by Kiru Taye
His hands trembled with rage as he suddenly felt confined. He needed some space to walk off the fury in his veins. He really wanted to get his hand on his mad brother. He couldn’t stop the car. They were nearly at the airport and they still had a flight to catch.
“You would like that, wouldn’t you? You want me to be single so you can have your wicked way with me with no guilt. Well, sorry to disappoint you. The wedding is still on.”
Shocked, he reared back, the violent thoughts in his mind taking a back seat for a moment. “You can’t be serious. You’ll stay with a man who will be verbally abusive? What would he have done if you had that conversation in his presence? Hit you?” His stomach churned with outrage at the idea.
“Come on. He was only angry. Can you imagine what he felt when he received the news on the phone that his fiancée cheated on him with his brother? Of course I expected him to be angry. He’ll cool off soon enough and come back to his senses. If anyone has the right to call off the wedding, he has. Not me.”
Paul shook his head in disbelief, his eyes watching Ijay’s face. Her chin was set stubbornly. She really meant her words.
“I can’t believe you’re saying this. I can’t believe you’re defending Vincent. He’ll not let up, I promise you. Things will only get worse with him when you eventually see him. You have to cancel your engagement before it’s too late. You’ll cancel it.”
He glared at her as he fought the urge to claim her pouting lips and end this ridiculous argument of theirs. Surely she wasn’t so blind she couldn’t see that Vincent was a madman. Instead, she glared at him in return, her brown eyes turning fiery amber, her jaw tightened.
“You Arinzes are very good at ordering people about, aren’t you? Well, I have news for you. I do what I want, when I want.”
The hardness of her tone stunned him for a moment, striking him with the storm of her anger. She turned to open the door as the car had already stopped in front of the terminal building.
Paul couldn’t let her walk out of the car without letting her know they were not done yet. If he didn’t have a flight to catch, he’d send the chauffeur out and lock her in this car until she conceded. Instead, he gripped her shoulders firmly, stopping her from moving away.
“This conversation isn’t over,” he said when she looked up at him angrily. He let her go and stepped out of the car himself.
***
Throughout the flight to Enugu, Paul fought to control the range of emotions yo-yoing in his veins. One minute he was fighting the urge to throttle Ijay each time she flashed a defiant glare at him.
At one point he had to suppress the smile that threatened to lift his lips. He didn’t want her thinking he’d relented. Yet he admired her mettle and determination.
Damn, she was stubborn. He’d realised it when she hadn’t even bothered to contact him even once after their night together. He hadn’t been with any other woman who’d ever ignored him afterwards. Yet Ijay had done that even when she’d admitted she’d wanted to see him again.
This was more serious. Her life could be in danger if she went ahead and married Vincent. Paul could swear that Vincent was up to something. He didn’t know how Ijay met Vincent. Paul knew somehow it had to do with him. It wasn’t beyond Vincent to be conniving and devious.
Vincent must’ve found out about his night with Ijay. This whole engagement thing could be just a move to spite Paul. He didn’t want to think it but it was a strong possibility.
It wasn’t beyond Vincent to send someone to track Paul’s activities. He’d known that his step-mother had been tracking his movements for years. This was a new extreme low for his belligerent step-mother and brother.
In the past, Paul hadn’t cared about them monitoring his activities. He was getting on with his life. He could handle himself. He worried about Ijay. She might be stubborn and strong. However, he knew what Vincent was capable of doing to a woman who offended him. It wouldn’t be pleasant.
By Ijay confessing their affair to Vincent, she’d condemned herself in Vincent’s eyes. Paul knew that much about his unforgiving brother. Revenge and physical violence against a woman wasn’t a taboo to Vincent. Paul didn’t want Ijay hurt. He wouldn’t stand by and let Vincent hurt her. Still, how could he help her if she insisted on marrying Vincent?
When he took another sideways glance at Ijay, she drew her bottom lip between her teeth and pulled. Inhaling deeply, he fought the groan about to erupt from his lips and gripped the arm rest tighter. If she wasn’t driving him crazy with anger, she was driving him mad with lust.
He unclipped his seatbelt, stood up and took the short walk down the business class aisle to the toilet. None of the other passengers seemed to notice the disturbing bulge in his trousers. As he slid the door shut and locked the door, he gritted his teeth at the overwhelming temptation to join the mile-high club.
“What is this woman doing to me,” he muttered out loud at his harassed reflection in the small mirror above the aluminium sink.
No other woman had ever appealed to his baser instincts in such a way that he was constantly battling with quelling his sexual impulses. However he’d readily admit that if Ijay walked into this cubicle he’d happily sink into her welcoming slick depth, all sense of propriety lost.
Turning on the tap, he splashed cool water on his face. Then he grabbed a paper towel and wiped his face. Feeling a tad restrained by the enclosed space, he unwound his tie, rolled it up and stuffed it into his trouser pocket. Then he tidied his collar and undid the top two buttons on his shirt. The cool air on his skin felt good. The heat in his blood cooled too now he was away from Ijay and her intoxicating fragrance.
Feeling better, he returned to his seat next to Ijay, hoping he could get some relaxing time for the rest of the flight. It seemed Ijay didn’t think so. She looked up from her magazine, her eyes searching his face with concern, her beautiful face creased at the forehead.
“Are you all right?” she asked, her velvety voice washing over his skin like a bed of feathers. A hand clamped around his heart giving it a warm squeeze. When she looked at him like that, all he wanted to do was to take her into his arms and reassure her. He wanted to promise her that everything would be all right.
Their gazes met and held for a moment. The arc of sizzling tension between them returned. Her eyes widened when his stare dropped to her lips briefly. He wanted to taste her lips again.
Just once.
He leaned closer breathing in her scent—musk and irises. Her breath hitched. She didn’t move away. Instead, she watched him like a rabbit caught in a daze of bright headlights.
You promised not to go there.
Just as his lips hovered over her luscious pair, the voice in his head broke the spell. He leaned back into his chair and picked up the magazine in the seat holder.
“I’m perfectly all right,” he said without looking at her, flipping the pages unseeingly.
“I know you’re not all right. You’ve been different since you found out about Vincent. Something is bothering you. I wish you’d talk to me,” she said angrily, her voice low.
“Why should I talk to you, Ijay? What am I to you apart from your client and your brother-in-law to be? You made it quite clear you don’t want anything to do with me otherwise. Let’s leave it that way,” he spoke in a dangerously low whisper.
“Oh, you are so pig-headed. Do you think I would have given myself over to you all those months ago if I didn’t care about you?” She leaned so closed to him, her warm breath whispered against his cheek with each word she spoke. Her voice still low and angry. “You want me to give up my fiancé for you and yet you’re not willing to open yourself up even a little bit... I need a bit more than just sex, Paul. And Vincent will give me that—”
“The hell he will!”
Paul dropped the magazine in his hand and replaced it with a mass of Ijay’s dark hair as he reached behind her neck and pulled her forward. She let out a soft gasp, her warm breath fanning his cheek as he pull
ed her closer and sealed their lips together.
Chapter Fifteen
You are playing with fire.
Ijay couldn’t shake the thought that replayed itself over and over in her mind since they’d disembarked from the flight at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu. She gently massaged her stomach through the cool cotton of her cream-coloured sleeveless shirt. The knot of tension in her belly loosened a little as she took several deep calming breaths. She avoided looking at Paul for a few minutes.
“How is Uju?” Paul asked Amaechi, his chauffeur.
His voice sounded light and jovial, belying the tension that had sizzled between them earlier. He sat next to her in the plush soft tan leather-covered backseats of a navy-coloured BMW X5 as they travelled to her hotel.
She stole a glance at Paul. He appeared relaxed; his body sunk back into the seat, his head leaning against the headrest. One of his arms stretched across the backseats almost touching her. If she turned her face a couple of inches, his fingertips would brush her cheek.
Her skin tingled at the tempting thought, reminding her of the impact of Paul’s kiss on the plane. A part of her had known the kiss was coming from the moment she’d gotten into the car with Paul on the way to the airport. The strain of emotions had rolled off his body in waves throughout their journey. From his rigid shoulders to his balled fists and of course the heat of hunger in his eyes.
Even as they’d argued about Vincent, she’d wanted to reach across and caress the day-old stubble on his dark rugged chin. She knew the short thick hairs would grate against her soft palm. She’d wanted to run her tongue along the firm edge of his lips before finally delving into the soft depth of his mouth.
“Uju is doing great. She was worried when you didn’t visit Amori last week,” Amaechi replied, drawing her attention back to the present.
The congenial middle-aged man dressed in a white shirt and dark trousers had greeted Paul warmly when they arrived. Ijay sensed immediately that their relationship was more than employer-employee. Now, the flow of banter between them confirmed her assumption. She hadn’t sensed the same kind of rapport with Paul’s Abuja chauffeur.
“You should’ve explained I had business in Abuja that kept me.”
Ijay sensed the smile in Paul’s voice, though she wasn’t looking at him.
Amaechi laughed but didn’t look back, glancing at the rear-view mirror instead.
“You should know my wife by now. She still chose to worry even after I explained.”
Paul laughed too. The first time she’d heard him laugh since their disastrous dinner night. The sound of his laughter was like honey over toast. The temptation to close her eyes and savour the warmth spread through her body.
When she closed her eyes, she was greeted by the thunderous expression on Paul’s face on the plane. And a replay of the hot crushing and branding kiss he’d given her.
The bruising press of his lips on hers, the invading sweep of his tongue in her mouth left her with no doubt as to his intent. His kiss had told her something he’d never said directly to her. He laid claim to her body in that kiss and damned anyone else who would dare to touch it.
Her body had trembled with the assault of passion. One of her hands clung onto his shoulders, the other gripping the chair arm to keep her body upright. His lips had plundered hers, his tongue delving into her mouth vociferously. There was no denying him his claim. Not that she’d wanted to rebuff him. She’d welcomed his invasion, surrendering with a soft sigh and a warm shudder.
She’d been lost in the kiss, she hadn’t realised the plane was touching down until the tell-tale bump of the wheels on the runway tarmac. Paul had pulled back then, his eyes unable to hide his hunger and anger. As the plane taxied to the terminal, he’d kept silent, his body language withdrawn.
Heat spread across her cheeks as she opened her eyes and stole another glance at Paul. His eyes glittered with a warm smile as he chatted with Amaechi.
This was a different Paul. Gone was the astute and ambitious businessman. This Paul was jovial and affectionate; laughing at something Amaechi said about a girl whom she assumed was the chauffeur’s daughter. It was as if breathing in the Enugu air had transformed Paul.
I love him.
She inhaled sharply and turned away to stare out of the window as the realisation hit her. Thinking of it now, she knew she’d been in love with him from their first night together in London. It was why she’d left him early the next morning. She’d been afraid to lose her heart to love another man who wouldn’t love her in return.
But seeing this side of Paul gave her courage. Her mother had been right. Ijay needed to take a leap of faith. She had to give Paul a chance. Things could work out between them if they got to know each other outside of the bedroom.
Oh, she wanted to get back into his bed. To feel the passion of his kiss, his touch and his love-making again.
Most of all, she wanted the passion of his love.
That’s why she had to carry on with the charade. Let him think I still want to marry Vincent. It was the only thing that’d keep him restrained. Paul’s honour wouldn’t let him touch his brother’s fiancée.
When she risked another glance at his profile, Paul turned at that moment and their gazes met. The slam of her heart against her chest was so loud; she could’ve sworn he heard it. She gulped down the lump in her throat when he smiled at her, his lips curved in a glorious sensuous lift—inviting and irresistible. She returned the smile with gladness.
“Paul, do you have a guest annex attached to your house?” she asked conversationally, widening her smile.
He lifted his eyebrow in a query, though his eyes didn’t lose their sparkling warmth. “Yes,” he replied hesitantly. “Why?”
“I’m thinking I really don’t want to stay in another hotel. Can I stay in your house...well, your guest annex, please?” she asked, keeping her voice sweet, her tone seductive.
She placed her hand on his thigh. His hard muscles tautened through the soft fabric of his trousers. His body heat burnt her hand. Boldly, she maintained the contact. She’d missed the feel of his firmness. That her pulse quickened and her breathing became shallow was just a hazardous side effect of her plans.
The double lines on his forehead deepened and his eyes narrowed with suspicion. “My guest annex is occupied at the moment,” he said offhandedly.
His gaze travelled to her hand on his thigh. The look he gave it was similar to the one she gave a table laden with all the irresistible desserts she shouldn’t eat. It was a cross between adoration and hatred. He didn’t know what to do with her hand—whether to fling it as far away from his body or allow it to caress his skin.
Now he knows what it felt like when he was teasing me at dinner!
Ijay fought to suppress the laughter bubbling in her stomach. It felt good to finally have the upper hand where Paul was concerned. “Then perhaps you have a spare room. It’d only be for three days and then I’ll get out of your hair.” She smiled innocently, lowering her eyelids to watch him through her lashes.
“Ijay, I don’t think it’s a good idea staying in my house. The Park Hotel is one of the best hotels in Nigeria. You’ll be well taken care of,” Paul said gruffly as the car pulled to the front entrance of the hotel set in a tree -avenue very close to Nike Lake. The lush green leaves and branches swayed in the evening breeze.
“If it helps, I’ll inform Pamela to find you a short stay apartment in Abuja so you no longer have to stay in a hotel.”
“Thank you,” she replied immediately. Her heart sank. He hadn’t taken the bait. Still she wasn’t about to give up yet.
“That would be good although it’s not really what I wanted. I’m sure this hotel is great. I was hoping for the convivial environment of your home rather than the cool charm of a hotel. Well, if that’s what I get then I have to live with it.”
She didn’t hide the disappointment on her face or her voice as she turned to step out of the car.
“
Wait.” The urgency in Paul’s voice stopped her from moving further. Her heart leapt with hope. She hid the smile on her face by keeping her gaze out of the car window.
“Are you sure you want to stay at my house?” he asked, his voice deep and husky, his toned strained and resigned.
Her heart turned over, a twinge of guilt clamping her stomach in cramps. She felt remorse for playing this game with him. She turned around slowly to face him and met his gaze. His dark eyes studied her with curious intensity and warm tenderness.
“Yes, I want to,” she replied suddenly breathless as her heart rate increased with excitement.
He nodded in response. “Okay. Stay here for a moment. I want to speak to the hotel receptionist.”
Paul stepped out of the car and entered the hotel lobby. Ijay sat in the car, excitement coursed through her veins.
Yes! She was going to stay in Paul’s house.
It was a high risk strategy considering they seemed unable to keep their hands off each other when they were alone. However she didn’t think she’d ever get the opportunity of seeing the true Paul except in his own environment outside work. Living in his lair for a few days should reveal more to her than anything he’d tell her; if he’d ever talk to her about personal stuff.
She just hoped her plans didn’t backfire, consuming in the flames that were sure to erupt when Paul found out the truth.
Paul returned to the car and instructed Amaechi to take them home. Ijay sat back in her chair, suppressing her smug smile.
“I hope I can get to see much of Enugu while I’m here. It’s my first time in the city,” she said in a friendly tone.
It was already dusk, the last rays of the sunshine creating an orange glow in the darkening horizon. The evening road traffic was heavy, although not as congested as rush hour in Lagos. Immediately she sensed the city’s appeal to Paul. It was serene with none of the hustle and bustle that characterised living in Lagos. The roads were smooth and the sidewalks clean. The environment was green and leafy with tree-lined avenues and low shrubbery surrounding houses.