Chapter 52 Chapter 52 THAT’S THE WAY LOVE GOES

S E G U N

Is it possible for one's heart to get any fuller because mine is almost bursting.

Passion had raged like wildfire, and we were hard-pressed to stop it.

Even though mum took custody of Kay and Tay, we decided to wait till after dark when they're all asleep so we can get our freak on, 'cause let's be frank - a lot of moaning is going to take place. Although, a lot of cuddling and kissing have already taken place - still taking place if you ask me.

Eve is lying on her stomach, naked, while I lay beside her. My fingers work their way up from her feet, gently tracing her full lines and curves. They keep moving up until they stop at the swell of her butt and I gently pry her legs open, giving way to her secret crevices.

She's soaking wet.

She lets out a moan as my fingers tweak and twirl her clit. Her moans increase in pitch as her legs jerk to the rhythm of my fingers as they circle her over and over again. When I've worked her up pretty good, I remove my fingers and she immediately turns over, a look of disappointment tattooed all over her face.

"Why did you stop?"

Her voice sounds breathless, and I know if I hadn't removed my fingers, a few seconds more and she'd have gotten her release. What she doesn't know is I've got plans for her.

I smirk as I reply her. "Because I want to use my tongue instead."

She smiles, and falls back onto the bed, opening her legs wantonly, and I waste no time planting my tongue on her inner thigh. Lil boy is already getting excited and keeps jerking in anticipation. What he doesn't realise is nothing's gonna happen, at least not right now, anyway.

Right now, I need to satisfy my princess.

I put my attention back to the matter at hand as my tongue inches towards her crevices, but then something stalls my movements.

A scar.

It wasn't on her body before.

A small puckered scar stretches from one side of her abdomen to the other end.

I'm transfixed as I stare at it, wondering what it's all about and how it got there.

Not wanting to alarm her, but knowing I need to ask about it, I continue caressing her thigh as my mouth begins to form words.

"Princess . . . how did you get this scar?"

I trace it with my fingertips and immediately feel her go rigid. She remains so still, I begin to get worried. Suddenly, she rolls away from me - far away to the extreme end of the bed, and my heart sinks.

I follow her and cover her with the blanket and pull her to my chest so that I'm spooning her back. Thankfully she doesn't resist, although she's still a bit stiff.

So I wait. I wait for her to say something, but it seems I'm waiting for a reply that doesn't seem forthcoming.

If Faseun was responsible for that scar, I won't wait for the law to pass judgment, I'll kill him with my bare hands.

After a while, I reckon she's asleep because she becomes relaxed in my arms and her breathing slows down.

Still, I can't sleep. I think of all the crap that took place, forcing us from being together. All the shit that went down to stop us from exercising our love. Some of it, my fault, but most of it from a man who calls himself my father.

I shake my head, ready to get out of bed, and go check on mother and the twins when her voice reaches out to me.

"The night I disappeared, I was hit on the head by a heavy object as soon as I came out of the toilet stall."

I sit up immediately, and the blanket slips from my shoulders and pools around my torso.

"I woke up to see Mr. Faseun and Roxy leering at me."

She lets out a brittle laugh, one devoid of humour.

"At first I thought he was there to save me, but when he shot Roxy in cold blood, I just knew it was going to be one of two things - I would either die or be traded into prostitution, as he later told me."

It's my turn to stiffen as I listen to her recount her ordeal in the hands of my father.

"Did he . . . did he. . ." I try to swallow the words but they still come tumbling out. "What I mean to say is, did he hurt you in any way?" I mouth wordless prayers as I wait for her to reply me.

I hope he didn't rape her.

I'm scared to know the truth. If he touched her, I will definitely not be responsible for what I'll do. Her silence is nerve-racking, and frankly speaking, I take it to mean he actually did molest her.

I vault up from the bed and grab my jeans lying abandoned on the ground, but her voice stops me in my tracks.

"No! He didn't. I was actually treated well, considering my situation." She shrugs.

The relief I feel is palpable as I sink back onto the bed. Truth is, no one should have to go through any form of incarceration, most of all her.

"I was given three square meals a day, but under such circumstances, I didn't have a lick of appetite.

"By the second week, Mr. Faseun told me I should have been shipped to Spain, but because the borders were closely monitored by the police, it made things difficult for them to smuggle me out."

I make sure to sit close to her and take her hands in mine as she continues relieving the trials she underwent.

"Time slipped from my hands, and then I became ill. I began vomiting. The smell of food was nauseating to me. I didn't realise then I was pregnant. One night, a hand was clamped across my mouth and my biggest fear came to light. I thought I was going to be raped. I couldn't scream. Terror was heavy in my throat. All sorts of thoughts ran through my mind in that brief instance, but then, something short of a miracle took place. The person told me not to be afraid, said he was going to save me. I almost cried in relief when Nathan's face came into view."

This time, I can't stop the sigh I release on hearing this.

"He untied me and we made our way out of the barn I was being kept, past the sleeping guards and away to freedom."

"Hold up! How did he find you?" I shake my head, clearly confused. "It wasn't only the police looking for you, I put together a search party of about forty people, and led the group as well. We started from the same club you were taken from, and spread out to other areas. No place was spared in those areas. How then did Nathan know exactly where to look for you?"

Eve smiles sadly. "I asked him the same thing. At first, he'd stalled, which made me think he was in cahoots with Mr. Faseun, so I threatened to go to the police, so he grudgingly told me he had a tracking device attached to my phone shortly after you and I broke up."

"WHAT!" I vault up from the bed once more, anger flowing through me. "HOW DARE HE DO THAT?"

"Calm down, please. If he hadn't done it, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't even be having this discussion right now, 'cause I'd probably be far away from this country."

She's right. I really need to be thankful that he put the tracking device on her phone.

As she continues, I move close to her, needing to keep her near.

"I was camped in his house for a while before he helped me get a Visa to the UK."

A question niggles at the forefront of my mind and refuses to let go.

"But why didn't you get in touch with me?"I feel hurt all over again, probably for the wrong reasons.

"How did you expect me to do that, though? Your place would have been the first port of call by Faseun. I wouldn't have stood a chance if I had even contacted you. I couldn't even contact my parents. It wasn't until I got there and settled down somewhat, that I reached out to them."

I feel so bad that my princess was in a terrible situation and I wasn't able to do anything about it. She was so close, yet so far from me.

"By the time I got to the UK, I had to see a doctor because of how ill I felt. You can imagine my shock when I was told I was four months pregnant."

She shakes her head, a look of surprise filtering across her features. "I even argued with the doctor - told him I was barren, that I couldn't possibly be pregnant. He told me the proof was already in my stomach. I was having not one, but two children. I almost fainted on hearing the news." She shakes her head dismally and continues speaking. "You can't even begin to imagine what I went through while I was pregnant with the twins. I actually thought I was going to die. Whatever food I put in my mouth, always came back up again. I kept vomiting until the ninth month."

I can't even begin to imagine how cut-off she must have felt from everyone. If not for her sisters, and as difficult as it is to say - Nathan as well - it would have been almost close to impossible to bounce back on her feet, and even though I know the story of how she escaped, she still hasn't covered how she got that scar on her stomach.

I needn't have long to wait.

"Tay and Kay's birth was very difficult. I was too weak to push them out. I still wasn't eating, you see, so I didn't have any strength in me and my blood pressure kept plummeting." She fixes a serious gaze on me as she continues. "I could have died - we - could have died. The doctor made the best decision to do a caesarian operation on me. He cut me open and got them out. That's the scar you see on my abdomen."

Great sorrow feels me on hearing this. I wish I could have been there for my children's birth, but sadly, fate had other plans.

Making up my mind on what to do, I turn to her, a smirk plastered on my face.

"I know this has absolutely nothing to do with anything, but tell me - Sunset, the beach, or a church. Choose one!"

She turns confused eyes at me, but I stop her before she's able to speak.

"Just pick one, princess."

Shrugging, she sighs and replies. "The church?"

I get up and bring something out from my top drawer, and within the twinkling of an eye, I'm on my knees before her.

"I'm not one for flowery speeches, but what I do know is, I want forever with you, our kids and the one's still to come. Please, princess, will you be my forever?"

I open up the velvet case in my hand to reveal the ring inside.

Her shocked gasp and the myriad of expressions fleeting across her face is giving me anxiety I've never experienced before.

She gets up from the bed in all her naked glory. I'm guessing she's forgotten she's starkers, or maybe she's now comfortable being in the nude with me. Either way, I'm shocked when she begins pacing and talking.

"I decided if I wasn't married by the age of twenty-five, I'd either just have kids by surrogacy or adoption. Look at me now two years later. The kids have come and I'm not even married yet. All my plans went down the drain the moment you waltzed into my life."

She stops in front of me and pierces me with a gaze that makes my heart thud restlessly.

If she turns me down, she'd better get ready to bury me, 'cause I won't be able to live it down.

What she does next bowls me over completely.

She kneels before me and with tears streaming from her eyes, palms my face.

"I don't want any more kids, baby, but yes, I want not just forever with you, but several lifetimes as well."

I take her in my arms, overcome by emotions.

I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but what I do know, is, we'll definitely face it together.