Love In the Red Zone (Connecticut Kings Book 1)

by Love Belvin

  “You find what you need?” Larry Kline, our assistant QB coach, asked from behind me, flipping through charts.

  “Yeah. A lot of it,” I murmured. “I’m out.”

  “Okay,” he offered, his head in the papers on the table. “Eleven-thirty sharp tomorrow. If we’re gonna try out those new plays you wrote up, we need time for it and a possible backup plan.”

  “I’m there,” I returned with my back to him.

  When I walked out of the room, Tyheem stood, silently asking for instruction.

  “Yo, call Nate Richardson. Tell him I need the jet in an hour, man.”

  “Eight o’clock sharp,” were my parting words to Tyheem.

  “You got it, boss.” He nodded and I stepped out of the Benz.

  My body was fatigued and mind crashing from exhaustion. I spent twelve hours on the field and hadn’t slept yet. It was just after midnight when I walked in the house. The first thing that hit me was the faint smell of food. It was Jade’s mark. Since they crashed at my crib, she heightened the spirit of home in this house by cooking and cleaning. It brought life in this empty oversized shell. Warm color, reminding me that my impulsive reaction tonight to her rash insecurity was not a bad idea. I dropped my duffle at the foot of the steps in the front foyer and slipped off my boots before hiking up the stairs.

  On my way up, I could smell the gentle fragrances Jade aligned the halls with, making the place welcoming and pleasant. The hall recessed lights were low, kept that way for Kyree in case he awakened from a nightmare in the middle of the night and needed to find his mother. I stopped in his room first. The door was cracked. I stood in the doorway, and found him on the other side, sleeping diagonally on the mattress, his blanket just as obscure. But the little homie was comfortable and that’s all that mattered. Quietly, I backed out and continued down the hall to the master suite. Both doors were wide open. I was sure it was for peace of mind in my absence. Plus, Jade’s sneaky ass had no reason to close them seeing she had the bed to herself.

  As I stepped deeper into the room, I was able to make out her petite body balled under the comforter. Soft snores pushed from her parted lips. It was strange to find her sleeping at this hour. I thought she’d be working on a paper or something. Quickly, I decided to take advantage of the time, stripped down to my boxer briefs and socks, and tossed my clothes on the back of the sofa in the lounge area. After slipping between the sheets, I sighed from the comfort felt from the familiarity of the bedding and mattress, and the scent of…her. My mind went blank immediately.

  I don’t even recall dreaming. I felt warmth all over. Like…it shot straight to all corners of my damn body at once. The bottom of my feet tingled with heat. When I heard the crude sounds of slurping, my awakening brain seemed to have put it together. It was her. It was also morning, and she was busy already. I widened my legs welcoming her heated little frame. Jade stroked my dick with her hands while caressing my thighs with passion kisses. I knew what this meant. Little mama wanted to make a statement. She was marking me again. It was so unnecessary, but I loved the hunger for me she thought was simple territorialism. I just hadn’t thought of an effective way to address it. So much had been going on as of late, and I had no experience with this relationship shit. I didn’t know how to prioritize it, but felt it should rank high. The motivation of her mouth, now that her soft and wet lips were around my swollen and throbbing rope, pushed the need to figure this shit up to the top, though.

  I lifted my back from the mattress, grabbed her propped ass, and swung it around until it was in my face. I fixed her thighs until they straddled my head and went to licking her dripping pussy. Goddamn… Jade stayed fucking wet! And it wasn’t passive moisture. Nah. Her shit was like gel, gooey just for me. Jelly. The taste and texture was addictive. Like…scary delicious, and I didn’t want to do away with it. I wanted to overdose on her, and that self-admission scared me. I’d been praying about it, and hadn’t gotten a solution yet amongst the noise from returning the league.

  Jade’s ass trembling against my forehead snapped me out of my introspection. She twerked on my face with my tongue buried into her tight pussy. Her walls constricted around my butterflying tongue, as I pushed inside of her. I could feel her ragged breaths on my dick; she was losing it, but was determined to send me off before she lifted. I wouldn’t. I gripped her hips, pressing her into my face, my firm tongue now lapping her swollen clit. I smacked her ass then wiggled it. That drove her little ass crazy. I did it again on her left cheek. Not too long after that, her entire pelvis vibrated over my head. Her thighs tightened around my ears as she rode out her orgasm on my face.

  Once the trembles slowed, I lifted her in the air, flipped her until she was over my standing cock. I dropped her on my lap, splitting her like a pole. Jade felt the lightning ache and leaped in the air to adjust herself. Once she did, I lifted her little ass again and slammed her onto me. She moaned at that one. I allowed a shorter moment for her adjustment. Then I swung my torso up, taking her at her waist, and lifted and dropped her on my raging dick, drowning in her feisty fire. Her little hands clenched my shoulders, anchoring her trembling body. I needed her to lose control. She wanted it, but I rebuked that shit. Jade needed to relax and trust me.

  She squealed when I found her nipple and sucked it in before nibbling. Her palms were losing their grip on my shoulders from my sweat surfacing. Going up against this firecracker took as much effort as the gym at times. I’d come to learn since embarking on this area of our relationship, Jade was a ball of impassioned energy. She was physical, always imposing her body to express her feelings. This showed me I had to respond to her in the same manner. I continued lifting her, controlling her lunges.

  “Trent,” she cried, her frame trembling.

  I rounded my left arm across her small waist and used my right palm to push against the mattress while I piston into her shuddering walls. I was still in the driver’s seat, unconcerned about her slight discomfort. Jade had her way of branding me; well, this was my way of marking her. She would feel me for days. Her head fell back as she gave in to the onslaught of pleasure I was issuing. I pushed my left hand up to catch the back of her head, and lifted until her face met mine. I threw my tongue in her mouth, forcefully tossing my tongue across and around hers, beating her disoriented pace. I wanted her off guard and lost to me, and this was exactly the state she was in.

  The moment I felt my balls tingle, I knew this ride was coming to an end. But I needed to pull at least one more from her. Jade wasn’t the type of woman you could leave dissatisfied or just satisfied. You had to wring her ass dry or lose that blazing passion that no man wanted to live without after having a taste of it—at least not me. No sooner than my concern surfaced, Jade began to sing the coming of her second blasting. I thrust harder to send her off. Simultaneously, my explosion erupted. Her little frame gyrated with frantic movements over me, and I swear I felt forever in those next few seconds. When Jade let it all go like this, it reminded me of her softer side, her vulnerability. It brought back her essential feminine need to be covered and protected. In these sensitive moments, I believed I could be her everything.

  “I’m falling,” she warned on a shaky breath. “Catch me, Trent…”

  I plummeted into her core against my own explosion. Me, too… But I was unable to speak as her ass smacked against my misted thighs.

  After a while, the room slowed and quieted. Our wild breathing filled the air. Jade was motionless on my lap and in my arm, only her tight grip on my shoulders remaining from the storm of passion I conquered. Her little ass always left me fucking stupid.

  “You have to stop this shit, Jade!” I warned through tight lips, my dick still throbbing deep inside her. My chest pounded like a damn drum. “You ain’t got nothing to flex about.”

  At first she didn’t speak. Slowly, her head reared up. Her eyes fixed on mine.

  “I’m trying. I just don’t want you to…” She pushed out a shuttering breath, her eyes swinging b
ehind me. “I don’t want you to forget.”

  “Forget what?”

  “Me…” she swallowed. “Kyree.”

  “That ain’t gonna happen.” My face went tight at that stupid thought. “C’mon. Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “You have your life back now. It’s what you wanted,” she spoke so softly, I could hardly hear her. “You’re going to be moving up there soon. You have to!”

  Her eyes began to mist. My throat started to close. This shit was growing out of hand. Jade never lied when she said she was the jealous type. Jealous was synonymous with petty, or at least its cousin. This had gone beyond burning chemistry that I had to soothe. It was now burning passion that ignited just before a major event in my life that had overshadowed every fucking thing. My life had gone from quietly depressing to overwhelmingly loud in less than a year. I didn’t know how to catch the damn reins to this shit. I only knew I wasn’t ready to let go of this hot tempered woman in my arms, or Kyree.

  God, please tell me how to fix this…

  Jade shifted to throw her weighty arms around me.

  “I found an apartment,” she whispered against my shoulder.

  My body stilled. I could hardly breathe; for a while, I couldn’t utter a damn word.

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s time. It’s been time. I had to stop running game on myself. Kyree needs consistency and a real world. The world you’re embarking on again isn’t real to him or me…”

  I let go of a loaded breath. I didn’t come home for this. Well…not the sex necessarily either. Shit, I guess I did come home to kick it about our distance, but not to learn she wanted more of it.

  “Don’t you think moving out will confuse Kyree?” I asked throatily.

  “No.” She rose from my neck, looking me in the eye again. “Why would it?”

  “Because I told him before I left for Connecticut that you guys would be here indefinitely.”

  “Why would you do that? That was never the plan.” Her face wrinkled angrily.

  “Because I thought that’s where we were. We’re dating, right? Why regress?”

  “I don’t think it’s regression, Trent.” She shuffled until she was able to lift from my lap. Jade winced on the way, grabbing one of my Kings t-shirts to cover herself. “I can’t think straight with all of that in me,” she explained to no one in particular. That move caused a panic in my chest. She was withdrawing. “Your world is changing. You’re not going to be the same nice anonymous guy I met at Pop Warner football who lived in an empty mansion in Alpine. You’re going back to being Trent Bailey, the superstar quarterback for the friggin’ NFL! Kyree and I don’t fit into that big world!”

  I leaped up and tossed her little ass on her back, pushing her thighs open to rest between. My palms gripped her wrists together, holding her arms above her head. My lips moved to hover over her swollen ones. Jade’s breaths were shooting out rampantly.

  “I don’t know what to do!” she spoke through a balled mouth, tears spilling to the sides of her face.

  “Trust me!” I returned in the same manner.

  “I can’t!” her nostrils expanded at that painful truth.

  “Have I given you any reason not to? Am I not still that nice guy you met on the field?” My breaths now pushed violently through my nose, my hands flexing over her wrists. “You can’t just make important calls like that without thinking about me. Kyree isn’t the only person to be considered where your living situation is concerned. I want you here. I…” My eyes fluttered, chest heaved. I had to go for it or regret it down the line. “I need you here.”

  “I can’t pass up this opportunity again. I have to create stability for him.”

  “Cut the bullshit, Jade. This ain’t about Ky and you know it. It’s about you being unsure about us.”

  “I’m sure about us. I’m just not sure about you.” She bit her trembling lip.

  “Is it going to be hard? Yes. But you can’t deny the need to try.”

  Her chest expanded beneath me. “Try? How? Keep wondering what you’re doing while you’re up there? Wondering if you’re doing this with a groupie while I’m in your mansion, playing house with my son?”

  “No. You continue to make yourself at home here and see me when you can. I’m gonna see you every time I can.”

  “I want to see you every day. Sleep with you at night.”

  I shook my head, still posted over her. My nose caressing hers. “You can come up when I’m in Connecticut whenever you want. You can drive, I can have you picked up and driven, or arrange for a quick flight. That’s how I got here last night.”

  “For how long?” she sighed, voice so small and tender.

  “Until we find the next solution.”

  “What if your next decision isn’t Ky and—”

  I quieted that comment with a kiss. I threw my tongue to the back of her mouth, exploring each inch, needing her to feel my desire to keep her near. When I let go of her wrists, she grabbed me at the wings of my back, squeezing me there. I stopped kissing her when I couldn’t keep going without breathing. I gave her a couple of pecks before I pushed off her.

  “Where are you going?” She sat up on her elbows.

  I checked my phone for the time. It was just after six in the morning.

  “To shower then kick it with Ky before he leaves for school.” I started for the bathroom, my dick still hard, smacking my belly when I turned back to face her. “If you’re a good girl, I’ll kick it with you before Tyheem pulls up at eight.”

  I caught the smile that spread on her smooth face at that.

  “When’re you coming back home?” Kyree whined at the garage door.

  Jade was already by the truck, waiting for us to finish our goodbyes. Who would’ve thought hitting the road for work would be this hard because it meant being separated from a kid? Is this my life?

  “Ummmm…” I thought hard and fast. “I’m gonna try to be back soon. I got something I need to do with mommy. But at the latest, I’ll try for the weekend. I’ll get Sambi to let out the trampoline in the backyard.”

  At that, his eyes lit up in a way that made me feel accomplished.

  “Cool! Okay!” He stepped closer to me, extending his little arm to offer his clenched fist.

  I met it with my own for a pound. Then I scooped him up in my arms to take him to the truck. After I put him inside, I crossed the truck for the driver’s side where Jade was standing with one foot posted on the step. I saw Tyheem had pulled up a few minutes early and knew my time with my family was up.

  My family…

  I walked up to her and grabbed her into me. Her little hands rounding my back, returning the sentiment I needed the most. She tilted her head back so she could see me as I reached for her fat peach and squeezed it.

  “You’re an animal,” she murmured, unable to hide her smile or hooded eyes.

  “You’re my feed, lil’ momma.” My forehead wrinkled, remembering something. “You gonna call them back to at least accept the offer for the meeting?” I asked to urge the idea of her taking a meeting with a company wanting to use her face and passion of nails to open up a chain of nail salons.

  She told me over breakfast that some company out of Atlanta contacted her a few days ago with the offer. I could tell Jade was uneasy about it, but didn’t get why. I understood not liking the idea of getting a call from someone you don’t know and shouldn’t have your number in the first place, offering you a business deal purely on your association with someone well-known: me. They made sure to mention they knew she was my ‘love interest’. Jade didn’t like that one bit. Lucky for me she protected the privacy I valued. But this was different. Jade now worked to keep from getting bored, not because she needed to. I was sure to be generous with the check I cut her for decorating the crib, which was no overnight job.

  “Yeah. I guess.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t forget about getting someone to come and pick up the master suite furniture. Maybe call one of your cousins.
I’m sure someone could use it.” She tried to go the fussy route to diffuse her disappointment in me leaving them again.

  “I will.”

  I gazed into those hazel webs, getting lost in them. There was so much I wanted to say to assure her of her place and need in my life. In the moment, I felt insecure. Felt like a man leaving his home with his barn door open for his stable to escape or be stolen. I just didn’t know what to say to have her understand I needed her. In one year, she and Kyree had become as big a force in my life as the game. Losing them would definitely throw me off kilter. I couldn’t have that. I wanted my cake and eat it, too, was determined to do just that.

  I reached down to kiss her soft lips. Jade received me by pushing her mouth into mine. When I withdrew, I backed away.

  “I’ll hit you up tonight about plans for this week. Just us two, at least for a little while. We need to chop it up, okay?”

  She nodded. “Okay.”

  I turned for the house, needing to grab my bag so I could bounce. I had practice in just over three hours that I had to be mentally and physically ready for.

  The moment, I closed the car door and Tyheem pulled off, I took out my phone and started with a string of calls I needed to make.

  “Yeah, Trent,” Ezra answered.

  He was the first call that would set everything else in motion. I used little consideration for my next few words. None were needed. If I thought too long, I’d use more than necessary to express what was needed to set the balance of my life.

  “I’m ready to marry her.”

  There was a pause. I didn’t like it. Ezra never paused, never hesitated. But I was determined. I was ready.

  He spoke to someone in the room with him. “Excuse me, Geoffrey, I have to take this and need privacy.” A few seconds later, I heard him clear his throat. “What can I do to help?”

  My face wrinkled and I pulled the phone to my face quickly before returning it to my ear. “That’s it?”

  “Yes, Trent. That’s it. I’ve known for some time this day would come. I just need to know what you need from me to make it happen.”