Love In the Red Zone (Connecticut Kings Book 1)

by Love Belvin

  “I reached out to Ezra on my way back from Atlanta. When this all hit me—what I want to do—I needed to bounce it off of someone who knew you. He said a lot of things that hit home. Your insecurity is your inability to trust. That lack of trust comes from never having been nurtured or emotionally tended to. No one ever gave you the security you needed to be confident in yourself to feel worthy of anyone’s time. Well, you’re worth mine, Trent.” Hot tears sprang from me sharing this vulnerable side of me. “I know you’re a grown man and have gotten by all these years, but… If you’ll have me, I find you worthy enough of pushing like I’ll be pushing my own child.”

  I sighed frustrated, rolled my eyes. “I know it sounds so 1949-ish. And again, I can understand if that’s not what you saw in a wife or if you wanted—”

  “Jade.”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll be home on Sunday morning. Have someone keep Ky for a couple of days. We’re taking a trip.”

  My face wrinkled. That was the last thing I expected him to say. I felt a rebuttal for clarification was needed, but my gut told me otherwise. He’d just told me to transfer Kyree on Monday. Now, it was sounding like we wouldn’t even be in town on Sunday. But then I could understand his jump in emotions. I’d just been freaking out about us not working and then went into vomiting the ‘dear diary’ of my soul to him. That was just Trent and me: led by passion and not always good sense.

  “O-okay…”

  ~Fifteen

  I worked over her, in her like a machine. My hips twisted and lifted to bring her to that special place where she detonated and screamed my name. One hand on my ass and the other on my back, her nails dug into my skin, exciting me all over. Her joints started to tighten, she held me as close as she could, clawing onto me to keep me near. The moment I felt her gushy walls squeeze around me while contracting, I knew she was there.

  “Mmmmmm…” she moaned. Then she dug her heels into the mattress and slammed her pussy into me. I switched angles with my drives and started pounding her hard and fast. “Trent…iiiiin!”

  She was coming and the skin on my entire body lifted with goosebumps all over. I kept plunging into her as she threw it to me. The sight of her tits bouncing, her nipples rock hard made me wild. I kept working her, kept pumping into her until she let me go and fell onto the bed with her arms stretched above her head. This is what I lived for. Sex had turned into some therapeutic shit with Jade. When we started out, I thought she was the beast, always wanting it. Now, I couldn’t live without it. I couldn’t live without any part of her.

  “Can I leave it in?” I whispered, out of breath, spine curled over her, face damp and buried in her breasts.

  “Wait…” she breathed, I could feel her head lifting from her neck. “Did you come already?” she cried, all dramatic. I nodded over her chest. “How do you do that, Trent? Like, really?” She slammed her head back onto the mattress. “When?”

  “A long time ago,” I didn’t feel like talking, I could lay with my dick lodged in her all day, soft and hard.

  But I had to move.

  “Trent, that’s impossible. If I didn’t feel you running out of me after sex, I would think you’re lying and I can’t get you off,” her tone turned irritated.

  “What time is it?” I mumbled.

  I felt her patting the mattress for a phone: hers or mine.

  “It’s almost six. Why? We’re not leaving until tomorrow morning, right?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, but I’m in a time crunch here. I need to ask you something and based on your answer, I gotta take you somewhere at 6:30.” I was mad comfortable and didn’t feel like moving, but knowing what I had set up, would get me to moving fast.

  If Jade is down…

  “Trent, speak English and not Boobish, please,” she gruffed.

  I used my tongue to trace the outline of her wide nipple for my pleasure and not hers. I was fucking lovesick over this wild girl. Paranoid about losing her over some bullshit that shouldn’t even matter to us. After I hung up the phone with her on Friday night, I realized the more aggressive the media pushed us, I had to get more aggressive with Jade to keep her near. My thoughts turned crazy, but felt right.

  “We leave in the morning.” I took a break from tasting her again to answer.

  We flew into Macen Beach last night in enough time to catch the sunset. The weather was mild for the end of November. The wind blew briskly, but without that cold bite. I didn’t have much time, and had to be back in Connecticut by tomorrow afternoon for practice. I had to beg for this time away.

  “Well!” She giggled, trying to push me away by my shoulders as my tongue trailed up her chest. “What do you have to ask me? To cook? You brought me down here and expect me to labor.”

  She was being sarcastic, but I knew if I asked, Jade would do anything. She liked taking care of me, which is what brought me down here.

  “Let’s get in the shower first.” I pulled out of her and lifted her petite body off the bed. “I need you clean for this.”

  “Trent, you’re scaring me. You need me clean to ask me something?”

  I placed her down on the shower floor and turned on the water. Then I jogged out of the room for her hair clip, because Jade hated getting her weave wet. I didn’t want the blame for it. She pinned her hair and let me wash her from shoulders to toes without any objection. My chest pounded as I moved quickly, washing myself afterward. We were rinsed and drying off in no time and I led her back to the bed.

  “What are you looking for?” she asked from behind while I went to the closet. We were staying at the same house Jade rented for Shank’s funeral. We both agreed to loving this place and coming back some day. Well, this was that time and today would hopefully be the most special for me and her. “Oh, my god!” she breathed as I padded closer to her holding a long white dress with straps.

  “I wanna see you in this.”

  “Does it come with bra and panties, too?” she joked, unable to look away from it.

  “Ummmm…” I scratched the back of my head with my free hand. “You don’t need any for this. In fact, if you answer correctly, you won’t need any at all until we leave the plane tomorrow.”

  “Trent, you’re talking weird.” Her ambers turned away, troubled.

  “Look, girl.” I moved closer. “Just put this on and I’ll get on with it. Here. Stand up.”

  I pulled her from the bed and snatched the towel off. Jade lifted her arms in the air and let me slide the dress down on her delicious frame. She straightened it once it was past her hips. Then she shifted her big boobs into the breast area.

  “Damn…” I breathed.

  Her head lifted just enough for her eyes to scan my face. “Stop it, Trent! I can’t help this,” she hissed.

  “And I’m so glad you can’t.” I went to my suitcase and threw on boxers, shorts, and t-shirt while she fingered through her curly hair. “Okay. Time to go.” I went for her hand to tug her behind me.

  “Wait! Where are we going? And why are you shaking like this?” Jade’s face was wrinkled with panic. I was nervous as hell. So shook, I’d forgotten to ask her. “And your hands are misty. What’s going on?”

  I took a deep breath before running my sweaty palm over my face. My eyes went to the floor. I was crashing.

  “We’re going to get married.”

  “Married?” her voice grew notches.

  “Yeah.”

  “But you said you had a question for me. I’m so confused. You already asked me to marry you last month. See.” Using all the sarcasm it seemed she could in the petrifying moment for me, Jade wiggled her left finger, showing her rock.

  “I know.” I bit my lip, taking in a deep breath. “But I don’t want to wait until next year any more. I wanna do it now.”

  “Now?” Her hands went to her hips, eyes roamed around the room. “Are we having a “Concussion” moment here? Where? How?”

  “Outside on the beach with you and me is how. Now, you gonna make me beg or w
hat?”

  Jade’s neck popped back; she shifted leaving one hand on her hip. “You gonna ask me first or what, yo?” she mocked me.

  That cuteness eased my nerves just slightly. I dropped down to one knee and reached for her hand. “Jade Renee Matthews, would you do me the honor of being my wife, starting tonight?”

  I saw Jade swallow at my straight-faced expression. She nodded her head real fast and real hard as she sucked in her bottom lip. I exhaled hard, my head falling over my shoulders. Thank you, God. Then I stood.

  “C’mon.” I grabbed her soft little hand again and tugged gently. “We’re late.”

  The walk down the stairs and out the back door leading to the beach seemed to have taken forever. The stroll, hand in hand, through the sand against the setting sun and flying wind felt like an eternity, too. When I saw Ezra standing a few feet away from the water, wearing a blazer, collarless shirt and linen pants rolled up at the knee, something in me broke. And so did the tears. It was another moment when I questioned God.

  How?

  Why?

  How did I get to this moment where I was beasting to marry this woman who pushed her way into my head and heart after I let her into my home? Why did I deserve to be the man who would protect and guide her son? How, after all the strife I’d been through, did I get another chance to soar in the career I felt I would die without? Why had He stuck by my side after I’d resigned my mind to believe I was going to die while locked up and out of the game?

  I felt silken fingers on my face. I glanced down and saw Jade wiping my face. Tears spilling from her eyes and her shoulders trembling. Ezra wasn’t alone. He’d brought his wife down as the witness. She held their baby against her chest in some carrying contraption strapped to her. Little Lisa-Mare’s feet dangling from it, didn’t help me straighten myself up, not one bit. Ezra’s daughter wasn’t even two months old yet, but when I called him the night after hanging up with Jade and begged him to do this on a whim, he said just four words.

  “I’ll clear my schedule.”

  I chartered a flight for their convenience, arranged for a quick turnaround so they could get back to their lives. My next call was to Elle for small details. I really tried not to be a bother to her, but she’s so swift and efficient with it, I knew whatever I asked would get done. Plus, she needed to know how to handle the inquiries from the media. She actually picked out the dress and booked the same house Jade did down here, where we said our final goodbye to my uncle. Now I needed to be sure this wasn’t all in vain. Would Jade go through with this?

  “Now?” she asked, her bottom lip shaking.

  “Right now,” I confirmed, sniffling. “I want you right now. It won’t be the last time we do this—I know Ky ain’t here. But I need to make you mine, so you don’t—” my throat closed up on me and I couldn’t speak. I threw my eyes out over the water before turning back to her. “I don’t want you slipping away, Jade.”

  “I’m not,” she whispered against the breeze.

  I tipped my head toward Ezra and his lady and goaded, “Then prove it.”

  Jade’s eyes fell. They danced around the floor of the beach. She took a deep breath, I caught in the lifting of her shoulders.

  She blurted, “Okay. Come on,” before busting out with another cry.

  She squeezed my hand as she turned toward Ezra and Lex. I looked over to him and he made a gesture, asking if we were good. I nodded. Jade’s ass had better been good. She made sure to show she wanted me for months before I was able to let her in, and now that she was, I couldn’t live without her.

  “Jade,” Trent murmured, unable to speak and breathe at the same time, his emotions were so flared. Seeing him like this had my face wet with tears, similar to him. It was out of character for him, but I knew it was a reflection of where we’d grown to. “I vow to always conduct myself as a reflection of our love, to care for you and protect you and Kyree. I vow to always be a man you’ll be proud to call your own. You will always be good enough for me.” His head fell toward our touching toes. “You’re perfection in my eyes. No need to be someone else.”

  That shit had me blubbering. We were both crying messes. Ezra and his wife had stood quietly since he’d started officiating minutes ago and then asked for our vows. I felt a hand at my back too small to be Trent’s, while my head hung and tears fell. It was Ezra’s wife, Lex, comforting me. Once I was able to gain myself, I looked up at the man I loved and pledged my heart to him.

  “Trent, I vow to be in your corner and stay there. There is no mistake that will cause me to shun you. My heart will always see you. My eyes will always light up at your presence and each thought of you. You’re my treasure, Trent; something I will protect until my death and nurture until you blossom. You’re mine and I will be yours forever.”

  “Trenton Bailey,” Ezra interjected. “Do you take Jade as your lawfully married wife, to have, provide for, and to serve until death do you part?”

  Trent nodded, his eyes pinned to me. “I do.”

  “Jade Matthews,” Ezra continued. “Do you take Trent as your lawfully married husband, to protect, cover, and shield until death do you part.”

  “I do,” I could only whisper as I was lost in Trent’s eyes.

  “By the power vested in me and the covenant made today before God, I pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Trenton Bailey. You may now—”

  Trent swallowed my face whole. And I let him. Our soaked faces slipped over one another’s in passionate furry. He took me at the back and instinctively, I lifted from his thick arms and wrapped my legs around his waist.

  “Christ, Trent!” I could hear our pastor cry with humor behind me.

  Then from the change of the wind now hitting me from behind, I could tell we’d moved. Trent walked us, down the beach, back to the house while swallowing my face. I could hear whistles and handclaps from Ezra and his wife, but refused to open my eyes. I was stuck in a place where I didn’t need to hear or see anything but the man who’d just made me his wife.

  Back at the beach house I understood why Trent said I didn’t need underwear. The poor white Chloé dress I’d worn for all of twenty minutes was torn off me and seconds after that, his stoney cock shoved deep inside me. I had to remember to thank whomever picked it out and convinced him to buy it. It certainly wasn’t Trent. My husband was too cheap for that call.

  The next morning, Trent and I left Macen Beach. We returned to the house together, but he stayed just long enough for me to gather his worn clothes he came home from Connecticut with on Sunday, and pack him a fresh bag of clothes for the week. He was off again for work. But this time it didn’t feel so much like parting. It felt routine. It felt scheduled and temporary. As I thought about the thongs I packed in his bag between his folded boxer briefs, I chuckled to myself on my way to the kitchen.

  I decided not to tell Kyree about the secret wedding. He was too young and I’d already compromised my authority in his life by asking him to not tell people we were without electricity and then that he and I were staying here at the mansion when we first moved in. That was too much to put on a young boy. It was bad enough that his father was incarcerated. Trent coming into our world deflected that absence, but now that Trent was working full time, Kyree missed him similarly to me. It was the end of November and the season was coming to an end. Trent already had a list of things to do with Kyree and I was excited to tag along. Having Trent in bed every night seemed like a dream, taking too long to come true.

  I continued on in the week, decorating the house. I resumed with curtains for the dining room. I’d purchased a plush linen fabric and pearls to sew into the drapes I planned to make. I knew I was too young to be so excited about sewing, but it was interior design to style the home of a man I adored. A home that was now mine and Kyree’s. A weight had been lifted from my chest and I was now free to move about settling in the mansion properly. Before Macen Beach, my time feeling comfortable here was pending until we were married. Now that we were, I felt whole and leg
itimized. What’s crazy is I would have never guessed there was such a thing. I never knew having a man claim you could feel so freeing and complete. But that was the way I was prepared to adjust to this new life I’d been given right at Trent’s side.

  The feeling was so strong, so palpable, I didn’t blink twice at the headline I read at my laptop as I went to order vases for the front foyer. I ignored that burning feeling in the pit of my belly at the words “Trent Bailey Apologize or Else!” that was apparently from a scorned former lover. Nope. I closed out of that browser and started my shopping in a new one.

  It was cool. Actually…mad cool. I was good, felt nice, and was having a good time when I thought I’d be miserable and feeling out of place. After a few shots with JJ, who I knew was purposely trying to lower my guard, I was a level above tipsy, but not drunk. I wouldn’t go there in public. It wouldn’t be a good look.

  We had floor seats to the Brielle concert. I couldn’t help but notice we were within seeing distance of Cole and her girls, who were letting loose in the front row, almost performing with Brielle. They loved her. Most women across the globe loved Brielle. Her performance was always lit with high energy dancing, soul-wrenching singing, and bright and loud costumes. She kept the femininity in her dance by always performing in heels. I had shit to say to her nowadays, but I wasn’t a hater. B earned her stripes over the past thirteen years or so since debuting as a solo artist. She owned the stage and looked good up there. From the top of the show, I was reminded of how much smaller she’d gotten over the years since taking on a vegan diet. I told her back then she didn’t need to slim down; having meat on your bones appealed to real men. She wasn’t as busty or “bootylicious” as Jade. Now, herbody was perfect. Just thinking about my lady—nah, my wife—had my dick swelling in the arena. Jade’s D cups were a breast-man’s fantasy and her plump ass…

  I gotta get home when I leave here…

  I fulfilled JJ’s request to hang out here tonight. At a female-dominated show. All because his simple ass couldn’t get enough of Cole. I hoped she could pick up his mad feelings for her, because I sure could. Cole should be lucky. Yeah, Brielle made sure JJ had tickets tonight, but he wasn’t the type of dude that had to be at a Brielle concert. It wasn’t our thing, although she bodied each show she did. But JJ had been to enough over the years simply from being my boy, the one who had been secretly serving her the “D” on and off for years. So, after a few drinks, I loosened up and made JJ’s lovesick ass be just as much a part of the show as Brielle. I clowned him all night, even texted Jade some pictures of him looking the part. She responded to leave him alone.