by Kiru Taye
“Oh, Nawa.” Kamali pressed his forehead against Ebun’s. “You don’t know what you did for us. Your blood now runs through her veins so you are her mother. I’m sure Fari echoes my thoughts and in fact I know she wants you as her mother.”
“She does?” She tilted her head back so she could look into his eyes.
“Yes. She told me she prefers you to Laila.”
Ebun’s eyes brightened. “That is the sweetest thing I ever heard.”
Then her face darkened. “Talking about Laila. She came to the office to see you yesterday. She’s been trying to contact you without luck. I told her I’ll tell you to call her.”
He reared back. “You want me to call Laila?”
She nodded. “The two of us came to an understanding. We’ve agreed to be co-wives. Although I don’t know how that’s going to work out, I’m willing to give it a try for you and Fari.”
“You’re serious?” He covered his mouth with his hand.
“I am,” she said in a soft voice. “I want to be a part of your family, a part of your life. I want you to be happy and I know being the next chairman of DG will make you happy.”
“No,” he said.
“No?” She stared at him as if he’d lost his mind.
For the first time in years his mind had the clarity of the blue sky on a cloudless morning.
“No. Being chairman will not make me happy. Yes, I will do good things as the head of the Danladi Group of Companies. But that wasn’t what drove me.” He exhaled a sigh. “The ambition was driven by competition to succeed over my cousins and to show that I was better than them. I wanted to show them, that although my father abdicated his position, I wouldn’t do the same thing. It was pure vanity and ego-driven.”
“Are you saying you don’t want the position any longer?”
“I still want to be chairman. But I don’t need to be chairman. And if I become chairman, I want it to be because I merited it. Not because I bought votes by marrying Laila.”
“What if they don’t vote for you?”
“Then it’s their loss, not mine.”
“You’re serious about this.”
“Yes, I am. This is happiness right here.” He squeezed Ebun’s and Fari’s hands. “Knowing my daughter will be well again and knowing that you will become my wife are what I need to be happy. Everything else is a bonus.”
Her eyes twinkled. “So no Laila?”
“No Laila. You are enough for me.”
“And you are everything to me. But there’s something I need to tell you. Not in front of Fari, though. And I need to get a drink from downstairs.”
She jumped off the bed and took his hand. She grabbed her shoes but didn’t wear them and also picked up her purse.
They walked out of the ward and down the stairs. At the drinks dispenser, she bought two bottles of Coca Cola.
“There’s a bench outside where we can sit and talk.” She walked towards the main double doors.
He assumed she didn’t want to chat in the foyer, although it was almost empty with just the nurse at the counter.
Outside, clouds obscured the stars and moon and the air hung heavy. It was the wrong time of the year for rain but there could be a flash one on the way.
Security lights lit up the paved courtyard with trimmed hibiscus hedges forming a small garden section to the right.
To the far left stood the visitor's car park where his chauffeured car was one of only three others. The driver was probably asleep in there. He should’ve sent the man home.
Ebun dumped her bag and drink on the bench. “Please, sit.”
He lowered his body to the wood and leaned back. “What is it?”
Her hand flailed in the air. She tipped her head back and puffed out air before facing him.
“I never thought that we would get to this, that we would become an item.”
“What are you talking about?” He crossed his arms over his chest.
“You know that my father left us in the UK and came to Nigeria to live with his family here. Years ago, I saw the pictures of my half-sister’s wedding in a Nigerian lifestyle magazine. I’d gone to the hairdresser to get my hair done. Right there on the coffee table were my sister and her new husband splashed on the front page.”
She pointed downwards as if the coffee table she spoke about was right between them.
“Can you imagine how it felt sitting there while everyone in the salon fawned over how lovely my sister looked in her wedding dress and how gorgeous her husband appeared? I wasn’t even invited. There was my father, playing the proud parent. I was infuriated and jealous. I hated my sister for having my father’s affection. But I hated her more for marrying such a handsome and successful man who obviously adored her from the way he stared at her in the photos.”
Propelled by the hurt loaded in her words, he stepped forward and engulfed her in his arms. “I’m so sorry for the way your father and your family treated you. They don’t deserve you.”
“You haven’t heard the kicker yet.” She looked up at his face. “The man in that photo, the man who married my sister? That was you.”
His body went cold and he dropped his hands from her shoulders. “What do you mean?”
“My father’s name is Oladipo Atta.”
Pain exploded in his gut as if she bludgeoned him with a sledge-hammer.
“Toyin was your sister?” His mouth felt full of sawdust and his throat was raw.
“Yes. I’m sorry. I should’ve told you earlier but there was never the right time.”
“So all this time. You planned all this.” Were his sins so great that The Almighty had cursed him with another manipulative woman?
“How could I? I got the job purely by coincidence. Danladi Cements merged with my old company. I had no hand in that.”
Fair enough. She couldn’t have known that he’d been growing the business aggressively through acquisitions. She hadn’t been senior enough in the old firm to engineer a business merger.
“Still, when you came to work for me, you knew who I was.”
“Of course I did. I’ll admit I was fascinated by you. I wanted to work with you. But you never showed any amorous interest in me, so I never pushed it.”
“Then I invited you to Katsina and gave you the opportunity,” he said in a sharp tone.
“Yes. The opportunity to get to know you," she sounded frustrated. "The opportunity to fall in love with you and your family.”
“Do you expect me to believe that? At the start Toyin said she loved me. Meanwhile she lied and cheated all through our marriage.”
“And you don’t know how much I hate her for what she did to you.” She swiped the tears falling down her cheeks. “I’m ashamed that she was my sister. I’m sorry.”
Her voice broke and she hugged her midriff.
A lump formed in his throat and he struggled to swallow. He sat on the bench and held his head in his hands.
The wind had increased and rain was imminent. They should go inside. But he couldn’t bring himself to move.
Could he really compare his late wife with her half-sister? While there were similarities that now seemed obvious, the two were different.
Toyin had never apologised for what she did. And here was Ebun, apologising on her behalf.
But Ebun was still related to Toyin. How could he tell if she was manipulating him now? Could he take the risk of his heart being ripped apart again?
“I should go,” she said in a choked voice. “I’ll see if there’s an Uber car available to take me to the Hilton. I checked into a room earlier.”
He lifted his head and stared at her as she pulled her phone out of her bag. She sniffed and wiped her face again.
She was sensible by going and giving him space to think.
He should be focused on his daughter’s well being. Not worrying about being tricked and lied to again. Toyin had nearly broken him as a man. He couldn’t go through that again.
So it was probably best to
let Ebun go.
But he couldn’t shake the niggling suspicion that if he let her go now, he wouldn’t see her again. It was there in the determined set of her jaw.
Letting out a heavy breath, he spoke softly. “You know your father will never agree with you marrying me. He thinks I killed Toyin. He’s not going to hand over another daughter.”
She turned to him and took a step in his direction. “Do you think I care about what he thinks? I don’t. He left me and turned his back on me when I needed him. I choose you over him.”
He shook his head. “You can’t choose me over your father. He will always be your father.”
“Yes, I do.” She knelt down in front of him. “I choose you, my love. Please be my father, my brother, my friend, my lover. But most of all, please be my husband and my heart.”
He closed his eyes as a tear seeped through.
Ebun leaned forward and pressed her soft lips to his cheek. Her musk filled his nostrils with each inhalation.
“Mali, I love you,” she whispered against her skin, baring her soul to him. “Please love me back.”
He opened her eyes and looked into the shimmering depths of hers. She had already proved her love again and again. There was no doubt in his mind.
“Nawa, I don’t know how to not love you,” he spoke in a low tone as his pulse raced and tingles ran over his skin. “I submit myself to you as your father and your brother, your friend and your lover. You will be my wife and my heart. My love for all times.”
“Oh God.” There were tears in her eyes as she pressed her lips to his.
He held her face and savoured the feel of her skin but didn’t deepen the kiss. They were in public and not yet married. Something he would rectify soon.
He pulled her up as he stood. A drop of rain splashed on his forehead. “We need to get inside.”
He grabbed the bottles while she took the bag and they hurried indoors.
“I can’t wait to tell our daughter that we’re getting married soon,” he said as they stood side by side, waiting for the lift.
She grinned at him. “I love the sound of calling her ‘our daughter’. But wait, did you say ‘soon’? Like how soon?”
“As soon as Fari gets out of the hospital.”
“But that’s only a few days.”
“I’m sure if I speak to Mum she could organise something in a week. I had a big wedding with Toyin. I’m not looking forward to another big one. Unless that’s what you want?”
He glanced at her as they entered the lift.
“No. I don’t want a big wedding. But why does it have to be so quick?”
“Well.” He took her hand. “Celibacy is disapproved and so is sex outside marriage. So the next time we make love I want it to be with you as my wife. I don’t want to wait too long.”
She smiled and lowered her long dark lashes. “Then, we better get married ASAP.”
Epilogue
Four weeks later Kamali and Ebun were married in a traditional Hausa wedding. Once Mrs. Danladi senior found out of their intentions to be wed as soon as possible she’d balked at the idea of a small, quiet wedding.
“There’s no way I’m letting my son have a hush wedding as if there is something shameful to hide. Those types of occasions are for people who are pregnant and have to rush so the bump doesn’t show. And I know you two are too sensible to bring such dishonour to this house,” she had chided.
Ebun had been mortified but had quickly gotten over her embarrassment. These were the Danladis and they were nothing if not direct.
She had eventually gone to visit her father in Ilorin. The first trip had gone well. The man and his wife had seemed happy to see her. On the second trip, she had taken Kamali and revealed him as her intended husband.
Her father had turned belligerent, sending Kamali out of the house.
“If you marry that man, I will disown you,” he had threatened.
Ebun had been weighted down with sadness because Kamali had predicted this outcome. Her heart had broken for Kamali. The hatred from her father was unnecessary. Toyin continued to poison their lives even from the grave.
“You disowned me twenty-five years ago,” she’d said to her father before she left his house.
Kamali had been waiting in the car for her. He had trusted that she would choose him over her father like she had promised.
And for that she loved him even more.
Although she’d disliked the long wait to become Mrs. Danladi, it was well worth it. They entire week of celebrations was perfect, thanks to Kamali’s mother.
Even her brother, Tunji had been part of the two witnesses from her family that had signed the marriage contract in the Daurin Aure. Tunji had made peace with Kamali because he wanted to maintain a sibling relationship with Ebun.
Ebun’s mother had flown in from the UK for the occasion too, her first time in Nigeria.
For their honeymoon, they spent a week enjoying the sun, sand and sea in Mauritius.
Their first night alone, they made love in the moonlight, with the wind flapping the voile curtain of their villa.
It was a magical night, desire flaring, the unfulfilled need they had restrained for weeks now let loose.
She lay on the cool cotton sheets, skin tingling and pulse racing in anticipation.
Seeing him standing in the dark, in all his glory, silhouetted by the silver light of the moon, she sucked in a deep breath and filled her nostrils with his woody spice.
He was everything she craved and more, masculine and magnificent. The man had captured her heart and vowed to cherish it forever.
She wanted to get his very essence imprinted into every pore of her body and her soul.
“You are beautiful,” he said in a husky voice as he climbed on the bed, pressing his hard planes against her soft, lush curve.
He made her feel exquisite when he caressed her skin and buried his nose in the silky strands of her hair.
“And you are my very own tall, dark and handsome,” she said in a low, smoky tone as passion raged inside her.
He was gentle and sweet, but his muscles strained and bunched as if he restrained himself from taking her fast and hard.
He lowered his head and kissed her, tracing his tongue along the seam of her mouth.
A tremor ran through her body, pure anticipation pumping in her veins, as she twisted with erotic pleasure.
She moaned, opening her lush lips, and with such an irresistible invitation, he delved in, kissing her with a thoroughness he hadn’t displayed before.
He slanted his lips, deepening the exchange, tongues tangling. He tasted indulgent and spicy, and she lost herself in his taste. Good thing, she lay down already.
She dug fingernails into his bare back, her body trembling and writhing.
His hard-as-a-brick arousal pressed against her belly and his lips trailed down her cheek to her neck.
Caressing her skin, he licked her collarbone.
She tingled all over as he glided his left hand down her chest and cupped her breast, the globe filling his hand with pliant flesh.
Her skin burned with heat despite the breeze.
She lifted her legs, corking them over his hip, moulding her body to his.
A groan escaped him when her hot, wet mound rubbed against his erection. She rocked against him, sliding over his erection in a desperate motion.
“I’m trying to be gentle, Nawa. You’re not making it easy,” he said in a sexy, gruff voice when he stared down at her, his eyes hooded and blazing with lust.
“I don’t need you to be gentle.” She bit her bottom lip and wriggled her hips. “I just need you.”
He groaned and sweat broke on his skin. His arousal hardened and swelled, pushing against her labia.
She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his shoulder, tasting his salty skin. Her hands moved to his back, caressing the firm muscles.
"You are a feast to be savoured, a queen to be pleasured,” he said before dipping down to swi
pe his tongue on the valley between the globes of her breasts. "Delightful."
He lowered his head again and sucked in a hard nipple into his mouth. Her fingers clutched his shoulders as her back arched off the bed, pushing her breasts further into his mouth. He repeated the action with the other side.
"Mali!" She gasped out his name this time.
“I love it when you say my name like that.” He continued pleasuring her, making her insane with lust.
She rocked her body into his.
He surged and ground onto her hips.
He traced his fingertips along the seam of her lower lips covered in a strip of trimmed hair. His questing digits met hot and slick flesh.
Her body became electrified and she whimpered as he caressed her folds. She parted her legs, inviting him inside her as he knelt between them.
He positioned himself, nudging her slick entrance as he lowered his head to take her lips in a kiss that relayed his hunger as well as his affection. Then he thrust in, her tight walls of heat expanding and contracting around him.
She mewled as he groaned, both swallowing each other’s cries.
He started slow and easy, sliding in and grinding against her. The sound of their love-making filled the air, joining the sound of the sea against the sands.
Before long, they were both gripping each other and chasing the pleasure making their flesh tingle and their hearts pound in rhythm.
His thumb played a tune with her swollen bundle of nerves. She surfed, cresting the waves of passionate fever.
Soon he joined her, his body tensing as he panted above her.
Afterwards as they clung to each other, enjoying the afterglow, Ebun couldn't help the warmth that spread in her chest or the smile that curled her lips.
Her life wasn’t perfect but she wouldn’t change it for the world.
She didn’t have love from her father.
Instead she had the loves of an amazing husband, a wonderful daughter and a fantastic family.
Thank you for reading Bound to Favour. If you enjoyed this story, please remember to leave a quick review at the site you purchased the book.
For information about my upcoming book releases, please sign up to receive my newsletter on my website www.kirutaye.com