by Kiru Taye
Her chin dipped and she lowered her gaze in a timid smile. He chuckled. How could she be so shy after what she did to him with her tongue this morning? Just thinking about it made his trousers suddenly too tight. He wanted a repeat performance. Fingers still in her hair, he gave a gentle tug and until she looked up at him. Amber eyes sparkled with sensual invitation.
He let out a groan and released her. Right here and right now, he was happy.
“You shouldn’t have let me sleep for so long,” she said as she swept past him and settled on the gold and brown, brocade-covered Victorian-style settee, feet crossed at ankles and tucked to the side. A ladylike pose, yet the silk robe stopped mid-thigh, showing off her legs. “I was hoping to sort out breakfast for you but you beat me to it.”
Pictures of Ebony sitting legs braced either side of him played out in his mind and he barely registered her words.
“Felix?” Her curved brow quirked in a bemused smile.
Snapping out of his trance, he shrugged and lowered his body beside her. “I just told Bisi what to prepare and hey, presto.” He waved his hand at the table.
There was a jug of freshly squeezed orange juice, a cafetière of fresh coffee, sliced melon crescents, omelette, and toasted bread. He poured a glass of juice and handed it to her.
Ebony sipped the juice. “I’m not sure I can eat all this. Maybe just some toast.”
He shook his head. “You have to eat. I can’t have you wilting away. What will your mother think?”
Head whipped back, she gazed at him wide-eyed.
“You remember Mum?” she asked and gave him a beautiful smile. “That’s great. Your memory is coming back. What else do you remember?”
Her palm wrapped around his lower arm, fingers caressing him.
The image of the elegant, dark-skinned, wheelchair-bound woman swam into his mind. But how did he do that?
He squeezed his brain, trying to remember more. But the memory proved fleeting and gone, his mind in a fog again. He shook his head in frustration.
“This is good. It means that soon, it’ll all come back.” She hugged him tight.
Inhaling a deep breath, he allowed the excitement in her voice to soothe his annoyance.
“Yes, you’re right. I’m sure it’ll happen soon. I’m in the right place.” He paused, hoping the rest would come to him quickly. Living with chunks of his memory blank remained totally frustrating. “So eat up. I don’t want Mrs. Duru giving me a hard time about not taking better care of you.”
He spread some honey on a slice of toast and held it up for her to bite into. As she did, a drop smeared her chin. Without thinking, he leaned forward and swiped the runny sweet with his tongue. He heard the hitch in her breath, and the pulse on the base of her neck jumped quickly. She’d made a similar sound last night when he’d swiped his tongue against her clit. Her eager response nearly undid him.
Heart racing, he fought to maintain control.
He took a fork and picked up some omelette.
“Open up.”
She eyed the omelette before parting her lips, eyes trained on him. Pink tongue flicked out and he placed the food in her mouth.
Rock hard, he shifted in his seat. His intention had been to show her so much decadent pleasure and hopefully wipe out his previous sins against her. Now, he ran the risk of blue balls syndrome.
At this rate, she wouldn’t be finishing her breakfast. Even after their early morning bout of lovemaking, this had taken him to total bliss and beyond. He wanted to haul her back into bed and start all over again.
No. She needed nourishment. Last night, she hadn't eaten dinner. She didn’t exactly look unwell but something didn’t seem right. At the thought, his heart pounded into his chest. Surely, she couldn’t be unwell. Maybe he should ask their family doctor to look her over.
He carried on feeding her and watched as she chewed each piece, every slide of her tongue against her lips and gulp as she swallowed fuelled his aching granite erection.
“You know now you’ve started this, you’ll have to keep it up.” She beamed a teasing smile at him.
“I intend to keep spoiling you. You deserve it.” He wiped some crumbs off her chin with a napkin.
“I hope we are like this always.” The melancholy in her voice clicked a warning in his mind. Her eyes lost their sparkle.
“There’s no reason why it should be any different, is there?” he asked and issued a silent prayer.
“I’m just saying ’cause sometimes, things change. People change. Nothing lasts forever.” She looked away.
The tightening in his chest made it difficult to breath. He couldn’t allow whatever had happened in the past to ruin this beautiful moment. Fingers gripping her chin, he applied pressured until she turned her head and met his gaze.
“Why are we worrying about forever when we have right here and right now? Sure, I want this feeling to last.” He drew in a steadying breath. “But just as I don’t want to worry about the past that I don’t remember, I have no intention of worrying about a future I can’t foresee. We need to take it one day at a time. Live for the moment. Are you with me?”
“I...I don’t know,” she muttered.
Her hesitation wrenched at his guts, a lancing poker on an open sore, the first time since the day she’d agreed in hospital to give their marriage a chance. Now the past threatened to dampen their bliss. He wouldn’t give up without a fight.
“Ebony, are you with me? In this journey, you are either with me or not. It’s a yes or a no. But you have to be completely honest. What’s it going to be?”
“Yes.” This time, she appeared more emphatic with her response.
Relief washed over him. He exhaled a deep breath he hadn’t realised he held and gathered her in his arms, forehead to forehead, eyes closed.
For a brief moment, he’d thought the joy had come to an end. More than anything else, the thought of losing his wife scared him. An irrational fear, considering he’d only known her for a little over a week, of what he could remember, anyhow.
And yet, a frown creased his brows. He needed to find out what went wrong between them and hoped Ebony would trust him enough to tell him herself. If she didn’t, he’d have to find another way.
“What do you want to do today?” he asked her when he leaned back, changing the subject.
“I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Just whatever you want to do.”
“Okay. How about you get dressed and I make a few calls. Then we can go out, to the beach. A day at the beach. Sun, sea, and sand. We can have a picnic, too. How’s that?”
She looked at his leg with uncertainty. “What about all that sand and your cast?”
“Leave that to me. Just worry about organising the picnic. The sea air will be good for us after those weeks in hospital.”
A smile lit up her face. “Sounds great. I’ll sort out the picnic. You go do whatever you need to do.”
He tugged her into his arms one last time, kissing her long and hard and letting her scent permeate his pores. When he released her, they were both panting hard.
Instead of carrying her back onto the bed as his body demanded, he picked up the cane and headed for the door, his missing memories uppermost on his mind. He turned just in time to see Ebony get up, walk into the bathroom, and shut the door. Something bugged his wife and he needed to know what. High time he spoke to Mark.
Chapter Six
Ebony stepped into the bathroom, overcome by a rolling wave of nausea, and rushed to the bowl to retch. It racked her body. She held on tight to stop herself from keeling over, her body weakened. When the ebb subsided, she sat on the cold tiles, relieved as they cooled her hot skin. Eventually, she clutched the edge of the sink and stood up after the queasiness subsided.
This could no longer be a stomach bug. It had gone on for too long. She racked her brain for what could be wrong with her.
It hit her. Oh, God! Hands griping the sink, her body swayed.
Period way overdue, s
he did the mental calculation. Had to be at least eight weeks late. At first, she’d put the lateness down to stress. Irregular periods occurred with her, partly why she got prescribed the pill.
And that was the other thing. She was on the pill, so she couldn’t be pregnant, could she?
Pregnant? God help her.
The prospect of a baby would change the dynamics of her relationship with Felix. A certainty. He'd been adamant about this one thing before they’d gotten married. She should’ve known their interlude in nirvana wouldn’t last long.
Sure, he seemed delirious about having her around. His desire for her would all change when he found out she got pregnant. If she’d gotten pregnant. Another wave of nausea hit her and she emptied out whatever remained from last night.
When she stood up again, she stepped into the massive shower enclosure and turned on the warm spray. She had to find out for herself and decide what to do before Felix discovered this. After showering, she got dressed and went downstairs to find her husband. She had to go out to buy the kit for the pregnancy test.
She found him in his office reading a newspaper, injured leg on a small upholstered foot rest. Reclining in an oxblood leather wingback armchair and with sleeves rolled up baring chocolate arms wrapped in sinewy muscles, he was a billboard for pure casual masculinity. An invitation for her to climb onto his lap. A shiver of pleasure ran down her spine.
Ignoring the naughty thought and the two leather armchairs facing his dark wood desk, she stood by the door.
“I need to go out quickly. I forgot I needed to get some stuff.”
“I sent Patrick on a quick errand with the Cayenne,” he said, glancing up from the paper. “I just wanted to make sure it was ready for our trip this afternoon. Let me call Kola to drive you.” He reached for the desk phone.
“No.” The reply came out sharper than she’d wanted and by the way his dark brow rose almost to his hairline, he noticed.
“There’s no need,” she continued to cover up her anxiety. “I can take one of the other cars and drive myself. I won’t be long.”
The words came out in a rush. The thought of being pregnant threatened to unhinge her. Oh, she would love to have a child. But this one spelled disaster for her blossoming marriage.
“Okay.” If he suspected anything, he didn’t show it.
“See you later.” Puffing out a relieved breath, she turned to leave.
“Hey. Don’t I get a kiss?” His voice rumbled behind her. Wood scraped against stone.
Not wanting him to know anything could be wrong, she clutched trembling hands to her midriff, walked to him, and sat on his lap. She lifted her face up to give him a brief kiss.
Hands wrapped either side of her head, he took over, greedy lips and tongue ravaging her mouth. She sighed and relaxed into him, hunger for him replacing worries.
“You better hurry.” Lips trailed the sensitive skin behind her left ear. “Otherwise, I’ll come looking for you.” Fingers brushed curly strands off her face, black eyes sucking her into a black hole of craving. “I’ve got plans for us this afternoon.”
She swallowed, working her heavy tongue.
“I won’t be long.” She sounded breathless and her knees trembled as she stood.
“Sure. I’ll see you when you get back.” Letting her go, he swatted her bottom playfully.
As soon as oak door shut behind Ebony, Felix picked up the cordless telephone and pressed the button to call Kola.
“Yes, bro.” The instant response.
“Ebony is going out. I want someone to follow her and find out where she’s going,” he spoke without preamble.
“Patrick should be back any minute,” Kola replied. “If not, I'll take her.”
“No. She doesn’t want a driver. She’s going by herself.”
“She is?” Kola's reply echoed Felix's reaction when Ebony refused to be driven.
She hid something from him. He sensed it when she walked into his office. She had tried to hide it but he knew something wasn’t right. Her body had been tense under his touch and she’d avoided his gaze. Her sudden need to go out shopping when earlier she’d said she hadn’t planned to do anything also made him suspicious. She’d even hesitated about kissing him just now. An almost imperceptible hesitation, but he’d noticed. She couldn’t still be shy about physical contact with him after all they’d done last night and this morning. Alarm bells went off loudly in his head. He knew better than to ignore them.
“That’s what she said,” Felix said in a hard tone.
“No wahala. I’ll follow her in the Range.”
Ordinarily, he should have implicit trust in his wife. Yet, there were so many unanswered questions about her, him, and their marriage. She knew what happened on their wedding night; she’d been there with him. Yet, she remained unwilling to tell him. He couldn’t shake off the look in her eyes, or the words she spoke sometimes, like this morning when he’d asked her if she was with him and she’d replied that she didn’t know. That had upset him but he had chosen to ignore it at the time. What it made clear to him was that she had doubts about their marriage. Doubts he didn’t understand but intended to, soon enough.
“No. I don’t want her to know she is being followed.”
“Okay. Freddy can do it using one of the smaller cars.” If Kola thought his request was strange, he didn’t indicate it in his voice, discretion being a major part of security. “Hold on a minute.”
Felix heard Kola issuing instructions to another man, presumably Freddy, who replied “Yes, boss” before Kola came back on the line.
“Ebony just drove out and Freddy is following behind,” Kola said.
“Good.”
If he’d done something wrong to Ebony, then he needed to make things right. However, he couldn’t do that if he didn’t know what he went up against. He had promised her he would be a good husband and he intended to follow through.
What if she had done something wrong? That might explain why she hid things from him. Yet, he couldn’t believe that she would. The devoted, loving Ebony he knew would never do anything to hurt him, would she? Pain twisted his insides like someone had stuck a knife in his gut, and he gripped the edges of his chair.
He would be a fool not to find out the truth sooner rather than later. His mother had left it too late to find out about his father’s infidelity and had paid the ultimate price. He wouldn’t undergo the same fate. But better off not thinking about it until he found out the truth for himself.
“Whilst I was in hospital, you drove her everywhere, right?” Felix asked, tapping his fingertips on the wooden desk top.
“Yes, either I or one of the other guys did,” Kola replied.
“I want a report of everywhere she went during that period.”
“I can tell you now. The only places she visited outside the hospital and home were her mother’s house and the shopping mall.”
“Are you certain?” Felix frowned.
“Yes. The team always provided an update at the end of each day.”
“Thank you. That’ll be all.” He hung up. Kola being the best at what he did, he trusted his words. They should have made Felix happy, but no. He still had too many unanswered questions.
After Ebony picked up the pregnancy kit from the pharmacy, she sat in the car in the shopping mall car park debating what to do next. She didn’t want to take the kit home and do the test there. Felix would likely see the result before she prepared herself to tell him. She could go to her mother’s, but her mother would have too many questions she wasn’t ready to answer right now. She picked up her phone from her bag and called Faith. It rang, then her friend picked up.
“Girl, you remember me today.” Faith’s chirpy voice resounded in her ear.
“Are you home?” She had to get straight to the point; otherwise, she’d lose her nerve. Moreover, her time lay short.
“Yes. Is everything okay?” Her friend toned her voice down with concern.
“I’m coming ov
er. I’ll explain when I get there.”
“Okay. See you soon.”
Ebony put her phone back in her bag and started the car ignition to drive to Faith’s waterside apartment in the Lekki peninsula. When she got there and Faith opened the door, she didn’t wait for the other woman to say anything.
“I need to use your bathroom.”
Faith looked puzzled but waved her on. “Sure. You know where it is.”
Ebony walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Taking out the test kit from her bag, she carried out the instructions. She left the kit on the counter and washed her hands before stepping out.
Faith stood in her living room, watching her with a curious expression.
“Ebony, I know that look on your face. What’s the matter?”
Ebony exhaled a deep breath, hoping to loosen the tension in her stomach. It didn’t help. She bit her lip, her arms wrapped around her waist. “I might be pregnant. Well, I’ll find out for sure in about three minutes.” She glanced at her watch, the knot in her belly tightening with anxiety.
“Wow, congratulations!” Faith said, moving towards her but stopped mid-step. “But I take it from your expression that it’s not good news. Why?” She folded her arms across her chest, her confusion obvious on her pretty face.
“Faith, I’m sorry I deceived you.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Ebony paced the room, unable to quell her agitation.
“My marriage to Felix is not real.”
“Not real. Are you on medication or something? Have you forgotten I was there as your maid of honour? I watched you take the vows and sign the certificates.”
“I know. I know. That’s not what I meant.” She sighed. “Let me explain. Remember the day we went out together right after I’d just arrived in Nigeria?”
Faith frowned.
“Come on, it was the day we met both Felix and his brother Mark at the bar.”
“Oh, yes. I remember now.”
Six Months Earlier, on the night Felix proposed to Ebony.
