by Love Belvin
My head went back and I laughed hard. He was talking about her being pregnant.
“She had a Bailey, Red. She know what time it is,” I joked back.
“Let me show this one.” He winked and that’s when I saw Lashawn being spun next to us.
I didn’t see her before, but could tell he’d already been working on her. Like me, Lashawn was wasted. She giggled and bent over, giving Red full access. Man… I hoped she knew what she was in for. Probably did. Red had been a stripper as long as Shank. They came up together and brought Trick and my other cousins in the game.
Red started on Lashawn and I worked my wife as much as I could with her belly. Before I knew it, Trick had joined us with some chick I didn’t know. His girl had already left with my moms. My cousin, Kev, was in the cypher, too, giving a show. Soon, we had the floor. After the deejay extended “Wait” by the Ying Tang Twins, we somehow left the women and started busting freestyle moves to Bruno Mars. “That’s What I Like” had become a regular during my workouts. We had a blast showing off new moves and pulling out ones from back in the day. I wasn’t half as good as these dudes. I didn’t think Trick still danced, but my cousins still made a living from stripping. They were some of the best in the game.
We took over the party, but it was worth it when I caught Jade’s little hand swiping nervously over her deep cleavage at one point when I looked her way.
She mouthed, “Lucky for you, that’s what I like.”
That little message turned me on, almost messing up my rhythm and head game.
When it was time to go, Tessie Bell found Jade and me kicking it with Divine and his wife, Rayna.
I hadn’t seen her in a while. Rayna sat on a white, thick column that had a decorative plant pot on it with lights. He had to help her up there. She was low key and not traveling all over with him to be seen like his ex. Truth be told, I didn’t think Divine liked that. He was used to chicks riding him. If you knew who he was, you knew he was the man. Divine was the first dude that made me see the little fandemonium Shank, Red, Trick, and my other family had caused in Camden was small time. Divine wasn’t a celebrity, but he was that dude insiders made sure they rubbed elbows with to flourish. Kicking it with him and his wife, we learned we had the same wedding coordinator, Tessie Bell. We talked about their honeymoon on a yacht, too.
“You know, TB.” Divine chuckled. “When the wife’s feeling somebody else’s toy, you gotta go out and cop one for yourself.”
I looked down at Jade who, smiled while gulping down a flute of water. Her eyes sparkled, letting me know she liked that boss talk. I knew I had to do better with my cheapness. No matter how hard she denied it, Jade loved flossing.
“You wanna yacht?” I asked her, unsmiling.
Jade’s ambers raked over Divine and Rayna before hitting me and narrowing.
She lowered the glass as she swallowed, small neck extending in the air. “I already have a big boat,” she answered throatily. “I take it out in my sea as often as the weather allows.”
My eyes popped out of my head. Divine busted out laughing and Rayna shouted something in agreement and offered Jade a high-five.
“She’s a mess, this one!” Rayna giggled, pulling Divine into her as he stood next to the pillar she sat on, his body slouched over her.
Without looking back at his wife, Divine’s eyes were narrowed and on me. He swallowed back the rest of his Mauve—it had to be Mauve. Only brown juice dude drank was his. Then nodded. “She’s the right cloth for him.” His words were short but weighty.
Jade closer to me, moving my arm to make room for herself and she stared at me, probably wondering what that meant. With A.D.J. you never knew. You just knew it was legit. He was calculating. Always three thoughts ahead, this dude.
“I’m sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs. I need to steal away the bride and groom so they can be on their way this evening.” She smiled with her hands on my and Jade’s shoulders.
I could see one of her assistants behind her, speaking on their walkie-talkie things.
“Ut-oh!” Rayna piped up. “You two need to go. Tessie Bell doesn’t play. It’s been a pleasure. Hopefully, we can do it again soon, Baileys!”
Jade and I looked at each other. She giggled at that now public name. I turned to give Divine some love then Rayna. Jade played the opposite of me.
“No more drinks for this guy, Jade,” Azmir ordered. “He won’t be able to deliver on his promises later on tonight if you don’t cut him off.”
We all laughed. Even though I wasn’t at the drunk phase, I had too much to drink tonight. No more for me.
Tessie led us back to the stage where we said goodnight—well, I said goodnight, trying to look as sober as I could. Jade clutched me like a pillow the whole time, her face buried in my chest. My little one was showing signs of pregnancy for once. She was zapped.
Tessie and her team, along with Tyheem and John led us to Kyree and April, then we all headed out of LaChateau. The plan was to go back to the crib, shower and change, put Ky down, and leave for Teterboro for our flight.
The plane took off at one-fifteen that morning for the Caribbean Sea.
~Eighteen
“So, you must think I’m some kinda joke, huhn? A fuckin’ clown. You get married and don’t even tell me? Got my son face all over blogs and shit. My people ringin’ my phone with the shit you was ‘posed to hit me with? The fuck?” I rolled my eyes, not allowing Ryshon’s venom to affect my blissful mood as I peered over the perfectly turquoise sea. Not even my sunglasses could shade the picturesque hue. “You wanna trip over some bullshit about fuckin’ people who don’t know me, don’t know my son, don’t know you. But you care what they think and you want me to, too? Fuck a…apology. You want me to say sorry for defending myself to some chick that tried to play me? What you think this is Jade, huhn? Fuck that!” he screamed. “Call me the fuck back or have my son call me! I ain’t playin’ games witchu!”
That ended that rant. It was the third in as many days. I lay my cell down on the coffee table next to the lounger I lay stretched over. I peeked behind me in the glass door. From my vantage point, I saw a long columnar leg stretched out, hanging from the bed. The sight of his muscular glutes as he lay sprawled on his stomach had me swallowing involuntarily. This was the third day of our honeymoon, and it had been enchanted.
I turned to take a picture of the water our bungalow faced. A distant image of the four wooden pillars connected and roped by white silk and tulle drapery couldn’t escape the parameters of the shoot. Neither could the jumbo white pillows and low table that was encompassed in our ‘dining room’ out here. I clicked two or three shots, wanting to be sure I got at least one decent picture. After viewing and deciding which one, I uploaded it to Instagram, needing no filter.
What’s more perfect than this? Him.
That was my caption. Simple and true. On a satisfied breath, I lay back and perused the gorgeous sky. It was clear without a dark cloud in sight. I’d never heard quiet like this in all my life. And at night the water illuminated at the shore level. It was unbelievable. Sparking neon blue water saturating our feet at night. It was serene.
“You reading the Word?” His voice was throaty, unprepared yet for the day.
I glanced down to the Bible on my lap, realizing the inspiration of his question.
“Yeah. I finally got around to reading the story of Joseph like you asked me,” I explained.
The morning we arrived here in Saint Justin, a few miles south of Vieques Island, a smaller Caribbean island off Puerto Rico’s eastern coast, he told me about a revelation he’d been developing since recovering from our wedding day. He said his family kept thanking him throughout the entire day for inviting them to the “fancy” shindig. Even his mother and uncle, Trick, approached him in a manner of expecting him to be haughty about his success. Trent didn’t understand it, then remembered the story of Joseph and how his brothers sold him off as a slave to merchants, traveling to Egypt. That set off a ser
ies of bad events in his life, including false imprisonment, and would cause him to question God. It would have me, too. But Joseph trusted God and in the end, would see his brothers again when he was Prime Minister and they had hit bad times.
“That’s what it felt like, yo,” he explained with more emotion than I was accustomed to from him. More spiritual insight than I’d seen from him, and I’d seen some since meeting Trent. “I felt like my wedding was that point—that pinnacle of success—that everybody recognizes. It’s like I had that moment where they saw me—not through me or over me either. They actually talked to me. Trick and my moms was acting like they had something to prove to me.”
He shook his head. “And I felt like Joseph through it all. I know what they did to me, but it ain’t matter, Jade. I mean, I ain’t trippin’ off the endorsements, the new contract, or none of that. You know what made me feel like that tallest and freshest dude in the room? You. I was aligning with my soul mate, finally, in public. Now, I could stand before Ky a real man; not just somebody boning his moms and playing house. I could show the world you a honest and pure woman. That ain’t got nothing to do with them or what they did to me all these years. Just like Joseph. He was so blessed by how God advanced his life, he couldn’t trip about the journey. He was made by his storms. And that’s how I feel about mine.”
And he encouraged me to read it, something I did this morning after awaking lazily from another good night’s rest.
“Word?” he asked. “What you think of it?”
I turned to face him and give my own revelation, but I steeled midway with one leg on the ground and the other slapping down onto the lounger. My mouth fell open and eyes blossomed.
“Trent…” was all I could say.
His tight eyes hit me then followed my line of sight. Muscles…all hard slabs of muscle encased in almond marred skin. The top his tight grooves and curves were covered with ink. Toward the middle of the canvas was bare tanned skin and lots of hair and…a long, even tanner resting snake against his upper thigh, then his muscular legs that were a darker shade, thanks to the sun out here. Trent was completely nude… And unbothered, based on his recklessly confident posture, standing in the doorway with one arm above his head, gripping the doorjamb, and the other holding a coffee mug to his bearded face.
“What?”
My eyes went even wilder at his ignorance. “You have no clothes on!”
His face tightened more. “So? You don’t either.”
My regard went down to my bare boobs that now tingled and their pebbled peaks.
“I am not naked. I have on bikini bottoms. My breasts are unbearably heavy,” I grabbed them, suddenly conscious about their exposure. “and I felt comfortable letting them be out here.” The grounds were private.
“Well…” He casually moved to take the seat in the lounger across from me. “My balls were heavy when I woke up. I feel like I can let them hang here, too.”
Trent was being facetious, groggy this late morning.
I tossed him a warning glare. “I’m serious,” he argued, exchanging his coffee for his tablet laying on the frosted glass coffee table next to him. “Now, tell me what you think of the story.”
I took a deep breath, seeing he was changing the subject. Trent wouldn’t be scolded into putting on clothes. That was fine with me because I didn’t want to cover up myself. The air was that perfect here that we had only turned on the air once since checking in. The temperature dropped at night, allowing us to sleep with the doors and windows open, hence him sleeping in the nude.
My regard went back to the beautiful sky. “It’s actually what I tried telling you I felt about my mother. I swear when talking to her, there was an unexpected peace that came over me. Weird, but true.” As I got revved up reliving the sensation, Trent let me know he was with me, he understood.
“Word up,” he muttered slowly, but emphatically.
“It was like… The fact that she didn’t even acknowledge—understand—all the hell she’d put me through and was determined to have a meltdown at my wedding didn’t faze me at all. I recognized it, but didn’t feel the need to address it. I was even willing to concede to her wishes of being back in Ky’s life. “Like…” I took a cleansing breath, searching for the right words. “I’m good.”
I glanced over to Trent and found him nodding while perusing his iPad. “It’s a joy that God gives. So many times, we pass it over and wanna be angry and vindictive. I’ve been praying for wisdom on this. I don’t wanna get in my feelings no more when people play me. I want to live in that joy that only God can give.” He nodded, eyes still ahead.
Man, I loved when he waxed spiritual knowledge with me. It was such a turn on. I had a glimpse of what must appeal to Lex about her husband. The confidence Trent exuded when he spoke about faith and all things worship was the new aphrodisiac for me. It started when I realized how dedicated to attending church he was. And when he complained of cursing too much… That drove me wild!
“Oh!” his boisterous yelped startled me. “I get a tag on IG? I’m the man!” He peered over to me with an unbridled smile.
The first of the morning.
I snorted, slighted by that dig. “What are you talking about?” It was more of a statement.
“I never get no social media love from you,” he exclaimed. “Like…ever! It’s all about you, Ky, your girls, ya hair, ya nails—everything but me. No love for TB. Ever.”
My face fell, tears threatened to spill.
“Trent, you’re my world. My fortune and not your money. Like you said, you’re my soul mate materialized. I would never slight you.” I was offended by the suggestion.
He didn’t look at me, behaving petulantly.
“I’m just sayin’…” he murmured, tapping at his screen.
“What are you saying?”
When he didn’t answer, I lay the Bible on the chair, but absentmindedly kept my phone in hand when I went over to straddle him. Gathering his beard in my palm, I forced him to look at me.
“Come again?” I lifted a brow.
I wanted to know because out of all my faults, not making him a priority wasn’t amongst them. I needed him to know how much I valued him in my life. It was because of Trent that I was stronger. No, he didn’t single-handedly bring about this transformation, but he introduced me to Christ, and I would forever be indebted to him for that. My confidence had grown, peace had taken residence in my heart and mind. I may have been stressed out about this pregnancy and what the world thought of me because of it, but even that anxiety was dulling in my heart. I was his and he was mine. Exclusively. That’s all that mattered.
When Trent wouldn’t answer, an idea came to mind. I pulled my phone up, tapped to the camera app, and opted for a video. Then I drew closer to the bearded ogre and hit record. I didn’t speak, but angled it to record Trent. He didn’t regard the camera. His regard was pinned to me, angrily.
His eyes were narrowed, brows furrowed, sour with me, stiff from recently awakening, and partially against the unabashed sun. He looked damn irresistible when sulking. I didn’t feel as at ease as I’d appeared recording this. My life with Trent was extremely delicate and therefore had to be conducted in private. His trust issues and my recovery from self-esteem problems shouldn’t be blasted to the world. Trent’s name was constantly in the media; we didn’t need to add on my presence being a target for speculation or attack. But I’d do anything to prove my dedication to him.
I turned the camera to me, tightened my face and pouted my lips, mocking my husband. The view went back to him. Trent glanced at the face of my screen and discovered I was recording. His face loosened, but he withheld his reaction. That’s when I felt him swell beneath me. I didn’t react to it. Instead turned the camera back to me and relaxed my face, pushing my sunglasses to my forehead. I was barefaced without lashes and all, but I didn’t care. I was, for once, giving the world my regular life with an extraordinary man. Soundless. That was until I turned the camera back on hi
m, moved closer to his face with protruded lips and brushed them against his. Trent didn’t move until I, next, opened my mouth and bit his beard, yanking it back.
At that, he grunted, pulling me into his hardness by my butt. I squealed when I felt him growing even larger next to the bed of my bikini and recognized the new slant in his eyes. That’s when I quickly ended the close to thirty second video and went over to the IG app to upload it.
Trent’s thick arms moved beneath my thighs, his hands pushed to my back where he pulled me into him at the shoulders. He held me so close, I could feel his heart thunder in his chest. In a swift maneuver, he lifted me from his lap. I giggled hysterically while he lay me on my back and pulled my legs straight in the open air. Trent wiggled my bikini bottoms over my hips then up my legs. He tossed them over his shoulder.
“I’m ‘bout to eat your sweet pussy then ram my dick until I empty my sacs then watch yesterday’s From the Sidelines.”
He leaned over, licking his lips. And when his mouth touched my sex I moaned. His tongue soon followed, lapping up and down my slit. My arms fell to my sides and the phone rolled onto the lounger next to his bare thigh. And when his focus settled on my clit my moans turned to desperate cries.
How could he think I’d overlook this?
As I rowed the boat with my little lady inside, The Whispers played on my phone, and I couldn’t stop looking up at the stars. They were bright against the dark sheet of night. I’d traveled the world and seen lots of amazing things, but I can’t remember being so impressed as I’d been these past two weeks, here in Saint Justin. Maybe it was this particular island or part of the Caribbean.
Nah… Don’t make sense.
It was the same sky I’d seen from Aruba, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, Antigua, and Trinidad. I’d been to them all, fucked in them all. Can’t remember not having a good time in any of them. But this was something to go down in the history books. Being here was like leaving Jersey for the first time.