Sapphira's Sin Ch. 05

Sapphira awoke with a spring in her step. Good sex could do that to you. Sin had left her the previous evening on the promise that they would have dinner at his place and she would be spending the next few nights. She had readily agreed, but what else would one expect with his hard flesh still pulsing deep inside of her? She was bound to be a captive audience to anything he had cared to suggest.

Quickly showering and dressing, she made her way to the office wanting the work day to fly by so she could enjoy the night. Sapphira waltzed into the office all smiles and sunlight. Kya greeted her warmly, immediately impacted by her sunny mood.

"Good morning. How are you today?"

"Great!" Sapphira answered, unable and unwilling to hide her joy.

"Good," Kya responded, not sure about this sudden about face in temperament, but certainly not about to question it. Best to get on with the work day and hope that it lasted. "There has been a slight change to your morning schedule. An emergency board meeting scheduled for 9:30. I've re-scheduled your 9 o'clock for tomorrow afternoon. The changes are in your calendar," Kya informed while pouring herself a cup of coffee.

Sapphira looked up in surprise. "Any idea what this meeting is about?"

"No. Just to clear your calendar for the meeting and that all managerial staff are to be in attendance. I could call Mr. Rockefeller's PA and find out if you'd like," Kya offered, anxious to preserve Sapphira's good mood.

"No, that won't be necessary. Thank you."

Kya turned to leave but was stopped by the sound of Sapphira's voice. "Kya, lets do lunch today. I'd love to make up for all my grumpy days to you, and I know the perfect place."

"Sure," Kya agreed, happy to fall in with Sapphira's plans.

The next hour progressed swiftly and by the time 9:15 rolled around Sapphira was feeling a little anxious. Her hand had itched with the desire to call Sin directly and ask him straight out, but she wasn't his lover right now, just another employee.

Sapphira took her seat to Sin's left and waited for the meeting to begin, careful to avoid eye contact with him in case some of the hunger she felt should show on her face.

However, as he began speaking it was only polite for her to turn her face towards him, and if her eyes were eating him more than looking at him then that could be forgiven in the circumstances. So intent was she on imagining his hard body naked that she didn't hear any of his words and was caught unawares when everyone began clapping and issuing congratulations.

Turning an ear towards listening from that point on, Sapphira heard his next words with mounting horror.

"Thank you for your warm welcome. Although I am deeply saddened that my father's health had to fail for my appointment to be made, I will honor his legacy and ensure that Rockefeller Enterprises continues to move from strength to strength. Our family will be holding a retirement party in his honor later this month and would welcome all of you to attend. Invitations will go out later this week. I anticipate minimal interruptions to business..." On and on it went, with Sapphira sitting as still as a statue.

So that was that? Ended before it had even really begun. Her glance stayed just to the left of Sin's shoulder and by neither a flicker of an eyelash or a twist of her mouth did she show that she was anything other than mildly interested in major changes to the company.

When the meeting ended Sapphira was the first to head for the door while others surrounded Sin to offer him their personal congratulatory remarks. She felt his eyes burning into her back as she walked away but she was too shaken up to care. Whatever happened, she certainly didn't want to give him the chance to hold her back in the boardroom again. One could only guess where that would lead.

Once back in her office, Sapphira informed Kya that she wasn't feeling well and intended to take the rest of the day off. "I'll try and work from home as much as possible. If any of the staff have an emergency, they are welcome to contact me on my mobile phone." With a regretful smile and a hand raised to her presumably ill feeling head, Sapphira sidled into her office.

She hastily packed her briefcase, making sure she turned her cell phone off before throwing it into her purse. She quickly made her way to the ground floor, looking over her shoulder as she gained the lobby. She could just imagine what she looked like to others, as one who was being pursued by an invisible demon intent on her destruction, but she couldn't be bothered to care. Her only thought was of getting out of the building before Sin could catch her and force her to talk about a situation she just wanted to forget.

Sapphira felt marginally better when she arrived home and sat down on the sofa with a pillow clutched to her chest and a cup of hot tea in her hands. Her gaze fixed blankly on the hot liquid as it sloshed about the cup. She looked at her shaky hands with disgust but that didn't stop the rattling sound. How long she sat there staring first at the tea, then her hands, then the tea, she couldn't be sure, but when she raised the cup to take her first tremulous sip, it was iced tea that greeted her tongue. She poured the cool brew down the sink and went to lie down still clutching the poor crushed pillow.

She fell into a fitful sleep that was disturbed a short time later by knocking on her front door. Sapphira curled tighter into her warm ball and ignored the knocking. She could tell by the increasing aggressiveness of the knocks who was on the other side of the door. She closed her eyes and wished him away, and at some point he must have gone because when she awoke next it was predawn and silent.

She rolled out of bed wishing she could hold back the day. A rueful smile curve her lips as she compared how she had felt the previous morning with her current state. The thought brought all her misery crashing down upon her once again.

Sapphira dragged herself in to work vowing to be productive, and above else strong in the face of overwhelming odds. She rescheduled her lunch date with Kya for later that afternoon and got to work. She hadn't managed to achieve all that much when the phone beside her desk rang out. She knew who it was by the hairs standing to attention on the back of her neck. Be strong she silently encouraged herself before reaching for the phone.

"Hello," she said in her coolest professional voice.

"Hello," the warm voice responded making her nerves tingle with anticipation of feeling that sexy rumble against her sensitized flesh. "I hope you're feeling better today."

"Much," she agreed.

"I'm surprised you made it in today. You must have been really sick to have left so soon after arriving. I even tried calling you a few times but you must have been too out of it to hear the phone ringing."

Sapphira refused to respond to his gentle baiting with an emotional outburst. She was certain he knew why she had left so suddenly and why she hadn't answered her phone, but she'd play it his way. "It's amazing how restorative a little rest can be sometimes. Thank you for your concern though. It's very touching to know that my boss cares enough about my personal well-being to check in on me."

Everything in Sin immediately rebelled at her labeling him as a mere supervisor when they both knew he was so much more. "I am more than just your boss." The words came out edged with aggression, but how else was he supposed to feel when she was treating him like just another co-worker.

"Of course," she quickly assured him. "You are also a treasured family friend." Let him mull that over and come up with something clever to say. She heard him inhale as though he were going to say something further and Sapphira rushed in to cut him off at the pass. "We had a deal Sin. The terms of which stated that if your position here became permanent then our relationship ended. So unless you have learned differently in the last 24 hours, then to my knowledge our relationship is over."

Sin maintained his silence for a moment trying to determine how best to proceed. He'd thought they were past those ridiculous terms. Did it matter? It wasn't as if he had a job to give or withhold from her. She was already CFO when he'd started. Who cared if they dated, or more accurately who cared if they were fucking?

"Of course," he readily agreed, shooting her own supposedly assuring words back at her. "Aside from all that, I was hoping you could come up and have a word with me about how things are progressing in preparation for the audit." He listened to the lengthening silence knowing she was wondering if she could trust him. If she had any sense she would know that she definitely could not.

"Now?" she questioned warily.

"If you have a moment," he affirmed.

"Okay," she acquiesced, like a lamb to the slaughter.

Sapphira gathered a few related files, printed a few documents and headed up to his office. When she was ushered in by his PA she motioned for him to leave the door open hoping that would ensure Sin's good behavior.

Sin invited her to have a seat. She gratefully sank down into the plush surface as her taut nerves screamed at her to get out of his presence. She opened the first file with purpose determined to get the meeting over with as quickly as possible. She started flipping through different timelines talking about where they were in terms of preparation and showing him some results from the previous years' audits. Sin stood over her left shoulder looking down at the documents, his body heat seeping into her body making her want things she knew she shouldn't.

"Won't you have a seat as well," she offered, uncomfortable with him looming so near.

"I'm fine," he declined. "You were saying." He waved aside her concerns making her feel somewhat foolish for even trying to enforce her will on him and thinking he might behave like a normal person possessing even an iota of decorum.

Sapphira continued speaking, but was only half paying attention to what she was saying as her body dissected his unique fragrance and her breasts thrummed with unassuaged desire. Despite her preoccupation she thought she was doing very well when without warning Sin reached over her to point at one of the charts she held. His warm breath fanned her neck and before she knew what he was about he had dropped his head and planted a small kiss behind her ear. His insidious voice crept into her mind and held as he spoke to her in a tone she was sure was meant to arouse.

"Did you honestly think that having the door open would stop me from having what I want?" His hand swept up and captured her aching breast brushing almost absentmindedly over the stiff tip. "From touching you the way I want? The way we both want?"

For a moment she sat in his arms like a puppet, not moving, not protesting, just accepting his caress, and finally her brain kicked in and her body protested in a flurry of motion. "Don't touch me," she rose from the chair slapping his hands away. Her angry flashing blue eyes warned him not to even look at her wrong, but per the usual he ignored all the posted 'Keep Off Property' signs and advanced closer.

"If you touch me I'll scream," she threatened.

"By all means, express yourself however feels best," he invited, calling her bluff.

Sapphira's anger was riled further by his words. "Do you think this is some kind of joke? Some kind of game I'm playing just so that you'll want me more?" His hand reached out to caress her face and she flinched away from his touch. "I don't want this...not anymore."

She turned away from him quickly gathering up her files. The look on his face would have been comical if she had felt like laughing, if the whole situation hadn't been so tragic. It could have been worse she comforted herself. She could have already thrown away her vibrator.

Sweeping past him out of the office she spared a last cool smile for his PA before disappearing into the elevator.

Over the next few weeks she made an art form out of avoiding him. Appearing before him only when she had to, always in the company of another. In the earlier days of her defection, he made the mistake of requesting a one-on-one meeting with her, only to have her leave early for the day saying she was sick. He quickly got the message that no meeting requests would be honored.

On another occasion he showed up at her office unannounced. It was he who got the nasty surprise when he found a temporary employee installed there "in preparation for the audit" he had been told.

With no other course open to him, he went out of his way to make it appear that he had given up and moved on. He counted on Sapphira believing that and dropping her guard. He plotted internally of ways to overcome her ridiculous objections as each day wore on without her presence in his bed, her smile in his life.

* * *

Saturday dawned bright and clear with Sapphira shopping for a suitable dress to wear to the retirement party being hosted at the Rockefeller mansion that night. She had toyed with the idea off and on about not going at all, but didn't want to appear a coward. Reason dictated she wasn't going to see and be seen anyway, but rather to say a fond farewell to Mr. Rockefeller whose open management style had encouraged her to grow and learn as an individual and to excel as an employee. She owed him a debt of gratitude that could not be repaid in a month of retirement parties.

Demure was definitely the word of the day as she didn't want to remind Sin of what he had once had and arouse his interest again. She was both thankful and hurt that since their last showdown he had seemingly lost interest in her, dating other women and likely bedding them as well. She could only speculate, but he always had that sated cat who got the cream look on his face.

She decided on a burnt orange silk dress that cut high on her neck and fell like a rusty waterfall to her ankles. The only concession the sleeveless dress made to modern fashion were the slits up both sides ending mere inches from her waist. The dress was mildly provocative, but she knew it to be quite tasteful in comparison to what some of the other attendees would be wearing. Besides, she didn't want to appear totally hopeless next to whatever woman Sin had in tow.

When Sapphira had finished dressing, she swept her hair up into a neat chignon not allowing even a single hair to escape the sleek style. She spent a few moments grappling with the straps of her stilettos before giving her reflection one last approving glance. She quickly gathered her purse and wrap as she heard the impatient honks indicating her taxi had arrived. Something in her said it wasn't quite safe to appear before Sin alone, but she let the feeling of security that had pervaded her life with the barrage of passing women in his life woo her into a sort of peace about the coming night.

She arrived fashionably on time and accepted a glass of champagne from one of the hovering waiters. Her all encompassing glance immediately scanned the crowded venue for Sin. Her eyes weren't long in finding him as he stood heads above some of his contemporaries, dominating the group with his charismatic presence.

Her envious eyes fell to the luscious blond curled into the curve of his body, one hand pressed across his chest in blatant possession. Her green cat like eyes devoured him as he spoke and her body language said that she would crawl inside of him to get closer if she could. One long red nail caressed a single button on his tuxedo as if she would like to slip her finger under it and strip him naked right there.

Sapphira had enough experience of his body and his nature to know that he wouldn't mind it if it meant he could immediately indulge his desire for all things carnal. She turned away in disgust as one of his strong hands came up to circle the blond's. The contrast of his dark skin on her milky white flesh made Sapphira's stomach churn sickeningly. Taking a hasty sip of her champagne to settle her queasy stomach, she tried to focus on other things.

It wasn't hard in such a lavish and jovial environment. She circulated amongst the guests, many of whom she knew, enchanting and engaging those she did not know. She was unaware of the dark eyes that followed her around the room devouring her every move. She had all but forgotten about him as she found herself enjoying the antics of one of Mr. Rockefeller's nephews, Thomas.

Graciously accepting his offer to dance, they drifted around the room to some slow love song, his hands placed intimately on the curve of her hips. She left them there even though her body screamed its adamant denial. If she was going to start getting on with her life then it had to start somewhere she reasoned. It wasn't until Thomas's hands pulled her just a little bit closer and she felt the unmistakable signs of his desire that she thought to reprimand him.

Before she could get the words out Sin had laughingly replaced Thomas's hard frame with his own substantially larger one. Sapphira immediately felt like she had come home as his strong arms enclosed her in a seemingly innocent embrace.

"I've missed you," he confessed into the top of her head.

She heard his words, the underlying silent plea in them, and stiffened in his arms. She felt the same, but refused to admit it and undo all the hard work she had put in place the past few weeks. "Please don't do this," her head drifted down to the comforting warmth and strength of his chest. "Not here, not now." Her voice sounded so weak and defeated and he reached to comfort her.

His head dropped down to the curve of her neck and she tried to pull away as his grip tightened, one hand sliding easily beneath the high slit in her dress absentmindedly caressing her thigh. "Admit you missed me too."

Sapphira's lips pursed tightly as though she was holding back some strong, not particularly flattering, words. She wouldn't confess anything to him. Not a single word. He correctly read her refusal and planted a gentle kiss in the curve of her neck before straightening.

"Don't you dare put those lips on me again," she hissed. Her reproof told him what she thought of his public display of affection, even though in a crush this thick she doubted anyone saw the kiss or could see the way he was forcing her body into close proximity with his growing arousal.

Her feet continued to move, but her mind had shut down. His caressing hand had a mind of its own and seemingly wanted only one thing. It slid across her thigh to the inner curve and back along the outside before drifting in again as though it couldn't bear to be so close to the ultimate prize and not claim it.

He felt the tiny shivers chasing through her body and delighted in her response.

"I dare much to be with you." His words let her know he was far from over her and beckoned to her aching heart to give them another chance.

"And I dare to call you a liar," she retorted. She lifted her head from where it rested against his chest and saw very clearly that at least one person was paying her attention. The hate filled green orbs were focused on Sapphira as if by looking alone she could set her on fire.

"Your lady friend is looking for you," she mocked, trying to withdraw from his embrace.

His head dropped so near to her own that for a moment she feared he meant to kiss her. "I don't care about her," he dismissed. "You're the one I want; that's why you're here in my arms." Their breath mingled and her eyes were locked on his mouth as though begging for what her mind told her would be wrong, wrong, wrong. After a long perusal of his sensuous lips, her eyes traveled the distance up his face to his glittering eyes to ascertain the truth of his words, not that it mattered one bit she told herself. The second their eyes locked his mouth dropped to hers.