Chapter 33: Chapter 33

- Magic

Deila's pov

Literally, I was placed between a wall and a hard place. His chest was as hard as a wall and from the way I gasped when I had met it, he knew it.

His breath on my ears was doing crazy things to me. The control I had over myself was slipping away, and fast.

"You, " he whispered. There was something about the huskiness in his voice that made a shiver run through me and I felt him smirk against my neck.

Me? I was what's with him?

"I'm what's with you?" I gathered the will to ask, my voice coming out in a whisper.

He giggled softly. "There's something about you acting naive that does crazy things to me."

Me too, it was at the tip of my tongue.

"You know what I'm on about. And yes, you're what's with me." He trailed kisses on my cheeks. "How crazy I am over you."

He placed a kiss just below my ear. "How I get insanely jealous when you talk or hang out with some other guy." He planted a kiss on my earlobe suckling on it and making my breath hitch.

His mouth on my skin was driving crazy, but I wouldn't voice it out. Couldn't.

"Dei, be mine again." He stopped assaulting me with his mouth and held my eyes. "I've been waiting for you to come around since you walked back into my life. I love you. I never stopped loving you. And I want you to stay this time. I can't get enough of you. Can't and won't.

At his confession, my knees grew weaker.

Lord.

His eyes were killing me. It was like there were causing fire to ignite all over me. Burning me inside and out.

"Say something, love. I want you back."

I wet my dry lips nervously. I saw as his eyes follow my movement hungrily. I couldn't look away from his orbs. His pupils had dilated, telling me I wasn't the only one going through the turmoil I was in.

God, this was the push I needed and I knew it. I wanted this for the longest time, I just couldn't bring myself to admit. And when I had admitted, my fears had gotten control of me and caused me to evade everything that had to do with what was happening now.

"I-I don't know why it's hard for me to admit it, even to myself." I couldn't help being honest as I fondled his shirt.

"I love you, Jamy.''

As the words left my mouth, the happiness that took over his features mirrored the one in my heart.

I said it and I was still alive, very much alive, I thought thinking about how minutes ago I thought I'd die if I said it out loud. In

Grinning happily, he didn't stop looking into my eyes. "Say it again."

"Say what?"

"Say you love me, again."

I chuckled at his request. "I love you."

"Again."'

"I love you, so damn much." I held the emotion flooding me at bay. "Your turn."

"I love you, Deila Barbson!" he yelled, loud enough for the entire building to hear.

Thankfully, his head was raised to the sky as he yelled, I would've gone deaf. I shook my head in disbelief and happiness.

"Next time, warn me when you're going to roar, " I told him and realized I was still fondling his shirt. I didn't stop.

He smiled, rubbing his thumb on my bottom lips, and that was all it took. I grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him to down me.

We held eyes for a nanosecond. The confessions our eyes did was more than the words. Slowly, he brought his face closer... as his eyes fluttered shut so did mine.

I waited for his lips to touch mine, instead, his tongue licked my lower lips, very slowly. I immediately felt it- that tingling electric traveling through my body. My lips opened on its own, his tongue immediately sliding into my mouth and our tongues started a sweet little fight.

kissing never felt this good.

I had kissed James more times than I could count, but this was unlike any other time.

This kiss was flowing freely— our tongues dancing in a unanimous rhythm, our lips moving simultaneously as I wasn't holding back. It was me pouring out how much pain I felt for those two years we weren't together. It was us telling each other, 'I missed you'. It was a kiss of sweet pain and pleasure all in a mix.

And it was melting me.

He pressed his entire front to mine and growled through the kiss. That was when I felt it— a bulge touching below my stomach. His erection. Damn me.

Good thing I wasn't the only one the kiss was melting or in his case hardening.

I moaned when he grabbed my rear, pressing his front further into mine and making my back press to the wall. His erection pressing to my stomach was all that clouded my mind. I couldn't think. I was fully consumed by him. I took my hands to the back of his head pulling him in deeper— if it was any possible.

"Hmm," I moaned as the kiss became a little deeper when I didn't think it could— much to my satisfaction.

I raised a leg, placing it behind his knee and suddenly I was no longer standing as he'd picked me up. I hopped on him, crossing my legs behind him.

He moved us away from the wall and to the table where he placed me gently so I was sitting, all while not breaking the kiss.

I needed to breathe or I was going to die. As if reading my mind, he parted, looking lustfully into my eyes.

If his eyes were dilated before, they became even more dilated now. I loved the irony of clearly seeing the desire in his dark eyes. He skimmed a kiss on my lips, his moving away quicker than I'd have liked. I dragged in a breath of satisfaction from having his lips back on me when he started trailing kisses on my face down to my neck.

I moaned when I felt his tongue dart out, running through the nape of my neck, tilting my head to the side to give him space for his magic. Because that was what he was doing...magic on my skin— with his lips, tongue, and teeth.

Magic that caused a pool to form in my center.

Magic that made my knees wobbly—I was sure I'd be as a potato sack on the ground if he wasn't holding me on the table.

Magic that made me giddy and my head dizzy. I didn't want him to stop. I loved the magic.

My hands went up to his chest and started undoing his shirt buttons before I could think.

He suddenly stopped his magic. "Dei?"

"Hmm?" I mumbled, rubbing his hard chest.

I felt him stiffen. "What are you doing?"

"I want to see your chest. Feel it. I missed it," I told him sincerely because though we didn't have sex, we had made out so many times and his walled chest was always a huge turn on for me.

I felt his hot unsteady breath on my ear. It was rapid. "You don't know what you doing to me, Dei. You're driving me crazy."

I quickly removed my hands. "Sorry," I muttered.

He made a sound at the back of his throat that caused a new wave of desire to travel through me and my center to jolt.

Placing my hands back on his chest, "Please don't stop. Drive me crazy," he pleaded hoarsely.

He bit my ear lobe softly, the electricity traveled through my entire body and my toes curled.

''Jamy'' a voice moaned, it was too horny and soft to be mine, but it was.

He continued his assault on my ears and neck. I couldn't hold back my loud moan when he grounded his erection to my center. Fuck me.

He growled and grunted my name. My head fell back as I held back a cry. It felt so good that I was scared I was going to combust.

I was snapped back to reality by a noise. We both separated in time to see the noise was from the door opening to reveal a man I was expecting to return in a week as he’d gone over to Nigeria to sort things out with Uncle Jamison who’d left angrily after that night I stood up to him. I guess it was to no avail.

Blast me.

My Dad.

My expressionless dad.

I jolted away from James, trying to arrange my now scattered hair and skirt that had ridden up to my waist as I stood with wobbly kneed.

"Dad," I whispered in disbelief. Shit.

He eyed James wearily, but when his gaze landed on me, they softened still I didn't miss the disappointment in them.

"Deila," He called and I averted my eyes to anywhere that wasn't him.

I wasn't quite proud of myself. How could I let my guard down like that? And in the office?

Shush Dei. You enjoyed every second of it.

Stupid subconscious.

Then he looked over to my left again to the man with disheveled shirt and hair— doings of his wanton daughter. "James."

He lowered his gaze and I waited for what was to come next— My dad's scoldings, but it never came.

Instead, he exhaled audibly. "You could've at least gone to a hotel if you couldn't hold it," he paused with a scowl, gesturing to the both of us and then the table "in any longer. You had to use my office.''

"I'm sorry sir I-"

"James, I cut my vacation because of what I heard yesterday. Fix yourself and let's all talk."

And that was it. My dad didn't preach after what he saw and I was in disbelief. The same man who didn't even take to Jacob's visits to Mari even after he proposed. That same man just saw that and was cool?

He was always so overly protective over his daughters. So why didn't he yell? Why didn't he scold our lackadaisical behavior?

James was at the door when he turned to me. "We still talk, Dei. You didn't give me an answer." He shrugged.

"Not an audible one." He smirked as he shut the door.

I sighed crossing my hands together in an attempt to keep myself composed. Though it was thirty minutes after the hot make out on dad's table, I was still disheveled... not physically anyway.

We were now down at the SAP account room— I, Dad, Dawn, and James.

''We could still stop them from doing more harm, Mr.Barbson," James said to my agitated dad.

"I messed up here. Guess I'd start having trust issues now. I trusted my employees too much and look where it got me," My dad said as he looked at the monitor showing prove of the fraud for the umpteenth time.

"Do you trust the person you put in charge of the main account?"

"What do you mean? You think it's him?"

"I've to know how much you trust him. Seeing as the security you put in this main account is very high, it would be very difficult for just anyone to mess with it. However, the account manager has total access to it."

"He has a point, dad. Do you trust him?" Dawn asked.

Dad's brows furrowed together and I knew he was thinking. "Yes, I do. He's been working in accounts for over five years now. Why will he betray me all of a sudden?''

"He's not saying it's him. We're looking from every angle now. Plus, Five years Isn't a very long time, dad," I said for the first time since we entered the room.

He stood up from the chair, pacing around "Right, right."

"And let's not put out that it could also be any of the rival companies," James added.

"If it is any of them, then there still would be a snitch. For any other company to have access to an account as secure as this, someone inside this building must be giving us to them. If there's an infiltrator, there's still a problem with Empire staff," I reasoned.

''Right, Dei. How about we find a way to double the security on the account and maybe change the persons in charge —dad could manage it by himself for now— before focusing on catching the rat?" Dawn suggested.

He was right. The account should be saved before we investigated who the snitch was otherwise there wouldn't be anything left investigating for.

"Good point there, Dawn. We should start by going up to the accounting department to put the staff out there for now. I want to personally interrogate Mr. Woods." James was as determined as everyone in the room, even though he wasn't even part of us.

"With your permission, sir.'' He motioned to my dad.

"That would be good." Dad was already walking towards the door. He stopped, turning to me. "Dei, come with me if you'll please."

I sucked in my breath. This can't be good, I thought nervous.

"Okay, dad."

I stood in the office I had occupied for weeks, waiting for my dad to take the seat I had been occupying all the while. But he didn't. Instead, he took the chair that sat across.

"Sit down, Deila." He motioned to the chair that was across from him.

Why was he not seating in his rightful place? I asked myself seeing he wasn't on his seat.

"Yeah, I'll. Right after you sit where you're supposed to."

He tittered. "Just sit down, will you? It doesn't matter where I sit. They're two CEO's in the room, besides, I won't be resuming just yet."

I gave in and sat across him, confusion written all over my face "Why?"

I didn't think I was going to like where the discussion was going.

He smiled unbothered. "You'll know. All in good time. All in good time," he said repeatedly.

Whatever I was going to learn got me wondering. The Mr.Barbson I knew would be sitting in my place the minute he landed in Atlanta. He was so much of a workaholic.

"I didn't ask you to come here to talk about the company. I've got a feeling you know that." He deadpanned. "Your act earlier..." he trailed.

Fuck me! I thought as much.

"The one where you acted with James."

If he wasn't making it more dreadful by referring to my make out with James like sort of a porn movie.

"Whatever you're thinking," he said pointedly. "I'm not going to scold you. I'm just going to tell you to be careful, responsible and to go with your heart. I know you and James have history and the chemistry's still there. I saw that."

How the hell did he know this? I asked myself taken aback.

What did my dad know? I wondered. If anybody knew, I didn't think it would be him. And how he was handling what he knew but wasn't the way he'd seen it. Though he wasn't the strict dad, he had a hard time accepting his baby girls were now women, he was never okay with it. So why was he kind of comfortable about this? I was confused m. Relieved but confused.

"Dad I-I"

He chuckled, his eyes wrinkling just a bit. "Dei, my girl." He sang. "You don't have to be all surprised. You didn't think I knew, or did you?" I shook my head.

"There's very little thing going on under my roof I don't know. I know you left for LA two years ago because you broke up with James...at least that was one of the reasons right?'' It sounded rhetorical.

"I don't understand how you knew but never came up to me with it." I shrugged. "You were always strict concerning issues like this."

"I know. I still am. You're my daughter and I'll always feel the way I feel right now— like kicking James in the balls right before cutting them off. But I've to accept you're grown now."

He paused his lips in a line. "You'll get to understand why I'm not so pissed in this case. Soon you'll know why I didn't beat James to a pulp or freak out when I saw you two earlier," he said, trying to make his tone sound less meaningful than it did earlier.

But I couldn't help but think, what was it I didn't know? What was it my dad was holding behind that cool voice?

Why not ask him? So I did, "I don't understand, Dad. Is there something you aren't telling me?"

He looked so calm with the reassuring smile he had on, to any other person but not me. Before I could query him some more, he stood up, strutting to the door.

"See you at home, dear. I need a rest now. And I can't wait to see my wife even though I was just with her some hours ago."

I had to smile at that. "Alright, bye."

I got a weird feeling concerning his demeanor, and the way he'd said he was tired, he looked rather energetic and up to something.

I'd give him time before I queried again.