The Red Zone

by Knight, Amie

  “God, I’ve thought about this for so long.” His big hands palmed my ass and rocked me against him. Instinctively, my legs tightened and I groaned.

  “Shh. We have to be quiet,” he whispered into my mouth. I had a feeling his lips were going to be there a long while. He couldn’t seem to get enough of them. He closed his bedroom door behind him quietly by backing up into it before moving us toward the bed.

  Part of me was nervous, but the bigger part of me had been wanting this for so long. He pushed me down onto the bed and I made sure he came with me by pulling him down.

  God, it felt good. The big, hard length of his body pressed to my small, soft one. His woodsy smell practically all over me. I would have basked in it a little more, but he pulled back out of our embrace.

  “Fuck, I have to see you now. I want to see every inch of this creamy skin.”

  In record time, my wet Purple Rain shirt was in a pile across the room. My quarterback had a good arm. My bra and jeans followed until I lay there in nothing but my modest black panties.

  He did a push up off me until he was kneeling right between my spread legs. “You’re better than I imagined, Red. And I’ve been imagining you a fuck of a lot.”

  He looked down at me fiercely, while I blushed beneath him, not at all used to the kind of attention Lukas paid me but still loving it. The air kissed the tips of my nipples and I arched my back, pushing them out, begging for him to touch the aching buds.

  But Lukas was a damn tease. He trailed one finger from my lips, my chin, and right through the middle of my breasts. He passed between my ribs and down the middle of the softness of my belly straight to my waistline.

  I groaned low, my body and mind begging for him to do something more, but the man seemed determined to drive me crazy by taking his sweet ass time. His finger trailed down my silk panties to the cleft beneath them. It stayed there, rubbing up and down.

  “Damn, baby, your panties are already soaked for me.” His finger continued to torture, catching on my clit over and over until I was panting.

  “Please,” I whispered, trying to catch my breath.

  “Mmmm,” he rumbled as he hooked his fingers on either side of my panties and slowly brought them down my legs, like he was unwrapping a favorite gift instead of me. “Please what, baby? Want me to make you come?”

  And then he was there, his knees to the floor, his hot hands at my thighs spreading them wide, his face inches from where I needed him. Desperately.

  “Yes, please,” I begged. I needed to come like I needed air.

  His finger was back and this time he was watching. I felt so deliciously exposed.

  Rubbing slow circles around my clit, he asked, “How do you want me to make you come? With my fingers?” He leaned in, until his soft hair tickled the tops of my thighs and his breath coasted across my core before he gave my clit a long, wet lick. “Or with my mouth?” He finished, burying his face there and giving me another long lick.

  I’d never in my life had a man there, that close. It felt incredible, and I had little control over my mouth at the moment, so I blurted, “Your mouth,” as my hands found purchase in his hair and pulled.

  He didn’t pass go. He didn’t collect two hundred dollars, he just went for it. Licking and sucking and devouring me. I shamelessly rocked against his face, using his hair to control the pace in wicked ways I’d only read about in books I hid in my bedside table.

  And then I felt it. It came on me quick like a flash of lightning hitting the earth and I shattered, broke wide-open. My eyes clenched close and my knees met the side of Luk’s head while I trembled on his lips, shaking like a feather in the wind. Light flashed behind my eyes and I cried out, riding a delectable wave of ecstasy. And even when I let my legs fall wide and my eyes slowly drifted open, he licked and sucked me slowly down, drawing out the very last bit of my orgasm.

  I lay there, depleted of every bit of energy, my mind blown and my body relaxed. I already wanted to have him do that to me again, but he was crawling up me, placing small kisses to my stomach, and then my chest and finally my lips, his tongue dipping into my mouth.

  “Three,” he whispered against them.

  I opened one eye and looked at him with a smile. “Three what?”

  “That’s how many times you’ve let me have your lips.”

  Both of my eyes popped open. “I’m only counting two, Mister Quarterback. Outside your front door and just now,” I smarted.

  He smiled down at me. “Uh uh uh. You missed one.”

  My eyebrows scrunched together and he smoothed it with his thumb. “When?”

  “Ten years ago. On your front porch,” he said with soft eyes and I knew without a shadow of a doubt I was in love with this gorgeous, sweet man. He swept me off my feet over and over again. I loved every bit of him.

  I pulled him down for our fourth time and kissed him hard and long before leaving his mouth for the lobe of his ear and giving it a tug with my teeth.

  I was running my hands down his back when I realized something very important. “You still have all your clothes on!”

  He chuckled low and it vibrated throughout my body before standing up and slipping his blue T-shirt off the way men only did in movies and books. My mouth watered at the sight of muscles on top of muscles covered by smooth, tan skin, with a speckling of hair. I watched on like a kinky voyeur as he slipped his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans and produced a small foil pack that he threw on the bed next to my head.

  His hands met at the waistband of his pants and he stared down at me with a devilish grin.

  Leaning up on my elbows to get a better view, I said, “Well, go on, Mister Quarterback. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

  His cheeks were pink as he unbuttoned his dark denim and slid them down his legs, taking his black boxers with them. He kicked the pants off and walked the two steps toward me slowly. Slow enough I could get a good look at the gorgeous, long, thick cock that was swinging between his muscular thighs.

  I lay back on the bed and looked at the ceiling, thanking God this man was my man, if even only for tonight. I wanted to throw my hand up and scream halleluiah but instead stared up into melty brown eyes. Reaching over, he grabbed the condom, ripping the package with his teeth and sliding his hand down between us, keeping us safe.

  Laying his lips softly to mine, he breathed, “five,” across them before kissing my jaw, then my neck and finally the tops of my breasts. “I have to be inside of you. Right this minute.” He ran his hands down my thighs, pushing them open, and eased himself inside slowly, his face strained. Tears settled in my eyes like twin pools.

  “God, baby, you’re so tight,” he ground out and my stomach flipped as he inched forward more, nervousness making my legs shake around him. More tears filled my eyes.

  It was the third time he pushed that it finally registered. His mouth left my breasts and hot eyes landed on mine. “You can’t be,” he whispered reverently, his breath coming like he’d run a marathon. His forehead landed on the center of my chest. “I’m not that fucking lucky.” He sounded choked up, full of emotion.

  “But you are.” The tears in my eyes overflowed and trekked down my cheeks and onto his bedding. He leaned up and tried to kiss them away. This was it. I was ready. I was scared, but I wanted it to be him.

  “Are you sure?”

  I nodded emphatically. “Yes, more than anything.”

  “Me?” he said like he couldn’t believe it. That he somehow couldn’t believe he was worthy of me giving my virginity to. Of course I wanted him to have it. I’d been saving myself for him. Not the him from high school. But for the first man I’d ever really loved. And Lukas was it.

  I hit his chest lightly. “Yes, you! Do you want me to find someone else?”

  With eyes full of emotion, he answered, “Never.”

  He brought his hands up and placed each one on either side of my jaw. “I’ll be easy. I promise.”

  I gave him a tender smile. “I know.
I trust you.” And in that moment, I realized I really did. He’d earned it. The hard way. I hadn’t trusted him when he’d come home, but he’d been nothing but open and honest and wonderful. And I trusted him more than I trusted myself in that moment.

  One chaste kiss to my lips and he pushed hard into me, filling me up, piercing my virginity and only leaving a slight sting behind.

  I smiled softly up at him as happy tears rolled down my cheeks.

  “Okay?” he asked, my tears reflected back in his.

  “I’m wonderful.” And I was because he took care of me. He’d taken his time. He’d done it right, just like he had all those years ago on the porch when he’d stolen my first kiss. He was perfect.

  He moved over me, kissing away the stain of tears on my face, loving me with the slow rhythm of his body. And if I thought for one second that I wasn’t completely in love and utterly devoted to Luk, I didn’t now. He made love to me unhurriedly, savoring me, his eyes locked to mine, our souls so deeply intertwined, I didn’t know if we would ever be able to separate them.

  And when he finally froze over me, his muscles taut, his groan deep, I clenched around him and wrapped my arms and legs around his body, never wanting to let him go, never wanting this very moment to end.

  I may have given Lukas my virginity, but he’d given me so much more—a night I’d never forget. A beautiful moment to cherish no matter what happened after tonight. I didn’t care about the future. I didn’t care what happened in the morning. I wanted to live in this very moment and so I did. With not a single regret.

  “Did you sleep here?”

  I cracked open a lid and found Ella standing right next to the bed and looking at me. I looked behind me for Luk and realized I heard the shower running. Uh oh. I was all on my own. I looked around for a clock but didn’t see one, but what I did know it was dark thirty, so it was before I usually got up.

  Sitting up in the bed, I grabbed the sheet and brought it to my naked breasts so Ella didn’t get a show. “I did.”

  I looked around her, desperate for Luk to get out of the shower. I needed help navigating this. I was naked as a jaybird and Ella was standing in front of me in her workout clothes interrogating me. And I hadn’t even had coffee yet.

  “So are you and Lulu married now?”

  My hand to my chest, I yelled, “What?”

  “Momma said if you sleep with someone and have sex with them then you have to be married.”

  I heard the water turn off and prayed Luk was coming any moment because I had no fucking clue what to do. Because yes, her momma had told her the things you should tell a child, but no, that wasn’t real life for most of us.

  So I evaded as best I could. “What makes you think we had sex?”

  She pointed to me. “You’re naked.”

  Oh, for heaven’s sake, but her mother had told her too much and I didn’t know whether to be proud or jump from this bed like my ass was on fire.

  Luk walked into the room with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, droplets of water running down his chest and shoulders, and my mouth dried up. My lady bits clenched and I felt a delicious soreness I’d never experienced between my legs. I couldn’t decide whether to look at Ella or stare at his muscles. It was awkward as hell.

  How was I supposed to do the walk of shame with her here? How was I supposed to lick his chest with her here? I was overwhelmed.

  “What’s up, Ells?” he asked, gathering some clothes out of the dresser and not freaking out at all like he should have been. I was naked. Ella was here. We’d had sex.

  Ella pointed at me. “She slept here.”

  He nodded and slid on a pair of boxers under his towel. “She’s going to be sleeping here a lot, Ellie Bellie. Better get used to it.”

  “Y’all had sex.”

  He nodded. “Again, Scarlett is going to be here a lot.” He slid a T-shirt over his head and whipped the towel off before throwing some athletic shorts on. “I thought tonight you and I would take her on a date. How does Jasmine sound?” He looked at me. “Ella loves Greek food.”

  I watched on, my eyes big, my mouth hanging open because what the hell?

  Ella shrugged. “Okay.”

  “Great, if you finished your workout, go get ready for school.”

  Ella walked from the room without so much as another word. I blinked, still in complete shock. Luk had been so mature, so in control, and I’d been a bumbling crazy person. I couldn’t believe it, but it also made me so proud. He was so good at being her person. And he didn’t even know it.

  All dressed for the day, he came and sat next to me on the bed. “I have to get to practice. Allison will get Ella on the bus, so you can head out whenever you want. Take your time, but tonight I need you back here for a date with me and Ella. Okay?”

  “Okay,” I said because what the hell else could I say? I was uncaffeinated and he was ordering me about. I mean, I think he asked me on a date, but I couldn’t be sure. I couldn’t be sure about anything that had just happened, actually.

  “Good,” he said, kissing me on the head and then dipping down to hit my lips. “Six,” he said against my lips. And then he grabbed a big bag from the corner and left the room.

  I flopped back into the bed, exhausted, and my day hadn’t even started yet. But I closed my eyes and smiled. I was going on a date with Luk and Ella tonight for Greek. It didn’t get much better than that.

  I was out in Luk’s driveway tapping my fingers against the steering wheel to a little Prince, feeling nervous as hell. I wasn’t quite sure what Luk and I were doing. This morning he’d made it clear to Ella that I’d be around more often. He hadn’t made it that clear to me why. Did he mean I’d be around more often as in his bed? Or did he mean I’d be around more often for dates like this?

  He’d sent me a text today to make sure, yet again, that I was coming over for our date with Ella and of course I wouldn’t say no. He’d told Ella I was coming. How could I possibly bail? But on top of that, I wanted to spend time with him. For heaven’s sake, I’d given him my V card. But still, I didn’t know what that meant for us. So you could say I was on pins and needles. I had, however, told him I was driving us tonight. I needed to have some modicum of control and this was it. Me driving. I shook my head at my crazy as Ella came out of the house first, a smile on her face. She climbed right into the front seat determined to ride shotgun and I pressed my lips together hard to keep from laughing.

  Luk came out after checking his phone only to look up right when he got to the car to discover that Ella was in the front seat. He shot me a small smile and shook his head as he got into the back seat of my car. He climbed in not so gracefully, his legs almost clear up to his chest. A small giggle escaped my mouth that I couldn’t contain any longer.

  “Hey, Ells. Think you can move your seat up a little bit?”

  Nothing. Not a nod. Not even a shake. She acted like she didn’t hear him at all and my small giggle turned into a full on laugh.

  Lukas rolled his eyes at me as I pulled out of the driveway and headed to Jasmine. I cranked up the radio and Ella looked over at me and smiled.

  “Who you listening to?”

  Apparently Ella was only ignoring Lukas. Seemed like she’d decided that it was just her and me on this date and it made me grin my face off. I looked in the rearview mirror at Luk and gave him a smile.

  “Prince. Also known as The Love Symbol. Basically, the greatest musician of all time,” I finished.

  Ella stared blankly ahead.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll teach you all about him.”

  Still, she ignored me and I checked the rearview again to see Luk grinning at me. He was clearly enjoying the fact that I, too, was being ignored now.

  It wasn’t a long ride to Jasmine, thank goodness, otherwise I was worried Luk was going to be perpetually stuck in my car. I pulled into the parking lot and unbuckled, but Ella was faster and before I’d even gotten all the way out of the car, she was already opening the do
or to the restaurant.

  I practically had to pull Luk from the car he’d been so crammed back there and I wondered how we were going to broach the subject of the car ride home. “You riding back there on the way home?” I asked.

  He laughed. “Hell no. I’m driving. You and Ella can duke it out for the front seat.”

  I giggled and started walking toward the restaurant only to be caught off guard at the feel of Luk’s warm hand on the back of mine.

  It didn’t stop there. No. His fingers came around mine, intertwining, and I felt my breath catch in my chest as his rough fingers slid along the softness of mine and clasped. I walked slower, stunned. I looked down at my pale hand in his tan one.

  “Are you holding my hand?” I asked, breathless.

  He nodded, his face serious. “I am.”

  I stopped right outside the door and looked at him. “Why?”

  One side of his mouth rose up in a barely there smile, before he brought our clasped hands to his mouth and kissed the back of mine sweetly. “Because this is a date, Red. And when I take a girl I like on a date, I hold her hand.”

  “Oh,” I breathed, stunned, not knowing what the hell to say. So I said nothing at all as he opened the door for me but never let go of my hand. My heart was fluttering in my chest like it was full of butterflies. I was on a real date with Luk. He was holding my hand. This didn’t seem like the recipe for a booty call.

  We found Ella already seated in a booth and when we approached, Luk slid in across from Ella, making sure to scoot over and make room for me. But Ella wasn’t having any of that.

  “You sit here, Ms. Lettie.” She tapped the spot next to her. I gave Luk big eyes but I wasn’t arguing with Ella. I slipped in beside her, setting my purse between us.

  “Ya know, Ella. This is a date so maybe Scarlett should sit with me.”