Page 43 of Craving a King

I try to turn away, but he grabs my arm and turns me to him in the blink of an eye. He pushes against my body and speaks so closely our lips touch in tenuous, fluttering kisses. “I will not hold you against your will, but you will listen to me. We owe each other that. Afterward, you may do whatever you like.”

I don’t owe him anything but a card of congratulations on his engagement. However, I stop fighting and relax in his arms. Not because I want to, but because I know at this point resistance is futile. I nod my head and he lets me go.

I maintain fierce eye contact with him as I walk a few steps backward onto the bench I was sitting on. I wrap my arms around myself and he takes it as a sign that I’m cold. He removes his kente and wraps it around me. I never got a chance to tell him exactly how handsome he is tonight. The tuxedo fits his hard body like a glove. The kente cloth screams king in the best way. Right now, I wish I didn’t know just how amazing the body underneath the expensive fabric is.

He joins me on the bench and faces me. I face forward. “I should have told you about the betrothal. I’m sorry.” I don’t move a muscle. I don’t nod. I don’t protest. I remain looking off into the distance, waiting for the moment I can run back to my hotel and lie in my bed to cry and plot my escape from Kofi Ajyei.

He places his hand over mine as it lies in my lap before he continues. “She’s not my fiancée in a traditional sense. I have not announced an engagement, and all we have is a 32-year-old contract my father drew up with the Tarkwa chief when I was five. I never have and never will have any intention to marry Abena Owusu. I loathe her and her nitwit brother Thomas.”

I turn toward the hint of jealousy in his voice that is familiar and hot and raise my eyebrows. “Yes, Ella, the same man you allowed to take you around Kumasi your second day here and share drinks with you tonight is Abena’s brother. I saw that was him talking with you at the bar. That’s why I texted you. You two were the first thing I saw when I arrived.”

I say nothing. I’m definitely not explaining harmless flirting to a man that’s been hiding an entire engagement from me. “I see Abena once a year at this festival, and we speak and have one dance to appease our families. I don’t even have the woman’s phone number.”

I shift on the bench to fully face him. “But in the restroom, Akua and Abena acted as if you two were close.”

Kofi shakes his head and chuckles. “Akua is up to her mischief again. Ella, Akua believes in old betrothal contracts and tribal customs. I respect them, but I don’t live my life by them.”

I fight the fact I’m starting to understand his point of view. I want to stay angry. Anger is safe. I can walk away angry. I can’t walk away knowing he never meant to deceive me. “Kofi, if that were the case, why didn’t you just tell me?”

He cocks his head to the side. “The truth?”

I close my eyes in annoyance. “Do you think lying right now would help your case?”

He sighs. “Honestly, Ella, I didn’t even think about the woman until today. It is like a little alarm clock that goes off every year.” He moves closer to me and places his hands on either side of my face. “The only difference this year is that I’m in love with another woman. That has never been the case before.” He drops his hands from my face. “So, I came up with the stupid idea that I didn’t have to address it. We would arrive separately and avoid the press and any hardcore tribalistic guests. Then we would go back to our regularly scheduled programming.”

He stands and looks down at me. “Senya told me that wouldn’t work when we were having drinks in the study earlier. I agreed. I promise I was going to tell you at dinner and introduce you to her so you would know who she is. Akua got to you first.”

I look up at him and uncross my arms. “You should have told me. A king once told me omission is a lie.” I throw those words about Adom and I back at him and he smiles.

“Yes, I should have.” He pulls me from the bench in an embrace. “I’m sorry, Ella. This is all new to me. You are so unexpected. I never anticipated having an‘us.’I’m still learning to share every part of myself.”

Tears return to my face because I know I forgive him, which means I am still at his mercy. I have to trust him. That’s hard. “Well, what do we do now? Can’t you get the contract annulled?”

He steps back and grins at me. “Absolutely. I already told my lawyer to meet me in Tarkwa tomorrow. I’m fixing this immediately. My heart is promised to you.”

I run back to his arms and he rewards the gesture with a kiss. We melt into each other’s arms and hang on for dear life. We are learning more and more with each passing day how precious and precarious what we have is. He finishes the kiss by peppering my face and neck with soft pecks. When he’s satisfied, he looks in my eyes with a bewildered look.

“What is it, Kofi?”

“You said Abena and Akua talked like we were close. They talked like the betrothal was a serious engagement?”

“They took pleasure in rubbing that in. She even stated that she was the one that convinced you to pick me as your school vendor.”

Kofi steps from my embrace completely and rubs his jaw. “That’s odd. Abena did send an email stating that Revolution Academies is always in the press for the good work you guys do. She forwarded a couple of press clippings and that was it. I didn’t even reply. Now that I think of it, I thought it was odd she emailed me at all. Abena has her lovers and she has never tried to lay any claim to me. Why change now?”

“Akua’s influence?” I half ask and half accuse.

He nods slowly. “Partly sure. But no, there has to be another reason. Abena is willful. Even as a child she was not easily controlled. Something is off.” He starts to look off in thought before returning his attention to me. “But never mind that now.”

He grabs my hands and places his signature kisses on my knuckles. “It’s late—we’ve been out here for a while. What do you say I call a royal service car and we leave the foolishness of tonight behind? We can spend the evening at the beach and maybe put that hotel room you have here in Accra to good use.”

I break out into a full grin. “Really? But, how can we? Won’t you be missed?”

He laughs. “Yes, but I’m the Asantehene. The party ends when I leave, and I am leaving with you. However, we should have dinner first.”

I give him a pained look. “But Akua and Abena are sitting at our table!”

“Great. Let them look at you and I in all our splendid love and devotion. They need to know that their little trick did not work. I will call a car to be ready to whisk us away in exactly one hour.” He pulls out his phone and sends off a text to request the car.

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