Forest Girl
Esi Afriyie has been in love with Michael Yaw Badu since childhood. When he receives a scholarship to study in America, all hope seems lost ... until he returns to Ghana ten years later. An arranged marriage contracted by their families makes her dreams come true, but does the reality of being Mrs. Michael Badu live up to the fantasy?
Michael may have married Esi, but he is in love with someone else—Forest Girl, a mystery woman he encountered just once in the forest. His heart belongs to her, and he doesn't need his beautiful wife awakening his carnal desires. He is even willing to sacrifice his marriage for another encounter with Forest Girl.
Reality is not what either Esi or Michael imagined. Esi is disillusioned; Michael feels trapped.
Will Michael give in and allow his heart to discover a love that was always meant to be, before it's too late?
EXCERPT
Michael had had every intention of sleeping on the floor tonight. He’d spent a good part of the afternoon fielding the suggestive comments a few bold men had made about tonight. It didn’t help that his manhood hardened with interest at the prospect, defying his own resolve not to touch his wife.
But she tempted him, standing there in her short night dress that barely reached the middle of her thighs. Her eyes stared at him, filled with innocence and passion all at the same time.
Turn around, Mike. Walk away before it’s too late.
She folded her arms beneath her pert breasts again, pushing them up in a manner he could not ignore. It may have been a manifestation of nerves, but his body sprang alive. He bit back a curse, realising he couldn’t walk away even if he wanted to.
He needed to consummate the marriage. If their union broke, as he wished it to, it couldn’t be because he hadn’t claimed her as his wife in every way. Such news never remained hidden. He’d be branded as something less than a real man, and that would certainly affect the elders’ already doubtful opinion of him.
However, when he took a step towards her, he knew at the back of his mind that it wasn’t out of obligation. He wanted to taste her lips again, feel her soft breasts press against his chest, know the taste of her tongue and every other secret part of her body.
“Put your arms around me, Esi,” he whispered.
Keep quiet, man. Talking made things personal. He didn’t want to get personal. He just needed to perform the act.
As she draped her arms around his neck, he lowered his head, so she wouldn’t have to stand on her toes. The gesture brought her face inches away from his. He closed the rest of the space between them, capturing her lips as he kissed her, gently at first, then more urgently as he lost control.
She tasted great; she smelled divine. Against all his convictions, he genuinely wanted her. At the core of it brewed an unexpected yearning in his heart that he didn’t attempt to understand. One thing was certain. Sex with her would be anything but casual—a thought that scared him, yet not enough for him to stop.
​
He didn’t know when he undressed her, but when they reached the bed, she was naked. He fumbled to take his clothes off.