of the elevator was her first indicator that she had been working for far longer than she thought.
Rin jumped out of her seat and smoothed out her skirt. She grabbed the briefings she had prepared for her boss off the corner of her desk and scurried over to the elevator to greet him.
"Mr. Tashio, good afternoon. These are the briefings you had requested earlier and there are a few forms for you to sign from the trustee of the conservation board. Your charitable donations and events coordinator requested that you meet with her if possible to talk about your next event as well."
"Ms. Sato." Mr. Tashio looked down at her and took the files she held out for him. He quickly went through them before nodding and walking into his office.
Rin followed behind with a pad and pen at the ready – she'd be damned if he wasn't thoroughly impressed with her by the end of her time there. Since school was a breeze for her right now, she figured she could just throw herself into her work here.
"Ms. Sato, I need to go over your schedule. Things have been working out well with my business plans as of now. I've given Rebecca as long as she needs for maternity leave as well. Therefore my requirements and needs for assisting have increased greatly. If your schooling does not permit a more," he paused for a moment and Rin swore she saw a ghost of a smile, "more robust schedule than I will need to find an alternate for you."
"School is not a problem. I think I can manage."
"You think or you know?" He sat down and opened the first of the briefings, scanning through it as he waited for her response.
"I can, Mr. Tashio."
"Very well." He reached into his inner pocket and pulled out a cell phone. "This is for me to reach you. It is only for our communication. Keep it will you at all times. This also comes with a significant raise."
"I," Rin looked down at the phone, unsure of what to say, "thank you, Mr. Tashio. Is there anything else I can do for you right now?"
"That'll be all."
Rin scurried out of the office, barely able to contain the glee bubbling up inside her. Wishful thinking paid off for once!
His hand slid down her side as he lapped at her neck; she tasted like honey.
Her soft mews of pleasure only spurred him on as he gripped her hips tightly and ground into her, a growl rumbling in his chest.
Her small hands reached around and curled into his hair, effectively holding him against her body. Her soft blond curls brushed against his chest like feather down.
"You're in a good mood this morning," she murmured, her voice low with sleepiness. He could picture the lazy smile spreading across her angelic face.
"It's hard not to be," he replied, his fingers deftly awakening her as he stroked her folds and pressed a leg between hers, spreading them apart.
"My love, it is so early in the morning. Paris is sleeping."
"Don't worry, René. Your screams will wake them soon enough."
"You dog!" she laughed as she rocked into his hand, not seeming to mind that he was continuing to touch her – she was already dripping wet from his ministrations.
"If only you knew," he spoke against the soft skin of her shoulder, knowing that she couldn't hear a word of it...
"Mr. Tashio, can I get you anything for dinner? It's just past 6:30."
Sesshomaru looked away from his computer screen - not that he had been focusing on it in the first place - and over at Rin who was leaning around the door rather than opening it fully and coming inside. The angle of her body pushed her cleavage up and gave him an ample view of her beasts; breasts that he wanted to sink his teeth into… literally. He would have to rid her of the habit of not entering properly.
"Ms. Sato, it is unbecoming to gawk at me from behind the door. Either enter fully or leave."
Rin visibly tensed at his blunt critique and straightened up, opening the door and entering his office. "As I said," she spoke tersely, "Is there anything I can get you for dinner?"
"Order from wherever you are ordering from," Sesshomaru replied, as noncommittal as ever.
"I've brought food from home," she stopped for a moment, thinking over her next words, and then spoke slowly. "If you'd like some, it's pretty good."
"Hn," he hadn't been expecting that. "I don't eat home cooked meals." He waited a moment to gauge her reaction and was pleased when her face fell; she must have wanted him to say yes. "But that is because I'm rarely able to cook."
She perked up again immediately, which pleased Sesshomaru and his inner beast immensely. "I just need to heat it up. Be right back, Mr. Tashio."
She left the room quickly and Sesshomaru leaned back in his chair contently. Perhaps it wouldn't be too hard to be around her, all things considered. When she returned he would subtly work into the conversation what she had been up to the night before and hopefully figure out who he'd need to remove from the equation.
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