Song: Dzigbordzi - Lord Paper

*Unedited* (Because ants have rights too)

"Really, Elorm, should I be surprised? I expected this much from you so, I guess not," Etornam laughed.

Michael's eyes were focused only on me; pain and anger coursing through them. Yet, they shone with the intensity that only love could bring about. I felt my heart leap with hope and happiness.

"Seeing you here, dressed like this, with a strange man. Wow, you've really outdone yourself princess," Etornam continued.

I didn't tear my eyes away from Michael's. I knew I wasn't dressed in the most conservative attire, but that was no fault of mine. I was dressed to turn heads, and decency never managed to do that.

"Did I say princess? My bad, I meant prostitute. I'm the only princess here."

"Do you ever shut up?" Kofi asked, sounding more exasperated with her than he'd ever sounded with me.

Etornam looked at Michael indignantly, probably expecting him to say something in her defence, but she only frowned more when she saw that his eyes and attention were focused solely on me. "Baby," she said, placing her hand on his chin and turning him to face her. She leaned and pressed her lips to his lightly.

It was like something had grabbed hold of my organs and twisted them into tangled mess. I gasped, my lungs failing me. I'd never felt a medley of emotions such as this. Jealously, red-hot anger and searing pain. This is what it must've felt like when Michael saw me kiss Chris. I couldn't even find it in me to be angry even though our engagement hadn't been broken off, seeing that neither of us broke up with the other. The fact that I'd absconded - according to village laws - meant that I had broken the engagement, and I'm sure he believed that I had too.

Etornam pulled away and smirked at me. "You must've heard that your ex-fiancé and I are getting married."

Michael looked at me again. "I decided to turn my sights towards more decent girls."

Another fresh wave of pain.

Kofi laughed. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"And who might you be?" Etornam asked with an arrogantly arched brow.

"Someone who already doesn't like you," he replied, frowning. He turned to Michael. "can we leave now?"

"Of course." He and Etornam returned to the car.

Kofi came up to me and offered me his hand, helping me off the road. "Well, she's a bitch."

"Tell me about it," I replied. Kofi and I went to the backseat. Surprisingly, he made sure that I wore a seatbelt.

"Now that I know about your suicidal tendencies, I'm not taking any chances."

I cracked a smile.

"Weirdo," he muttered, making me smile even wider.

I spotted Michael glaring from that small glass in the car. I really wanted to be angry with him for that comment, but I couldn't find it in me. He wouldn't possibly have guessed that Wolfgang kidnapped me and I was being forced to sell my body. Then again, there was the pressing issue that I needed to sleep with him. Even as the thought rolled over in my head, I wanted to curl up into a ball and cry my eyes out. It sounded so wrong, but I didn't want to be raped by Wolfgang; because I'm sure as hell that any coitus I might have with him wouldn't be willing on my part.

The ride back to the mansion in the forest was even longer than the first trip. Maybe that was because Etornam kept her hand on Michael's thigh, rubbing it and eventually going further up. At a point that was too much for his male anatomy, he jerked forward, accidentally slamming his foot onto the brakes and making the whole car lurch forward then stop.

"Can you keep it PG-13?" Kofi asked, slightly pissed.

Michael started the car up again after gently removing Etornam's hand from his thigh.

"Sorry, my fiancé and I can barely keep our hands off each other."

"All I see is your hands all over him," Kofi retorted.

She ignored him. "Elorm, you know that we have to be working on an heir to the throne, don't you?"

It was disgusting and physically painful to think about. Michael having children that weren't mine, Michael ruling alongside someone who wasn't me, Michael making love to someone who wasn't me. Then again, he had lost his virginity on the night that I had been drugged and kidnapped. Whilst I was being kidnapped and shoved into a life of humiliation and prostitution, he was busily screwing some bimbo. Maybe it was my fault for going out with Justus, knowing how he could be and believing his stupid heartbreak shit tale.

"I believe so. Hard as that might be, especially seeing that your groom has no interest in you whatsoever." I replied.

Again, she turned to Michael but his eyes were on the road and from the look of things, his mind was not on this conversation at all.

"By the way, how does professional prostitution feel like? I mean, at least now you're profiting off it. Who knows, you might become the next Cardi B!"

I glared at her.

"You can't rap anyways," she rolled her eyes. "can you do anything at all? Do you even have any talents?"

One reason why I hated this girl so much was that she was unfiltered. I knew that I could be rude and spiteful and bitchy, but at least, it was all in my mind. I'd often chastise myself for thinking such thoughts about people and if by mistake I'd let my rude thoughts form words and escape my lips, I'd always apologise either to the person or to God if I was too shy to face the person.

Well, except to Sara but that was different because she deserved it.

This girl had no filters; she didn't care whether her words would hurt someone to the extent that it could create emotional scars. She was part of the world's problems.

People like her were the reason why others weren't comfortable in their own skin, why others felt like they needed to change themselves to feel accepted. People like her were the reason that I had to marry Michael and end up ruining our many years of friendship.

I couldn't help but wonder what had gone wrong in her life that made her such a spiteful person, who felt the need to put everyone around her down.

"Etornam, stop it," Michael said.

Her head jerked to him so sharply that I thought she had done the world a favour and killed herself. "You didn't defend me when she was being rude!"

"Sorry, I wasn't listening."

"But you happened to start listening immediately I began to defend myself!"

"Defend yourself?" Kofi chipped in. "You've been attacking her since you arrived!"

"She's been provoking me!"

"By simply existing?" Kofi retorted.

Etornam sucked in a breath. "I'm not going to argue with a complete stranger!"

"When I allowed you into my home Michael, you never informed me that you'd be bringing a witch along."

I covered my mouth to stop myself from laughing.

"Do not disrespect her," Michael warned, sounding exasperated.

Etornam smirked triumphantly.

"I will do whatever I want." Kofi said.

"You've been hanging around someone who's very good at that, really. The only real witch in this car is someone who plays with people's feelings and spontaneously runs away to become a prostitute. Who even does that?" Michael asked, sounding confused and angry.

How I wished I could tell him everything! I cowered under his intense glare.

"Maybe that's your talent!" Etornam suggested.

"Why did you even come here?" Kofi asked. "I thought you were still in love with her and wanted to wish her well or something."

"Please, don't flatter her. I wanted to come, so that I could see the blissful life Elorm was living. Really, I wanted to see what possibly could be better than my gorgeous fiancé over here." She touched his beautiful hair.

I felt the jealousy eating away at my insides. I used to be the only one who was allowed to run my hands through those thick locks. Now I couldn't. "You didn't want to see me?"

"Why would I?" He tore his eyes off the road. "You ended things between us. Don't think I'm some idiot who'd follow you around. The moment you left, I ripped you out of my life."

I tried to remove the seatbelt, but Kofi shot me a warning look. I leaned closer to his seat, my lips beside his ear as the seatbelt dug into my flat stomach. "You might not have come to see me, but both of us know that it won't be that easy to get me out of your mind, Michael. You love me." My voice was shaky when I finished. And I love you too. I couldn't bring myself to say those words.

He was clenching the steering wheel, anger seeping through his pores. "I must admit, that I'm still in love with the old you. Not this sex-crazed prostitute."

Etornam's face was a mix of triumphant - that he called me a sex-crazed prostitute - and angry - that he admitted still being in love with me.

"You don't understand," I whispered, feeling the tears threatening to pour out.

"Really? Then explain it to me."

I stole a glance at Kofi. He was watching me with a cool look in his eyes, almost daring me to go ahead and spill the beans. I wondered if he was capable of murder.

"I can't."

Michael chuckled. "Is this why you left me? Because I didn't sleep with you? Is this why you changed our marriage to a business deal?"

I almost said no. I would've, if Kofi hadn't hurriedly pinched me. I remembered that I needed to sleep with him just as I felt my stomach swirl with guilt and disgust at myself. I would just be burying myself in lies, I would be confirming everything he thought about me. He would leave thinking that I was some sex-crazed prostitute, but at least, he'd be my first if I could convince him that that's all I wanted. Selfish, I know, but sometimes, in life, you must be selfish. "Yes."

Etornam scoffed. I wasn't aware that she was listening in. I leaned back into my seat and Kofi smiled at me. "You almost had me fooled."

I glared at him then turned my head and cried and bled on the inside. Very soon, we were driving through the gates of the mansion that I had began to hate even more. It felt so empty now that the other employees were working the night shift.

"Nice house," Etornam smirked at me.

As soon as the car stopped, Kofi jumped out as if he was being chased. I rolled my eyes at the drama and followed him, whilst Michael and Etornam remained in the car, talking about something. "I thought I was going to die in there."He said, seriously, absolutely no hint that he was joking. Maybe he wasn't.

Kofi is such a drama queen. "Stop being so dramatic," I rolled my eyes as he glared. "if anyone would've died in there, it's me."

"Just grab him and screw his brains out. I'm sure you'll feel better."

"It doesn't work that way," I said, facepalming and gritting my teeth in anger. Did he not understand anything? "With what I told him back there, I have to get him when he's vulnerable. When he'd do anything to have one last moment of intimacy with me."

"You're actually not as innocent as I thought," he said, sounding slightly surprised.

I sighed. I'm doing things I never thought I was capable of.

"I'll take you to your rooms," Kofi said when Michael and Etornam were out. Etornam quirked a brow when he said 'rooms' but she didn't say anything else.

He took them to a completely different place from where the female prostitutes slept. I assumed it was the males' quarters.

"I thought you said there weren't any spare rooms," I complained.

He raised a brow. "There are, but they're on the men's side of the mansion. I didn't think you'd want to sleep in the same area with men whose lives centre around sex. They might pester you. Or worse, get you pregnant."

"It'd be better than sleeping with you."

Michael and Etornam had just walked into the room we were standing in front of. Kofi ignored me and turned to them. "You have separate rooms." He reminded them.

"No, this is fine, thank you," Etornam slammed the door shut before he could get a word out.

"I suppose this is going to be a problem," Kofi muttered.

"I thought you didn't know she was coming. How could you have prepared another room for her?"

"I didn't. I didn't even prepare a room for him. The maids just clean all the rooms all the time so that they're always ready to be occupied."

I nodded and went silent.

Kofi groaned. "How can you slip into his room and sleep with him now? Maybe if you told her your dilemma, she'd let you spend the night with him?"

I stared at him, stupefied. "Are you insane?"

He didn't laugh, didn't even smile. The dude was actually serious.

"You're unbelievable."

"I'm just trying to help anyway. Wolfgang is always at your disposal."

The thought brought bile rising up my throat. "I'll figure something out."

"Good. Speaking of those two idiots, they're coming over tomorrow."

"I don't want to see Wolfgang."

"Good thing I don't care what you want. They thought he'd come tomorrow so they're coming to give you moral support."

"Tell Nate that he's a bit too late then."

"I don't understand why they care so much about you though. You're only slightly less bitchy than that witch."

"Maybe it's because they're capable of emotion."

He glared at me. It took all my strength not to melt into a gooey puddle of fear. "You can sleep in one of the employees' rooms."

"I don't want to sleep in any stranger's room!"

"You've been doing that for the past three days."

"Exactly, we've known each other for three days. We aren't strangers."

"The first day was just an evening that was filled with you retching and disturbing my night. You still slept in my room."

"Okay, isn't there another spare room?"

"The one the witch was supposed to sleep in, but it's right next to theirs. If they get busy during the night, you're likely to hear a little."

"The walls are really thick."

He smirked. "He's a black man."

I covered my mouth to hide my gasp.

He shrugged. "Wolfgang is mixed, but I still hear screams when he gets comfortable with the prostitutes, or the customers."

"Please, I don't want to talk about him," I rubbed my forehead in frustration. I stopped him before he could talk. "I know you don't care what I want but I'm tired, okay? I'm going to sleep."

He grinned. "It's this room," he pointed to the door just next to theirs.

I wondered if I should just sleep in his room, then I remembered the way he treats me. Like I'm some pile of trash. "Have a goodnight."

He turned to leave.

"Do they not teach manners in the city?" I asked.

"I don't care what kind of night you have."

I cracked a smile.

* * *

I stayed awake the whole night, wondering if he was thinking about me too. Maybe he wasn't thinking about me, but he surely wasn't sleeping with Etornam or I would've heard something. It was all quiet, when I felt the curse of determination wash over me. The longer I stayed in that bed staring at the ceiling, the more restless I became. I just had to.

I got up and splashed water on my face and rinsed my mouth. I towelled my face dry, combed my hair and pulled it into a small bun. My hair had grown slightly over the past few days. I'd have to trim it. I loved my short hair look and growing my hair would prove expensive and too much of a hassle.

I opened my door slowly though I didn't need to, seeing that it was brand new and noiseless. I paused in front of their door, stopping to take a deep breath. My heart was racing and fear was putting my organs in a twist. I pushed the door open, finding fortunately that it wasn't locked.

To my surprise, Michael was sleeping on a blanket on the ground with dozens of pillows around him. My heart lurched with happiness. I went over to him and crouched beside his sleeping stature. I touched his face, but it was a wrong move because his eyes instantly flew open. His eyes widened in shock and I covered his mouth with my hand hurriedly.

"Please don't say anything," I whispered.

His eyes narrowed, then he looked behind him at Etornam who looked like an angel while sleeping. She was pretty, I noticed. "Get out of my room." He whispered back.

I tugged on his arm but he yanked it back. "Michael, please, I need to talk to you. It won't be long, I promise."

"Whatever you want to say, you can say in front of my fiancée." He said loudly. Etornam stirred.

I nearly punched him. "Please Michael," - don't pull this card Elorm, please don't - "if you ever loved me, please let's just talk."

He glared at me. I hated his glares. "You have one minute."

I smiled happily. We both went out of his room and into mine, careful not to rouse Etornam on the way out.

"Sit down," I gestured to the bed.

"I'm not going to sleep with you," he retorted.

"I'm not trying to -" I stopped. I was trying to. Not right now but soon. "Michael."

"What? What do you want?"

I want to tell you the truth. I want to make you forgive me for being an idiot. I want to kiss you.

"Sex? Forget it. I'm not a cheat like you."

"I thought you'd say something like that." I went and sat on the bed.

He stood there for a couple of minutes, but I knew even he couldn't resist the pull. He sat beside me. Again, silence stretched between us like an ocean.

"I followed you."

"What?"

"The day you went out with Justus. I followed you. The guards told me that you had gone out dressed up so I followed you. When I saw you with him, I texted a girl who wanted to go out on a date with me and took her to that same place."

"Really?"

"Really." He laughed.

"I've got to say, even your psychotic stalking tendencies are cute," I laughed too. "any other thing you want to confess?"

"I didn't really sleep with her. I just wanted to make you jealous."

I was so happy that I wanted to jump up and down for joy. He was still mine.

"There was that other time, remember the first time I told you I love you?"

He said love. Not loved. I smiled. "Yeah?"

"I wanted to meet you before you went to pick up your brothers so I actually waited in those bushes. There were mosquitoes, worms, every disgusting creepy crawly you can think of."

I gasped. "You didn't."

"I did," he laughed. "I'd written what I was going to say in my palm and I kept re-reading it nervously. I didn't end up saying it though. One look at you and I forgot everything."

I laughed. I would've loved to see him flustered.

"And that time at the borehole?" He tested my memory.

I would never forget that day. "That wasn't a coincidence? Shocker," I joked.

He rolled his eyes. "It was almost a coincidence. I was just surveying the village when I saw you with a bucket and heading there. I ran back to the palace like I was trying to outrun lava and gathered a few servants and rushed there."

I laughed hard, throwing my head back. "I can't believe you did all that."

He smiled. "That's what people do when they're in love. What did you do in return? You cheated, turned our marriage into a business deal and in the end, run off to become a prostitute."

The smile slowly slipped off my face. "I -" I was kidnapped. "I have needs."

He paused, running his hand through his hair. "Are you saying that if I had slept with you, you would've stayed with me?"

No! Maybe we needed a few more days work things out, but I'm sure we would've made it back on track. I would never have left you, whether you slept with me or not. "Maybe."

"And are you saying that if I sleep with you now, you'll come back to me?"

The look in his eyes made me want to cry. I won't be able to come back to you even though I want to so badly. "Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes." I'm afraid Kofi will kill you. I'd rather you stayed with her than be dead. Even though we'll both be unhappy, at least we stand a chance of being together again.

"You'd leave all this and come back with me?"

I want to, but I can't. "I will."

He inched closer. "Really?"

I leaned closer too until it was just our noses separating our lips. "Really." I lied again. I wasn't going to try and seduce him this evening, but things just fell into place.

He pressed his lips against mine. I nearly moaned. It'd been so long since I felt that rush of euphoria. That overwhelming calmness knowing that I was in the arms of the person who loved me the most. He pulled back and stood up, holding my hands and inevitably pulling me up with him.

"Did you ever love me?"

Do I say yes or no? At least, he deserved one truth. "Yes. I still do."

"But your needs are stronger, aren't they?" He asked.

No! The only thing I need is you. You. Just you. "Yes."

He turned me around, so that he was hugging me from behind. "You know that I can satisfy every last one of them, don't you?"

"I don't doubt it," I replied, breathing deeply.

"Did you ever," I sucked in a deep breath as he began to unbutton my shirt. One button at a time. No rush. "sleep with any of the village boys like Etornam says?"

No. No way I'm telling that lie too. "No, that isn't true."

"Are you addicted to sex?" He asked. My shirt had come off, and he had just pressed a kiss to my shoulder.

I swallowed. "I don't think so."

"Are you a virgin?" He asked.

I couldn't lie about that even if I wanted to. He would find out tonight. "I am."

"I hope you know that everything you're telling me doesn't make sense."

I figured.

"You're lying to me, aren't you?" He turned me around and rested his forehead against mine. "I'm going to find out what you're lying about." He cupped my butt. "But not tonight."

Then he kissed me, deeply and possessively. His foot was between mine and he was leaning forward so that only his arms were keeping me on my feet. I kissed him back with equal passion, digging my nails into his back. His hands smacked and squeezed, before he decided to put me out of my torture and pull my shorts down. I quickly stepped out of them.

He pulled back and removed his shirt. I couldn't tear my eyes away from his muscled chest. Such perfection. He pulled me to him and began kissing my neck again. I bit down on my lip so that I wouldn't make any noises.

"It's okay you know," he said, his hot breath fanning over my bare, even hotter skin.

"What's okay?"

He bit on the tender skin. I moaned. "To do that. Make all the noise you want. You won't even be able to hold them back when I start to work on you." He reached over and began to unhook my brassiere.

He hasn't started to work on me yet? Well, Kofi is going to hear some screams tonight.

When it was off, he pulled back and looked at me. "Did I ever tell you that you're beautiful?"

I stared into his beautiful eyes. "More times than I can count."

"You've never told me that I'm handsome." He countered.

"Really?" I laughed.

"Really. Even us males need a confidence boost occasionally, don't we?"

I smiled, placed my hands on his rock-hard abs. "You're beautiful. I don't care if the adjective belongs to the other gender. I've never felt like 'handsome' is the right word to describe you."

He smiled. "You feel so good in my arms."

"Because that's where I belong." I replied, staring into his dilated pupils.

We stared at each other for a little while longer before he snapped and quickly got rid of my last piece of clothing. He was all over me. Kissing me at places I've never been kissed before. Touching me at places only I have ever touched before.

Our passion was something strange. It was like I was trying to get away from him, and he was holding me down. He kept kissing me, using every part of him to pleasure me. Every part except one though.

His tongue was everywhere, making me lick my lips and arch my back, wanting more. I couldn't stop the noises from escaping my lips. Soon, I was too dazed, too cross-eyed to even worry about them. I pleaded with him to stop, tears pooling in my eyes as the pleasure hit me hard. Delicious sensations were coursing through my body, eliciting sounds which he swallowed with his own lips over mine.

"Doesn't it taste like sugar?" He asked slyly, smirking when he saw that I was too lost in the clutches of desire to answer him.

I wasn't sure what was reality and what was fantasy anymore because it felt like the two worlds had collided into one at the torture of his delicious tongue. Something was crawling, begging to be released from me. I felt like I was going to explode as my abdominal muscles clenched, ready to release whatever it was.

But he stopped. He was looking at me with an indecipherable look in his eyes. I chose to ignore it. Maybe he was just realising how much we both needed this.

"Michael," I moaned, getting impatient. I felt like whatever release I was close to getting was slowly making its way back into my body.

"Michael," I said again, my voice soft and firm now that my head was getting clear. I gestured to his trousers which were still on. I couldn't believe we had wasted all our time fighting when we could've been doing this. I wanted them off. Now.

He looked down at his trousers too, then he looked at me. He released my hands and sat back on my legs.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, realising that his delay was killing the mood. I sat halfway up, resting my weight on my elbows and lower arms.

He looked at me, the desire in his chocolate brown eyes replaced by anger. Intense anger."I'm not a toy. I'm not your plaything. Find someone else to satisfy your sexual needs." He jumped off me, grabbed his shirt from the floor and left.

* * *

When I started this book, it was supposed to be PG-13, because I'm not even old enough to be writing stuff like this. The characters have minds of their own though.

I'll try to keep it as vague as possible ;)

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